Friday, July 26, 2013

Anti Fracking Activists In UK Arrested For Caring About Clean Water

Updates at this link: Frack Off



Sussex police have made several arrests at an oil drilling site near the village of Balcombe after local residents and anti-fracking activists attempted to block the delivery of machinery for a second day.

Activists said police removed people who had formed a human chain across gates to the rural West Sussex site where the energy company Cuadrilla, headed by the former BP chief Lord Browne, intends to start test drilling for oil next week.

A spokeswoman for Sussex police confirmed the arrests, believed to be of about nine people. It is understood the protesters also tried to blockade the gated entrance to the site on London Road using a tree.

On Thursday the protesters, who had gathered on the private road to the drilling site at the junction with London Road, had been warned by police that they would be committing an offence if they blocked trucks from entering. The alliance of environmentalists and local villagers succeeded in turning away at least one truck carrying parts for the drilling operation, which Cuadrilla says could result in controversial hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Sussex shale. Many camped overnight, but on Friday there was a heavier police presence, according to reports from campaigners.

"This morning there was quite a heavy police presence," said Andrew West from the campaign group Frack Off. "The trucks started to arrive again and a human chain was formed in front of the gates and the police have made the first arrests. People are really shocked it escalated so quickly."

This week the Environment Agency and the Department for Energy granted permits for oil exploration on the site to Cuadrilla, which also operates hydraulic fracturing rigs in Lancashire.

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Anti-Fracking Activists in UK Arrested

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Imagine this...Standing up to protect your land and water is a criminal offense, whereas toxifying that water that is a common as well as destroying forests, crops and anything else in their corporate path is not. Clearly the governments of the world in league with their corporate masters have gone certificably insane with greed.

Bravo for the people in Balcombe standing up and risking arrest for their children, their land and their water! I suppose all the "Royal Baby" media distractions haven't been able to mesmerize everyone.

And get ready, because as this becomes much more prevalent there WILL be more people standing up to protect their water despite the lies put out by the companies now looking to make profit off a totally UNNECESSARY form of energy that is anything but renewable or clean.

SAVE OUR WATER.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

NUS Researchers Develop World's First Water Treatment Techniques Using Tomato And Apple Peels



NUS Researchers Develop World's First Water Treatment Techniques Using Tomato And Apple Peels

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The studies were conducted under the guidance of Associate Professor Suresh Valiyaveettil of the Department of Chemistry at the NUS Faculty of Science. The NUS team hopes that their water purification methods can benefit communities living in places where there is little electricity or resources to set up a water purification plant.

Scarcity of clean water

The scarcity of clean water is expected to worsen in the future due to over usage, lack of conservation methods and dwindling natural supply of clean water, even in countries with significant water resources.

Many hazardous pollutants enter the water supply through many channels, including waste disposal, industry effluent release or rain water drainage. Such pollutants need to be removed before the water can be consumed. However, most water purification technologies are not accessible to economically disadvantaged people around the world.

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Tomato peel: an efficient adsorbent for water purification

Tomato is the second most consumed vegetable in the world, with approximately 30 per cent consumed as processed products. The disposal of the tomato skin and its other fibrous materials is an economic waste for many food processing industries.

Mr Ramakrishna evaluated the effectiveness of tomato peel as an adsorbent by using different pollutants. He also studied the structure of the tomato peels to assess their efficiency as biomaterials to remove toxic metal ions and organic pollutants from water. In addition, factors such as the pH, nature and amount of adsorbent used for extraction were considered to establish the optimum conditions under which tomato peel could remove various pollutants from water.

His study revealed that tomato peels can effectively remove different contaminants in water, including dissolved organic and inorganic chemicals, dyes and pesticides, and they can also be used in large scale applications. The results were published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal RSC Advances in September 2012.

Apple peel: a biomass for water purification

In addition to tomato peels, Mr Ramakrishna also explored the viability of using the peels of apples for water purification, as apple peels are easily available as biowaste from food processing industries and they are biodegradable.

Similar to tomato peels, apple peels can also remove a range of dissolved water pollutants through the adsorption process. In order to enhance the ability of apple peels towards extraction of negatively charged pollutants, Mr Ramakrishna immobilised naturally occurring zirconium oxides onto the surface of apple peels. Zirconium loaded apple peels were found to be able to extract anions such as phosphate, arsenate, arsenite, and chromate ions from aqueous solutions. This method of water purification can also be used for large scale applications.

The findings are published in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces in May 2013.

Research findings to benefit communities living in remote villages

Both Mr Ramakrishna and Assoc Prof Suresh hope that the findings on the use apple and tomato peels for water purification can be applied to benefit economically and technologically disadvantaged farmers living in remote villages, who depend on contaminated ground water or local rivers for their daily water needs. They intend to work with non-governmental organisations to transfer their research findings and knowledge to benefit the people.

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I had also read something a while ago regarding banana peels as well. This could be a boon to developing areas where water is scarce. These are the solutions we need to see now.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

What If Americans Only Had As Much Water As Families In Africa?

What If Americans Only Had As Much Water As Families In Africa?



What Is Your Water Footprint?

The average family in Africa gets by on only five gallons of water a day, according to this thought-provoking PSA video from bewaterwise.com, a project of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

The average American family (directly) uses 552 gallons of water a day, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Clearly, that is an inequality, and it may give U.S. consumers pause when it comes to wasting water.

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Our collective perception of what is valuable in this country needs a monumental shift.

House Republicans Propose Giving You Toxic Water And Dangerous Infrastructure



House Republicans Propose Giving You Toxic Water And Dangerous Infrastructure

I do not usually comment about Republicans because their total lack of morality and conscience gets my blood pressure up. Today however, I must make an exception because the bill they have proposed here is an abomination to all that is human. And for what? To assuage a political vendetta? It goes beyond my comprehension how people can be so morally bankrupt and riddled with hatred as to deliberately set out to kill their own people. That is exactly what this bill would do if passed.

Cutting 34% of the EPA budget and primarily all that has to do with clean water preservation and infrastructure as well as riders to prohibit passing of greenhouse gas rules? There is no justification for this especially at a time when water regulations are a must. Fracking waste, nitrogen pollution and run off, pesticides, aging infrastructure, effects of climate change such as floods, drought, storms all require funding and action.

However, I am not only angry at Republicans. I am angry at Obama because he came out and gave a speech stating that he recommended the EPA to go forward with greenhouse gas rules knowing Republicans would put up roadblocks thus stalling it. It is to me a classic political maneuver. Suggest something you know won't really be successful (even if you have the power to do more) but will ultimately make you look good by being able to point the finger while the goal you wanted to achieve is reached anyway. In this instance, continuation of the status quo allowing fracking and oil extraction under their "All Of The Above" policy.

I also find it curious that this bill was put out just days after confirming Gina McCarthy to head the EPA after waiting for over a hundred days to do it. Was this bill part of the compromise David Vetter said they came to in order for her to be confirmed? Let's face it people, politics is not about moral courage or doing the right thing. It is about compromise for the sake of those doing the wheeling and dealing not us.

If this bill is passed water safety is gone and the baby steps requested on climate change will more then likely not be taken on a scale or in a time frame needed for any sort of adequate results. But again, Obama must have known Republicans would put that rider in a bill to stop the EPA so where is his true executive action on climate change? This is what infuriates and frustrates me about the entire dysfunctional bought and sold political system of the USA which has now been renamed The United Corporate States Of America. Now all we will have is more partisan bickering back and forth while water and climate continue to suffer.

Rep Jim Moran walked out of the session of this bill, but he is only one person. Where are all the other representatives of any side with a conscience in joining him?

My question to anyone who voted for any of these people who now work to make this planet a hell on Earth for you and your children is this: What the hell were you thinking?

Another World Water Day Gone

We see another World Water Day pass us by. The theme, Water For All, signifies that though some progress has been made we are woefully behin...