Water

Ont. must update rules to stop pollution of Great Lakes

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(ON) Winnepeg Free Press – Environmentalists are calling on the Ontario government to update its regulations in order to stop the pollution of the Great Lakes. Ecojustice, Great Lakes United and Environmental Defence are asking the Environment Ministry to review and amend nine regulations that they claim have become stagnant and ineffective. The groups say some 140 major industries that were supposed to be regulated are still dumping wastewater into municipal sewers, and allowing toxic pollution to enter Ontario’s sewage treatment facilities. More

Waste

Joliet seeks hike in EPA radium limits

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(IL) Chicago Tribune – Joliet is pushing the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to more than double the concentration of cancer-causing radium it’s allowed to dump onto farmland in the south suburbs, expanding the potential for deadly radon gas in these increasingly urban communities. Radium is a naturally occurring radioactive element abundant in deep-water wells in northern Illinois and throughout the Midwest. Cities such as Joliet that rely on these deep wells spend millions of dollars each year to remove radium from their drinking water. Some communities pay to dump radium in a landfill, but Joliet and others use a cheaper alternative, mixing it with waste material that is sold to farmers as fertilizer. More

Water

Aging sewage systems breed record bacteria in our waters

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – Metro Detroit’s outdated sewage systems regularly violate the law by dumping raw and partially treated human waste into rivers, streams and lakes that provide recreation and drinking water to more than 3 million people, a Free Press analysis of state records found. In the last two years, sewer systems in more than three dozen communities dumped a combined 80 billion gallons of raw and partially treated human waste into waterways. More

Water

Mercury limits disregarded

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(OH) Columbus Dispatch – Since 2004, the state has allowed 42 treatment facilities, power plants and factories to ignore federal limits on dumping mercury into lakes, rivers and streams.

This year, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is considering more than 30 new requests for variances from companies that argue that the cost of keeping mercury out of the water far exceeds any benefits to wildlife and human health. More

Water

Concern over canal mud as dredge plan nears

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(IN) The Post-Tribune – Mud in the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal is so contaminated with a cancer-causing industrial pollutant that it could rank among the most contaminated sites in the nation, researchers say. The Army Corps of Engineers plans to dredge the canal starting in late 2011 to facilitate ship traffic. But researchers aren’t sure whether dredging will be good because it will remove the potentially harmful pollutants, or bad because it will stir them up. The Army Corps says there is little health risk. More

Water

Tips for Healthy Swimming

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The CDC recommends the following practices to protect swimmers from water-related illnesses:

Don’t swim when you have diarrhea. Shower with soap before swimming and wash your hands after using the toilet or changing diapers. Don’t swallow pool water and avoid getting water in your mouth. If the pool has a strong chlorine smell, it is usually an indication that the water is unhealthy. The smell comes when the chlorine is combined with bodily fluids such as saliva, urine, feces, sweat or body oils.

Water

Common Recreational Water Illnesses

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Cryptosporidium (Crypto)

Crypto is a diarrheal disease caused by a parasite. Infection occurs from ingesting or swimming in contaminated water. Common symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever and stomach cramps.  The parasite is protected by an outer shell that allows it to survive for long periods and makes it very resistant to chlorine. Shigella
Shigella is a group of bacteria that cause fever, diarrhea and stomach cramps usually a day or two after exposure. The diarrhea is usually bloody but goes away in five to seven days.  Infection occurs from contact with infected water or stool.

Echo

Bryan takes lead in drive to protect its precious water

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(OH) Toledo Blade – While the water-blessed Great Lakes region hasn’t encountered Western-style conflicts over water yet, legal scholars expect that to change with the Earth’s population rising and its climate warming.  Increased demands for food, energy, and manufactured goods this century are expected to drive up the value of water everywhere – not just that found at the surface of major lakes, rivers, and streams. More

Echo

State’s roads aim for low-salt diet

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(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – Can a lake-loving state with snow-cursed highways go on a low-salt diet? Joe Wiita in Prior Lake thinks so, and he’d like your city to mix up a batch of his anti-icing cocktail and try it on a street near you. Amid rising concern over the effects that road salt has on Minnesota’s lakes, streams and groundwater, Wiita and other public works officials around the state are whipping up new brews to spread on pavement, moistening rock salt so it sticks better, and working to establish a less-is-more culture while striving to keep motorists safe and happy. More

Echo

Global ‘clean water’ founder to speak

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(MI) Holland Sentinel – It’s been almost five years since Robert McDonald, a retired engineer, set out to develop a cheap, effective water filtration and disinfection system. The technology had to be simple, require no power, have no moving parts and be made with available local materials by local people all over the world. McDonald, president and co-director of Aqua Clara International, a Holland nonprofit organization, will speak at the first event in the Michigan State University Bioeconomy Institute’s 2010 speaker series, Experts Exchange: Opportunities in Bio-Innovation, 4 p.m. Wednesday at the MSU Bioeconomy Institute, 242 Howard Ave. More