Water in Space

For the next 11 days we will be travelling to Doha, Qatar to participate in Tasmeem 2007. This blog was created as a response to the design challenge issued to students by Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, who hosts the conference. We will check in periodically and post when we can. We hope to learn more about the role sustainability plays in design and what we can all do to make the world a better place.

Until then we leave you with this video of water on the International Space Station.

UK Water Bills to Rise

From The Press Association

Water and sewerage bills in England and Wales will rise to an average £312, industry regulator Ofwat confirmed today.

The 7% rise will add an extra £20 to the annual bill for an average home, and is more than twice the current 2.7% rate of inflation.

Customers in the south-west will be worst hit as South West Water has announced a 16% price hike, making the average annual bill £650. People with water meters will see their average bill go up 12% to £378.

The lowest rise, 5%, is from Severn Trent Water, which supplies 3.5m homes in the Midlands. Average households will pay £283 in 2007-08.

Ofwat’s chief executive, Regina Finn, said: “We recognise that any bill increases are going to be unwelcome. But these are essential to ensure that customers continue to receive high quality, secure water and sewerage services both now and in the future.

“The increases are also partly driven by significant environmental improvements.”

The water watchdog, the Consumer Council for Water, said the rises will worry those on low incomes.

Chairwoman, Dame Yve Buckland, said: “Although water costs each household less than a pound a day on average, many consumers on low and fixed incomes will struggle to keep up with these bill rises.

“Consumers will also struggle to understand the relationship between higher bills, increases in company profits, last summer’s water restrictions and acknowledged recent failures in customer service.”

Dame Buckland added: “We have already started to think about the next price review, which will set water and sewerage price limits for 2010-15. We are not convinced consumers can see recognisable benefits in return for the bill rises that they have faced since 2005, and believe that consumers’ priorities should come first next time.”

Ofwat said the increases include 3.9% for inflation plus a 3.1% rise in real terms.

There is good news for customers of Tendring Hundred Water Services, which has announced a 3% price cut to compensate for overcharging on the past two annual bills.

The company, which supplies 65,000 homes and 5,000 businesses in north-east Essex, is dropping its annual average bill for water from £165 to £161.

Yangtze drought cuts into water for 1 million people

From the Associated Press 

February 26, 2007

BEIJING –Falling water levels in China’s Yangtze River have left 1 million people short of drinking water, state media reported Monday. A severe drought has caused the water level in China’s longest river to plunge over the last two weeks, severely cutting water-pumping capacity, Xinhua News Agency said.

Shapingba Waterworks, one of the largest suppliers of drinking water to the industrial southwestern city of Chongqing, said only one of 10 pipes used to pump water from the Yangtze was in operation, Xinhua reported.

“If the water levels in the Yangtze and its upper tributary Jialing River continue to decline, we’ll face a real crisis,” Xinhua quoted an unidentified Shapingba spokesman as saying.

The local water bureau said water levels in the Yangtze and Jialing rivers have declined sharply because of a lack of rainfall, which followed a severe drought last summer.

The problem is expected to continue until the rainy season begins in May, Xinhua said.

China suffers from a water shortage in the northern part of the country, but droughts have also hit other areas hard.

Last summer’s drought in the southwest was the worst in 50 years, causing more than $1.1 billion in economic losses, according to state media. It affected parts of Chongqing and neighboring Sichuan province, leaving 18 million people without adequate drinking water, according to state media.

Jay-Z and Water for Life

The Future of the Rio de la Plata

The Rio de la Plata is the widest estuary in the world. The body of water, which connects the junction of the Uruguay and Parana Rivers with the Atlantic ocean, defines the boundary between Argentina and Paraguay. It is a major port for the cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The la Plata is a vital part of the ecosystem, home to the rare La Plata Dolphin, sea turtles, and many fish. But the water system is in danger. Deforestation and agriculture are causing erosion of the beaches, fisheries are being depleted and companies are dumping waste into the water.

Canada and Uruguay are working together to improve the quality of water in the la Plata. In 1994 the Integrated Coastal Zone Management of the Rio de la Plata Support Program was formed by the International Development Research Centre (IRDC). The project is now known as EcoPlata. The collaboration between the two countries has been integral to understanding the sustainable development of the region. According to the IRDC website,

A first investigation focused on how environmental factors and human activities affect the spawning and nursery grounds of the “white croaker” or corvina, an important species for both artisanal and commercial fisheries. The corvina accounts for about 14 percent of the total catch in the estuary, but fishing yields have been dropping in recent years.

“This was a key cross-cutting issue,” says Dr Fournier. “It allowed physicists, chemists, biologists, geologists, and so forth to work together on the same question: what is it about sediments, about pollutants, about water circulation that influences the croaker and has a long-term effect on its success?”

While this effort generated a number of valuable studies, it also proved that the participating institutions could work effectively as a team. The result? In 1997, when the EcoPlata initiative was renewed, both its scope and level of financial support expanded significantly.

EcoPlata is now working to develop a costal zone management initiative to bring together research in “fisheries, oceanography, environmental protection, and urban planning.” It is hoped this work will provide a framework for authorities to establish a sustainable method for costal management.

World Water Day One Month Away

The countdown is on. There is just one month until World Water Day. This year’s theme is “Coping with Water Scarcity.” According to the official WWD website:

UN-Water has identified coping with water scarcity as part of the strategic issues and priorities requiring joint UN action. The official UN text on this topic: The theme highlights the significance of cooperation and importance of an integrated approach to water resource management of water at international, national and local levels.

Equity and rights, cultural and ethical issues are essential to be addressed when dealing with limited water resources. Imbalances between availability and demand, the degradation of groundwater and surface water quality, intersectoral competition, interregional and international disputes, all centre on the question of how to cope with scarce water resources.

World Water Day has been designated by the United Nations General Assembly as March 22 of each year. The initiative began in 1992 as a day to bring awareness to water issues and invite nations to adopt practices recommended by the UN. Events are planned around the world to raise money and awareness in support of water issues.

Pantanal

Thanks to the Amazon River Brazil has 14% of the fresh water in the world. Brazil is also home to the Pantanal, the world’s largest continental wetland. Covering thousands of acres in central Brazil, the Pantanal contains a stunning array of plant and animal life. It is one of the great naurual wonders of the world.

According to “The Pantanal in the 21st Century: For the World’s Largest Wetland, an Uncertain Future,” by Frederick A. Swarts,

This area is an unparalleled wildlife sanctuary of spectacular beauty, an ecological paradise containing hundreds of species of birds, thousands of varieties of butterflies, myriads of brightly colored flowers, and shoals of fish. Capuchin and Howler monkeys, capybaras, toucans, anacondas, caimans and tapirs help create an aquatic and sylvan theater of sights and sounds. The endangered jaguar, and increasingly rare Hyacinthine macaws and giant river otters, all make their home in the Pantanal. The Pantanal also provides incalculable economic benefits. It offers a huge area for water purification and groundwater discharge and recharge, climate stabilization, water supply, flood abatement, and an extensive, transport system, among numerous other important functions. And yet, despite the region’s beauty and remarkable environmental and economic value, the Pantanal remains poorly known and faces an uncertain future stemming from a myriad of socioeconomic pressures. The Florida Everglades is a stark reminder of how quickly even a major wetland system can experience devastating ecological and economic consequences when there are poor management responses to such pressures. The Everglades system declined catastrophically in just 50 years. While the Pantanal remains comparatively untouched, without correct understanding, timely action and wise management, its future could be seriously compromised.

Like many areas in the world the balance of water is crucial to the existance of an entire ecosystem.

Water Harvesting in Chile

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is one of the driest places on earth. The Andes mountains block rain from falling, but the area is often covered with a layer of fog called camanchaca. The fishing village of Caleta Chungungo lies on the edge of the desert and once recieved its water supply from a nearby iron mine. When the mine closed water had to be brought in on trucks and there was never enough for villager’s needs. In order to collect water in the clouds above a fog collecting system was installed near the location of the old mine. Large mesh nets were set up on the slopes, and when the fog hits the mesh the water in the clouds condenses and runs into a trough which collects into a reservoir. The water harvesting system provides the village with potable and irrigation water, enough to meet their needs.

Source: Smithsonian

Water Plan Saving Millions of Gallons

From the Associated Press

Contra Costa Water Plan Could Save Millions of Gallons at Chevron 

RICHMOND, Calif. - Contra Costa County’s plan to salvage more sewer and storm drain water for use at the Chevron refinery could save an extra five million gallons of drinking water every day, according to regional water officials.

A plant to be built on Chevron’s property by next year would filter about 8 million gallons of wastewater every day for landscaping use in the refinery’s cooling towers.

The county now channels about 3 million gallons of treated wastewater to the Chevron facility each day, with the remainder coming from fresh drinking water sources.

The 8 million gallons saved equals the amount of drinking water used each day by about 25,000 families of five.

About 400,000 water customers in counties east of San Francisco Bay could face mandatory water rationing in coming months because of light rainfall and a thin snowpack in the Sierra Nevada this winter.

Water Efficiency Awards

In 2006 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held its first annual Water Efficiency Awards to recognize to organizations and individuals who are making a significant positive contribution to the way we use water. According to the EPA “The awards are intended to help foster a nationwide ethic of water efficiency, as well as to inspire, motivate, and recognize efforts to improve water efficiency. This program enables EPA to document ‘best practices,’ share information, encourage an ethic of water efficiency, and create a network of water efficiency leaders.”

The winners in five categories are:

• Corporate: Toto USA, a plumbing fixture manufacturer who is a leader in developing water efficient fixtures and an advocate of water recycling. Advanced Mobile, a sustainable car wash company.

• Organizations: New York State Funeral Directors Association for adopting new technology that reduces the amount of water used in the embalming process by 96%.

• Government: Florida’s Water Reuse Program, responsible for 41% of the state’s wastewater being treated for reuse.

• Utilities: Southern Nevada Water Authority’s Water Smart Program which has saved 20 billion gallons of water since 2002.

• Individuals: Bill Sartor of the San Antonio Water System for his leadership as chairman of the Community Conservation Committee.