drinking water

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They Thought Their Drinking Water Was Safe. Now, a Lawsuit

Wisconsin city of Wausau sues PFAS makers, insurance firms over groundwater contamination

(Newser) - A Wisconsin city has filed a lawsuit against more than a dozen manufacturers of so-called forever chemicals, claiming the contaminants have polluted the city's groundwater. The complaint filed Thursday on behalf of Wausau is against 15 makers of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), as well as 61 insurance companies,...

Along the Mississippi, a 'Serious Situation'

Saltwater intrusion could mean salt water for close to 1M people in Louisiana

(Newser) - A summer of high heat and low rainfall has created a serious risk to New Orleans' drinking water. In the coming weeks, water levels on the Mississippi River are expected to reach historic lows for the second year in a row . That means salt water flowing north from the Gulf...

Congressman Holds 'Thirst Strike' on Capitol Steps

Greg Casar urges Biden administration to mandate water breaks for workers

(Newser) - On a sweltering day in Washington, DC, Rep. Greg Casar held an all-day "thirst strike" on the Capitol steps to demand federally mandated water breaks for workers. Casar is from Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott recently signed a law to nullify local ordinances that mandate water breaks for construction...

Philly Residents May Want to Drink Bottled Water for a Bit

Drinking water thought to be OK through Monday after chemical spill in Delaware River

(Newser) - Philadelphia residents were told Sunday that they may want to drink bottled water following a chemical spill into the Delaware River in a neighboring county. Bucks County health officials said Sunday that a leak late Friday evening at the Trinseo Altuglas chemical facility in Bristol Township spilled between 8,100...

EPA Makes Big Move on 'Forever Chemicals'

Agency proposes first federal limits on toxic PFAS chemicals in drinking water

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed the first federal limits on harmful “forever chemicals” in drinking water, a long-awaited protection the agency said will save thousands of lives and prevent serious illnesses, including cancer. The plan would limit toxic PFAS chemicals to the lowest level that tests can...

Ex-Michigan Governor Catches Big Break in Flint Case

Judge dismisses criminal charges against Rick Snyder, 8 years after water issues began

(Newser) - A judge dismissed criminal charges against former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in the Flint water crisis, months after the state Supreme Court said indictments returned by a one-person grand jury were invalid. Snyder, a Republican who left office in 2019, had been charged with two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect...

Houston Residents Can Drink Their Water Again

City lifts boil advisory

(Newser) - Houston officials lifted an order Tuesday that had called for more than 2 million people in the nation's fourth-largest city to boil their tap water before drinking or using it. The boil order had been in effect since Sunday, when a power outage at a purification plant caused pressure...

Governor's Joke About Capital City Does Not Land Well

Mississippi's Tate Reeves says it's 'a great day to not be in Jackson,' which has had water trouble

(Newser) - The governor of Mississippi has raised eyebrows with a jab at the capital city of Jackson, which has recently endured serious drinking-water problems . Speaking at a function in the city of Hattiesburg, Tate Reeves told the crowd it was great to be in the city. "It's also, as...

Drinking Water of the Future May Come Increasingly From Toilets

In the face of climate change, recycled water could be a solution

(Newser) - Garden hose bans are in place across much of Britain, where rivers and reservoirs are at unusually low levels following months of low rainfall. In the future, part of the solution will be "to reprocess the water that results from sewage treatment and turn it back into drinking water,...

Amid Worst Heat Wave Ever, China Shoots Rods Into Clouds

Silver iodide rods intended to spur precipitation

(Newser) - China is experiencing its worst heat wave on record, a two-month-plus streak that's seeing hundreds of cities and counties experience temps of 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. But this extreme weather isn't just causing bodily discomfort. It's helping to dry up the Yangtze River, one of the...

White House: Deal to Replace 100% of Lead Pipes

Infrastructure agreement includes $55B for water projects

(Newser) - The version of President Biden's infrastructure spending plan that Republicans and Democrats agreed to last week includes replacing every lead pipe in the nation. A White House memo said the legislation "will replace 100% of the nation's lead pipes and service lines," and White House press...

Drought Brings 'Earthy' Taste to California Water

Sacramento suggests adding lemon

(Newser) - Some people like their wines to have earthy notes. Their drinking water, not so much. With much of California in extreme drought, Sacramento residents have been complaining that their water smells strange and tastes like dirt, CBS Sacramento reports. Authorities say it is the result of harmless organic compounds found...

Pope: Racism Shows Our Lack of Progress

Francis calls for greater efforts to provide clean drinking water around the world

(Newser) - Pope Francis on Sunday denounced racism, likening it to a virus that lurks, then surfaces to show that "our supposed social progress is not as real or definitive" as people think. Francis tweeted on racism on the date that the United Nations marks as International Day for the Elimination...

Cops: Parents Forced Boy to Drink Lethal Amount of Water

Colorado couple charged with murder in 11-year-old's death

(Newser) - A Colorado couple is charged with first-degree murder in the March death of their 11-year-old son, who was forced to drink large amounts of water. Father Ryan Sabin and stepmother Tara Sabin of Black Forest were arrested Tuesday after a months-long investigation and are now held without bail at the...

EPA Mandate to City: Hand Out Bottled Water ASAP

In Newark, NJ, filters to keep lead out didn't work, leading to recommendation for bottled water

(Newser) - In what the New York Times calls "an echo of Flint," a New Jersey city that's handed out nearly 40,000 filters to help protect residents whose water flows through old lead pipes now says those filters might not be working and is moving to Plan B....

UN Environment Report Names Our 2 Most Pressing Problems

Report uses word 'risk' 561 times in 740 pages

(Newser) - Earth is sick with multiple and worsening environmental ills killing millions of people yearly, a new UN report says. Climate change, a global major extinction of animals and plants, a human population soaring toward 10 billion, degraded land, polluted air, and plastics, pesticides, and hormone-changing chemicals in the water are...

Pope: Safe Drinking Water Is a Human Right

It's 'shameful' that so many lack access to it, he says

(Newser) - Pope Francis has affirmed that access to clean water is a human right and that it's "enormously shameful" that millions of people get sick and die each year for lack of it, the AP reports. In a message to a water management conference Thursday, Francis lamented that war,...

Device That Makes Water From Thin Air Wins $1.5M Prize

It creates rainstorms in shipping containers

(Newser) - It started out modestly enough: David Hertz, having learned that under the right conditions you really can make your own water out of thin air, put a little contraption on the roof of his office and began cranking out free bottles of H2O for anyone who wanted one. Soon he...

Austin Residents May Have to Boil Tap Water for 2 Weeks

Texas city struggles to treat water supply after flooding

(Newser) - Residents of the Texas state capital may have to boil their tap water for as long as two weeks, an official said Tuesday, as authorities struggled to treat a water supply filled with silt, mud, and debris after heavy rains and flooding. The Austin American-Statesman reports that Travis County Chief...

Back-to-School Surprise for Detroit: Dry Water Fountains

Lead, copper prompt 106 Detroit schools to shut off water; kids will drink from water coolers

(Newser) - Some 50,000 Detroit public school students will start the school year Tuesday by drinking water from coolers, not fountains, after the discovery of elevated levels of lead or copper in the supply—the latest setback in a state already dealing with the consequences of contaminated tap water in Flint...

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