A Voice from India

Brandy Lellou presents Anuva Bajpai with her award as one of the 2011 International Art Contest winners

Earlier this year, PBS ran a special called Water Scarcity in New Delhi; which left us with many unanswered questions.  A visit last week from our 2011 poster contest winner Anuva Bajpai and her family, who live in New Delhi, gave us the opportunity to learn more about their daily difficulty with water, and the extraordinary measures the Indian government is taking to ensure sustainable water supplies.

I had lunch with Anuva and her family at the American Indian Museum in Washington DC.  Anuva’s father, Samir Bajpai, was in town for work and it was the families first visit to the United States.

Anuva's Winning Poster

When I asked  Anuva about the inspiration for her poster she said she had seen a photo in a magazine, and had adapted the scene to New Delhi.  Water trucks are, indeed, a common sight in the city, where a large part of the population has to buy their water from trucks. Even an upper middle-class family like their’s has access to water for only two hours a day.  Anuva’s mother, Ritu Bajpai, described how they have to plan most of their water-use activities, including  laundry and cleaning, around that short time.  They also have a water storage tank on their roof, where the water they pump during the daily two hours can be stored for use later on.

Anuva’s father, Samir Bajpai, indicated that many changes have been made to New Delhi’s water system over the past few years.  The entire water supply and sanitation system has been privatized, and is now operated by many different companies (the majority of them Indian).  Pipeline water loss has been cut in half, falling from over 20 percent to less than 9 percent (better than the 14 percent that is the average in the U.S.).  And while New Delhi’s water supply was previously subsidized, with privatization the subsidies have ceased.  Residents now pay five times more for their water than before.  Anuva’s family of four uses about 180 liters (47 gallons) a day, costing some $35 a month.  This is close to the average monthly bill in the U.S.  An American middle-class family of four, however, uses 1480 liters (392 gallons) a day — thus getting eight times more water than their New Delhi counterparts.

The removal of subsidies has been particularly difficult for New Delhi’s poor.  Rather than pipelines, they rely on tanker trunks that pull up and deliver water in much the same way Anuva depicted in her poster.  The increased price of water for the supply trucks is passed down to consumers, and slum dwellers, too, are now paying more for less.

Because of the severe shortage of water in New Delhi and throughout India, rainwater harvesting is mandatory for all those who can afford it.  In addition, buildings in New Delhi with 200,000 square feet or more must develop a government-approved water plan.  The plan must include rainwater harvesting, water reuse, and on-site sewage treatment.

As a consultant for the India Infrastructure Finance Company, Mr. Bajpai, is especially interested in policies that encourage sustainable infrastructure.  He noted several measures the Indian government has implemented to encourage self-reliance and sustainability at the local level.  For example, the 73rd and 74th amendments to India’s constitution, enacted over a decade ago, gave local communities an independent budget and control over how it is spent. Over time, this has proven to be very successful in increasing local sustainability.  A stark reminder that change doesn’t always see immediate results.  Any positive actions we take today may only be realized within the following decade or more; likewise any failures to act may be felt even more over time.

The conversation with Anuva’s family was informative and inspiring.  It was especially delightful to meet as strangers but discover similar interests.  We could have spent the entire day talking, but Anuva and her younger sister were excited to continue their explorations of D.C.

When we finished our lunch, Mrs. Bajpai packaged up the left-over tarts and said, “It’s a sin to waste in India” – a lesson that is universal with food, but one we all still need to learn with respect to water.

Learn more about the worldwide water crisis!  For a donation of $50 or more,
we will provide a free copy of  When the Rivers Run Dry, by Fred Pearce.

Click Here to Donate Now!! >>>    

Solutions for Cities

State Executive Orders were signed, climate councils were formed, Climate Action Plans (CAPs) were developed, now what?  As a result of our changing climate we know that water will be an enormous problem, including challenges associated with increased drought and flooding; but what if we could work with municipalities to make water a part of the solution?

Despite the wealth of information circulating on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, our on-the-ground experience demonstrates that it is difficult for communities to pinpoint what actions will result in the most tangible results that cut across multiple sectors.  Thus many communities are now asking:
“What do we do?”

“How do we start?”

“How much might these mitigation and adaptation strategies cost?”

Until now, the primary response to these questions has been focused on increasing vehicle fleet efficiency, energy efficiency, and the use of renewable energies.  However, water is an important component of these solutions that is often overlooked.  Through our Water Resource Management for Energy Conservation (WRMEC) program we are promoting the integration of water management into climate change and sustainability solutions.  This year, under the WRMEC program, NVOC is developing the ‘Solutions for Cities’ Project which involves:

• developing and disseminating specific guidance tools and resources that municipalities can apply to address their own needs and,
• educating municipal leaders on the importance of including water as a component of their climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

We will be releasing the first of these municipal guidance tools and resource on March 22^nd, World Water Day.

4th Annual ‘Students Give Water a Voice’ Art Contest

In Celebration of World Water Day, NVOC announces our 4th Annual ‘Students Give Water a Voice’ Internation Art Competition.

Open to students from around the world for poster, literary, and video submissions.

2011 theme: Water Change in your Community
We hear about climate change in the news every day. But what we don’t hear about is changing water — either too much or too little! Some communities experience heavy rainfall and extreme flooding; while others face a chronic need to find more water as local sources are running dry. Some are even seeing their communities disappear due to rising seas.

Nature’s Voice-Our Choice (NVOC) invites students around the world to bring this problem to light for community members and lawmakers, showing that ‘we all say climate change but what we feel is water change.’ To participate, we hope educators will take time to work with students to study how climate change, deforestation, rising populations and over-use are changing their water supplies. Students are urged to submit drawings/paintings, creative narratives/poems, or videos, highlighting the impact of changing water resources on their local communities. For more information on ways to explore this topic with your students, visit our website at http://www.nv-oc.org

The Virtual River Campaign: creating a new water source through conservation

New Water for our Nation: This year NVOC is launching the  ‘Virtual River Project’.  What is a Virtual River you ask?  A Virtual River is the creation of a new water source through conservation.

The Virtual River is a visual way to inspire and track ‘real world’ water savings.  This project aims to bring water to the forefront of public concern and create a water revolution.  Like all revolutions, the Virtual River began with local action:  individual citizens from across 26 U.S. states taking small steps to conserve and preserve water in their communities.  Combined, these small actions resulted in 2 million gallons of water savings in 2010; thus creating the source water for the Virtual River.  This year by increasing these actions we aim to save over 4 billion gallons.

Water conservation is a much more cost-effective and low-energy method of meeting this need than developing new sources. The Virtual River Project aims to create a new water source through conservation by inspiring and tracking real world water savings.

Why New Water? The EPA states that 36 states will experience local, regional, or statewide water shortages by 2013, even under non-drought conditions.  Throughout the United States, population growth, industrial expansion and droughts have jeopardized many regions’ water supplies, leading to the search for new water sources.  Conflicts are escalating — as stakeholders from all sectors battle over who needs water the most and who should get it first.

Just as rivers require the interaction of a many organisms working in sync, so will the virtual river require the collaboration of multiple sectors — businesses, government, nonprofits and the wider public –to ensure its sustainability.  As each sector contributes to and advances the water conservation movement, the virtual river grows.  Each year with your action, contributions, and support, the virtual river will grow.

Water: Made in the USA

Water exports from Alaska to India

• First fish, then oil, now water! By the end of this year, Sitka, Alaska (a town 90 miles southwest of Juneau) will begin shipping water to a ‘world water hub’ being developed on the west coast of India, south of Mumbai. S2C and True Alaska Bottling formed Alaska Resource Management LLC and have a contract for the rights to export 2.9 billion gallons per year from Sitka’s Blue Lake Reservoir. S2C will ship water via barge at 50 million gallons/shipment. They are purchasing the water for 1 cent/gallon and can buy, load, ship and unload it for 7 cents/gallon. This does not include the energy costs involved in treating the water and markup. At this cost many are skeptical about the long-term feasibility. However, climate change is creating depleting water resources in the most populated regions, and increasing access to water at the poles due to glacier melt. Rod Bartlett, managing partner of Alaska Resource Management counters skepticism by stating “You move the water because you can’t move the population.”

The city of Sitka will earn $26 million per year if the partnership exports its entire allocation, and more than $90 million annually if the city can export its maximum water right of 9.6 billion gallons. That amount of water is enough to meet the annual domestic needs of a city of 2.6 million people using 10 gallons per person per day (the average use in developing nations). This is a 20% of Mumbai’s population. However, at a of cost of 23 times more than that of tap water in the US, this water will not be used to alleviate water shortages for the world’s poorest; but rather is slated to be sold to clients around the Arabian sea.
“Every nation within a four-day target of the hub is a potential customer or client that will need fresh water,” said Bartlett. Without revealing details, Bartlett stated that S2C has received both spoken and “written expressions of interest.”

This bulk water export may be only the first of many as S2C, envisions water hubs in the Arabian Sea, East China Sea and Caribbean Sea. The supply side seems to have many willing partners as well.

• The Alaska Department of Natural Resources received three new applications for bulk water removal from Adak Island in the Aleutian chain. The Aleut Corporation plans to export 1.5 million gallons per day from three reservoirs on the island.
• The city of Sitka continues to look for buyers with this announcement on their website:
  “The City and Borough of Sitka welcomes proposals from companies or individuals who are interested in bulk fresh water export. We currently have 6,206,629,025 million gallons available for sale directly sourced from the Blue Lake reservoir. This abundant water source is fed by snow/glacial melt, and rain precipitation. Blue Lake water is nearly pure in its natural state, so that Sitka is not required to filter it prior to purification and distribution to the consumer. A 36-inch diameter raw water pipeline is complete and ready to load water right on our waterfront.”
• What other large water resources may be considered for export? In 2008, in response to a proposal to ship water from the Great Lakes to China, the US and Canada Signed the Great Lakes Compact preventing water from being diverted from the region. Therefore the Great Lakes is now protected and Canada, which owns more freshwater resources than any other country, is moving to ban bulk exports from other water resources in the country.
• However, Greenland, Iceland and New Zealand are searching for investors

Through our Global Sustainable Water Program, we take a different approach to finding ‘new water sources’ by educating communities to use existing water resources more sustainably. One of our solutions to the growing water crisis in India, is a cooperative partnership with the Goodwill Social Work Center to develop of a ‘Rain Center’ in the Madurai, India. Check it out!

Human Right to Water?

Artwork by: Irem Yilmaz, Age 15, Istanbul, Turkey

This summer the United Nations passed a resolution on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation.  This sparked a controversial debate when 41 countries, including the United States, refused to vote.

Who has the right to water?  Who gets it first? In what quantity?  At what cost?  For what use?  And if we declare a legal ‘right to water’, should we not also include a binding legal clause for ‘sustainable use of that water’?

The World Health Organization has laid out a plan that indicates who, where, and how developing nations may benefit from declaring water as a human right.  However those details are missing  from this resolution.  Some of the issues we believe need to be addressed include:

1)  It is well known that increased access to water also expands irrigation needs for agriculture production, increases livestock herds, increases water needs for energy and industry and increases waste in leaking pipelines.  Who will monitoring sustainability of the water sources; amount withdrawn vs. recharge?

2)  water rights laws:  many countries, including the US has extremely complex and layered water rights laws with numerous competing interests.  How will the resolution tie into existing agreements and how will towns, cities, and countries will resolve competing needs?

3) trans-boundry water agreements:  countries throughout the world have trans-boundry water agreements which are already straining relationships.  Who has prioritization of access?

4)  How will this resolution address sustainability of depleting water resources in a changing climate and the energy sources (and associated CO2 emissions) required for accessing water and sanitation?

5)   what importance will be placed on utilizing existing water sources more sustainably (i.e. rainwater harvesting/water reuse),  education on conservation, and ensuring use of materials that limit waste and leaking?

6)   Who is responsible and how will water levels be monitored to ensure adequate water for sustaining ecosystems?

No one is denying that all humans have the right to water and sanitation; however, this is an issue that cannot be reduced to a simple 2 page resolution.  As John F. Sammis, U.S. Deputy Representative to the Economic and Social Council explained to the UN General Assembly,

“The United States regrets that this resolution diverts us from the serious international efforts underway to promote greater coordination and cooperation on water and sanitation issues. This resolution attempts to take a short-cut around the serious work of formulating, articulating and upholding universal rights. It was not drafted in a transparent, inclusive manner, and the legal implications of a declared right to water have not yet been carefully and fully considered in this body or in Geneva.”

We believe that declaring a universal right to water, when water is not universally abundant, will create local water crises, and worsen the already dire situation for the worlds poorest people.

We want to know what you think, vote on this resolution

Two Spills, Two Continents, Two Vastly Different Approaches: Which One Will Succeed?

Fireball resulting from Oil Spill in China's Yellow Sea

The Gulf Coast is so badly polluted that it may have stolen your attention away from a similar catastrophe that has gone on in China’s Yellow

Sea.  Yes, more oil in our precious oceans.  On July 16, two oil pipelines exploded at the Chinese oil storage facility at the Dalian city port, when workers injected desulfurizer into pipes for the refinement process.  A fireball ignited, shrouding the city in smoke, after raging for 15 hours and spewing 47,600 gallons of crude oil.  Although this is a very large oil spill, by comparison, it’s much smaller than the BP oil spill in the gulf, in which approximately 94 million to 184 million gallons of oil has been spilled.  The BP oil spill is 2,000  to 4,000 times larger, but the boys at BP have had 106 days so far and haven’t begun to close in on a solution; whereas the China spill was cleaned up in ten days.  What’s the cause for such different outcomes?  There are numerous factors involved in the nature of the spills, but the main deviation is in the methods used for clean up.

What makes the Deepwater Horizon spill so much more devastating, is that it’s happening deep underwater.  Instead of oil floating only on the surface of the water (as in the China spill), in the gulf a constant supply of oil was gushing underwater; causing some of the oil to form plumes at depths of up to a mile below the surface of the ocean.

The other main difference is the approach.  BP has been rather close-minded about the whole process of cleanup.  They have only used skimming and dispersants and even refuse to use nontoxic dispersants.  The problem with dispersants is that not only do they thin out the oil and spread it over a larger area, but they are also an additional pollution for the environment. The China oil spill, on the other hand, was handled immediately and with ease.  The cleanup consisted of dispersants, scooping up the larger portions of the spill, and one vital ingredient: Bacteria.  Using bacteria to clean up waste is an environmentally safe, economically sound, time-efficient and proven method called bioremediation.  The Chinese government recognizes this and had its oil spill cleaned up in ten days.  Why is bioremediation not being used in the Gulf Oil Spill? NVOC is investigating this and conducting a feasibility study to determine the benefits and potential obstacles in using this bioremediation in the Gulf.

Although the China spill was cleaned up quickly, there is some extended damage that has been done to the environment; Greenpeace, an organization involved in the cleanup in China, indicated that the environment will be adversely affected for at least 30 years.  This considered, we have to ask ourselves, how long will the environment be adversely affected in the Gulf?  If it is at all related to how long the oil’s been in the water, and at what quantity, just imagine what an ongoing 106 days of over 100 million gallons of oil will give us.

–Adam Catalfano

Resources:

http://www.examiner.com/x-43877-International-Trade-Examiner~y2010m8d3-BP-refused-to-use-nontoxic-dispersants-in-oil-spill

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0422/Amid-search-for-Deepwater-Horizon-oil-rig-survivors-What-happened

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0723/Oil-eating-bacteria-to-the-China-oil-spill-rescue

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100720/sc_afp/chinaenvironmentoilpollution

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/27/world/la-fg-china-oil-spill-20100727

The Power of Bacteria to Fix the Oil Spill

Aerial photo of Gulf Oil Spill

Among the buzzwords of today, one that is passed around like the hot potato is, the Oil Spill.  By now, there is not an American who doesn’t know about the large quantities of oil floating on the Gulf of Mexico’s surface, pluming in its depths, and polluting its shores; but that’s about the extent of the average person’s knowledge.  What is being omitted is how to efficiently and economically resolve this problem; here’s the hook: it’s all-natural.  How is this possible?  The answer already lies in the world’s oceans.  Bacteria!

Every year, about 160,000 tons of oil is naturally released from the world’s collective ocean floors, but oil isn’t naturally clouding the world’s oceans.  So where does it all go?  The answer again is, bacteria.  Bacteria thrive on the oceans’ floors where oil is emitted and quite literally eat it.  Bacteria are capable of adapting in such ways that allow them to digest oil and produce a byproduct that is safely eaten by marine life.  The heavier parts of the oil that escape the bacteria sink back down to be digested as well.  This concept has been brought to labs to be applied to oil spill clean-up situations, and has successfully been applied to two significant oil spills in the past.  The spills were both cleaned up in a matter of weeks.

The limits of bacteria to eat waste are still beyond our imagination as proven by its ability to digest various forms of waste.  Their application is much more common than one would think; including the three examples given below:

Bacteria to stabilize Uranium: Even now, labs are testing another type of bacteria that scientists believe can “eat” Uranium.  The bacteria are capable of converting the elements from radioactive Uranium (VI) to stable Uranium (IV).  Why would we want to do this?  The answer is simple, because there are a large number of sites that exist as remnants of the Cold War and are common enough to do potential damage to major waterways and ecosystems.

Bacteria to clean up Perchlorate: Another application of such bacteria-based technology lies in Perchlorate contaminated sites arising from such contaminants as solid rocket fuel, flares, and munitions used by the U.S. defense and space programs.  In some sites, contamination close to the surface can be removed by excavation; but in others, the contamination is deep underground and very near the water table.  The Perchlorate can be dissolved into the ground water and proceed to poison nearby populations.  The engineering company, CDM, has successfully developed and patented a method of stimulating bacteria that are known to digest Perchlorate in water and produce clean water with a harmless byproduct.

Bacteria to treat wastewater: Wastewater treatment plants apply bacteria into the process of water purification.  Of the three most common methods of treating wastewater, bacteria are used in each of them including: the trickling filter, activated sludge, and anaerobic digestion.

Using bacteria to clean-up waste has proven effective in numerous situations.  For the Gulf Oil spill it could prove to be not only quicker and safer, but also cheaper than anything we’ve got so far.

References:
1) Looking Deep to Remediate Perchlorate http://www.cdm.com/NR/rdonlyres/C7E63C7A-CC59-4866-AE47-4FDBF570930C/0/LookingDeeptoRemediatePerchlorate.pdf

2)  Uranium eating bacteria clean radioactive  sites http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/3372/uranium-eating-bacteria-clean-radioactive-sites?page=0%2C0

3) Tiny Tools to Tackle Oil Spills  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSlTUuqOKbI

4) Gulf Oil Spill – Microbes that will eat oil in weeks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-yVBXfW9Z4

5)Wetlands to clean up oil spills:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXrOyqlGe50

Green Infrastructure Solutions – NVOC’s Porous Pavement Performance Study

Sylvan Avenue –  Ann Arbor, Michigan: The City of Ann Arbor is currently installing one of the first permeable pavement streets in southeast Michigan.  Permeable pavement, due to its porous nature, allows a significant amount of storm water to be absorbed back into the ground, rather than adding to a city’s storm water system.  In combined sewer communities porous pavement saves money and energy that would normally be required to treat and/or pump storm water.  In communities where sewers are separated it, reduces polluted flow volumes from entering our waterways.   In addition, porous pavement also greatly reduces flooding.  However, much of what is known about the performance of porous pavement is theoretical and experimental.  Looking for trends and comparisons to better understand the changes in storm water volumes due to porous pavement, the city of Ann Arbor recently accepted a proposal from NVOC to evaluate storm water discharge before and after construction. .

To collect the data needed, NVOC installed a v-notch weir and two pressure transducers into the manhole directly in front of Sylvan Avenue’s storm water collection pipe (see photo).  Utilizing this data in combination with the weir plate and a rainfall data, comparisons can be formulated between rainfall event size and approximate discharge of water into Sylvan Avenue’s storm sewer.

NVOC began preconstruction flow monitoring on Sylvan Avenue in late April, obtaining data for several significant rainfall events.  Removal of existing pavement began in late May with an anticipated completion of the porous pavement by mid July of this year.  The monitoring will continue for roughly 18 months.  NVOC will present data to the city at 6 month intervals.   This performance data will assist

NVOC in quantifying the actual volume reductions achievable through the installation of porous pavement and further our water/energy nexus work.

How Much Carbon Does Your Water Emit?

Water Energy Program Director, Valerie Strassberg, PE

NVOC’s Water/Energy program director, Valerie Strassberg, gave the keynote address to launch the Water/Energy Summit in Santa Fe, New Mexico last week.  The summit successfully brought together agencies, organizations, and individuals to learn about the vital connection between water and energy, and how our conservation of one has a positive effect on conservation of the other.  Valerie’s presentation ‘How Much Carbon Does Your Water Emit’ focused on the importance of including water as a component in our nations’ carbon and energy reduction strategies.  She stressed that to meet future demands, ensure economic feasibility, and reduce environmental damages; we must make water part of the equation.   NVOC began exploring the link between water and energy in 2008.  We continue to develop resources, educate, and coordinate efforts between city, state, and federal government agencies, universities, businesses, industries, other nonprofit organizations. For more information on our water/energy program contact us.