Water ~ Life Essential

Chromium 6-The Cost of Cleanup

2011-12-21T10:17:00.000-05:00

Costs mount for Glendale's ongoing inquiry into chromium 6
Research on removing the cancer-causing contaminant from groundwater has slogged on for nine years, and some officials are getting impatient.
By Brittany Levine, Los Angeles Times
December 20, 2011

The costs keep piling up as a project to study chromium 6 removal becomes a bigger expense than expected for Glendale, which has been trudging through nine years of research to strip the cancer-causing contaminant from groundwater.
Although the City Council last week approved spending an additional $400,000 to continue research at two testing facilities — just two months after the council gave the green light to spend $550,000 in grant and state funding on more research — some city officials are getting antsy.
"This has been going on for a number of years," said Councilman Rafi Manoukian. "I want to get this thing done and over with."
Cities throughout the San Fernando Valley have been grappling with chromium 6 contamination caused decades ago by aerospace manufacturing. Glendale has spent more than $7.8 million on removal research, most of which has come from state grants and other funding sources.
Peter Kavounas, assistant general manager for water services at Glendale Water & Power, said he too was frustrated by the slow process. But he said research takes time, especially as the state moves slowly to set tighter restrictions on chromium 6 levels.
"We are very much aligned in the same line of thought that we need to bring this to an end," Kavounas said. But he added, "Research by definition is something difficult to predict when it will end."
In about four years, the state may cap chromium 6 levels at between 5 and 10 parts per billion, much lower than the current 50 parts per billion limit, Kavounas said. After being treated and blended with clean imports, Glendale's water is already at about 5 parts per billion of chromium 6. Before treatment, underground water from some local wells contains between 45 and 70 parts per billion.
Although Glendale has settled on two methods for stripping the chemical from water, more research about side effects is needed, Kavounas said.
Kavounas said the research began as a focused study but grew larger as the field of chromium 6 removal expanded. In addition, state officials say they will look to Glendale's research as they set tighter restrictions, which has expanded the scope of the city's research.
Part of the $400,000 will cover requests by the Environmental Protection Agency and California Department of Public Health for additional cost information, according to a city report.
The money will also keep two testing facilities open through April. Then the city will deactivate one, and a group made up of companies responsible for the presence of chromium 6 will take control of the other.
brittany.levine@latimes.com
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

Multi-Pure Announces Pure Convention

2011-11-16T15:09:00.000-05:00

Multi-Pure Announces Pure Convention

Invasive Asian Carp Solutions for the Great Lakes

2011-09-29T12:52:00.000-04:00

Asian Carp are an invasive breed of Carp that is currently invading the US. They are quickly invading the Great Lakes. Everyone is trying to find a solution that will be effective and safe for the environment. As you can see, these are some HUGE fish!

Where did they come from?
These fish were originally brought to the US for a reason.

The Wisconsin DNR website states: The Asian Carp was introduced into the United States are headed toward Wisconsin waters. Asian carp DNA has been found in a Lake Michigan harbor on the Indiana-Illinois border, and individual adult fish have been found on occassion in Wisconsin waters of the Mississippi River and in the Lower Wisconsin River.

While they also state that there have been no new fish have been found, they have somehow gotten into other waters in the US.

As the map shows, they have invaded quite a few areas.

Why Should Asian Carp be controlled?

The reasons are many. Ecologically, they can change the entire ecosystem of the Great Lakes. They even have a web-site dedicated to Asian Carp information. Click here for all the information.

There is also human danger. As seen in this video, the carp will jump right into a boat, potentially clubbing the people in the boat.

Although it is funny to watch, can you imagine getting clubbed in the head with one of those?

Controlling Asian Carp Spread

There are all kinds of ideas to control these invasive fish, now we just have to choose one or more and make sure we will not harm the environment in the process.

TreeHugger.com says pelicans are the answer. But that would bring more pelican poop complaints. And, pelican poop just might not be good for the ecosystem in the waters.

Another solution, simply eat them. With food prices skyrocketing, and the economy still not "bouncing back" why not make good use of them?

Target Hunger Now! Program Features Asian Carp
Expansion event highlights tasty ways to help feed Illinois families and manage Asian carp threat
CHICAGO, IL – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and partner Feeding Illinois are hosting hundreds of children, adults and families who will experience how delicious Asian carp can be when prepared simply and correctly during an event at Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory High School in Chicago this afternoon. The event is the first ‘Target Hunger Now!’ program to showcase Asian carp throughout Illinois.
To download the complete press release, please click here.

There are other solutions that would be harmful to the environment, including an electrical shock fence, that might kill other fish and wild life. Poisoning, which could also kill other fish and animals.

From the looks of all the choices available for controlling the Asian Carp, eating them seems to be the most eco friendly option.

Tough Times.

2011-09-20T19:01:00.001-04:00

Are you having a tough time finding a job, or just making ends meet with your current job? There really are solutions right on the World Wide Web.

I bet if Multi-Pure posted a Job Opening stating that we are going to hire thousands of people. Pay them minimum wage and have them promote just like I am doing now.

How many people would be lined up for hours in hopes of getting an interview?

Every applicant would be more than willing to do anything, just to be hired! So what really is stopping you?

Click Here Now!

We will get you started right away!

Hurricane Irene Renews Debates About U.S. Budget and Climate Change

2011-09-02T06:50:00.000-04:00

From The Circle of Blue

Hurricane Irene killed at least 40 people, caused billions of dollars in damages, and cut power to nearly 8 million homes and businesses as the storm moved from the Caribbean through the East Coast of the United States last week. But while financial analysts and members of Congress focus on who and how much to pay for recovery, climate experts are pointing out holes in the system.

While the immediate losses brought on by Hurricane Irene are likely to be smaller than predicted, analysts are warning that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is struggling to fund the recovery efforts, according to many news organizations. This is raising questions about how much of the damage would be covered by states and insurance companies, as well as whether Congress would approve more disaster-relief money when it returns from its August recess on September 6.

State and federal agencies are still quantifying the losses from Irene, which swept through the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico before it spread into 11 U.S. states and Canada. While Irene largely spared New York City, the storm caused the worst flooding in decades in inland areas of New York state, New Jersey, and Vermont.

According to preliminary estimates, the hurricane destroyed or severely damaged at least 1,100 homes and caused more than $US 71 million in damages in seven North Carolina counties, Reuters reported. Power utilities are still struggling to restore electricity to millions of people, from North Carolina to Maine. The outages also temporarily disrupted operations at major oil refineries in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.
Additionally, some 260 roads in Vermont — which saw its worst flooding in 80 years — remain closed, and authorities are planning to airlift food and water to towns that have been cut off by floodwaters.

Federal Estimates and Aid: Will there be enough to go around?
President Barack Obama has pledged federal disaster assistance for several hard-hit states, as well as Puerto Rico. The disaster declarations will allow FEMA to provide low-interest loans or grants to people affected by the hurricane, and these funds will help individuals to repair homes, to pay medical bills, and to rebuild businesses.

But the federal money will not cover all of the costs for state and local governments that were already scraping by on very tight budgets, Reuters reported.

Though Obama administration officials have said they have no estimate of the storm’s cost and are still assessing the damage, Standard & Poor reported that total economic losses from the disaster could reach $US 20 billion, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide has insured-loss estimates between $US 3 to 6 billion, and risk-management firm Kinetic Analysis Corporation has estimated the total damage from Hurricane Irene at $US 7 billion.

Analysts agree, however, that whatever the price tag on Irene’s damage, it would pale in comparison to 2005 and 2008, when taxpayers had to bail out FEMA after losses proved too much to handle. In 2005, the Hurricane Katrina bill totaled to roughly $US 100 billion, while 2008 saw $US 30 billion in losses inflicted by Hurricane Ike, which was the last big hurricane to reach the U.S. coast and inland areas.

Though the cost of Irene’s damage may prove to be less than Katrina’s and Ike’s, concerns are beginning to rise over FEMA’s capacity to deal with the aftermath of this hurricane, given its recent history. The agency has warned lawmakers that, in order to insure that its fund will not run out of money, FEMA has suspended or placed restrictions on long-term repair, rebuilding, and mitigation projects from previous and current disasters.
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, however, has dismissed concerns that the agency’s dwindling emergency aid fund would hamper recovery efforts, the Associated Press reported.

Climate Change and Congress
And while financial experts are estimating the costs associated with Irene, climate experts are questioning whether the aid and insurance industry needs a makeover. The prospects for climate change — which is already disrupting preciptation patterns and increasing the likelihood of weather extremes like floods and droughts — raises big questions about the fund’s and the insurers’ long-term preparedness and sustainability.
This year has been one of the most extreme for weather in U.S. history, with $US 35 billion in losses so far from floods, tornadoes, and heat waves. And, if climate change modeling is correct, the trend is only expected to grow worse with time.
Yet, despite the massive amount of media coverage devoted to Irene over the last two weeks, television reports have made little or no mention of the role that climate change played in the storm, Bill McKibben, co-founder and director of 350.org, told Democracy Now.

McKibben was recently arrested along with many others for protesting outside the White House against the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, an act he was doing to raise awareness about environmental pollution and climate change.
“We’ve had not only this extraordinary flooding, but, on the same day that Hurricane Irene was coming down, Houston set its all-time temperature record — 109 degrees,” McKibben said. “We’re in a new situation…There’s never been a purer test of whether or not we’re prepared to stand up to climate change.”

On Thursday, a new report by the non-profit network Ceres revealed only 11 of 88 major U.S. insurers surveyed recently have formal policies in place to deal with growing climate change risks.

“The findings are both illuminating and disillusioning,” Ceres President Mindy Lubber wrote in the report’s foreword. “While the survey revealed a broad consensus among insurers that climate change will have an effect on extreme weather events, few insurers were able to articulate a coherent plan to manage the risks and opportunities associated with climate change.”

The costs associated with Hurricane Irene have also rekindled a battle in Congress over the handling of the national deficit and budget spending. Republican senators are demanding that federal aid for post-Irene disaster relief be offset by spending cuts elsewhere, while Democrats are promising they won’t cut other programs to boost emergency aid.

In June, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill that would give FEMA an additional $US 1 billion in disaster-relief funding for the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30, as well as $US 2.65 billion for the next fiscal year. But that document, yet to be approved by the Senate, would require the Obama administration to slash other government programs if there became a need for more disaster-relief money — a provision the White House has has said it would ignore.

Senate Democrats have pledged to seek more disaster-recovery funds as soon as Congress resumes work on September 6. Additionally, the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee has announced a vote on its own funding bill, which will differ significantly from the House-passed version.
Sources: Bloomberg, Democracy Now, FEMA, The Hill, Reuters

Tell the White House: Ban Fracking Now

2011-08-18T07:37:00.000-04:00

Tell the White House: Ban Fracking Now

Do you know 10 people who care about safe water?

Sign up to help get calls into the White House!

August 17, 2011

Dear Friends and Readers,

I had to share this with you all. Please sign and let the White House hear your voice! Fracking will take away so many natural resources, most importantly our safe water supply. Sign this TODAY!

You've come through every time we've asked you to make your voice heard against fracking, and we need your help again. We're planning to generate thousands of calls into the White House on September 13th to ban fracking, and we need your help to do it.

Can you join us by getting your friends and family to make a call next month?

The millions of people who care about safe water, unpolluted by toxic fracking chemicals, outweigh the corporate special interests that are making profits at the expense of our health and environment. But in order to combat these entrenched interests, we need citizens to make their voices heard. Every phone call makes an impact, and by coming together, we can speak louder than their billions of dollars. Can you help by taking the lead and asking your friends and family to make a call on September 13th?

In order to power this movement, we need more people just like you: passionate about protecting our water and willing to stand up and take action. I'll be asking my friends and family to make a call on September 13th, and I hope you'll join me.

Sign up here to help ban fracking:
http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=6184

Thanks for taking action,

Katy Kiefer
Outreach Organizer
Food & Water Watch
cleanwater(at)fwwatch(dot)org

JERSEY CITY, N.J. TO UPGRADE AND REPAIR SEWER SYSTEM

2011-08-14T11:49:00.000-04:00

USA EPA Water news.

Release date: 07/19/2011
Contact Information: DOJ (202) 514-2007, WWW.JUSTICE.GOV EPA (800) 223-0423 TDD (202) 514-1888

WASHINGTON – A settlement between the United States and the Jersey City, N.J. Municipal Utilities Authority (JCMUA) will resolve Clean Water Act violations by JCMUA for failing to properly operate and maintain its combined sewer system, the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

JCMUA violations included releases of untreated sewage into the Hackensack River, Hudson River, Newark Bay and Penhorn Creek. JCMUA will invest more than $52 million in repairs and upgrades to its existing infrastructure and pay a civil penalty of $375,000.

Under the settlement, JCMUA is required to comply with its Clean Water Act permit and will conduct evaluations to identify the problems within the system that led to releases of untreated sewage. JCMUA will also complete repairs to approximately 25,000 feet of sewer lines over the next eight years. Finally, JCMUA will invest $550,000 into a supplemental environmental project that will remove privately-owned sewers from homes in several neighborhoods in Jersey City and replace them with direct sewer connections, creating better wastewater collection in those areas.

“This agreement, like others reached with cities across the country, addresses critically important and long-overdue upgrades to the municipal sewer system in Jersey City, which are required if JCMUA is to achieve compliance with the nation’s Clean Water Act,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. “Among the actions required by the agreement, a supplemental environmental project will replace privately-owned sewers with direct sewer connections, directly benefiting economically disadvantaged residents by improving wastewater collection and preventing sewage backups in their homes.”

“Investment in municipal infrastructure and local commitments like those in today’s agreement are practical and necessary solutions to sewer overflow problems,” said Judith A. Enck, Administrator for EPA’s Region 2 Office. “Today’s agreement will help improve water quality in waters around Jersey City and protect community residents from exposure to raw sewage and contaminated stormwater, now, and into the future.”

Combined sewer systems are designed to transport sewage, industrial wastewater and rainwater runoff in the same pipes to wastewater treatment plants. During periods of heavy rainfall, the volume of wastewater traveling through a combined sewer system can exceed the capacity of the treatment plant. Resulting overflows, called Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), contain not only stormwater but also pollutants such as untreated human and industrial waste, toxic materials, and debris. They pose risks to human health, threaten aquatic habitats and life, and impair the use and enjoyment of the nation’s waterways.

The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. A copy of the consent decree is available on the Department of Justice web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

EPA recently released a report, Keeping Raw Sewage and Contaminated Stormwater Out of the Public’s Water, to answer commonly asked questions about combined sewer overflows. To read or download a copy of the report, visit http://www.epa.gov/region2/water/.

Calling for More Drilling Regulation!

2011-08-11T10:06:00.000-04:00

More drilling information. Is the public being correctly informed of what hydraulic fracturing is doing to the environment?

A federal Department of Energy panel issued recommendations on Thursday for improving the safety and environmental impact of drilling in shale formations for natural gas.

In a report on the drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, that is used currently in most oil and gas wells, the seven-member Natural Gas Subcommittee called for better tracking and more careful disposal of the waste that comes up from wells, stricter standards on air pollution and greenhouse gases associated with drilling, and the creation of a federal database so the public can better monitor drilling operations.
The report also called for companies to eliminate diesel fuel from their fracking fluid because it includes carcinogenic chemicals, and for companies and regulators to disclose the full list of ingredients used in fracking.
“The public deserves assurance that the full economic, environmental and energy security benefits of shale gas development will be realized without sacrificing public health, environmental protection and safety,” said the report, which was prepared by a subcommittee led by John Deutch, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and a group of energy experts including Daniel Yergin, chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, and Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund.

Keep up to date! Read the New York Times online!

Want to read more at NYTimes.com? Here are some personal stories and articles.

How Do You Stay Cool and Hydrated

2011-08-02T05:47:00.000-04:00

It has been very hot here in Indiana the last few weeks. Relief will come, but in the mean time we all need to stay cool and hydrated. A very good friend sent me a photo of how her dog is keeping cool.

How do you keep cool and hydrated? Got a funny pic? Share it!

Great News for Indiana!

2011-07-25T14:25:00.000-04:00

Board of Works awards $8.25M contract for sewer upgrades

Project will reduce combined sewer overflow events

The Herald Bulletin

ANDERSON — The Board of Public Works on Tuesday signed a final contract with Indianapolis-based Shook Construction for $8,249,000 to make facility improvements to the Water Pollution Control department for Phase I of its long-term control plan. The plan is in place to fulfill a federal consent decree that requires updates to the facility and a reduction in the annual number of combined sewer overflow events.

Water Pollution Control Superintendent Nara Manor said Shook’s was the lowest bid, and all State Revolving Fund funding is in place to begin construction on the project as soon as possible. Shook Construction is expected to use some local subcontractors and vendors.

Also at the meeting, the board approved the 2010 holiday schedule that gives city employees 16 paid holidays and two personal days. The board awarded a contract to build curbs and sidewalks along West 11th Street to Partners in Concrete and received bids for curbs and sidewalks along Fourth Street.

The board also approved an $1,100 contract to set the right-of-way property lines along West 73rd Street and Accelerator Drive, and awarded a contract for $48,288 to Mel Sylvester Construction for the rehabilitation of a property at 1048 Sycamore St. under the Community Development Department’s Neighborhood Stabilization Project.

Finally, the board received one quote from National City bank for a $1.5 million, 10-year loan at a 4.4 percent interest rate for the White River levee construction project.

— The Herald Bulletin

Indiana cities announce extreme heat plans

2011-07-20T23:43:00.000-04:00

INDIANAPOLIS - Cities across central Indiana are implementing plans to deal with extreme heat this week.

On Tuesday, Indianapolis announced its extreme heat contingency plan. Community centers will offer extended hours to residents who need to cool off. Click here to see a list of locations and times.
Stop watering your lawn
Indianapolis residents are being asked to refrain from watering their lawns through this coming Sunday (July 24th, 2011). Indianapolis Water pumped 215 million gallons of water Tuesday, compared with an average of 140 million gallons a day.
Due to increased demand, some Indianapolis Water customers may already notice low water pressure. The utility will reevaluate this request to cease all lawn watering on Monday, and may return to the odd/even schedule if the excessive demand subsides.
Customers are also asked to voluntarily practice the following wise water use guidelines at all times:
· Repair or replace leaking water fixtures;
· Run water appliances, such as clothes washers and dishwashers, when they are full;
· Turn off the water while brushing teeth or shaving;
· Use a higher lawnmower setting to provide natural ground shade and promote the soil's water retention;
· Wash cars with a bucket of soapy water and use a nozzle to stop the flow of water from the hose between rinsing;
· Cover swimming pools to reduce evaporation; and
· Retrofit low-performance fixtures with high-performance WaterSense-labeled fixtures.
Lafayette community centers:
• Salvation Army, 1100 Union St., 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
• Bauer Community Center, 330 Fountain St., 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
• Hanna Center, 1201 N. 18th St., 1:30 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Center@Jenks Rest, 1915 Scott St. (Columbian Park), 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Anderson public health emergency
Also, the City of Anderson declared a public health emergency due to the record heat. Under the emergency order, the city will open its Emergency Operations Center and direct the opening of cooling shelters as administered by the Chaplain's Emergency Response Team.
Shelters will be open until 6pm on Wednesday at Aletheia Fellowship, 2505 Faith Drive (call 623-3602 for more information about this location) and at Cross Street Christian School, 2318 W. Cross Street (425-8654). Shelters plan to be open on Thursday, July 21 from 1pm-6pm as well, to provide relief for citizens during the hottest part of the day.
Citizens in the Crime Watch network are advised to check on their neighbors, especially the elderly or disabled. People are also reminded to provide their pets with adequate supplies of water and shelter to escape the record heat. Should a health or other emergency arise because of heat-related conditions, citizens should call 911 or the City's dispatch center at 648-6775.
Bargersville Water
The Bargersville Water Utilities is implementing their Level 1 Emergency Water Conservation measure. Level 1 is voluntary conservation; the primary concern is Lawn irrigation. All customers are asked to limit irrigation to every other day and to use their address as the point of reference. If the address ends with an even number, irrigate on even number days. If the address ends with an odd number, irrigate on odd number days. If at all possible please reduce the irrigation run time by one-third to one-half.

Heat Wave! Drink Lots of Good Filtered Water!

2011-07-18T16:08:00.002-04:00

From A Cardiac Specialist!Drinking water at certain time maximizes it's effectiveness on the body:

2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs

1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion

1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure

1 glass of water before going to bed - avoids stroke or heart attack
Please pass this to the people you care about.......I DID!!!!

Dr. Oz, Your Water causing cancer?

2011-07-14T10:47:00.003-04:00

Dr. Oz has done an extensive investigation on what is in our water that could be making us down right ill. The results are explained in this collection of 3 videos.

The shocking results from Dr. Oz’s special investigation are in.

Arsenic, lead, known carcinogen chromium 6, and perchlorate – or rocket fuel – are among the contaminants you are being exposed to every day.

Click here to watch Part 1.

Click here to watch Part 2.
Click here to watch Part 3

The shocking results from Dr. Oz’s special investigation are in. Arsenic, lead, known carcinogen chromium 6, and perchlorate – or rocket fuel – are among the contaminants you are being exposed to every day.

If you are concerned about the safety of your water, follow these action steps to protect you and your family:

Click here to get your city’s Consumer Confidence Report and find out if there are any violations in your area.
Call your local health department and see if they offer free or reduced-rate tap water tests.
Hire a lab to test your water. Testing may cost upwards of $125.
Choose a water filtration system to remove contaminants from your water at home. Click here for a guide to the best systems.

Click here to watch Part 2.
Click here to watch Part 3

Unfiltered Tap Water Can and Will Make You Ill!

2011-07-07T10:44:00.001-04:00

What are you drinking?

I recently became a Multi-Pure water filter distributor. With this new role, I am also learning a lot about what is in our water supply! I really had no idea that Indiana’s public water supply was so terrible! That just makes me more determined to get the word out about Multi-Pure water filters!
If you are feeling ill, for no apparent reason, it really could be the water in your own home! Below are listed some contaminants found in Indiana public water supply that truly could be making you sick!

Water Disinfection Byproducts

What are water disinfection byproducts?
The term refers not to one chemical compound but a group of chemicals that are formed as byproducts of water treatment. Up to 600 disinfection byproducts have been identified but only a fraction of them — including bromate, total trihalomethanes (chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform) and haloacetic acids (dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monochloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid and dibromoacetic acid) — are monitored by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
How often do they occur in drinking water?
According to the Environmental Working Group’s analysis of about 20 million drinking water tests conducted by water suppliers between 2004 and 2009, disinfection byproducts, many of which are unregulated, were the most common water pollutants found in US water supplies.
How did the water pollutants end up in water supplies?
Chemical byproducts are formed when disinfectants used to treat water, such as chlorine, react with organic pollution washed off from cities, suburbs and agricultural farms.
What are the possible health effects of water disinfection byproducts?
Disinfection byproducts can cause gene mutation, induce birth defects, accelerate the aging process, sets off an inflammatory response in the body, and even induce cancer after long-term exposures.

Associations have also been made between exposure to certain trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids at concentrations above the maximum contaminant level and injury to the liver, kidney, eyes, nerves and the reproductive system.

How to remove water disinfection byproducts from water?
Water filtration systems using activated carbon filters can reduce levels of disinfection byproducts (such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids) as can a reverse osmosis unit. Look out for certification, or confirm with the manufacturer before making your purchase.

Nitrate and Nitrite

· What are nitrate and nitrite?
Nitrates and nitrites are common inorganic compounds that are found contaminating drinking water.

· How often do they occur in drinking water?
Nitrate ranks number five in EWG’s list of frequently detected water pollutants. Nitrate and/or nitrite contamination is also not uncommon in drinking water drawn from private wells in the US.

· How did the water pollutants end up in water supplies?
The major sources of nitrates and nitrites in drinking water are excessive use of nitrogen-containing fertilizers (e.g. potassium nitrate and ammonium nitrate) by farmers and homeowners, leaching from septic sewer systems, discharge by chemical, petrochemical and metal-finishing industries, human and animal organic wastes, as well as erosion of natural deposits.

· What are the possible health effects of nitrate and nitrite?
Infants are susceptible to ‘blue baby syndrome’, or methemoglobinemia, after drinking water containing excess nitrate. This potentially dangerous condition occurs when hemoglobins in the red blood cells are converted into methemoglobin in the presence of nitrate and/or nitrite and loses their ability to carry oxygen.

Although older children and adults can tolerate higher levels of nitrates, little is known about the possible long-term effects of nitrate ingestion. Some evidence suggests that nitrate exposure above safety limits may be carcinogenic.

· How to remove nitrate and nitrite from water?
Unfortunately, nitrate and nitrite cannot be removed by carbon-only water filters. Technologies that can reduce the water pollutants effectively include reverse osmosis and atmospheric water generation.

But these technologies have their drawbacks too.

Although reverse osmosis filters are effective in eliminating most disease causing organisms and chemical contaminants, they generally use about three times as much water as they treat. They also remove most of the minerals in the water and may worsen mineral deficiency in those who are already getting insufficient minerals from their diet.

Atmospheric water generator, which extracts water from humid ambient air, is slow, huge (almost the size of a medium refrigerator), and requires an environment with a relatively high humidity to generate water at an acceptable rate. Though you can connect it to a water supply and use it as a regular purifier, its water filtration capabilities may not be sufficient to remove the types of contaminants in your water.

Pharmaceuticals

· What are pharmaceutical contaminants?
Pharmaceutical contaminants refer to a cocktail of dissolved prescription pills, over-the-counter drugs as well as ingredients used for making drugs that are found in drinking water.

According to the 2008-2009 annual report presented by the President’s Cancer Panel, some medications found in water supplies include antidepressants, chemotherapy drugs, medications for hypertension and diabetes, steroid medications, oral contraceptives, non-prescription pain relievers, hormone replacement therapy medications, anti-convulsants, heart medications and antibiotics.

· How often do they occur in drinking water?
A shocking Associated Press report in 2009 revealed that at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals have been poured into US waterways that often provide drinking water.

Unlike nitrate and other regulated contaminants, the presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water is not monitored by government in most countries and hence, water suppliers are not required to test for them. To make things worse, conventional water treatment plants are also incapable of removing dissolved medications that have entered the water systems.

· How did the water pollutants end up in water supplies?
Dumping of active pharmaceutical ingredients by manufacturers into waterways, as well as improper disposal of medications by consumers into household drains and toilets. Drugs of all types also enter the water supply when they are excreted.

(If you’ve the habit of flushing expired drugs down the toilet, please stop!)

· What are the possible health effects of pharmaceuticals?
Currently, there is no study looking into the long-term effects of drinking water containing low doses of multiple drugs for extended period of time. However, considering that a number of medications are formulated to work at relatively low dosage, their long-term unintended effects cannot be ruled out completely.

· How to remove pharmaceuticals from water?
Water filters that use only basic carbon blocker are unlikely to remove pharmaceutical contaminants. Reverse osmosis system, however, is able to remove dissolved drugs, so is atmospheric water generator which skips contaminated water altogether and generates water from air.

Arsenic

· What is arsenic?
Arsenic is a natural occurring element found in soil, rocks, air, food and water. It’s also used for producing electronic parts, automotive batteries, wood preservatives, glass, pesticides and more.

· How often does it occur in drinking water?
Arsenic contamination of water is a global problem. According to the Wikipedia, over 137 million people in more than 70 countries, including America, are probably affected by arsenic poisoning of drinking water.

· How did the water pollutant end up in water supplies?
Arsenic leaches into water when water flows pass arsenic-rich soils and rocks. Mining activities, discharges from industries that use arsenic compounds, and runoffs from farms and homes that use arsenic-containing pesticides also add to the amount of the pollutant in water supplies.

· What are the possible health effects of arsenic?
Arsenic is a highly toxic substance and is classified as a carcinogen which can cause cancers of the skin, lung, and bladder as well as heart disease.

· How to remove arsenic from water?
Reverse osmosis is currently the most effective way to remove arsenic. Generating water through air is also another way to avoid arsenic. But take note of the cons highlighted earlier for each of them before purchasing to make sure you can live with the drawbacks.

Hexavalent Chromium

· What is hexavalent chromium?
Hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, is a common industrial chemical used for the production of textile dyes, pigments, stainless steel, wood preservation, leather tanning, anti-corrosion coatings and other niche uses.

It was made famous by the film “Erin Brockovich”, starring Julia Roberts, that tells the real-life story of cancer-stricken residents of Hinkley who in 1996 won a $333 million settlement from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for contaminating their tap water with hexavalent chromium.

· How often does it occur in drinking water?
A 2010 study commissioned by the Environmental Working Group found that water from 31 out of 35 US cities was polluted with hexavalent chromium. Of those, 25 had levels that exceeded the safety limits proposed by California regulators.

· How did the water pollutant end up in water supplies?
Discharge by irresponsible industries that produce or use hexavalent chromium, such as metal-plating and leather-tanning facilities as well as steel and pulp mills.

Other forms of chromium, such as chromium-3, also occur naturally in soil, rocks, rivers, plants and animals.

· What are the possible health effects of hexavalent chromium?
Hexavalent chromium has long been known to cause lung cancer when inhaled. There are also increasing scientific evidence linking the pollutant to liver and kidney damage as well as leukemia, stomach cancer and other cancers in lab animals.

· How to remove hexavalent chromium from water?
Use a water filter that is certified to remove hexavalent chromium (chromium-6). Multi-Pure’s Reverse Osmosis water filter unit is NSF certified to remove all or most of these contaminants.

Yellowstone Oil Spill

2011-07-05T08:36:00.000-04:00

I just heard this on the news, so I did a search to find some more information. This oil spill is contaminating ground water, not salt water. Ground water contamination is happening all over from many sources. Keep coming back for updates!

The Huffington Post reports:
Matthew Brown, Associated Press
LAUREL, Mont. — Hundreds of barrels of crude oil spilled into Montana's Yellowstone River after an ExxonMobil pipeline beneath the riverbed ruptured, sending a plume 25 miles downstream and forcing temporary evacuations, officials said.
The break near Billings in south-central Montana fouled the riverbank and forced municipalities and irrigation districts Saturday to close intakes.
The river has no dams on its way to its confluence with the Missouri River just across the Montana border in North Dakota. It was unclear how far the plume might travel.
Cleanup crews deployed booms and absorbent material as the plume moved downstream at an estimated 5 to 7 mph.
"The parties responsible will restore the Yellowstone River," Mont. Gov. Brian Schweitzer said.
A 600-foot-long black smear of oil coated Jim Swanson's riverfront property just downstream from where the pipe broke.

"Whosever pipeline it is better be knocking on my door soon and explaining how they're going to clean it up," Swanson said as globules of oil bubbled to the surface. "They say they've got it capped off. I'm not so sure."
ExxonMobil spokeswoman Pam Malek said the pipe leaked an estimated 750 to 1,000 barrels of oil for about a half-hour before it was shut down. Other Exxon officials had estimated up to 42,000 gallons of crude oil escaped. Keep up to date here

9-11 Beam Escorted By 15,000 Bikes!

2011-06-28T09:14:00.005-04:00

(ANGOLA) - In the interest of safety, a route change has been announced for the motorcycle escort of the 9-11 beam from the destroyed World Trade Center that will go through Angola and Steuben County on Saturday, July 2nd. Instead of heading north from the Country Fair Shopping Plaza to the area of Pokagon State Park and the Snow Lake area, Angola Fire Department Public Information Officer T.R. Hagerty says the beam will now take a route more to the west. It will still leave the shopping plaza parking lot at 10:28am which is the time the second tower fell on 9-11. It will head north on North Wayne and then turn left onto Harcourt Road which eventually turns into County Road 100 North. The beam will then go west on 100 North to 600 West before turning left and going South to U.S. 20. It will then turn right onto 20 and then head west to State Road 327 where it will turn north and head into Orland. The beam and the thousands of motorcyclists expected to escort it will then turn left onto State Road 120 then head west from Orland. From Orland, Hagerty says the route will stay the same as previously planned. He says the new route will cut the intersections from 65 to 37 and will help with manpower issues. With less intersections, it's felt this route will be safer for the riders and minimize the chance of a mishap. The 8-foot by 2-foot beam will wind up at the Osolo Township Fire Department near Elkhart. Police officials are expecting up to 15,000 motorcyclists to escort the beam.

Visit http://www.wlki.com/default.asp?pid=50499 for up to date information!

A Fracking Victory for Texas

2011-06-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

National Briefing | SOUTHWEST
Texas: Drillers Must Disclose ‘Fracking’ Chemicals
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 20, 2011

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Gov. Rick Perry has signed a bill requiring drillers to disclose the chemicals they use when extracting oil and gas from rock formations, making Texas the first state to pass such a law. Some state agencies have passed rules forcing some disclosure, but no other states have made it a law. Texas’ law will force drillers to post the chemicals and the amounts used beginning in July 2012. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is being used in more states. In the fracking process, drillers pump chemical-laced water into the ground at high pressure to crack the rock. Environmental groups worry that the chemicals could taint water supplies. The industry says the process is safe.
A version of this brief appeared in print on June 21, 2011, on page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: Texas: Drillers Must Disclose ‘Fracking’ Chemicals.

EPA Cracking Down for Clean Water!

2011-06-09T16:19:00.000-04:00

Owner and Operator of Wastewater Treatment Facilities Sentenced for Violating the Clean Water Act / Jeffrey Pruett to serve 21 months in prison

Release date: 06/09/2011

Contact Information: Stacy Kika, Kika.stacy@epa.gov, 202-564-0906, 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON — Jeffrey Pruett, 58, of West Monroe, La. was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to a total of 33 months incarceration. He received 21 months for seven felony counts and 12 months for one misdemeanor count, which will be served concurrently. Pruett and the two companies he owned and operated are also collectively responsible for paying a $310,000 criminal fine. The violations threatened local drinking water supplies and people’s health by failing to meet the required Clean Water Act standards.

"Mr. Pruett’s disregard for the law led to sewage backups in people’s homes and endangered public health,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s sentence proves that those who knowingly break environmental laws will be held accountable for their criminal actions.”

Pruett was Chief Executive Officer of LWC Management Company, Inc. (LWC) and Principal Officer of Louisiana Land & Water Company (LLWC) and was responsible for overseeing the operations and finances of both companies. Testimony during the federal trial showed that beginning in April 1999, Pruett and his companies provided sewer and wastewater treatment plant services to the Bayou Galion, Charmingdale Estates, Daywood and Donovan Woods, Love Estates, and Pine Bayou subdivisions of Monroe, La. Homeowners in the Monroe subdivisions were required to pay a fee for sewage and wastewater treatment plant services based on rates set by the Louisiana Public Service Commission.

Pruett was convicted in January 2011 by a federal jury for multiple violations of the Clean Water Act, including the failure to provide and maintain records, illegal discharge of pollutants and improper operation and maintenance of a facility.

Facilities that discharge effluent from wastewater treatment plants are required to obtain state discharge permits, in this case, from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. These permits required LLWC and LWC to properly operate and maintain sewage systems and wastewater treatment and control facilities and provide adequate staff qualified to ensure that the company complied with pollutant limits. The state received numerous customer complaints about sewage backups at residences and cloudy, tainted water coming out of the taps. The state also received complaints about sewage discharges into roadside ditches near residences and improper termination of residents’ sewage and water services.

Pruett and LLWC were found guilty of six felony violations of failure to maintain and provide records pertaining to all of the Monroe subdivisions. Pruett and LLWC were also found guilty of one felony count of effluent violations pertaining to Love Estates subdivision. Pruett was found guilty of one misdemeanor/negligent count of failure to provide proper operation and maintenance pertaining to the Pine Bayou subdivision.

The case was investigated by the EPA and the state of Louisiana, and was prosecuted by the Office of the United States Attorney, Western District of Louisiana.

More information on EPA’s criminal enforcement program: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/criminal/index.html

A Fracking Discussion

2011-05-27T11:28:00.002-04:00

More Fracking Fallout

2011-05-26T20:12:00.000-04:00

Seriously. Nobody thought of the side effects? Or is big oil seeing this as collateral damage. We should know what they are butting in the ground and in our water and food supply! I mean really! WTF!!

I just found this post, clearly we are not being informed of the damage this is doing!

This story originallyappeared on Gilt Taste.
There's a stunning moment in the Academy Award-nominated documentary Gasland, where a man touches a match to his running faucet -- to have it explode in a ball of fire. This is what hydraulic fracturing, a process of drilling for natural gas known as "fracking," is doing to many drinking water supplies across the country. But the other side of fracking -- what it might do to the food eaten by people living hundreds of miles from the nearest gas well -- has received little attention.
Unlike many in agriculture, cattle farmer Ken Jaffe has had a good decade. But lately he's been nervous, worried fracking will destroy his business. Jaffe's been good to his soil, and the land has been good to him. By rotating his herd of cattle to different pastures on his Catskills farm every day, he has restored the once-eroded land and built a successful business with his grass-fed and -finished beef. His Slope Farms sells meat to food co-ops, specialty meat markets, and high-end restaurants in New York City, about 160 miles to the southeast. "If you feed your micro-herd -- the bacteria and fungi in the soil -- then your big herd will do well, too," he said when I visited him recently on a cool, sunny afternoon.
A fracking well in Pennsylvania.Photo: RiverkeeperBut a seam of black rock lies nearly a mile beneath the topsoil he has so scrupulously nurtured, and the deposit contains enormous quantities of natural gas. Profit-hungry energy companies -- and the politicians that their campaign donations support -- are determined to exploit that resource, even though it could destroy the livelihoods of thousands of small farmers like Jaffe who have sprung up in New York City's vibrant, alternative food shed.
Energy companies liberate the gas, which is trapped in tiny bubble-like pockets in the rock, by forcefully injecting chemicals diluted with millions of gallons of water into the rock. This fracking ruptures the earth, creating fissures through which the gas passes -- along with a witch's brew of carcinogens, acutely poisonous heavy metals, and radioactive elements.
"For sustainable agriculture, fracking is a disaster," says Jaffe. The gas rush started in the South and West, but has spread to the East and now affects 34 states. Under much of West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York lies a 400-million-year-old geographic formation called the Marcellus Shale. Although estimates vary, the shale may hold 50 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, enough to meet New York state's needs for 50 years. To see what fracking can do to food production, Jaffe has only to look at what has happened to some of his colleagues in nearby Pennsylvania, where the first fracked well came into production in 2005, and where there are now more than 1,500.
Last year, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture quarantined 28 cattle belonging to Don and Carol Johnson, who farm about 175 miles southwest of Jaffe. The animals had come into wastewater that leaked from a nearby well that showed concentrations of chlorine, barium, magnesium, potassium, and radioactive strontium. In Louisiana, 16 cows that drank fluid from a fracked well began bellowing, foaming and bleeding at the mouth, then dropped dead. Homeowners near fracked sites complain about a host of frightening consequences, from poisoned wells to sickened pets to debilitating illnesses.

I encourage you to continue the rest of this article at http://www.grist.org/natural-gas/2011-05-19-fracking-with-our-food-how-gas-drilling-affects-farming

Fertilize The Lawn, Not The Water

2011-05-11T12:27:00.000-04:00

Spring is here and thoughts are turning to green, weed free yards. But have you stopped to consider the chemicals could be getting into your water supply? Well water, or public water supply, the chemicals that are put on the lawn to kill weeds, might be slowly killing you, or at the very least, making you and your family ill.

Read the label of any weed and feed product you put on your lawn. If you do not know what a component is, find out before you apply to your lawn, and possibly contaminate your water. This study from the Vermont Legislative Research Shop at the University of Vermont, explains some of the dangerous chemicals you could be putting on your lawn.

These chemicals can leak into ground water as well as damaged public water supply lines. Your neighbor 3 blocks away, could have a leaky line, therefor letting the fertilizer seep into the water lines, potentially contaminating water to every water consumer down the line.

We all love a nice green, weed free lawn. Well water, or public water supply, be sure you know what you are putting on your lawn.

Methane Found In Hydraulic Fracturing Wells

2011-05-10T20:16:00.003-04:00

This information is coming in from all directions. Fracking or, Hydraulic Fracturing is leaking toxins into our water supply. Harvesting natural gas in this manner will hurt more than it helps.

My friend Laura sent me to see this film just the other day, http://www.archive.org/details/Gasland2010Then today it's all over the news.

USA Today reported that methane has been detected in Upstate New York and Pennsylvania. Read more here http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2011-05-09-fracking-environment-water-methane_n.htm

Water Tech is reporting research results about the damage this fracking causes. Read that one here: http://www.watertechonline.com/environmental-issues/article/study-hydraulic-fracturing-contaminates-groundwater

Even TIME has found information on the damages of fracking http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2070533,00.html

Anyone who can't see that this is wrong, needs their eyes checked! Watch the movie, read the research, find out what this is doing to our ground water supply!

Students Just Say "NO" to bottled water!

2011-05-05T16:07:00.000-04:00

By Jenna Johnson, Published: April 29Bottled water: It’s a vending machine’s healthy alternative to sugary soda, a convenient way to hydrate on the go and, lately, a total faux pas on many college campuses.Some environmentally gung-ho students are not only glaring at those who choose to chug from disposable bottles — rather than earthy-friendly reusable containers — they are also pushing for restrictions on bottled water sales on campus.At the University of Maryland College Park, students have persuaded the undergraduate and graduate student governments to stop buying bottled water for their meetings and events. Now they serve large pitchers of tap water.Washington University in St. Louis has adopted an all-out ban in the hope of alleviating the waste going into landfills. The president of University of Mary Washington in Virginia forbade spending school funds on bottled water. Goucher College in Baltimore removed bottled water from its dining halls and campus eateries, but not its bookstore and vending machines.Proposed restrictions often are met with opposition and caution. Some administrators say they want to avoid discouraging water consumption, especially when students can become dehydrated while playing intramural sports (or drinking games). And there’s the ongoing fight against the Freshman 15: If a student is standing at a vending machine, a bottle of water is usually the least-fattening option.“It’s definitely a complex issue,” said Aynsley Toews, coordinator of the U-Md. Office of Sustainability and a member of a task force looking at other possible restrictions. Already the group has heard concerns about the university losing money from bottled water sales and not keeping its students properly hydrated. “Then there’s flavored water, there’s vitamin water. What do you do with those?”Similar concerns are echoed by the industry. “You are telling people not to drink water? Holy mackerel,” said Tom Lauria, a spokesman for the International Bottled Water Association. “It’s odd that colleges would look to ban a healthy, legal product.”Even some environmentalists worry bans could alienate students who are just starting to warm to eco-friendly ideas such as running fewer loads of laundry. When DePauw University in Indiana contemplated a bottle ban in 2010, an opposition group popped up on Facebook, where one student wrote, “guess the next logical thing is to make meatless mondays official. this is ridiculous.”Americans purchased 8.45 billion gallons of bottled water in 2009. Environmentalists say resources are wasted on producing and transporting bottles of water when most people could receive the same product — for far less money — from their kitchen faucet. Each year about 50 billion water bottles end up in landfills, according to estimates.Rallying against bottled water has become a cause for college environmental groups in the past few years, especially with the popularity of “Tapped,” a documentary about the bottled water industry.While bans remain controversial, many colleges are instead trying to make it easier for students to pick refillable bottles over throwaway ones. They are also educating students about recycling and how their several-bottles-a-day habit quickly piles up in a landfill.Often that means building a giant sculpture made up of thrown-away water bottles. At Maryland, a group of students spent two hours pulling bottles out of trash cans to construct its five-foot-tall plastic statue of a water bottle. At Penn State University, students opted to spell out the word “NO” in collected bottles. (Lauria and water bottle proponents, meanwhile, note that their bottles are the single most recycled item in curbside programs.)Many schools have also installed “refilling stations” that filter tap water and are easier to use than traditional water fountains. The University of the District of Columbia is in the process of installing “hydration stations” in all of its buildings, while American University is upgrading 100 water fountains to include a bottle-friendly faucet.American also gives each incoming student a free, reusable water bottle at orientation, and a few times a year the sustainability director hosts a blind-taste test of an array of water options — including tap, filtered and several bottled varieties. The goal is not to limit the number of options students have, but to make reusable bottles the hippest choice, said Chris O’Brien, American’s director of sustainability.“It’s cool to have a refillable water bottle,” he said. “It’s not cool to be seen with a product that produces greenhouse gases and is not sustainable.”

Levee breach lets rivers sweep into floodway to save Cairo, Ill.

2011-05-04T10:44:00.000-04:00

MISSISSIPPI COUNTY, MO. • At dawn Tuesday, Missouri residentscrept up a ridge to watch the water rise in the Birds Point-NewMadrid Floodway.
The Missouri National Guard had spray-painted a fluorescentorange line in the asphalt of Missouri Highway 80 that onlookerswere forbidden to cross. For some, it marked the boundary between aformer home and an uncertain future.
Even Presiding County Commissioner Carlin Bennett was told tostay back.
Bennett grew up in the floodway. He owns 80 acres there, wherehis father farmed. When he looked at the rushing water, he sawroads being swept away, along with old family cemeteries and achunk of Mississippi County's tax base.
The Army Corps of Engineers had blown holes in the Birds PointLevee on Monday night, allowing the Mississippi River to fill the132,000-acre floodway. The move dropped the river level upstream inareas such as Cairo, Ill., which had been threatened byfloodwater.
Bennett had been asked several times Tuesday how the countywould continue to function after a third of it had beendrowned.
"I don't have an answer," he said.
But Bennett feared the worst.
The river would probably cover crops with tons of silt and sand,rendering the land impossible to farm for years to come, hesaid.
"Once that happens," he said, "it's over."
Meanwhile the corps continued its controversial flood-fighting.The blast Monday night was the first of three planned along theBirds Point Levee. The first was to let the water in. The secondand third would allow it to flow out downstream.
In its struggle to dismantle the levee, the corps had endured alawsuit, blistering winds and rain. Then, on Tuesday, it ran out ofexplosives.
Early on Tuesday, while packing the second blast site, engineerslearned they would need more of two key ingredients — aluminumpowder and sodium percholate — to complete the third blast.
Col. Vernie Reichling, commander of the corps' Memphis District,chalked the miscalculation up to the fact that the corps had neverconducted an operation such as this.
"We were executing a plan that was hatched 30-something yearsago," Reichling said. "We have had a learning curve."
The second blast went off at noon Tuesday. The third is set fortoday.
Walsh said the delay in the third blast posed no increasedsafety risk, although water in the floodway would be roughly a foothigher than expected.
The rising Mississippi is expected to cause flooding fartherdownriver. The corps may open a floodway in Louisanna called theBonnet Carre Spillway near New Orleans. That operation requiresonly opening floodgates, rather than breaking a levee.
The corps' actions in the past week have pitted the interests ofMissouri and Illinois residents against one another. The floodingof Mississippi County, which included 300 homes, has probablyspared the town of Cairo, a community of 2,800.
At first the water trickled across Highway 80 in the floodway.By noon, a couple of chocolate-colored puddles covered theroad.
By evening, it was a swiftly moving current sweeping away roads,crops and — some feared — their way of life.
"It seems to me like they are destroying more than they areprotecting," said Gary Wilson, 77, as he stood atop the levee andwatched water in the floodway pour over the highway a few hundredyards below him.
Wilson owns 160 acres nearly a mile to the north. He wanted towalk along the top of the levee but was told he could not.
"There is no justification for this," Wilson said.
Copyright 2011 STLtoday.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Posted in Metro, Illinois on Wednesday, May 4, 2011 6:45 am Updated: 8:38 am. | Tags: Birds Point Levee, Stephen Deere, Army Corps Of Engineers, New Madrid Mo, Mississippi County Mo, Cairo Il,

April 29, 2011 as Multi-Pure International Day for Water Filter Industry Leader

2011-05-03T20:19:00.001-04:00

Las Vegas Mayor Declares April 29, 2011 as Multi-Pure International Day for Water Filter Industry Leader

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman declares April 29, 2011, as Multi-Pure International Day in honor of the company's 40th anniversary. Red carpet tour, breakfast, flag ceremony and tree planting will be held at Multi-Pure's corporate headquarters on Friday.

Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) April 29, 2011

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman declares April 29, 2011 as Multi-Pure International Day, in honor of the company’s 40th anniversary. Multi-Pure International has been a leader in the drinking water systems industry since 1970.
The April 29th celebration at Multi-Pure’s corporate headquarters will feature a red carpet tour and breakfast for visiting guests, flag ceremony, as well as a tree planting to recognize National Arbor Day. The corporate headquarters is located at 7251 Cathedral Rock Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89128.
Founded in 1970 by brothers H. Allen & Alvin Rice, the company has grown to be one of the largest manufacturers of carbon block filters in the world and is certified by NSF to reduce more contaminants than any other filter on the market. Today, Multi-Pure is still a family owned and operated company.
Multi-Pure was founded on December 7th, 1970 as a marketing company, selling point-of-use drinking water systems door-to-door in the Los Angeles area. By the mid 1970’s, the company had developed the carbon block filter, and was actively manufacturing for its own Multi-Pure brand as well as the OEM market. In addition to manufacturing, Multi-Pure opened a network marketing program in 1982. This program is still active.
Multi-Pure is known in the industry as a manufacturer of high performance filter products. Emphasizing quality over quantity, the company has developed a broad base of customers who wish to offer the highest performing products with the widest range of contaminant removal.
As a leader of a growing industry, Multi-Pure President Alvin Rice says he is excited for a bright future. “I’m often asked about my favorite moment in Multi-Pure’s long history, I say that moment hasn’t happened yet; we’re more excited for things to come.”
Today, Multi-Pure and its manufacturing subsidiary, Carbon Block Technology, are located in Las Vegas, NV, with an additional manufacturing subsidiary, CB Tech Shanghai, located in China. Together, the three companies cut a wide swath across the drinking water industry as both a manufacturer of carbon block components and a marketer of drinking water systems.
To find out more, please visit http://www.multipure.com
Contact:
Trina Boice, National Director of Marketing
800-622-9206
tboice(at)multipure(dot)com

South Bend Rain Barrel Auction

2011-04-27T18:47:00.000-04:00

What an innovative way to raise money and conserve water! Way to go South Bend, Indiana!

It will soon be time for the Original Art Rain Barrel Auction at Indiana University’s South Bend campus. Conducted by Fellow recipient, Kathleen Petitjean, in conjunction with the school’s Center for a Sustainable Future, this fun evening is much more than just supporting a worthy cause. It is an opportunity for local arts, children, businesses and the community at large to join forces in a cause much bigger than any single individual.The 55 gallon barrels that are being transformed into beautiful and utilitarian outdoor works of art are donations from an eclectic group of 12 area artists and organizations including SNAP, the Special Needs and Abilities Preschool at which Ms. Petitjean is an OT. Nature scenes, abstract art and commercial humor are all reflected in the variety of designs.

The goal of the Rain Barrel Auction is to raise awareness of the value of water as a natural resource. Simple rain barrel water collection is an excellent, low-effort method for collecting water for summer gardens and lawns. It is also a way of protecting St. Joe River in the process.

Passive water storage can be cost-effective for the home owner as well. Benefits of the auction will go towards the Indiana State South Bend (ISSB) Center for a Sustainable Future whose vision includes teaching, research and service in sustainable lifestyles for the campus, community and world.SNAP BuddiesOther focuses of the Center include developing sustainability curriculum and courses for the university, ongoing research and civic engagement through accepting public speaking engagements, contributing articles in local newspapers and promoting community projects such as “Tough Recycling.” Building an eco-friendly campus is also part of the vision and just last year the first “green” Community Building was opened at the River Crossing Campus Apartments. It is the first LEED certified building on the Indiana University campus.Prior to the Original Art Rain Barrel Auction event, these colorful and innovative rain barrels can be seen at their underwriters from April 1–April 22, at the ISSB Museum of Art April 22–May 6 and just prior to the actual auction which is scheduled for May 6 at 7:00PM at the Century Center on campus. Goodrich Auction Company is donating its services to create a lively and entertaining evening. There will even be a drawing for a free unpainted rain barrel. Come early and support this very worthwhile cause.

Twelve rain barrels designed by local artist will be on display at the South Bend Museum of Art next week.The barrels will be auctioned off next week with the proceeds benefiting the IUSB Center for a Sustainable Future and the local artists who designed them.Rain barrels capture water, which can then be used on your lawn. Experts say that water conservation is much more important that most people realize."We're using the water here in our water table faster than it's being replenished," said Mike Keen of the IUSB Center for a Sustainable Future. "So we ourselves don't have a water problem immediately, we will in the future."The auction is free and open to the public and two unpainted rain barrels will be given away in a drawing.The auction will take place Friday at 7:00 p.m. at the South Bend Museum of Art.

Friday is Earth Day!

2011-04-20T11:13:00.000-04:00

APRIL 16-17: Join EPA for Earth Day on the National Mall

Release date: 04/15/2011
Contact Information: Stacy Kika, kika.stacy@epa.gov, 202-564-0906, 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON – Join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) April 16 and 17 for Earth Day on the National Mall. With more than 40 interactive exhibits, kids and adults can have eco-fun with hands on activities, art, music and storytelling with special guests. Special guests include Marcus McNeill from the San Diego Chargers, Madieu Williams from the Minnesota Vikings, and Olympic track star Michael Walton. Visitors will learn how to protect their own health and the environment in which they live.

A few examples of activities include:

· Listen to Earth Tales: Children can listen to inspiring kid friendly stories about our planet read by EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and special guests, including, Marcus McNeill, Madieu Williams, Michael Walton, and Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins. (Saturday Only)
· Learn to Collect Forensic Evidence: See EPA criminal investigators at a mock environmental crime scene. (Saturday and Sunday)
· Take the Lung Challenge: Take a deep breath to find out how much air your lungs can hold and why clean air is important. (Saturday and Sunday)
· Renovate Right: Does your home have lead-based paint? Find out and learn to renovate right to keep your family safe. (Saturday and Sunday)
· Become a Scientist: Try your hand at conducting a series of simple chemistry experiments with EPA researchers and learn why understanding chemical mixtures is important for protecting the planet. (Saturday and Sunday)
· Create Eco Art: Co-hosted by the Capital Hill Arts Workshop, kids can paint an earth friendly image on a post card, and mail it courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service and its new “Go Green” stamp. (Saturday and Sunday)
· Bash the Trash: Visitors can express their creativity by constructing and playing musical instruments from recycled water bottles. (Sunday Only)

The event also features EPA’s annual People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) award competition where college students from across the country showcase their innovative solutions for protecting the environment. Visitors to this year’s competition can learn about a wide range of new ideas that may be environmental technologies emerging in the not-so-distant future. Teams are exploring ways to make algae into fuel, lightweight green roofs, and safe drinking water in rural areas. Previous P3 award winners have started successful businesses and are marketing the technologies in the U.S. and around the world.

WHO: EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, EPA special guests, EPA exhibitors, 55 college teams, Environmental exhibitors from nonprofits, government and businesses

WHAT: EPA Earth Day Event and the 7^th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo featuring EPA’s People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) awards

WHEN: Saturday, April 16, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 17, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

WHERE: National Mall between Constitution and Independence Avenues and 4^th and 7^th streets, N.W.
(Federal Center S.W. Metro stop - Orange and Blue Lines)
Washington, D.C.

More information about the Earth Day events on the National Mall: http://epa.gov/earthday/

More information about the P3 event: http://www.epa.gov/P3

$12 Million Muskegon Lake Cleanup

2011-04-10T06:19:00.000-04:00

EPA and MDEQ OK $12 Million Muskegon Lake Cleanup

Release date: 04/06/2011
Contact Information: (EPA) Mick Hans, 312-353-5050, hans.mick@epa.gov; (MDEQ) Brad Wurfel, 517-241-7395

(CHICAGO – April 6, 2011) A $12 million Great Lakes Legacy Act cleanup of contaminated sediment at Muskegon Lake’s Division Street Outfall area is set to begin in May 2011.

The initial focus of the Muskegon Lake project involves the dredging and safe disposal of 41,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the bottom of the lake in an area between Heritage Landing and Hartshorn Marina, near downtown Muskegon. Much of this sediment contains elevated levels of mercury and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, or “PAHs.” The project also includes placement of a 6- to 12-inch sand cover over 120,000 cubic yards of sediment with lower levels of contamination. Workers will also restore shoreline habitat, providing improved ecological conditions for fish and other aquatic life.

The federal government will contribute 65 percent of the cost ($7.8 million) through Great Lakes Legacy Act funding. Michigan will provide 35 percent ($4.2 million) through the Clean Michigan Initiative bond fund.

Muskegon Lake is among 30 Areas of Concern identified by the International Joint Commission on the Great Lakes. In 2005 - 2006, a $10 million cleanup of contaminated sediment was completed at nearby Ruddiman Creek, which flows into Muskegon Lake. As the 30 AOC sites are cleaned up, they become eligible for “de-listing.” White Lake, north of Muskegon, is also an Area of Concern.

For more information, please visit http://epa.gov/glla/dso.

Radiation in Water Can be Removed. What about Radiation in Milk?

2011-04-01T06:20:00.000-04:00

SAN FRANCISCO — By scientific standards, the radiation found over the last week in batches of milk on the West Coast was minuscule and, moreover, not dangerous to humans.
But the mere mention of any contamination in that most motherly of beverages still stirred concern in people like Marilyn Margulius, an interior designer from Berkeley, Calif., who called her daughter on Thursday and told her not to let her 10-year-old son drink milk.
“There is a big trust issue with this,” said Ms. Margulius, 71, who was shopping at a Whole Foods Market in Berkeley.
“The health department does not want people to panic. Milk is probably O.K., but who the heck knows?”
There have been repeated public assurances this week — officials said an adult would need to drink thousands of liters of the milk containing radiation at the levels found so far before it would be remotely dangerous. Officials also tried to tamp down anxiety from dairy farmers concerned about bad press.
“I’ve had members call to ask whether we’ve seen the media, and media calling to ask how this is impacting our members,” said Michael Marsh, the chief executive of Western United Dairymen, the milk industry’s West Coast trade association. Mr. Marsh said he had repeated the assurances given by officials, but he also understood the fears in the supermarket’s refrigerated aisle.
“Consumers, doubtless, when they hear about something like this, the cautionary principle kicks in,” he said. “Even if you’d have to drink an oil tanker of this.”
Dr. Elizabeth N. Pearce, an associate professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine and an expert on the thyroid, where radioactive iodine is often absorbed, said there was no health risk, even for small children, from milk on American shelves.
Still, she said, “If people feel safer not drinking it, there are no long-term health effects from abstaining for two weeks, either.”
The alarm was sounded on Wednesday, when federal officials announced that tests had detected a trace amount of iodine 131 — a radioactive byproduct released by leaks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan — in a sample taken on March 25 in Spokane, Wash. The level of radiation was tiny and would have to be more than 5,000 times higher to reach the “intervention level” set by federal officials.
Jason Kelly, a spokesman for the Washington State Department of Agriculture, said the positive sample came from a gallon of pasteurized whole milk produced at the Darigold plant in Spokane, which processes milk from a number of farms in Washington and Idaho.
Jim H. Klein, a spokesman for Darigold, said milk from the Spokane plant was distributed in the Northwest, but said there was no reason for concern.
Some people even saw a potential silver lining in their bottom line. Mike Vieira, owner of a small dairy west of Spokane that produces about 250 gallons of milk a day, said the scare might be good for his business because customers know where his milk comes from, as opposed to milk from larger dairies that is pooled at a processing plant.
“We’ve had regular customers come to the farm buying milk,” he said. “And they’re buying six or eight gallons.”
The California health department also confirmed Wednesday that it had detected a tiny amount of radioactive iodine in a sample collected Monday from a dairy in San Luis Obispo County on the state’s Central Coast.
Milk in San Luis Obispo is regularly tested because the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is on the county’s southern coast. Officials said that monitoring — done weekly since the crisis began — was accountable for finding the contamination.
Dr. Penny Borenstein, the county’s public health officer, said that the tests would continue and that dairy products would continue to be safe. “The situation in Japan continues to evolve, but we are still 6,000 miles away.”

Jesse McKinley reported from San Francisco, and William Neuman from New York. Isolde Raftery contributed reporting from Eugene, Ore., and Malia Wollan from Berkeley, Calif.

Watch out for Water Scams!

2011-03-30T09:17:00.000-04:00

Ledyard - Town officials say a recent water utility mailing is suspicious after a Groton Utilities representative said they were unaware of the information.

Mayor Fred B. Allyn Jr., said Tuesday that residents began receiving a mailed solicitation from Home Service USA - also known as HomeServe - on Tuesday and said he expects more will show up in today's mail.

"It looks suspicious and with the information we have now I would certainly caution people to approach warily and not just jump into it," Allyn said. "We do want to let people know that it's out there and to be very cautious and careful."

According to the Better Business Bureau, Home Service USA mails what appears to be a notice from the customer's water utility company but it is actually a solicitation offering warranty service.

An Internet search reveals that Home Service USA is based in West Palm Beach, Fla., and has also sent mailings to residents in Kentucky, Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

"We have received calls from some customers asking us what we think about it (Home Service USA) and we don't have an opinion because it has nothing to do with Groton Utilities," Diane Holmes, assistant manager for customer care, said Tuesday. "We don't recommend or not recommend any other companies."

Consumers who have concerns about a solicitation or possible scam can contact the state's Department of Consumer Protection at (860) 713-6100.

The Japan Crisis

2011-03-26T08:11:00.001-04:00

Our hearts have filled with sorrow after the devastation that has hit Japan recently. We have some wonderful Multi-Pure friends in that beautiful country and we continue to worry for their welfare as they begin to rebuild their lives.

Multi-Pure has been sending several hundred water filters to Japan and is thrilled to partner with Multi-Pure Japan in its distribution to the hardest hit areas.

After having already ordered people living within 12 miles of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to evacuate, Japan is now encouraging people who live between 12 and 19 miles away to also leave the area. The newest worry is that the reactor vessel of the No. 3 unit has been damaged, possibly releasing radiation from uranium and plutonium into the atmosphere.

Fears of a breach arose after workers at the No. 3 reactor were hospitalized after coming in to contact with water that was 10,000 times as radioactive as normal. The No. 1 and No. 2 reactors may also be leaking radioactive water.

Clean water is one of the most important things to secure after a disaster. Clean water gives life and hope. Multi-Pure’s mission has always been to provide safe drinking water to as many people as possible.

Multi-Pure is Perfect

2011-03-25T21:46:00.000-04:00

Learn the Who, What, Where, and Why of Multi-Pure(12 minute presentation)

Business PresentationA 5-10 minute slide show presentation on this incredible Business Opportunity.

Learn more about Multi-Pure's distributor opportunity program(4 minute presentation)

******Welcome to The Perfect Home Business!******

Katrina Oakley, Independent Distributor, ID# 424548

katrinaoakley@gmail.com

260-336-5066

Skype: kats_tool_box

World Water Day is Today! (March 22,2011)

2011-03-22T13:10:00.000-04:00

I found this great piece on USA Today's web-site. Great ideas here!

Today is World Water Day, an international day of observance created by the United Nations in 1992 to address the growing global water crisis. To put it in perspective, according to Snehal Desai, global marketing director for Dow Water and Process Solution in an op-ed for Forbes.com, some analysts predict that available water supplies will satisfy only 60% of demand by 2030.
So what can be done? Calling for innovative approaches to solving the water crisis, Desai urges the world to consider the connection between energy and water. He goes on to provide several good examples of cities that have developed innovative solutions, including one in right in our own backyard -- Chandler, Ariz., has partnered with Intel to address some of their water challenges in their arid community.
But you don't have to live in an arid climate to want to do your part. The Huffington Post provides a list of ways you can limit your consumption of the resource while Eccorazzi.com provides a list of water-focused charities that you can support:

charity: waterFounded in 2006, this org has helped fund 2,906 projects in 17 countries, benefiting over 1,277,430 people. Of all the non-profits using Twitter, charity: water has the largest following with over 1.3 million – including a huge celebrity base. Last year, an estimated $12M-$13M was raised for clean water initiatives. Fans like Justin Bieber, Alyssa Milano, and Jessica Biel have all donated their "birthdays" to the cause with epic results. To donate or become involved, visit charity:water's website.
Water.org
Water.org is a fairly new organization which formed after a merger between actor Matt Damon's H20 Africa charity and Gary White's WaterPartners. It too focuses on funding clean water projects in the developing world. Using his celebrity, Damon has done a particularly effective job of integrating awareness of this charity through shows like "Entourage" and humorous PSA videos. At the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative, the organization committed $2 million to provide 50,000 people in Haiti with safe water and sanitation over three years. To learn more, water.org.
The UNICEF TAP Project
Since 2007, the Tap Project has helped raise more than $2.7 million towards clean water initiatives on behalf of UNICEF. This week, thousands of restaurants across the U.S. are helping to generate even more cash by participating in the $1 Tap Water campaign; which asks customers to pay $1 to drink plain 'ole tap water with their meals. In addition, they've also enlisted some Hollywood support and launched a clever luxury bottled water line called "Celebrity Tap". For a $5 donation, you can be entered in a raffle to win the personal tap water from the homes of stars like Selena Gomez, Adrian Grenier, Dwight Howard, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Robin Williams. To learn more, visit the TAP Project website.

In related news, the Coca-Cola Company and The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation announced a $6 million commitment today to "RAIN", a water and sanitation program aimed at improving the lives of an estimated 250,000 women and girls in Africa. The announcement was made as part of a high-level leadership event, featuring remarks from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and World Bank President Robert Zoellick. For more information on the announcement, visit the program's website.

World Water Week

2011-03-15T16:28:00.000-04:00

World Water Week is coming up fast! With all the disasters happening, the need for clean, drinkable water is reaching epidemic levels! There are many charities and organizations doing their best to help. While bottled water is OK for a quick fix, a more permanent solution is necessary. Every dollar counts for clean, healthy water for all. Here is a list of organizations that are taking donations and helping others around the world.

Unicef

Stockholm International Water Institute

World Water Week Event Finder

Canada Water Week

Water Smart Landscape

2011-03-04T14:07:00.001-05:00

With Spring approaching, some are looking forward to some landscaping to bring in a Spring full of color!

No matter where we call home, water smart landscaping is in! I just love the ideas featured in this article in the LA Times.

The Dry Garden: Southern California's most interesting experiment in water-wise landscaping

Spotting a pumpkin identified as a gourd prompted Leigh Adams to write John Lyons. She was (and is) an expert in gourd-craft as well as the artist-in-residence at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden. Lyons, whose website carried the photo of the pumpkin, was (and is) a garden designer and lecturer at the arboretum. Yet until Adams wrote, they had never met.

That was two years ago. They now joke that they are "as much in love as a non-couple could be." And they have a baby, a 4-month-old garden that is brimming with art, native sages and fruit trees and is irrigated by rainwater harvested from the street.

The idea came as a steady trickle, over 15 years, as Adams watched rain run like a small river down the gutter by her house and then around the corner. The water slipped into storm drains, leaving her with debris that included a collection of neighborhood garbage cans.

A desire to somehow tap that rain mounted, but Adams is above all things an artist and educator, so over the years, she became involved with mosaic projects at the arboretum, Five Acres School in Altadena and Piece by Piece in downtown Los Angeles. But after the arboretum asked her to train a team constructing a "weaver's garden" for the Los Angeles Garden Show, she became intrigued when she heard of Lyon's business, the Woven Garden.

There on Lyons' website was a pumpkin labeled as a gourd. Adams dashed off an e-mail. With that chiding on one of the finer distinctions of the Cucurbita genus began a friendship that would turn them both into water bankers. It was pure kismet that Lyons is the kind of garden designer who believes that beauty starts in the soil. After meeting him, Adams went to a lecture by Paul Stamets, author of "Mycelium Running," which stressed the ability of fungi to clean water.

Taking part in building a small permaculture garden at the arboretum only further inoculated her with enthusiasm for banking water in a garden whose soil was tightly knit by a web of fungi known as micorrhizae. Thus inspired, Adams, right, hired Lyons for help converting her backyard turf to a water-harvesting operation.

The assignment: This new garden would divert rainwater, clean it, hold at least some of it on a steeply sloped site and sustain an orchard in the hot foothills of Los Angeles County. Given the client was Adams, and the designer Lyons, it would also be studded with glass work, sculpture, native sages and lupines.

Diverting the rain meant poking holes in the curb running along her home. County officials overseeing the permitting of curb breaks were not enthusiastic. Adams remembers their response as: We're concerned about your neighbor down the hill.

Continue this great article here!

Are we in the Perfect Storm?

2011-02-12T13:58:00.001-05:00

The article on the Natural News web site touches on many things that could be making us sick and generally unhealthy.

(NaturalNews) Over the past twenty years a lot has changed and we are seeing the results in each (sicker) generation of children. I am always amazed to find out how certain shifts in our environment and culture affect our health. Small changes go long way when significant percentages of the population take part, knowing or unknowingly. The poor health of each generation can be partly to blame on a weakened immune system and the rising rates of obesity. By a perfect storm, I mean, what happens when breastfeeding declines, vaccine schedules and c-sections increase, GMO foods are eaten, and toxins are present everywhere. We now have epidemic increases in food allergies, asthma, ADHD, diabetes and autism. It seems the perfect storm is happening now and we need to figure out how to weather it. Here are the latest statistics and they are staggering:

400 percent increase in food allergies
300 percent increase in asthma
400 percent increase in ADHD
400 percent increase in celiac disease
1,500 to 6,000 percent increase in autism
45 percent of children will be insulin dependent within ten years
(www.allergykids.com)

So, toxic exposure is beginning in the womb and then the one-two punch of a c-section and little or no long term breastfeeding is a combination that seems to have landed us with many serious epidemics in our laps. We are further weakened by our environment and the food we eat is filled with nutrient-stripped products that are high in sugar and artificial dyes, sweeteners and preservatives. Tap water is filled with toxins and the air is filled with heavy metals and electromagnetic radiation. Our immune systems can only take so much and when the toxic burden reaches capacity we end up with the epidemic rates in inflammatory conditions like allergies and asthma and the combination has also lead to the rise in autism. Vaccines are also tied into the decline in immune health and we have the most vaccines on the schedule now than ever before. Vaccines contain toxins like formaldehyde and aluminum and trace amounts of mercury. When these toxins are injected into a baby or child's blood stream one could assume that they must have some implications.

Learn more: The perfect storm for poor health; the proof is in the population

Tsk Tsk! Congress is wasting our money...Again!

2011-02-03T13:55:00.001-05:00

Tell Congress to stop wasting tax dollars on bottled water that harms our environment

During and after the State of the Union last Tuesday, President Obama and Congressional Republicans waxed poetic about the need to cut wasteful spending in Washington. Here's an easy place to start:

According to Corporate Accountability International, Congress spent nearly $200,000 on bottled water in just three months last year. Recent studies estimate that bottled water costs almost 2,000 times more than tap water – even though the two types of water often come from the same sources.

Besides being a waste of money, bottled water is terrible for the environment: The energy needed to produce the plastic consumption is enough to fuel three million cars for a year. Nearly one million tons of plastic bottles are discarded as litter each year, ending up in landfills, lakes and streams. What's more, public water infrastructure in DC and around the whole country needs all the support it can get— especially from Congress.

Tell Congress to stop wasting our money and end its use of bottled water.

To sweeten the deal, DC Water (a local utility) has even offered to provide every member of Congress with a reusable water bottle as well as free water quality testing systems for Congressional office buildings.

When members of Congress complain about wasteful spending, they should curb their own bad habits first.

Sign this petition today to tell Congress to end its use of bottled water:

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-the-house-of-representatives-to-ditch-bottled-water-and-save-taxpayer-dollars?alert_id=FGYBItSTxs_pjpkGVKCny&me=aa

Thanks for taking action,

Judith and the Change.org team

Rocket Fuel in Your Water?

2011-02-02T20:57:00.000-05:00

There is a long list of things that contaminate our drinking water. Things like, Chromium 6, lead, arsenic, fluoride, and rocket fuel can be found in many places in the US. All of these can cause a number of deformities and health issues.

The EPA is currently formulating a plan to clean rocket fuel from the nations water supply. They are looking at a standard amount to allow in drinking water. Really? There is an acceptable level? Personally, rocket fuel is for fueling rockets, not people. There should be no rocket fuel in a drinking water.

Patrick Corcoran did his research and wrote a very good article on the Fair Warning blog. “The EPA – and the states that implement the nation’s drinking water laws – are responsible for ensuring that our water is safe, which means addressing new and emerging threats from toxic chemicals that can get into drinking water and affect the health of the public, particularly our children,” EPA chief Lisa Jackson said in a statement prepared for delivery Wednesday to a Senate panel."

President's Day Sale!

2011-01-31T18:02:00.003-05:00

In honor of national President's Day in February, Multi-Pure's President, Alvin E. Rice, would like to offer this special promotion! We want to offer you a 50% discount on our MPCT drinking water system, when you purchase any of our drinking water systems during the month of February. You can buy an MPCT system for

only $149.98.

PRODUCT: MPCTSP -- $149.98 (plus shipping and handling fees)
Note: In order to get this special pricing, you will need to purchase one of our drinking water systems at the time this order is placed.

Should the Government Fix Our Water

2011-01-19T07:48:00.002-05:00

Chromium 6 is not the only danger to our water supply. There are many other chemicals and contaminants that seem to get into public water supplies. This post discusses a possible way the government could assist in protecting life essential water. Should the government be more involved? What would they really do to insure healthy public water?

Interesting discussion worth a read through!

How does your favorite bottle measure up

2011-01-11T06:45:00.000-05:00

What is in your bottled water? How many really know? Well, most do not know nearly enough, if you reada new reportreleased today from Environmental Working Group (EWG)."Bottled water companies try hard to hide information youmight find troubling," says Jane Houlihan, senior vicepresident of research for the Washington D.C.-based research andadvocacy group.

[Read more: Cities with the best (and worst) tapwater]
EWG looked at 173 bottled water products andcompany websites to see if they really show information onwhere water comes from. They also noted how, or if the water is treated. The nonprofitwatch dog also noted how effective any water treatmentmethods are. Follow up interviews were obtained by contacting many bottled water companies to see if they were willing to give further information to their customers as to the quality of the water being purchased.

The Environmental Protection Agency says on its website that consumers have the right to know wheretheir water comes from and what's in it so they can "makeinformed choices that affect the health of themselves and theirfamilies." Tap water is regularly tested and consumers can findtheir local water info online. That's not necessarily thecase with bottled water, which is not required to disclose thatinformation to consumers. "Bottled water is a food product andevery one of these companies is complying with federal law,"says Tom Lauria, of the International Bottled Water Association.
[Video: The story of bottled water]

More than half of the bottled water products surveyed failedEWG's transparency test --18 percent didn't say where theirwater comes from, and another 32 percent did not disclose anyinformation on treatment or purity of water.

Only three brands earned the highest possible marks for disclosinginformation and using the most advanced treatment methods available- Gerber Pure Purified Water, Nestle PureLife Purified Water, and Penta Ultra-PurifiedWater.

On the other end of the spectrum, these six brands got the worstmarks in EWG's report because they don't provide consumerswith the three basic facts about water on product labels or theircompany website - Whole Foods Italian Still MineralWater, Vintage Natural Spring Water,Sahara Premium Drinking Water, O WaterSport Electrolyte Enhanced Purified Drinking Water,Market Basket Natural Spring Water, andCumby's Spring Water.

Multi-Pure's Multi-Pure's National Award Winners!

2011-01-08T13:03:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to all of our National Award Winners for 2010! Each year Multi-Pure honors a few of our wonderful distributors to recognize their outstanding efforts during the year.

We are very proud and excited to announce the winners for 2010. They are:

National Distributor of the Year = Laura Newton

Network Builder of the Year = Deanna Delong & David Feinauer

Salesmen of the Year = Ed Amerault, Ron New & Brian Browning

Rookies of the Year = Jesus Bolanos, Shaun Davidson, Patricia Connor

"Spirit of Multi-Pure" = Sixdeniel Otero, Bob Corrie, Santos Cruz

We're so proud of all their hard work and efforts. These prestigious awards are very well deserved by these terrific distributors who, not only have impressive sales and recruiting numbers, but have also gone above and beyond, by training, teaching, installing, giving service, and representing Multi-Pure as awesome ambassadors!

Award recipients will receive cash prizes, as well as be presented with special trophies at our upcoming conference in Las Vegas in April.
- Trina Boice -

Halliburton! This is Just Not Right!

2011-01-08T09:03:00.001-05:00

I am having a hard time finding words for this. This is an outrage! Our solders are in other countries defending OUR freedom. Why in the world would a supposed American company like Halliburton treat our solders this way. What is going to happen to their families and others they will come in contact with, if they are becoming contaminated and infected? What kind of illness is Halliburton allowing to come back home with our troops?

What is killing the birds?

2011-01-06T19:58:00.007-05:00

Birds are dying all over. What is the cause? For some, the cause is apparent. For the thousands falling from the sky, it is not very clear. Could our bad habits be causing this tragedy?

This nature photography by Chris Jordan isn't for the faint of heart. The series of decomposing bird carcasses faithfully documents the impact of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on albatross chicks in the Midway Atoll.http://gizmodo.com/5384892/where-plastic-goes-when-it-dies-birds-stomachs

You can help save the birds from ending up like these poor creatures. Just one Multi-Pure water filter will eliminate 12,000 plastic bottles from winding up in a land fill, or polluting our oceans!

2011 Resolve to Save the Planet.

2011-01-03T06:51:00.002-05:00

Plastic is killing our water supply and our earth! This video will make you cry for our Mother Earth.

We are killing our planet. Bad habits need to change.

Captain Charles Moore Founder of Algalita Marine Research Foundation is quoted as saying"If you eliminate the scourge of bottled water, you?ll be eliminating one of the biggest problems facing our environment" In 1999 we did a survey and found 6 times as much plastic as plankton. In 2008 we went back and did the exact same survey and found 46 as much plastic as planktonOur trash is filling up the ocean turning it in to a plastic soup and those plastic particles are poison pills for the millions and millions of fish and invertible eating it. Bottled water may have a place in disaster relief but there are issues around bottled water that make it unsuitable for regular use and those issues need to be emphasised because bottled water is becoming a big contaminant of our environment.

If you are still looking for a Resolution for 2011, here is a perfect one. Resolve to Reduce Plastic Pollution. Resolve to save your Planet.If you drink bottled water, please consider purchasing a water filter instead. You will be saving up to 12,000 plastic bottles from ending up in our oceans or landfills every year!

Chromium-6 Is Widespread in US Tap Water

2010-12-22T18:01:00.000-05:00

Cancer-causing chemical found in 89 percent of cities sampled

Laboratory tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG) have detected hexavalent chromium, the carcinogenic “Erin Brockovich chemical,” in tap water from 31 of 35 American cities. The highest levels were in Norman, Okla.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Riverside, Calif. In all, water samples from 25 cities contained the toxic metal at concentrations above the safe maximum recently proposed by California regulators.

The National Toxicology Program has concluded that hexavalent chromium (also called chromium-6) in drinking water shows “clear evidence of carcinogenic activity” in laboratory animals, increasing the risk of gastrointestinal tumors. In September 2010, a draft toxicological review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) similarly found that hexavalent chromium in tap water is “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”

In 2009, California officials proposed setting a “public health goal” for hexavalent chromium in drinking water of 0.06 parts per billion (ppb) to reduce cancer risk. This was the first step toward establishing a statewide enforceable limit. Despite mounting evidence of its toxic effects, the EPA has not set a legal limit for hexavalent chromium in tap water nationally and does not require water utilities to test for it. In 25 cities where EWG’s testing detected chromium-6 — in the first publicly available national survey for the contaminant — it was found in concentrations exceeding California’s proposed maximum, in one case at a level more than 200 times higher.

At least 74 million Americans in 42 states drink chromium-polluted tap water, much of it likely in the cancer-causing hexavalent form. Given the scope of exposure and the magnitude of the potential risk, EWG believes the EPA should move expeditiously to establish a legal limit for chromium-6 and require public water suppliers to test for it. READ MORE

http://static.ewg.org/reports/2010/chrome6/html/faq.html

What is hexavalent chromium?

Hexavalent chromium (or chromium-6) is a highly toxic form of the naturally occurring metal chromium. It is a well-known human carcinogen when inhaled, and recent evidence indicates it can cause stomach or gastrointestinal cancer when ingested in drinking water. A different form of this metal, trivalent chromium, is an essential nutrient.

Exposure to hexavalent chromium commonly occurs through consuming contaminated water or food, as well as by breathing contaminated air in the workplace, especially for those working in metallurgy or leather-tanning facilities. Contaminated soil particles may also be a source of exposure via ingestion or inhalation. Widespread industrial use has led to detections of hexavalent chromium in two-thirds of current or former Superfund sites.

How does it get into tap water?

Hexavalent chromium can enter water through industrial contamination from manufacturing facilities, including electroplating factories, leather tanneries and textile manufacturing facilities, or from disposal of fluids used in cooling towers before 1990. It also occurs naturally in some minerals. The commonly used tap water disinfectant chlorine can transform trivalent chromium into toxic hexavalent chromium.

Why is it a problem?

Exposure in tap water has been linked to cancers of the stomach and gastrointestinal tract in both animals and people. California’s Environmental Protection Agency has released a draft public health goal based on the conclusion that levels of chromium-6 greater than 0.06 parts per billion (ppb) in tap water may increase cancer risk.

Some people may be especially susceptible to the carcinogenic effects of chromium-6. Fetuses, infants, and children have higher sensitivity to carcinogenic chemicals. In addition, people with less acidic stomachs appear to have a limited ability to convert hexavalent chromium to trivalent chromium (chromium-3), exposing them to higher levels of the toxic form and putting them at greater risk. Using common antacids and proton pump inhibitors can reduce stomach acidity. Other conditions that can inhibit stomach acid production include infection with Helicobacter pylori (a common bacterium linked to ulcers), pernicious anemia, pancreatic tumors, mucolipidosis type IV and some autoimmune diseases.

How can I find out if my tap water has hexavalent chromium in it?

California requires water utilities to test and report levels of chromium-6 in their water. For Californians, this is a good way to see if this contaminant is a concern in your area. Unfortunately, these tests only measure levels at or above 1 ppb, more than 16 times higher than the suggested public health goal of 0.06 ppb. Of the 438 community water sources in California that have provided test data to EWG, 223 detected levels over 1 ppb and 93 detected levels over 5 ppb. This means more than 13.7 million Californians drink tap water contaminated with hexavalent chromium.

Elsewhere, water utilities only test and report levels of total chromium — which includes both the toxic form and the essential nutrient chromium-3. These tests only measure levels at or above 10 ppb, more than 160 times higher than California’s proposed public health goal. If your tap water has detectable levels of total chromium, it’s quite possible that it has levels of hexavalent chromium that violate California’s suggested public health goal. The ratio of chromium-3 to chromium-6 varies for different water supplies, so it is difficult to estimate how much of each form might be in your water.

Contact your local water utility or check EWG’s tap water database to learn if chromium has been detected in your tap water.

My tap water has high levels. What should I do?

If your tap water contains high levels, your best bet is to install a reverse osmosis water filter certified to remove this contaminant. Reverse osmosis filters, especially when combined with superior carbon filter technology, are best for ridding tap water of the largest number of contaminants possible. EWG provides a list of reverse osmosis water filters certified to remove hexavalent chromium and available for purchase on Amazon.

See EWG’s water filter buying guide for more information on how to select a water filter.

While drinking bottled water might seem like a good way to avoid exposing yourself to hexavalent chromium in tap water, there is no guarantee that bottled water has lower concentrations of this contaminant. If you drink bottled water, choose brands that provide water quality information indicating their water has levels of chromium-6 below 0.06 ppb or that use reverse osmosis filtration to treat their water.

Because infants can be especially sensitive to carcinogenic chemicals, it is particularly important to use safer water when preparing infant formula. Water treated with a reverse osmosis home filter will contain fewer contaminants and be safer for babies.

Can I test my own tap water for chromium-6?

Most commercial water quality laboratories do not offer this test.

Besides drinking water, how else can I be exposed?

Other sources of exposure to hexavalent chromium include contaminated food and contaminated workplace air, especially for those working in metallurgy or leather-tanning facilities. Contaminated soil particles may also be a source of exposure via ingestion or inhalation. Widespread industrial use has led to detections of chromium-6 in two-thirds of current or former Superfund sites.

Are some people more vulnerable to the effects?

Yes. Fetuses, infants, and children have a higher sensitivity to carcinogenic chemicals. Their developing organ systems are more susceptible to damage from chemical exposures, and less able to detoxify and excrete chemicals.

In addition, people with less acidic stomachs appear to have a limited ability to convert chromium-6 to chromium-3, exposing them to higher levels of the toxic form and putting them at greater risk. Using common antacids and proton pump inhibitors can reduce stomach acidity. Other conditions that can inhibit stomach acid production include infection with Helicobacter pylori (a common bacterium linked to ulcers), pernicious anemia, pancreatic tumors, mucolipidosis type IV and some autoimmune diseases.

What other chemicals in my tap water should I be concerned about?

Check out EWG’s tap water database for an in-depth look at water contaminants, including drinking water quality information for 48,000 communities in 45 states and the District of Columbia.

What is EPA doing to promote safe drinking water?

Not enough. In the case of hexavalent chromium, the EPA has taken no action to specifically limit levels of this toxic compound in drinking water. The agency has left in place an inadequate standard for total chromium, set nearly 20 years ago, that does not distinguish between toxic hexavalent and nutritionally essential trivalent chromium and cites “allergic dermatitis” as the only relevant health concern. The agency has not set a new, enforceable drinking water standard for any contaminant since 2001.

Recently the federal government has begun to focus a critical eye on chromium-6 and other water contaminants. EWG recommends that the EPA set a legal limit for hexavalent chromium in drinking water as quickly as possible and require water utility testing to assess exposures nationwide.

Source: ewg.org

Multi-Pure products are effective at reducing levels of Chromium 3 & 6 in water

2010-12-22T17:25:00.000-05:00

PRESS RELEASE
Millions of Americans are at potential risk from Chromium VI contamination in their drinking water. Homeowners can protect themselves from the contaminant with a Multi-Pure drinking water system.
New reports from the Washington Post and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) indicate the suspected carcinogen is more widespread than previously thought – appearing in the drinking water of 31 major cities across the US. Chromium six (Cr (VI), hexavalent chromium) is a metal species that is capable of causing cancers in laboratory animals and is considered by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a likely a human carcinogen.
Multi-Pure International is the manufacturer of home drinking water systems which are certified by NSF International to reduce levels of hexavalent chromium.
Cities found to have the highest concentrations of hexavalent chromium are Riverside, CA, Norman, OK, and Honolulu, HI. The full list of cities where the contaminant has been detected can be found in the EWG report at www.EWG.org.

Despite mounting evidence of its toxic effects, the EPA has not set a legal limit for hexavalent chromium in tap water nationally and does not require water utilities to test for it. According to the Post, the state of California has taken the first steps in limiting the amount of the contaminant in drinking water by proposing a “public health goal” for safe levels of 0.06 parts per billion (ppb).
Some industry experts indicate this level may be unrealistically low, citing limitations of the EPA’s analytical methods in detecting such low concentrations.
Multi-Pure’s models MP750PlusRO and CBTPlusRO are certified by NSF International to reduce levels of hexavalent chromium by up to 91.3%. Multi-Pure’s Director of Laboratory Services, Andrew Fenwick, PhD, says the company is working diligently on more solutions, “Multi-Pure will continue to be on the forefront of this issue, working to develop, quantify, and certify the performance of our products as standards for Cr (VI) evolve.”

Multi-Pure International is a leader in the drinking water industry. Celebrating 40 years in business in 2010, the company manufactures and distributes drinking water systems and components from Las Vegas, NV.

Wow! Did you hear? Chromium 6 May be in YOUR Water!

2010-12-21T14:38:00.002-05:00

Tap Water Found To Be Contaminated With Hexavalent Chromium Across The USA

How safe is YOUR tap water?

A new study commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that tap water in 31 of 35 American cities is highly contaminated with hexavalent chromium, according to a press release this morning.
The highest levels were in Norman, Okla.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Riverside, Calif.
In all, water samples from 25 cities contained the toxic metal at concentrations above the safe maximum recently proposed by California regulators, the release stated.
The National Toxicology Program has concluded that hexavalent chromium (also called chromium-6) in drinking water shows “clear evidence of carcinogenic activity” in laboratory animals, increasing the risk of gastrointestinal tumors.
In September 2010, a draft toxicological review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) similarly found that hexavalent chromium in tap water is “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”
At least 74 million Americans in 42 states drink chromium-polluted tap water, much of it likely in the cancer-causing hexavalent form, according to the release.
In light of the study’s findings, EWG has urged EPA to move expeditiously to establish a legal limit for chromium-6 and require public water suppliers to test for it.
What's the good news in all of this? Multi-Pure is to the rescue, once again! Our reverse osmosis drinking water system has proven to effectively reduce chromium in tap water! Multi-Pure is certified by NSF to reduce and remove more contaminants than any other filter on the market. Yay Multi-Pure!
To read the entire article, go to: http://static.ewg.org/reports/2010/chrome6/html/home.html

Laura has much more information on Chromium 6! Her blog has all the how, what, where, when, and why's.

Holiday Special! Hurry!

2010-12-21T05:34:00.001-05:00

To celeberate their 40th anniversary, Multi-Pure is selling one of its top quality NSF-certified water treatment systems for just $99. This is a $200 discount on their top selling MPCT countertop drinking water system. This countertop filtration unit normally sold at $299.95 so it’s like “buy one and get MPCT at 1/3 of the original price”. An excellent bargain and a great Christmas gift! So, when you buy any Multi-Pure drinking water systems or whole house units, during the month of December 2010, you can buy one MPCT system for only $99.95. Besides making it a great Christmas gift, the MPCT can be an additional water treatment unit to use in your home, bathroom, vacation home, RV, etc. You can purchase this quality MPCT countertop system for only $99.95 with the purchase of any other Multi-Pure drinking water system.

Offer expires December 31, 2010.
Order your $99.95 MPCT today!

The Water Filter Lady Has the Facts

2010-12-16T14:27:00.000-05:00

Hey, if you are shopping for a water filter for your home, do your research! Remember, you get what you pay for!

Laura hit the nail on the head with this guy! Go see what she found out!

Press Release Multi-Pure Dec 7th 2010

2010-12-07T20:22:00.000-05:00

In a troubled economy, not very many businesses get to celebrate their ruby anniversary. Congratulations Multi-Pure!

Multi-Pure International, a pioneer in the home water filtration industry, is celebrating its 40th Anniversary. Founded in 1970 by brothers H. Allen & Alvin Rice, the company has grown to be one of the largest manufacturers of carbon block filters in the world and is certified by NSF to reduce more contaminants than any other filter on the market. Today, Multi-Pure International is still a family owned and operated company.

Multi-Pure was founded on December 7th, 1970 as a marketing company, selling point-of-use drinking water systems door-to-door in the Los Angeles area. By the mid 1970?s, the company had developed the carbon block filter, and was actively manufacturing for its own Multi-Pure brand as well as the OEM market. In addition to manufacturing, Multi-Pure opened a network marketing program in 1982. This program is still active, with thousands of successful independent distributors across the country.

Multi-Pure is known in the industry as a manufacturer of high performance filter products. Emphasizing quality over quantity, the company has developed a broad base of customers who wish to offer the highest performing products with the widest range of contaminant removal.

As a leader of a growing industry, Multi-Pure co-founder and President, Alvin Rice, says he is excited for a bright future, ?I?m often asked about my favorite moment in Multi-Pure?s long history, I say that moment hasn?t happened yet; we?re more excited for things to come.?

Today Multi-Pure and its manufacturing subsidiary, Carbon Block Technology, are located in Las Vegas, Nevada, with an additional manufacturing subsidiary, CB Tech Shanghai, located in China. Together the three companies cut a wide swath across the drinking water industry as both a manufacturer of carbon block components, as well as a marketer of drinking water systems.

Important! Clean Water!

2010-11-30T13:58:00.000-05:00

The importance of a clean water supply is evident everywhere. People, plants and animals all need it to survive. Water is essential to all living creatures. When the water supply is not clean, it is not healthy. When contaminated it cannot sustain life. Once it is contaminated, it must be cleaned to be healthy once again.
People and animals need clean water. A human body is over 70% water. Every mammal body function and part needs water to survive and work effectively. Contaminated water can harm every system in the body. Not enough clean water can also do irreversible damage to the brain or other vital organs.
Humans use it in many ways. Cooking, bathing, washing and drinking. Taking a bath or shower in dirt, would just not get a person clean. We do not cook with dirt, nor do we drink water that we can see is dirty.
Animals have the same need for clean streams, lakes, and rivers. Mammals, birds, fish and reptiles depend on a clean supply for their survival. Many animals have perished due to lack of clean, healthy supply.

Read the rest at EzineArticles...

Bottled or Tap

2010-11-19T06:53:00.001-05:00

So you think you are drinking healthy when you pick up that bottle of water? Is the water from your home just as good for you? Some bottled water may be healthier than tap. Tap water can be filtered to be a healthy. green alternative. What does the water you choose to drink do to the environment? Get the facts before you choose. If the environment is not healthy, how can your water be healthy?

Bottled water is convenient, easy to grab when one is on the go and want to drink healthy. Drinking plenty of it keeps the body healthy and in shape. As bottled is convenient, it can help encourage healthy drinking habits. There are studies that show some bottled water has as many or more contaminates than that of tap water.

Read more at EzineArticles!

Celebrate World Water Week With Multipure

2010-09-07T10:05:00.000-04:00

Celebrate World Water Week With Multipure

Multi-Pure Corporation Supports...

2010-09-06T18:10:00.007-04:00

World Water Week

September 6-10, 2010

Multi-Pure donates money for every drinking water system purchased!

Multi-Pure Corporation is proud to support World Water Week and will donate a portion of profits on every sale of a drinking water system purchased during World Water Week September 6th - 10th to Water for People.

Water for People, is an international humanitarian organization that provides quality drinking water to countries worldwide. www.waterforpeople.org

The dollars being donated can truly make a difference in the lives of thousands of people world-wide.

Thank you for your assistance in this quest for better quality water for people around the world.

“Every family deserves to have the highest quality drinking water
and Multi-Pure is proud to help families world wide.
Your Multi-Pure purchases help us support this very important cause!”
~ Alvin Rice, President Multi-Pure

Multi-Pure Corporation
7251 Cathedral Rock Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89128
(800) 622-9206 * www.multipure.com
headquarters@multipure.com

For more information, please contact:

Katrina Oakley, Independent Distributor, ID# 424548

katrinaoakley@gmail.com
Skype: kats_tool_box

MP-Clean Water Hub

2010-08-02T14:27:00.001-04:00

MP-Clean Water Hub

Look For Monthly Specials on My Site!

cocktail waitress gets Multi-Pure'd

2010-05-30T07:51:00.001-04:00

The Best Home Water Filter

2010-05-20T23:07:00.000-04:00

Drinking water is important for general health. There are contaminants in water that cannot be seen, but they are there. Toxic bacteria, heavy metals, and chemicals pollute most natural water sources. These contaminants are ingested by drinking tap water and most bottled water. Filtering your home water supply is a good solution to rid household water of unhealthy contaminants.

What is really in your water?
When choosing a water filter for the home, be sure it removes the contaminates that are specific to the water supply. If the water is supplied by the city, the Health Department will have a list of known contaminants. If the water is supplied by a private well, testing will need to be performed to determine what contaminants are in the water. Water testing supplies can be purchased at a local hardware store or from the local Health Department. Use this information to assist in choosing the best cost effective water filter for your home and location.

The Pitcher Filter
The pitcher filter uses a filter assembly that is located inside a pitcher. Water is poured into the filter area and filters through to the pitcher. This type of water filter removes only a few contaminants. The average annual cost of filtering a years supply of water is $274.00 per year, or $0.25 for a gallon.

Drinking Water System
The drinking water system is an under the cabinet model. It filters water as it comes into the kitchen tap. This model removes chlorine, lead, cysts, THMs, VOCs, lindane, alachlor, atrazine, benzine, TCE, and MTBE. This model has an average annual cost of $210.00 per year or, $0.10 per gallon.

The Counter Top Model
The counter top model removes the same contaminants as the drink water system, plus many more. The counter top model attaches to the existing faucet and filters the water on demand with the turn of a switch. The counter top model has an average annual cost of $57.00 or $0.08 per gallon.

Whole House Filter Systems
Whole House Filter Systems attach to filter the water supply for the entire house. These are used mostly to remove chlorine, taste and odor. The cost of a whole house filter range from $500.00 to $5,000.00. Filters on both models should be replaced annually. The cost for a replacement filter ranges from $104.00, to $2,950.00 for a year of filtered water.

Break the bottle habit

2010-04-08T07:45:00.002-04:00

Are you bottle broke?

Bottled water is a hazard to our health and the environment. In a 2001 report, the World Wide Fund for Nature estimated that 1.5 million tons of plastic is discarded into land fills each year. Read the report here. http://www.allaboutwater.org/glossary.html Bottled water, sold in single-serving plastic bottles, is responsible for hundreds of tons of plastic waste, the release of hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide, and millions of gallons of crude oil used for the manufacture and transportation of the bottles.

The manufacturing of these bottles put a huge strain on the environment. Transporting, and manufacturing of these bottles waste the earths valuable resources like fossil fuels.

One solution would be to reuse the plastic bottles. Studies have shown this to be a bad idea. The plastic will break down and emit dangerous chemicals into the water.

Another solution, using re-usable water bottles. Although these plastic bottles are reusable, they too will break down and release dangerous chemicals into the water.

The best solution, Multi-Pure's stainless steel reusable bottles are the go-anywhere solution to the waste of bottled water. Fill up your H2O on the Go with clean, clear, delicious Multi-Pure water and send the message to everybody that you're doing your part to fight the environmental nightmare that is bottled water.

Another solution on the horizon, The new Multi-Pure water coolers are coming! There is quite an excited buzz that has been created by the announcement of these new products.

Several distributors are already taking pre-orders for these terrific "bottle-less water coolers" for customers who can hardly wait another minute to put them in their homes and offices.

Tracy Lee, sent us this testimonial recently:
"As a mother of two, who has been using the Multipure MP750SB for over a year now, I am so pleased to have chosen the Multi-Pure brand of water filtration among its many competitors. I trust the Multi-Pure filtered water I am giving my children is healthier for them and I feel many of the kids in my son's school community would also benefit greatly from your product."
Mothers love Multi-Pure because they know their children are drinking the purest water available. For less than 8 cents a gallon, your family can have peace of mind.

So for the sake of the environment and our overall health, lets all get bottle broke!

Bottled Water or Filtered Water?

2010-03-06T08:55:00.006-05:00

Over 50% of us show some concern about drinking water quality. Those that are worried about the water quality in their home ofter turn to bottled water. Is bottled water really the best idea? Where does the water in that bottle come from?

Watch this video: Bottled water may not be any safer than your own tap water. A study conducted in 1999 by the National Resources Defense Council titled “Bottled Water. Pure Drink or Pure Hype” discovered that advertising gets people to buy bottled water. The advertising makes a consumer think the bottled water is pure.

Bottled water had just as many contaminants as your own home, tap water. Maybe more. One third of the water tested in the 1999 study was contaminated with arsenic, synthetic chemicals, and even bacteria. Better? I think not!

So, where can you get water that is better than bottled water? Why not in your own home? Home water filtration has come a long way. Today there are many choices for purification of home water supply.

Not only that, but it is cheaper than bottled water. Home filtered water has an average cost of 10 cents per gallon. Compare that to at least a dollar for a 16oz bottle.

Home filtered water is a “green” choice. If we aren't buying all those bottles of water, there would not be as many bottles collecting in land fills.
Bottled water is a scam! Filtered water is the way to go!