Transition Island Blog

About one million litres of water will soon be saved by Southern Water on the Island every day.

The County Press says this is enough to fill 10,000 baths.

A £7 million investment in new state-of-the-art recycling equipment, which takes water out of sludge, will improve supplies in the south of the Island.

The project at the Sandown works is part of £700 million of environmental improvements being carried out for Southern Water throughout Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Island between 2005 and 2010.

The water company said its new equipment, which is nearing completion, will take 90 per cent of the water from a thin sludge that previously went to waste.

new machinery

The new machinery takes water used in backwashing the normal filters, slows it down and adds clarifying chemicals that bind together the solids in the sludge so that it falls out of the flow. This clarified water can then be sent back to the beginning of the filtration process and can end up as clean water.

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INVITATION to a free lunchtime talk on climate change, ponds and carbon storage 6 May 2008.

In recently published work, Professor John Downing from Iowa State University says that across the globe, ponds ‘may bury 4 times as much carbon as the world’s oceans.’

‘The world’s farm ponds alone may bury more organic carbon than the oceans and 33% as much as the world’s rivers deliver to the sea.’

To find out how ponds take up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and the implications for climate change, you are invited …

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The UK’s thirst for bottled water appears to be drying up.

New figures show that sales are falling for the first time in years.

Shop sales of bottled water fell by 9 per cent to £284m in the year to March, according to independent retail analysts. Also, water cooler sales have also fallen, although not as dramatically.

environmental costs

Green groups said they hoped the figures suggested the public was turning away from bottled water because of the environmental costs of packaging and transportation. Some of it travels to the UK from the Fijian islands in the Pacific!

Production of a litre bottle of Evian or Volvic generates up to 600 times more CO2 than a litre of tap water.

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Rice and Wheat shortages are due - at least in part - to droughts running right around the globe and conflict is following…

Spain

Spain is suffering its worst drought in more than four decades, pitting the country’s regions against each other in a fierce battle over water resources.

There has been 40 per cent less rain than usual since October 1 across the nation as a whole, according to the Meteorology Institute, although in some regions the impact has been far worse. Mediterranean regions such as Catalonia and Valencia have been the worst affected - they have had less rain than at any time since 1912.

Farmers in Catalonia fear they could lose their crops altogether if it does not rain in coming weeks, and Britons with homes on the coast could soon face restrictions on water.

The situation in Barcelona - Catalonia’s capital and top tourist centre - could soon become critical. Water reserves there are at 19 per cent of capacity - they must be shut down when they reach 15 per cent because there is too much sediment near the bottom. Jose Montilla, president of Catalonia, said: “We must prepare for the worst.”

Ironically, other regions along the “green” northern edge of Spain, such as the Basque Country, have recently had to release water from their reservoirs as rivers threatened to burst their banks. [more]

China

Northeastern China is facing its worst drought in 57 years. The areas of Hebei, from which Beijing intends to take water for the Olympics, have also grown parched.

Meanwhile, the drought is already affecting about 19.4 million hectares of crops. 6 million of these are in Heilongjiang, 51% of the farmland of the province that is the true “breadbasket” of the country, providing wheat, soyabeans, rice, and maize.

The news agency Xinhua foresees a shortage of drinking water for 5.82 million people. Meanwhile, is expected that during the Olympics Beijing, a city of 16 million residents, will require 2.75 million cubic metres of water a day, 30% more than normal. The city wants to bring it in from Hebei, in part through a new canal about 309 kilometres long, which draws from four basins.

But the water is low and “stagnant” in many of the reservoirs, there is not enough for the crops, and at least 500,000 inhabitants are suffering from a shortage of drinking water. The aquifers in Hebei have dropped by one to two metres in a year, and 50,000 wells have gone dry. [more]

Australia

Australia’s first known case of murder due to “water rage,” a dispute over a suburban man’s water usage led to him being beaten to death in front of his home.

According to police, 66-year-old Ken Proctor was watering the lawn in front of his home in Sydney on October 31 at approximately 5:30 p.m. when a passerby made a comment to him about wasting water. Proctor then turned his hose on the other man, who knocked him to the ground and began to punch and kick him. The attacker was tackled by two bystanders, including an off-duty policeman, and an ambulance came for Proctor. Proctor later died in the hospital after experiencing a massive heart attack.

Due to a severe, nearly eight-year drought, intensive water restrictions are in place across most of Australia. Nearly all states have banned garden sprinklers and the use of hoses on cars or sidewalks. [more]

food shortages

A global rice shortage that has seen prices of one of the world’s most important staple foods increase by 50 per cent in the past two weeks alone is triggering an international crisis, with countries banning export and threatening serious punishment for hoarders.

After America, Australia is normally the second largest exporter of grain, but the country remains in the grip of the worst drought in a century, which is why the 2006 crop yielded less than half the usual amount.

conflict

Rising food prices could spark worldwide unrest and threaten political stability, the UN’s top humanitarian official warned yesterday after two days of rioting in Egypt over the doubling of prices of basic foods in a year and protests in other parts of the world. [more]

Prices have risen 40% on average globally since last summer: the rising cost and scarcity of food has been blamed for:

· Riots in Haiti last week that killed four people

· Violent protests in Ivory Coast

· Price riots in Cameroon in February that left 40 people dead

· Heated demonstrations in Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal

· Protests in Uzbekistan, Yemen, Bolivia and Indonesia

See also:
Famine will get us first
Global food crisis looms
Food shortage predicted
Glaciers melting away 

Food security and the rapid rise in food prices are the urgent issue that politicians must face up to quickly.

Global grain stores are currently at the lowest levels ever, just 40 days from running out.

Famine will get us before climate change.

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A whisky by-product has been found to clean contaminated ground and waste water.

The team at the University of Aberdeen believe they have a new technique to help the estimated 330,000 contaminated sites in the UK.

They say the Device for the Remediation and Attenuation of Multiple pollutants (Dram) has major potential in industry.

Early tests seem to show that Dram removes several contaminants simultaneously and is quicker and more cost-effective than current techniques.

The Glenfiddich distillery in Speyside has helped researchers get to this stage by donating the by-product, the nature of which is being kept secret.

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Reports in the County Press, the Isle of Wight’s independent newspaper, show the effect of just one storm.

Thousands lost electricity supply, a flood arrived in the capital town Newport, a tanker ship ran aground and the ferries were battered into paralysis.

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Bugs found in water and soil make electricity by feeding on simple organic compounds.

New research shows that a vitamin called riboflavin is a key product that creates electron flow.

Rates of electricity production increased by 370 percent as riboflavin accumulated.

natural battery

Bacteria have been changing the chemistry of the environment for billions of years. Their ability to make iron soluble is a central part of the metal cycle in the environment. It is essential to most life on earth.

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Twelve Things You CAN Do Right Now

01) Use Low Energy Light Bulbs
02) Monitor Your Use Of Electricity
03) Banish Standby
04) Super Insulate Your Home
05) Reduce Your Heating
06) Heat Your Water With The Sun
07) Switch to Green Energy
08) Change Your Transport Priorities
09) Shop Locally
10) Grow Your Own Food
11) Save Water
12) Subscribe To Permaculture Magazine 

[Details at ReverseClimateChange.co.uk]

The world’s largest tropical glacier is in danger of disappearing within five years.

Glaciologist Lonnie Thompson and a team of scientists said this time last year in San Francisco they have found evidence the Qori Kalis glacier in the Peruvian Andes could lose half its mass in 12 months and could be gone five years from now.

The rate of retreat has increased tenfold over the last 15 years. Artic retreat is also of concern, and recently Antarctic retreat has been found to have increased 75% in the last ten years.

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