Story Archives of 'drinking water'

Stimulus Pays for 7 Rural Water Projects

By Jon Greenberg on Thursday, January 21, 2010.

The USDA Rural Development program has funded projects in seven NH communities to improve their drinking water and wastewater systems. The total amount of grants and loans is now at $50 million statewide. This does not include large drinking and wastewater treatment projects funded through the EPA.

Towns funded include:
Farmington, Franconia, Franklin, North Conway, Peterborough, Plymouth, and Tilton.

How can I minimize the chlorine in my tap water?

By EarthTalk on Sunday, December 27, 2009.

EarthTalk®
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Stimulus Dollars Just Starting to Flow

By Jon Greenberg on Monday, November 23, 2009.

In her recent story about the ground breaking for the Seabrook drinking water plant, NHPR's Amy Quinton made an important point. She noted that of 56 drinking water projects in the state, only about 25% of them are under contract, that is, in the hands of contractors who will then do the work. This gives a sense of when one can expect jobs to appear based on these bricks and mortar projects.

When looking at the impact of the stimulus, the general forecast is that direct job creation will peak in the spring of 2010.

Groundbreaking for Largest Stimulus-Funded Water Project

By Amy Quinton on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

Officials in Seabrook, New Hampshire broke ground today on construction of a new drinking water treatment plant.

Five million dollars in federal stimulus funds are helping to pay for the project.

As New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports, it’s the largest amount of Recovery Act funds any town in the state has received to improve drinking water.

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FIJI Water's Dark Side

By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, August 26, 2009.

FIJI is America’s leading brand of bottled water. Maybe you’ve seen the square bottle with the bright hibiscus flower in photographs of presidential cabinet meetings – it’s Obama’s favorite – or heard of its many celebrity fans. Maybe you even drink it yourself.

FIJI Water has had some PR trials on its way upstream. Environmentalists charged that shipping bottles made of Chinese plastic halfway around the world cost too much carbon. Human rights advocates railed that Fijians were dying for lack of access to clean water while FIJI pillaged the aquifer.

The FIJI company responded with an aggressive campaign trumpeting its carbon offsets and charity work - "every drop is green" became the new tagline. The $5 million FIJI green campaign told consumers that drinking FIJI would help fight climate change.

Investigative reporter Anna Lenzer traveled to Fiji to visit the source and uncover just how green the water could be. She reported on her trip for Mother Jones, supported by a special fund of The Nation Institute, and joins us on the line with more.

Mother Jones: FIJI Water: Spin the Bottle

FIJI Water Responds to Mother Jones Article

Mother Jones Responds to FIJI Water

(Photo by strfireblue via Flickr/Creative Commons)

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Does our drinking water contain birth control chemicals?

By EarthTalk on Sunday, June 7, 2009.

EarthTalkTM
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Protecting New Hampshire’s Water

By Laura Knoy on Thursday, April 30, 2009.

This month the Department of Environmental Services is wrapping up a series of public hearings around the Granite State on how best to manage our water resources, a key component of New Hampshire’s natural beauty and a cornerstone of its tourism industry. DES has come up with a new set of recommendations on how to maintain the health of the state’s waters, including improvements to dams, better protection for private wells, and a solution to the nagging problem of storm water runoff. We'll look at the state of our water resources and the plans to protect them.

Guests

  • Sarah Pillsbury, administrator of the Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
  • Paul Susca, water resource planner for the Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau
  • Ted Diers, Coastal Program Manager for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services

We'll also hear from

  • Judith Spang, Democratic state representative from Strafford and chair of the Resources, Recreation and Development Committee
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Like Money for Water

By Jon Greenberg on Tuesday, April 21, 2009.

DES has awarded about $58 million for drinking and waste water treatment plant projects. See the list here.
http://des.nh.gov/recovery/water_funding.htm

1,4 Dioxane Found in Some Plaistow Residents' Drinking Water

By Amy Quinton on Sunday, April 5, 2009.

New Hampshire environmental officials have found a new and potentially dangerous contaminant at the Beede Waste Oil site in Plaistow.

The contaminant – known as 1,4 dioxane– has leaked from the Beede superfund site into more than a dozen residents’ drinking water.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports.

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Communities Compete For Stimulus Funding for Drinking Water and Clean Water Projects

By Amy Quinton on Monday, March 23, 2009.

The federal stimulus money heading to New Hampshire includes more than 56 million dollars to improve the state's drinking water and wastewater treatment.

The Department of Environmental Services recently ranked 565 applications for water projects coming from more than 125 communities.

The public can now weigh in on the projects before a final decision on stimulus funding is made.

As New Hampshire Public Radio's Amy Quinton reports, the situation puts communities in stiff competition with each other.

And substantial environmental problems are at stake.

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