The Latest Research On Arsenic In Drinking Water

So Why Is Our Nation Fat?

Why a post about high fructose corn sweeteners on a blog about water? Because drinking water and your ever present quest to quench your thirst competes with a multitude of flavored beverages containing ...guess what?

This lengthy article gives a fascinating portrayal of the political might and public relations clout behind the industries whose self serving objectives have no interest in steering the average citizen toward healthier food and beverage choices.

The analogy the author makes to the tobacco controversies of a generation ago are spot on.

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com "Fructose has nothing to do with obesity" is looking like the "cigarettes don't cause cancer" debate for the 21st Century. Battle lines have been drawn; the fighting has started; the idea of a sugar tax has been getting more and more attention (in CA, NY, MA, MS, among others); and now that the First Lady has made obesity a national issue (calling out high-fructose corn syrup [HFCS] by name), the fighting will only get more intense. Step Four: AstroTurf The Beverage folks are spearheading an effort called Americans Against Food Taxes, at the charmingly named URL "nofoodtaxes.com." According to the group's profile on the site: "A coalition of concerned citizens." Doesn't that sound so ... grassrootsy? And if that's not enough, check out these background images lifted from the site: Not a fat kid in the bunch. All beautiful white teeth. Great skin. Presumably they guzzle soda all day, and still they all look like the pretty, carefree, all-American teenager we all want to be.

From Source to Tap - How Lead Gets Consumed

Put this into the category of the "educated consumer". Not offered up as a scare tactic by an interest group, this rather long article evenhandedly cites the ways lead exposure via drinking water can be vastly different that what is reported from annual municipal water reports.

clipped from ehp03.niehs.nih.gov Exposure on Tap: Drinking Water as an Overlooked Source of Lead Unlike most water contaminants, lead gets into water after it leaves a water treatment plant. Often this contamination is the result of water treatment changes meant to improve water quality that end up altering the water chemistry, destabilizing lead-bearing mineral scales that coat service lines and corroding lead solder, pipes, faucets, and fixtures. “Lead is a ‘close-to-home’ contaminant,” says Marc Edwards, an environmental engineer at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. “That makes it very difficult to regulate and monitor.” “EPA as the regulator of lead in tap water and CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] with its concern for preventing lead poisoning in children should be working together to get on top of this problem,” says Edwards. “But in my experience this is not occurring to the extent it should.”

Why Is President's Proposed Budget So Water Logged?

To all those touting the tap, here's a simple question. If our water quality is so good, why does this president and administration feel the need to devote such a significant portion of the 2011 budget to its improvement?

clipped from www.awwa.org Obama seeks $3.3 billion for SRFs President Obama’s 2011 budget request seeks $3.3 billion for USEPA’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) and $1.3 billion – a 14 percent increase from 2010 and the highest level ever – to  help states and tribes protect their air, water, and land. As submitted to Congress, the budget request would also provide $274 million – a $45 million increase – for state water pollution control grants. Overall, the Obama Administration seeks a record $10 billion for USEPA even as it imposes a three-year freeze on non-security discretionary funding.