• New survey shows many water, wastewater plants improve chemical security

    New study says 554 drinking water and wastewater plants in 47 states have replaced extremely hazardous substances with safer and more secure chemicals or processes; at least 2,600 additional water and wastewater facilities still use large amounts of chlorine gas

  • Revolutionary water treatment system may make coping with disaster easier

    Researchers develop a revolutionary waste-water treatment device which uses little energy, is transportable, scalable, simple to set-up, simple to operate, comes on-line in record time, and can be monitored remotely; new system cleans influent wastewater within twenty-four hours after set-up to discharge levels that exceed the standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for municipal wastewater

  • Growing worries about unregulated chemicals in water

    Concern about pharmaceuticals showing up in drinking water in trace quantities has prompted a growing public awareness of the need to dispose of unneeded pharmaceuticals properly; changing disposal methods will not solve the problem of other organic waste contaminants, because most of them get into the wastewater stream through intended uses, such as bathing and laundering, and because wastewater treatment systems generally are not able to remove them

  • Texas running out of water

    Texas’s population of about 24.3 million is expected to hit about 45.5 million by 2060, and the water supply can not come close to keeping pace; if the state were to experience major drought conditions with that many more people, officials estimate almost every Texan would be without sufficient water and there would be more than $90 billion in economic losses

  • Robot fish could monitor water quality

    Michigan State University researchers develop robots that use advanced materials to swim like fish to probe underwater environments; robotic fish — perhaps schools of them operating autonomously for months — could give researchers far more precise data on aquatic conditions, and the quality — and security — of the water supply

  • Tensions simmer between India and Bangla Desh over dwindling water sources

    The ice and snow caps of the Himalayas are depleted by global warming; as the availability of water in Himalayan-fed river systems that support 1.3 billion people drops, experts expect the border between India and Bangladesh to be the first flashpoint of an intensifying battle across south Asia

  • Without water reform Asia will face food shortage by 2050

    There are three options for meeting the food needs of Asia’s population, which will expand by one-and-a-half billion people over the next forty years: The first is to import large quantities of cereals from other regions; the second to improve and expand rainfed agriculture; and the third to focus on irrigated farmlands

  • Water scarcity will create global security concerns

    Up to 1.2 billion people in Asia, 250 million Africans and 81 million Latin Americans will be exposed to increased water stress by 2020; over 260 river basins are shared by two or more countries; as the resource is becoming scarce, tensions among different users may intensify, both at the national and international level

  • California faces major decision on dams

    California already has upward of 1,000 dams that provide water supply, flood control, and hydropower, but California growing water shortages; last month Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger insisted he would not sign off on any major overhaul of the water system without money for new dams and reservoirs

  • Sandia researchers develop new water purification method

    Researchers substitute an atom of gallium for an aluminum atom in the center of an aluminum oxide cluster, creating a more effective process for removing bacterial, viral, and other organic and inorganic contaminants from river water destined for human consumption, and from wastewater treatment plants prior to returning water to the environment

  • Future of water in U.S. west threatened

    New study says there is a one-in-two chance of fully depleting all of the Colorado River reservoir storage system by mid-century assuming current management practices continue on course

  • Drinking water monitored by CSIRO-developed sensor network

    Lake Wivenhoe, which spans an area about the size of the city of Brisbane, supplies water to 1.5 million residents in south-east Queensland; CSIRO deploys its FLECK smart wireless sensor network technology to monitor water quality

  • Disinfectants create toxic by-products

    Using disinfectants to keep water drinkable was one of the major achievements of the twentieth century; a recent study now shows that the chemicals used to purify the water we drink and use in swimming pools react with organic material in the water yielding toxic consequences

  • Lab-on-a-chip detects pollutants, disease, and biological weapons

    Researchers develop nano-sized laboratory, complete with a microscopic workbench, to measure water quality in real time; breakthrough will help keep water safe from pollution and bioterrorist threats

  • Better detection with self-healing wireless sensor network

    New self-forming, self-healing wireless mesh sensor network can detect railway embankment landslides, humidity in art museums, water quality in water treatment facilities — and has military and security applications such as a perimeter network that can detect intrusion through breaking a light beam, or triggering a tripwire, or proximity sensor