Public Art Purple Pipe

Mixing Art and Technology: North America’s Largest Membrane-filtration Sewage Plant Opens Near Seattle

6 Comments
/
The $1.8 billion Brightwater facility, 10 miles northeast of Seattle, eschews old notions of what a sewage plant is. State-of-the-art membrane technology produces reusable water, a trail system allows outdoor recreation, and wetlands give salmon a place to spawn.
Infographic: China’s Water Pollution Events and Protection Policies (2004-2011)

Infographic: China’s Water Pollution Events and Protection Policies (2004-2011)

3 Comments
/
China has some of the dirtiest and most dangerous water in the world. This detailed and interactive timeline shows key pollution events, protests, and policy reforms from the last eight years at both the national and regional levels as China tries to clean up its act.
USGS groundwater water pollution contamination 2011 report arsenic manganese radon uranium

USGS Report: Trace Elements Exceed Health Standards in 20 Percent of U.S. Water Wells

2 Comments
/
Utilities are required by law to treat water to national standards, but no such controls exist for private wells, where the risk from contaminants is greater.

Disturbing U.S. WASH Report: Water and Sanitation Lacking for Poorest Americans

1 Comment
/
Despite an extensive water and sanitation system ranking among the world’s best, a human rights lawyer — appointed by the United Nations — has reported that some of the poorest Americans live without affordable, convenient access to these basic necessities.
Somalia Suffers from Severe Drought

Water and Food Security: Somalia Famine Grows, Drought Could Ease

1 Comment
/
Meteorologists are hopeful for future rainfall, though they say the current disaster was preventable. The lack of rain, which is also affecting neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, and political instability have tipped Somalia into a food crisis that could persist, even as drought conditions abate.
Om Prakash

Photo Slideshow and Q&A: Om Prakash Singh Documents the Perception and Harsh Realities of Water and Sanitation in Delhi, India

3 Comments
/
Delhi reportedly has a high percentage of coverage for sanitation and water supply. But one photographer has 74,000 images spanning the last 10 years that challenge the perception of progress
Libya aftermath - lack of clean water

Water as a Tool of War: Qaddafi Loyalists Turn Off Tap for Half of Libya

0 Comments
/
Muammar Qaddafi’s great achievement of tapping desert aquifers and sending the water hundreds of kilometers to Tripoli, the capital, and other coastal cities is now the focal point for sabotage and siege. Aid agencies have begun humanitarian relief as rebel leaders try to gain control of water-producing regions.

Infographic: WASH and Urbanization — Providing Sanitation and Water Services by Country

1 Comment
/
Entry in the 2011 Urban Water Design Challenge, sponsored by Visualizing.org and Circle of Blue.
Infographic: Map of Pollution Levels in China

Infographic: Map of Pollution Levels in China’s Major River Basins

5 Comments
/
The seven major river basins, as a whole, have had steady improvements in water quality over the past decade.
Infographic: American Arsenic

Infographic: An Elemental Concern—Arsenic in Drinking Water

2 Comments
/
Arsenic is both naturally occurring and artificially produced, and the toxin is very dangerous since it often has no color, taste, or smell. This graphic breaks down how arsenic gets into drinking water supplies and how arsenic affects the U.S. on the state level.

American Arsenic: After a Decade, Small Communities Still Struggle to Meet Federal Drinking Water Standards

9 Comments
/
When the EPA lowered the arsenic standard for drinking water from 50 parts per billion to 10 in 2001, there were 3,000 water systems in violation. Today, nearly a thousand still are.
Wastewater Recycled for Drinking Water

Wastewater Recycled for Drinking: Low Water Reserves Prompt Australian Push

1 Comment
/
On Australia’s western coast, the city of Perth is in critical danger of depleting the water reserves held by its dams. In response, the government is pumping treated wastewater into the Gnangara Mound Aquifer.