The Stream, January 10: New Rules Tackle Bacteria in U.S. Water Supply

U.S. federal regulations, set to take effect within three years, target pathogens in tap water, revising current rules to better target pathogens that can sicken people. Roughly 155,000 public water systems must comply with the Environmental Protection Agency rules, Scientific American reported, which add tests for E. coli.

Water to Food

Worldwide, about 50 percent of food produced goes to waste, meaning that much of the water used to produce that food goes to waste as well. A new study from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which focuses on energy, land, and water waste worldwide, outlines the world’s most water-consuming (and wasting) foods, The Guardian reported.

Urban Infrastructure

A Texas lawmaker is proposing that his state spend $US 2 billion on infrastructure to meet the water demands of its expanding population. That amount, the Houston Chronicle reported, is double the total spending proposed by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst on water-related projects. The speaker of the house in Texas told the Chronicle that water will be a priority this legislative session.

A long-standing question in New Orleans still has no conclusive answer: what’s the best way to live in a city almost 300 years old that’s surrounded, and sometimes flooded, by water? The New Orleans water utility is pushing for a new solution, The Times-Picayune reported, that stores excess water rather than pushing it out of the city.

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