World Water Day was March 22, but really, every day is Water Day, isn't it?
I love it when people send links to good resources ~ there's so much out there, it's hard to follow all the websites worth watching. This week a friend sent me a link to a video on The Story of Stuff about one of my particular causes ~ decreasing demand for bottled water. The Story of Bottled Water is a well-done presentation on why bottled water is not only unnecessary for the most part, but also extremely wasteful of natural resources and our own hard-earned money.
One point in the video is that many cities are not investing in the public water supply. Fortunately for Rhode Islanders, that's not the case here in the nation's smallest state. And our drinking water is almost the best in the whole USA.
Providence tap water ranks with the nation’s best
Dec 15, 2009 - Providence tap water ranks with the nation’s best. By Lynn Arditi Journal Staff Writer. ...$76 million in drinking-water projects launched in RI
Dec 19, 2009 - $76 million in drinking-water projects launched in RI.
Nevertheless, there is plenty to do still, and of course for something so essential to life as water, there must be eternal vigilance...
Opportunities to care for our local water supplies abound. Most cities and towns have boards and commissions devoted to maintaining high quality water resources in Rhode Island. See What Grows On in RI for public meetings, many of which concern water. Watershed Watch could use help from 350 Rhode Islanders also:
Volunteers needed for Watershed Watch program
Mar 23, 2010 - ... According to watershed watch director Linda Green, overall water quality in Rhode Island has been fairly good. She and Herron credit ...
We can cooperate with efforts to detect distribution systems water leaks:
March 2010: Providence Water embarks on ambitious leak detection system installationFederal Stimulus funds are powering the latest Providence Water Supply Board initiative to equip its drinking water distribution system with thousands of leak detection devices. This system, called MLOG, will enable Providence Water to monitor the entire distribution system for water leaks. To accomplish this, leak detection devices will ultimately be installed in approximately 11,000 strategically-selected homes (about 15% of total customer homes throughout the entire Providence Water distribution system). The first phase of the program will see about 8,250 devices, purchased with special incentive bonds as part of the American Recovery Reinvestment Act, with debt service on the bonds being paid from existing water rates...
....Starting the week of March 15, 2010, Providence Water employees will begin the project in
North Providence neighborhoods requesting access to selected homes. Once North Providence installations are complete, Providence Water customers in Providence, Cranston and Johnston will be systematically contacted as the progress of the installation program continues. It is expected to take 2 years to completely install MLOG devices throughout the system...[read more]
For further background, check out these stories that Peter Lord wrote in the Providence Journal:
RI to utilize stimulus money for water, sewer projects
Sep 03, 2009 -
... By Peter B. Lord Journal Environment ... announced that the state plans to begin
distributing about $135 million in loans for local drinking water and sewer ...Passage likely for water supply bill
Jun 08, 2009 -
... By Peter B. Lord Journal Environment Writer. PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island’s drinking
water supplies should become more dependable over time, thanks to a ...$150 million in stimulus loans to go to sewer, water projects
Mar 24, 2009 -
... By Peter B. Lord Journal Environment Writer. Sen. ... into communities across Rhode Island
for water and sewer ... loans will be available for drinking water and sewer ...
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