The Stream, March 17: Many Health Centers Worldwide Lack Clean Water, Report Says

The Global Rundown

A report from global health organizations highlights the lack of safe water and sanitation at health centers. Rivers in a Vietnam province are down 80 percent due to drought, while California considers stricter water conservation measures today. Alberta, Canada introduced stricter regulations to protect water from oil sands development, and scientists found that groundwater plays an important role in nutrient transfer in the Mediterranean Sea. Wet wipes are a growing problem in Australia’s wastewater treatment systems.

“Access to water in health centres and even in delivery rooms has fallen between the gaps in the millennium development goals. It’s an embarrassment for the health sector that this issue is so ignored.”–Bruce Gordon, coordinator of water, sanitation, hygiene and health for the World Health Organization, on a new report the organization released that found 38 percent of health centers in low and middle-income countries do not have water access. (Guardian)

By The Numbers

1 million kilograms Amount of wet wipes that Sydney Water removed from its wastewater system in the past two years. The wipes are a growing problem in Australia.The Age

80 percent Decline in river volumes in Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa province due to a drought. Tuoi Tre News

Science, Studies, And Reports

Groundwater is also a major source of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus that enter the Mediterranean Sea, not just rivers, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. PNAS

On The Radar

New regulations in Alberta seek to protect water from oil sand development by limiting water withdrawals from the Athabasca River and placing stricter rules on tailing pond growth and reclamation. Bloomberg

California’s State Water Resources Control Board may vote to impose stricter water conservation measures on the state’s landscape irrigation today. The state is looking for ways to reduce water use as its severe drought enters a fourth year. The Desert Sun

Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek