Every day the most important news on water and sanitation from around the world, compiled by the Blue Community Network, defending water as a common, public good and a human right.
Today:Albania, BlueDigest, BottledWater, China, CostaRica, France, India, Mexico, Microplastics, Nigeria, Plastics, Right2Water, SouthAfrica, Spain, US, WaterCrisis
Ibiza, Spain: The challenges of drinking tap water and stopping ‘urine plastic’
This Wednesday, Alianza por el Agua is bringing together professionals from the water and waste sector at Club Diario to raise awareness about water consumption as part of the ‘Menys plàstic, més aixeta’ campaign.
Ibiza residents consume around 480 tonnes of plastic bottled water per year, probably because they perceive it to be ‘pure’, says Juan Calvo, director of Alianza por el Agua. As part of the campaign, the organisation is providing data to highlight the harmful effects of consuming bottled water and to encourage people to drink tap water instead. These and other issues will be discussed at the debate organised by the organisation at the Club Diario on Wednesday 25th, starting at 9:30 am.
Read Diario de Ibiza (Spanish) / Tags: Spain – BottledWater – Plastics
Brainwashed by plastic: what needs to be done?
Episode four in GroundUp’s video series on microplastics.
In 2018, two scientists used a remote weather station in the Pyrenees mountains, more than 100km from the nearest town, to measure how much plastic falls from the sky. Over five months, they recorded an average of 356 plastic particles per square metre, per day, mostly fragments of polystyrene and polyethylene.
Microplastics come at us from almost everywhere, from broken-down plastic packaging and consumer goods, from synthetic clothing and carpets, from car tyres wearing down on roads. They’re released from petroleum-based paints and coatings, landfills, construction sites, and manufacturing processes. In South Africa, microbeads are still found in some toiletries, though they have been banned in other countries.
Read and look at GroundUp / Tags: Microplastics – SouthAfrica
Nigerian president commissions China-assisted water supply project in capital city
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has commissioned a China-assisted water supply project in Abuja, the national capital, and pledged commitment to sustainable infrastructure that directly improves citizens’ lives.
Executed by Chinese firm CGCOC GROUP Co., Ltd., the 470-million-U.S.-dollar Greater Abuja Water Supply Network, Loops 1, 2, 5, and 6, was commissioned on Monday. It was initially awarded in 2017 under a tripartite financing arrangement involving 85 percent support of the funds from the Export-Import Bank of China, Nigeria’s federal government, and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).
Hailing the “substantially completed” water project, Tinubu described the water network as “a transformative effort to guarantee safe, sustainable, and sufficient water for homes, institutions, and communities across the capital city.”
Read Forum on China-Africa Cooperation / Tags: Nigeria – China
Mexico: Who is stealing water in Nuevo León? (or: Who’s water is it, anyway?)
There are illegal wells in the metropolitan area. To guarantee fair and sustainable access to water, the solution requires coordinated action and the participation of society.
Amid the water crisis facing the state, water theft through illegal connections has become an alarming problem that exacerbates the scarcity of this resource even further.
From 2000 to July 2022, the Monterrey Water and Drainage Service (AyD) documented 158,664 illegal connections in the Monterrey metropolitan area.
The year with the highest number of reports was 2021, with 12,855 cases; most of these irregular connections were in the municipality of Juárez. These illegal connections affect the equitable distribution of water and represent a significant economic loss.
Read El Mañana (Spanish) / Tags: Mexico
Water insecurity on the rise in American households
ASU professors say economically disadvantaged populations, some rural households most impacted.Read ASU News / Tags: US
France: Leaks, pollution, prices… In overseas territories, there is ‘environmental discrimination’ when it comes to access to water.
In a report published on Monday, the association Notre Affaire à Tous and ten overseas organisations warned of major access difficulties in overseas territories. They claim that this is the result of ‘environmental discrimination’ between mainland France and these territories. Prolonged cuts, water leaks and contamination are commonplace. France 24 takes stock of the situation.
Read France24 (French) / Tags: France – Right2Water
SUEZ awarded a 10-year contract for drinking water services in Cochin, India.
Suez has announced that the Kerala Water Authority has awarded it a ten-year performance contract to operate, maintain and improve drinking water services in Cochin, India, as part of the KUWSIP programme.
Funded by the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Kerala, the project aims to modernise the infrastructure serving approximately 700,000 residents.
This includes 146,500 connections and the renovation of an outdated network, as well as reducing unaccounted-for water losses by 20%.
Read SUEZ.com – The Economic Times – Indian Infrastructure – / Tags: India
Costa Rica: The government of Rodrigo Chaves has legalised higher levels of pesticides in drinking water.
On Tuesday, the government formalised a reform to the Drinking Water Quality Regulations through a decree signed by Health Minister Mary Munive, raising the permitted limits for pesticide residues in water intended for human consumption.
This measure has been published in the official gazette La Gaceta and has sparked a wave of criticism from the academic, technical, community and environmental sectors. These groups consider the change to be a serious setback for the protection of water resources and public health in the country.
The amendment to the regulations legalises concentrations of hazardous substances such as chlorothalonil metabolites, which are produced by the pesticide chlorothalonil. This pesticide was banned in Costa Rica in 2023 due to its carcinogenic nature.
Read ElPais.cr (Spanish) / Tags: CostaRica
Spain, Barcelona: A lack of drinking water is a long-standing problem in Barceloneta.
Residents interviewed by Noticentro reported that they are suffering due to the constant lack of drinking water in the municipality.
They said they live ‘from trickle to trickle’. Others said that they are being abused by the water supply, which comes and goes.
The mayor of Barceloneta, Wanda Soler Rosario, has declared a state of emergency due to the lack of access to drinking water. She said that the situation has been ongoing for years and described it as critical.
See wapa.tv (Spanish) / Tags: Spain – WaterCrisis
Albania: Tourist numbers increased in May, but coastal cities face shortages of drinking water
The number of foreign tourists visiting Albania increased further in May. According to INSTAT, last month, almost a million foreigners visited Albania, representing an increase of 1 % compared to May 1.4. In total, in 2024 months, 5 million foreigners visited Albania.
But tour operators warn that tourism growth is in danger due to the war, which slows the flow of tourists from Israel, but also due to the lack, for the second year in a row, of tourists from Kosovo.
Read Express / Tags: Albania
South Africa: Human rights body sets outs legal remedies to tackle water mafia plague
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has published a comprehensive policy brief highlighting the various legislative and policy mechanisms available for the State to tackle so-called ‘water mafias’ and the systematic sabotage of essential water infrastructure.
The policy brief, titled ‘How to address systemic sabotage of essential water infrastructure’, seeks to be a clarion call to South Africa’s law enforcement agencies and other State role-players, making several advisory recommendations to address the crisis.
“The SAHRC has noted with concern the prevalence of systemic sabotage of essential water infrastructure associated with the emergence of water mafias in South Africa,” the commission said, noting that this had become a scourge posing a significant danger and hampering the State’s efforts to achieve access to water for all.
Read Engineering News / Tags: SouthAfrica
