Discover Top Posts Tagged with #water quality

Researchers find new way to remove Pfas chemicals up to 100 times faster than current systems

From the article:

The LDH material Rice developed is a variation of similar materials previously used, but researchers replaced some aluminum atoms with copper atoms. The LDH material is positively charged and the long-chain Pfas are negatively charged, which causes the material to attract and remove the chemicals, Wong said. “There you go – it just soaks it in to the order of 100 times faster than other materials that are out there,” Wong added. Pfas are virtually indestructible because their carbon atoms are bonded with fluorine, but Rice found that the bonds could be broken if the chemicals in the material were heated to 400-500C – a relatively low temperature. The fluorine gets trapped in the LDH material and is bonded to calcium. The leftover calcium-fluorine material is safe and can be disposed of in a landfill, Wong said. The process works with some long-chain Pfas that are among the most common water pollutants, and it also removed some smaller Pfas that are commonplace. Wong said he is confident the material can be used to remove a broad array of Pfas, especially if they are negatively charged. Most new Pfas elimination systems fail to work at an industrial scale. Wong said the new material has an advantage because its removal rate is so strong, it can be used repeatedly and it is in a “drop in material”, meaning it can be used with existing filtration infrastructure. That eliminates one of the major cost barriers.

#good news #hope #hopepunk #solarpunk #pollution #pfas #forever chemicals #technology #environment #clean water #water quality

Charges dismissed against Trinidad water protestors as city hall closes

David Sentendrey

Thu, May 21, 2026 at 7:17 PM MST

A Henderson County grand jury declined to indict Jennifer Combs, and a municipal judge dismissed charges against YouTube journalist Winston Noles following their controversial arrests in Trinidad.

Combs was originally charged with a felony for a Facebook post about alleged water-related hospitalizations, while Noles was arrested for disorderly conduct during a live-streamed protest against her arrest.

The city's water issues remain under investigation by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, but city officials have closed Trinidad City Hall until next Tuesday for unknown reasons.

TRINIDAD, Texas - A grand jury has now declined to indict a woman arrested over a Facebook post about water concerns in the City of Trinidad.

#texas #henderson county #city of trinidad #drinking water #facebook post #grand jury #water quality

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water

- LOREN EISELEY

The EPA announced its first regulations aimed at limiting quantities of PFAs, or ‘forever chemicals,’ in American drinking water.

"Despite a huge amount of political opposition from the chemical industry, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its first regulations aimed at limiting quantities of PFAs, or ‘forever chemicals,’ in American drinking water.

For decades, Polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAs have been used for coatings that resist fire, oil, stains, and water and are now found in a wide variety of products like waterproof clothing, stain-resistant furniture, food packaging, adhesives, firefighting spray foams, and non-stick cooking surfaces.

There are thousands of PFAS compounds with varying effects and toxicity levels, and the new EPA regulations will require water utilities to test for 6 different classes of them.

The new standards will reduce PFAS exposure—and thereby decrease the health risk—for 100 million people in the U.S.

A fund worth $1 billion for treatment and testing will be made available to water utilities nationwide—part of a $9 billion investment made possible by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to assist communities impacted by PFAS contamination.

“Drinking water contaminated with PFAS has plagued communities across this country for too long,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan in a statement Wednesday.

Under Regan’s leadership, the EPA began in 2021 to establish a roadmap for dealing with widespread PFAS contamination, and so far they’ve gathered much data, including monitoring drinking water, and begun requiring more reports from businesses about use of the unregulated substances.

The agency reported that current peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown that exposure to certain levels of PFAS may lead to a myriad of health issues that are difficult to specify because of the variety of compounds coming from different places.

Regardless, the 66,000 water utility operators will have five years to test for the PFAS pollution and install necessary technology to treat the contamination, which the EPA estimates that 6%–10% of facilities will need. [Note: Deeply curious where they got a number that low, but anyway.]

Records show that some of the manufacturers knew these chemicals posed health hazards. A few major lawsuits in recent years have been settled that sought to hold chemical companies, like 3M, accountable for the environment damage.""

-via Good News Network, April 13, 2024

#united states #pfas #forever chemicals #epa #environmental protection agency #water quality #water pollution #clean water #good news #hope

Today the government spends €191 on water purification per citizen, compared to just €98 in the UK, for example.

From Phoebe Weston at the Guardian comes the story of the Herculean effort to clean up Switzerland’s waterways, an effort that has transformed the unique European country into one that enjoys the cleanest urban swimming spots on the continent.

In the 1960s, water quality in the form of sewage treatment investment received the smallest share of attention, and rivers and lakes like the famous one at Geneva were covered in algal mats, off-colored foam, and dead fish.

A typhoid outbreak at Zermatt in 1963 led to several deaths, and hundreds fell ill. It was found that raw sewage was the cause of the epidemic, and an outcry from the public led to massive investments in sewage treatment and pollution control.

That was then. Now, as Weston’s photography testifies, the “Blue Gold” of Switzerland’s waterways are the envy of their neighbors, and people of all ages and at all hours flood the beaches to enjoy a swim, even in the nippy early spring.

“Very high water quality is important to the population,” says Michael Mattle, head of wastewater technology at the engineering company Holinger. “We take a lot of care not to pollute water on its way through Switzerland.”

According to one source, in 1965, only 14% of the population of Switzerland was connected to a wastewater treatment plant. Today it’s 98%, and the government spends €191 on water purification per citizen, compared to just €98 in the UK, for example.

Since 2016, the Swiss federal government has also been working on a massive pollution control effort for drugs and medications flushed down the toilet when they’re excreted by the body. They include, as Weston details, antidepressants, anti-inflammatories, diabetes medication, and even antibiotics.

Wastewater treatment plants basically work like a human stomach, utilizing bacteria to digest and remove organic matter from water. Alternatively, the treatment for these pollutant drugs requires flushing the water through activated charcoal which can remove 80% of the total pollutant load. What’s left are the famous PFAS compounds referred to as “forever chemicals” by the media.

That 20%, operators at the wastewater plants say, should be the focus of regulatory legislation, not treatment infrastructure.

Weston also reports that the EU, and Switzerland’s near neighbors, are visiting to learn about and hopefully replicate the country’s success, with the EU considering new legislation that would require any sewage treatment plants that serve areas of more than 10,000 people to treat for the pollutant pharmaceuticals mentioned above.

#switzerland #water treatment #waste water treatment #water quality #clean water #pfas #science #europe #water pollution #pollution solutions

🦦♻️💪 Otters are thriving across the UK after decades of conservation!

After pollution and industrial waste in the mid-20th century nearly wiped out the animals along with their food sources, decades of pollutant bans and reintroduction campaigns have made otters widespread — even being sighted in towns and cities! Once a rare sight, the population increase serves as a conservation success story of improving water quality and a spotlight on the importance of river health.

Still rare only 20 years ago, the charismatic animals are in almost every UK river and a conservation success story

Just thinking about how 24.6 million pigs in the state drink ~5 gallons/day or 123 million gallons/day total. More than the 85 million used in the entire city of Des Moines at peak. (And how we don't talk about how the pigs are where the nitrates come from)

Iowa communities have been told to conserve water during the summer months. Some have dry wells, other systems fight polluted water sources.

This is being billed as a ban on "lawn watering" but it's not just that. It's no watering your vegetable or flower garden unless you stand there with a hose (for some reason that's allowable). And no splash pads or spray grounds, even as we expect a heat dome and a heat index of 103 on Saturday.

Do you know how long it takes to water even a small garden with a hand-held sprayer hose. How long I would have to stand there. I have a soaker hose irrigation system covered with mulch for additional water retention and even that's not allowed. Can't take kids to the splashpad or even fill up a kiddie pool. once again, big ag profits while we pay.