Is there a monster under my bed? Or maybe something lurking in my closet? Probably not, but for a child growing up in a developed country these are the kinds of fears that can rule their bedtime. Silly? Yes, and as a child grows up they will realize that it was all in their mind. Anjali Sarker had a different fear growing up, and one that was actually based in reality. While growing up in a rural Bangladeshi village Anjali’scontinue reading
There are many places in the world that depend solely on their groundwater for drinking, irrigating crops, or anything else requiring water. As population increases and industries expand in these areas more groundwater is required which can lead to its unsustainable use. When this happens wells must be dug deeper at a cost to the owner (if wells can even reach the water anymore), polluted water can fill the void left by low water levels in the aquifer, andcontinue reading
I’m always on the lookout for sustainable and appropriate solutions to water quality problems, especially those that would help rural communities. A couple of weeks ago I was meandering through the internet and came upon one such solution; the moringa tree. Depending on where you are in the world you could hear the moringa referred to as “Mother’s best friend” or “never die”. These names are appropriate considering the number of benefits that this beautiful tree can bring, including watercontinue reading
There are many places in the world that depend solely on their groundwater for drinking, irrigating crops, or anything else requiring water. As population increases and industries expand in these areas more groundwater is required which can lead to its unsustainable use. When this happens wells must be dug deeper at a cost to the owner (if wells can even reach the water anymore), polluted water can fill the void left by low water levels in the aquifer, and forcontinue reading
Part III: Why Bottled Water is Bad for Water Welcome to Part III of Bottled Water: Why It’s Bad for You, the Environment, and Water. In Part III I’ll be looking at the impacts that bottled water has on water itself (and therefore on the communities and environment near this water). First I wanted to say thanks to everyone that has been commenting on Part I and II. It’s been great to hear your thoughts and discuss the tragedy whichcontinue reading
Part II: Why Bottled Water is Bad for the Environment Welcome to Part II of the series Bottled Water: Why It’s Bad for You, the Environment, and Water. In Part I I talked about why bottled water is bad for you, and now in Part II I’ll be talking about why bottled water is bad for the environment. There was a great response to Part I, and thank you to everyone that commented on it. If you missed Part Icontinue reading
Part I: Why Bottled Water is Bad for You July 2017 Amendment- My views on this subject have changed since I wrote this article, and while I still believe that people should not drink bottled water, I am less optimistic about tap water in the US. I now believe that in most places you should use a filter of some type on your tap water. You can use this great tool by the Environmental Working Group that will show youcontinue reading
In an effort to always be learning something new that’s going on in the world of water I spend a lot of time searching the internet and reading various studies and articles. This week I came upon a very interesting program that was done in the Andhra Pradesh region of India. The program, which is appropriately called the Andhra Pradesh Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems (APFAMGS), covered 638 villages in seven districts that are prone to drought (Anantapur, Chittoor, Cuddapah, Kurnool,continue reading
Today let’s travel to Argentina and take a look at the heavily polluted Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin. This river (it’s actually more of an estuary), which meanders for 40 miles through Buenos Aires, has been heavily polluted for years by industrial waste, sewage, and everyday garbage. For the seven million people that live near or along the river that means dirty water, dirty air, and a number of health problems. The pollution in this river is not new for Argentina. Forcontinue reading
In regions receiving heavy monsoon rains followed by dry spells people are always looking for ways to take advantage of all that water. For the people of Kerala, a state in the south-western part of India, the answer has come in the form of Mazhapolima. Mazhapolima is a community based well recharge program started in 2008 by Mr. Kurian Baby, former District Collector and current Senior Program Officer, South Asia and Latin America team at IRC International Water and Sanitationcontinue reading