QUANTITY OF PHARMACEUTICALS IS MORE AMONG THE HOUSEHOLDS

According to the new research, hospitals are not the only places where drugs are used rather the use of drugs at homes is also high. The matter causes issues for the water management as these drugs become a hurdle for them in the wastewater.

Although the treatment of wastewater is done through different treatment processes but they are not suitable enough every time to remove the pharmaceuticals from the water supply. This indicates that the drugs end up to the environmental waters. The issue is being watched by the policymakers deeply and eventually the new regulations are expected for the utilities.

The question arises that if these drugs are winding up in the sewage system, from where they are coming? Some researchers from Leuphana University took the question in the examination and published the results of the study according to which the major source of pharmaceutical drugs are the households in the wastewater. If a comparison is made with the hospitals, then the findings say that they contribute very less to this pollution. The quantity of the drug contaminants discharged from this source is small.

Even the share of painkillers in the hospitals is not of great amount. Metamizole which is a painkiller used very widely constitutes 22 percent share of the entire consumption. The study also identified the quantity of sedative Clomethiazole consumed in the hospitals along with the neuroleptic quetiapine which can be considered high.

Another drug that has considerably higher amount is the Moclobemide which is an antidepressant.

One of the leading persons in the study, Manuel Herrmann gave the demonstrations of the importance of the research. According to him, the study has been able to make them aware of the patterns of consumption by providing a clear picture of the things making the wastewater polluted. The method used by them regarding the procedures of measurement, there is the combined benefit of not being very complex and also it is cheaper. That is why the prediction of pollution is simple and the reaction of the policy and management is appropriate.

PPCPs are known for long and they are not the new matter for the water sector. These products are able to get escaped through the treatment plants of wastewater and wind in the waterways that has the water for drinking purpose as well.

Environmental Protection agency has kept these pharmaceuticals in the Third Contaminant Candidate List (CCL₃). Some of the main elements of the study are as follow;

There is a difference between the patterns of drug usage among hospitals and the particular health institutions. The consumption of neurological drugs is more in the nursing homes and the psychiatric hospitals. If total contribution of the drugs is observed, it will tell us that the households are contributing more as compared to the health institutions.

For years pharmaceutical companies were dumping drugs to sewage system and wastewater that eventually end up in our drinking water. One of the alternative of insuring clean water supply to population, that is pure and healthy, is to implement AtmoWater unique AWS 100 systems, which is non polluting, clean and great testing water.

Why Did L.A. Drop 96 Million ‘Shade Balls’ Into Its Water?

The plastic balls, which can save water and protect water quality, are an attempt to cope with California’s severe drought.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power released 96 million black shade balls into the Los Angeles Reservoir to reduce evaporation and deter algal growth.

Photograph by Gene Blevins, LA Daily News/Zuma Wire/Corbis Los Angeles has turned its main reservoir into a giant ball pit.

City officials hope millions of “shade balls” released into the Los Angeles Reservoir will save water in the midst of the worst drought in California history.

On Monday Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti supervised the latest onslaught of 4-inch black plastic balls, bringing the total count to 96 million in the 175-acre reservoir. Located in Sylmar, the reservoir holds up to 3.3 billion gallons, enough to supply the city with drinking water for up to three weeks.

 

The city says the balls will shade and cool the water, reducing evaporation from the reservoir and making it less susceptible to algae, bacterial growth, and chemical reactions that can produce harmful substances.

The effort by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) “is emblematic of the kind of creative thinking we need to meet [the drought’s] challenges,” Garcetti said in a statement. (See “When the Snows Fail”)

 

The balls cost 36 cents each, for a total of $34.5 million. The utility has been testing the concept since 2008, reporting that shade balls reduce evaporation by 85 to 90 percent. That should equate to saving nearly 300 million gallons a year, enough to provide drinking water for 8,100 people, said Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitchell Englander.

The balls also inhibit microorganism growth, reducing the treatment the water must undergo through other means. That could save the city $250 million over time, said Garcetti.

Made of black polyethylene, shade balls are filled with water so they don’t blow away. A coating resists ultraviolet light and degradation. The manufacturers (XavierC, Artisan Screen Process, and Orange Products) say the balls should last about 25 years.

Ed Osann, a senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Bloomberg that the shade balls probably won’t release any toxic materials into the water supply. (NRDC has not yet responded to a request for comment.)

 

California officials are finally looking to alternative sources to conserve and save California water recourses, however we are still not out of droughts and little measures alone are not going to be enough to recover and sustain water shortages. AtmoWater AWS water stations along with other creative improvements can make the difference and help California to recover and sustain water supplies for our and future generations.

Shortage Of Water May Be The Consequence Of Strategies For Global Warming

The debate has started over the topic that whether there is any possibility of water supply to be exposed to more danger through the policies being made for the cutting of the emissions as compared to the risks involved in the climate change.

Water resources of the United States may face immense pressure if for the reduction in the emissions of the greenhouse gas, biofuels is made the source. New researches have been done which showed that if bioenergy is going to be the source on which the entire policy depends, then unfortunately, the country would see a hike in the consumption of water by almost 42 percent.

The story has been issued in the journal of National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America and the story was regarding the issues that could be faced due to the new policies made relying on the biofuels.

After the analysis which has been done, result came according to if the care is not taken and attention is not paid towards the water resources in case of the strategies regarding climate change, the consequence would be a rise in the degree and occurrence of the water shortfalls. There is a common insight that objective of the mitigation policy which the decrease in global warming but this is also going to be the cause of lessening in the shortages of water.

According to a renowned author, the outcomes we got from the research showed that there is a need to take water into consideration with great care when strategies are being made for any purpose. If it is prevented and reckless actions are taken, then the chances of such negative results to come would increase.

All of the results give an ultimate answer that due to the strategies of mitigation of climate change, supply of water would be enhanced and as a result an offset would be seen by the escalation in demand and then more stress on water would occur as a result of green policies compared to the climate change.

The strategy in actual does not mean that the emissions are reduced rather it is act of using the bioenergy crops which would generate the issue. A situation in which bioenergy was included at very low level, the demand for increase in water was only found to be 12 percent which was 42 percent in another scenario geothermal and nuclear energy were used as the main sources. But this energy also has benefits as it has been seen as the policy proved to be a less expensive one. A criticism over the bioenergy crops was that they could have left the space for the food crops to be used.

AtmoWater AWS systems offers safe and eco-friendly solution to bioenergy crops, our systems are the alternative source that can offset water shortages and save our plant. AWS 100 water stations worldwide might be the answer to climate change crisis.  

Merry Christmas

Give and receive love this holiday season and you will surely have a joyous Christmas. Best wishes to your family this season and always. May Christmas spread cheer in your lives!

Natural Gas Companies Are Partnering With Water Sector

Natural Gas Companies are making a progress to develop the association with the water industry as they are in need of large quantity of water. The water customers are going to get the benefits from such alliances if they are done successfully.

Those gas companies which are operating in the Utica shales and Marcellus are spending money on the extension of the public water lines in the rural region so that the provision of water can be made possible for the hydraulic fracturing of their wells. There is a requirement of millions of gallons of water for this purpose that is why they are looking to take this step forward. It is also going to be utilized for the building of the treatment plants.

Local communities that are against the fracking process say that during the period of such drought condition when there is scarcity of water, this is not a good option of using this huge amount of water by the gas companies in shales as it is going to be dangerous step.

AtmoWater AWS 100-Oil system is specially designed to work on remote rural areas, AWS systems are capable of supplying large amount of water for fracking without tapping local water sources. Management of AtmoWater believes that as communities are more aware of other alternative sources that are safe and eco friendly will appreciate and utilize services of Natural Gas Companies as its greatest source of employment and income for local communities.

AtmoWater Solution to Water Shortages



 

AtmoWater AWG systems are capable of creating fresh water every day, small commercial WFC-30 model is being build at our manufacturing site, and ready to be shipped to new owners. WFC-30 will provide enough water to sustain a small village on their daily water needs for years to come.

 

Fracking is draining water from US areas suffering major shortages - report

Some of the most drought-ravaged areas of the US are also heavily targeted for oil and gas development using hydraulic fracturing - a practice that exacerbates water shortages - according to a new report. Three-quarters of the nearly 40,000 oil and gas wells drilled in the US since 2011 were located in areas of the country facing water scarcity, according to research by the Ceres investor network. Over half of those new wells were in areas experiencing drought conditions. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in those wells required the use of 97 billion gallons of water, Ceres found.
"Hydraulic fracturing is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of the country's most water-stressed and drought-ridden regions," said Mindy Lubber, president of the Ceres green investors' network. Lubber warned that the fracking boom across the US puts the industry on a “collision course” with other water users. Fracking is the highly controversial process of injecting water, sand, and various chemicals into layers of rock, in hopes of releasing oil and gas deep underground. Fracking in a single well can take millions of gallons of freshwater. Much of the drilling has occurred in areas mired in multi-year droughts. Half of the 97 billion gallons of water used since 2011 for fracking have gone to wells in Texas, a state in the midst of a severe, years-long drought. Meanwhile, oil and gas production through fracking is on track to double in the state over the next five years, the Guardian reported. The report also found that rural communities in the Lone Star State are being hit hard by the fracking bonanza occurring especially in the Eagle Ford Shale in south Texas. "Shale producers are having significant impacts at the county level, especially in smaller rural counties with limited water infrastructure capacity," the report said. "With water use requirements for shale producers in the Eagle Ford already high and expected to double in the coming 10 years, these rural counties can expect severe water stress challenges in the years ahead." Levels of vital aquifers that serve local communities near Eagle Ford have dropped by up to 300 feet in the last few years. Many small communities in areas of heavy fracking in Texas are in dire need of water, as supplies have run out in some places or will dry up soon in others. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says 29 communities across the state could run out of water in 90 days, and that many reservoirs in west Texas are at around 25 percent capacity. In December, the San Antonio Express-News found that fracking was using more water than previously thought. The newspaper reported that in 2012, the industry used around 43,770 acre-feet of water in 3,522 Eagle Ford fracking wells - about the same usage of 153,000 San Antonio households. “The oil and gas boom is requiring more water than we have,” Hugh Fitzsimons, a Dimmit County rancher and a director of the Wintergarden Groundwater Conservation District, told the Express-News. “Period.” A separate study published this week found that the industry does a very poor job recycling fracking water in Texas. Researchers at the University of Texas’ Bureau of Economic Geology found that 92 percent of water used in 2011 to frack Barnett Shale in north central Texas was “consumed,” and not recycled. Only about five percent of all water used for fracking in that area has been reused or recycled in the “past few years.” Other states do not fare well in the Ceres report, either. In Colorado, 97 percent of wells were in areas strapped for water, as demand for fracking water in the state is expected to double to six billion gallons – twice the annual use of the city of Boulder - by 2015. In California, 96 percent of new wells were located in areas where competition for water is high. A drought emergency for the entire state - which has traditionally dealt with water-sharing and access problems - was declared last month.

The report found similar high percentages of wells built in other states – such as New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming – where water shortages exist. "It's a wake-up call," said Prof. James Famiglietti, a hydrologist at the University of California, Irvine, according to the Guardian. "We understand as a country that we need more energy but it is time to have a conversation about what impacts there are, and do our best to try to minimize any damage."