Water’s Many Wonderful Functions…
Drinking Water for Weight Loss
I’m not sure this is exactly a revelation to anyone, but a study shows that swapping out sugary drinks for water can lead to significant weight loss. It’s still a good reminder that water is a pretty good option when you’re thirsty and everyone who is working on their New Year’s weight loss resolution can get some “easy” results by just switching to water instead of soda. Those in the study lost, on average, two percent of their body weight, so that is something.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/02/14/want-to-lose-weight-trade-sugary-drinks-for-water/
Swapping your soda for water — or at least diet soda — really can help you shed a few pounds, a new clinical trial finds.
A common piece of advice in the battle of the bulge is to replace sugar-sweetened drinks with water or other calorie-free thirst quenchers.
But while that advice is logical, there hasn’t been research to show whether changing your drinking habits alone actually works.
So for the new study, researchers randomly assigned 318 overweight adults to one of three groups: one that replaced sugary drinks with water; one that substituted with diet beverages; and one that was given weight-loss advice and could make diet changes of their choice.
After six months, all three groups lost four or five pounds, on average.
But the two groups that cut sugary drinks were more likely to shed at least five percent of their starting weight: 20 percent did, versus 11 percent of the comparison group.
A five-percent weight loss is considered "clinically meaningful" — or enough to see health benefits like a drop in blood pressure, said lead researcher Deborah F. Tate, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
People who need to lose weight often find a diet overhaul too daunting. But swapping a couple sweet drinks for sugar-free alternatives may seem relatively easy, according to Tate.
"This is a simple thing you can do consistently each day," she said in an interview.
On average, people in this study lost around two percent of their body weight. That’s not huge, but it’s a move in the right direction, the researchers say.
"It might be a good first step," Tate said. After getting used to calorie-free drinks, she said, you can add changes to your eating habits.
The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are based on adults who were significantly obese, on average, and were downing at least 280 liquid calories each day (excluding milk).
The two beverage groups were told to replace two of those daily drinks with water or diet beverages. The third group was given general weight-loss information, but could make their own diet decisions. All three groups had monthly meetings and access to a group website.
After six months, all three groups had a similar average weight loss.
The water group, however, shaved several points off their blood sugar and blood pressure levels — more than the diet beverage group.
It’s not clear why that is, Tate said. But the water group had better hydration levels, which might help explain the improved blood pressure.
"For other health reasons, water might be better" than diet drinks, Tate said. She added, though, that diet versions of people’s favorite drinks might be easier to stick with for the long haul.
Some past studies have found that people who regularly drink diet soda actually have a higher diabetes risk than folks who steer clear of artificially-sweetened drinks.
But the reasons for that connection are unknown, and it might not be anything about diet drinks per se.
Tate said that longer-term follow-up of the people in this study will offer a way to look at that question. By and large, participants had not been drinking diet beverages before the study; so the researchers can look at whether switching to diet has any negative effects on blood sugar or other health markers.
The study was funded by Nestle Waters USA.
Cryptosporidium in City Water Supply
My favorite line in this article on Crypto in the Portland drinking water reservoir: “It would just be irrational for anyone to think in an area as large as the Bull Run there aren’t critters that poop in the woods and after a heavy rain you wouldn’t find some residue of that…”
So, true, but not enough to convince the authorities that the water needs further treatment. And that is one of the reasons I have a purification system in my home…
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PORTLAND, Ore. – Just days before the state is supposed to decide whether to give Portland a waiver on building a $90 million water treatment plant, a second test finds a parasite in the city’s drinking water reservoir.
A test last Thursday found cryptosporidium at the Bull Run reservoir. The parasite, which is common, can make people sick. The same parasite was found in a test in late December.
City Commissioner Randy Leonard, who oversees the city’s water bureau doesn’t think this will cost water payers. The Oregon Health Authority will only say that it’s considering the test results and the parasite doesn’t present an immediate threat to human health.
This latest discovery of cryptosporidium came from a sample taken Jan. 5 at a creek about two miles upstream from the water intake area.
Leonard said the water bureau will send a crew to search the creek for beavers, elks or whatever animal is responsible for the cryptosporidium spores.
The bureau has increased its testing of the drinking water system, knowing the Oregon Health Authority will decide by month’s end whether Portland can skip building that $90 million water treatment facility.
"It would just be irrational for anyone to think in an area as large as the Bull Run there aren’t critters that poop in the woods and after a heavy rain you wouldn’t find some residue of that," Leonard said. "What would be worrisome (is) if you had huge amounts of cryptosporidium in our water supply, and we don’t."
He argues the discovery of cryptosporidium doesn’t harm the city’s argument that it shouldn’t have to build the expensive water treatment facility; instead, he says it’s a sign that the city is thoroughly testing the water supply.
If the state does grant Portland a variance on building a treatment facility, the city would be required to test more frequently and notify the OHA immediately if cryptosporidium is discovered.
An OHA representative said Wednesday that it will consider the test results with previous public comments in making its decision.
Banana Peels Purify Water
According to a study in the American Chemical Society’s journal, minced banana peels can very effectively remove heavy metals, like lead and copper, from water. If this proves out, banana peels could provide a cheap, sustainable solution for purification of water containing toxic metals.
Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions
Developing New Materials: Using banana peels to purify water
August 8, 2011
Banana peels show promise as superior
water purifi-cation materials.
Summary
Banana peels have some surprisingly inventive uses
including polishing silverware, leather shoes, and
the leaves of houseplants. Scientists have now
added purification of water contaminated with
toxic metals to the list. A study in the American
Chemical Society’s journal, Industrial & Engineering
Chemistry Research, reports that minced banana
peel performs better than an array of other water
purification materials and could provide a
sustainable alternative.
Banana peels have some surprisingly inventive uses, including polishing silverware, leather shoes, and the leaves of houseplants. Scientists have now added purification of drinking water contaminated with toxic metals to the list. A study in the American Chemical Society’s journal, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, reports that minced banana peel performs better than an array of other water purification materials and can do so in a sustainable way.
Gustavo Castro and colleagues note that mining processes, runoff from farms, and industrial wastes can all put heavy metals such as lead and copper into waterways. Heavy metals can have adverse health and environmental effects. Current methods of removing heavy metals from water are expensive and some substances used in the process are toxic themselves. Previous work has shown that some plant wastes, such as coconut fibers and peanut shells, can remove these potential toxins from water.
Castro and colleagues wanted to find out whether minced banana peels could also act as water purifiers. Here is Gustavo Castro of São Paulo State University in Brazil:
“I chose to work with banana peels because I have heard for a long time that we usually throw out the best part of the fruit and that most of the nutrients and proteins are in parts not used by us, such as the peels. From there, I decided to make an initial experiment to determine the chemical composition of the peel.”
The researchers found that minced banana peel could quickly remove lead and copper from river water as well as or better than many other materials. They say that banana peels can be used up to 11 times without losing their metal-binding properties. The scientists add that banana peels are very attractive because of their low cost and because they don’t have to be chemically modified in order to work. Here again is Dr. Castro:
“I was surprised to learn that something so simple could work so well I believe that banana peels can be of great importance in water purification. Sustainability is very important.”
Webcast: http://web.1.c2.audiovideoweb.com/1c2web3536/GC2011_BananaPurifiersFINAL.mp3
Mayor Hides Contaminated Water Source for Over Twenty Years!
From 1985 to 2007, the village of Crestwood Illinois used a well known to be contaminated with vinyl chloride for up to 20% of its water supply while telling residents that the supply came from Lake Michigan. Vinyl Chloride is a carcinogen with links to liver damage and nervous system disorders.
Crestwood officials indicted in tainted drinking water scandal
By Lauren FitzPatrick Sun-Times Media lfitzpatrick@suntimes.com August 11, 2011 1:26PM
The Crestwood water tower is shown in this 2009 file photo.
For nearly two decades, the former mayor of Crestwood, who ruled the village of 11,000 with an iron fist, hid from regulators and residents the fact that they were drinking contaminated water, federal authorities said Thursday, announcing indictments against two former water department officials.
But Chester Stranczek, whose attorney confirms he’s the “Public Official A” mentioned in the 23-count indictment, has not been charged — and likely will not — face criminal charges, his attorney said, because Parkinson’s disease dementia has left him unfit to stand trial.
Facing felony charges are Frank Scaccia, 59, Crestwood’s former certified water operator, and Theresa Neubauer, 53, former water department clerk and supervisor and currently Crestwood’s police chief. Both are accused of lying to environmental regulators for more than 20 years about using a tainted well to supplement the village’s drinking water supply from Lake Michigan, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald announced in a press release.
The village told residents and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency it was only using Lake Michigan water after 1985, when it discovered a village well had been tainted by vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen. But regulators later discovered the village continued to use the well for as much as 20 percent of its water from 1985 to 2007.
The indictment alleges Scaccia and Neubauer acted with unnamed “Public Official A,” an elected Crestwood government official who had authority over the village’s water system, including the use of the well water. Between roughly 1999 and 2007, “Public Official A” signed regulatory documents on behalf of the village.
“Public Official A” is the elder Stranczek, too sick to stand trial, said Chris Gair, who’s been representing Stranczek in some 200 lawsuits filed over the tainted well scandal.
“I feel confident (prosecutors) are not going to come after him because they are aware that his disease has rendered him unfit to stand trial,” Gair said. “He’s no more able to participate in (the lawsuits) than he would in a criminal case. He does not have the mental capacity anymore to do so.”
Stranczek’s son, current Crestwood Mayor Robert Stranczek, could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon. Employees at the village hall and police department said he and Neubauer were on “planned vacations.”
Neubauer’s attorney, Thomas Breen, said she learned of the charges while camping with her children.
“All of the counts have to do with her when she had a clerical position when she assisted in filing out forms with information given to her by the water department and management,” he said. “The evidence is going to show she had a clerical job filing out forms.”
Neubauer has been placed on administrative leave “pending further review,” according a village statement.
Scaccia’s attorney did not return messages seeking comment. He was fired in March 2010, the village statement said.
“The government’s investigation — resulting in only these false statements charges — confirms that there is not now and never has been any concern with the safety or quality of the drinking water in Crestwood and the health of our citizens has never been compromised or threatened,” the statement read. “Our citizens’ well-being has always been and will always continue to be our top priority.”
An arm of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined there is no safe level of exposure to vinyl chloride, which also can cause damage to the liver and nervous system.
Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the village over the use of the well water, including one by the Illinois attorney general’s office. Crestwood has footed the multi-million-dollar bill for various defense attorneys.
In December, the village settled one of those suits, which covered water bills paid by current and former residents and village business owners. The settlement established a $500,000 fund to give residents partial refunds on their water bills from January 1985 to September 2007 — the years the village was found to have tapped the contaminated well. The village also agreed to a two-year freeze on the cost of vehicle stickers, business licenses and garbage collection fees, among other conditions.
Other lawsuits alleging wrongful death and personal injury still are pending.
Current and former Crestwood residents Thursday said they were outraged and vindicated. Many spoke of their terrible health problems: kidney problems, tumors, immune system disorders and many types of cancer.
Howard Smith worked for ComEd in Crestwood for years until his 2001 retirement.
“I didn’t live there,” the Manteno resident said, “but I drank from the water fountain and drank the coffee. I’m not sure if my stage 1 kidney disease is from the water or not. Sounds like they’re investigating and if those people are found guilty, they should be punished.”
Crestwood resident John Mazor, 56, blames the water for the eight surgeries he underwent to remove kidney stones from 1999 until 2006. He believes Neubauer and Scaccia may be covering for Stranczek and other superiors, and said the indictments might be the tip of the iceberg.
“Whatever person turned the switch should take the fall,” Mazor said. “Whoever told him to turn the switch should take the fall.
Chester Stranczek “ran this town with a steel fist. Everything Crestwood was, was because of him,” he said.
Contributing: Casey Toner, Hannah Kohut
Timeline:
April 2009: Agents from the federal Environmental Protection Agency raid the Crestwood village hall in light of revelations Crestwood supplemented its drinking water supply from Lake Michigan with water from a contaminated well between 1985 and 2007, and then lied about it to regulators.
September 2009: The IEPA digs around the tainted well to try to determine if a nearby dry cleaners was responsible for leaking the cancer-causing chemicals that were leeching into the groundwater.
October 2009: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sues Crestwood, alleging that Mayor Robert Stranczek, his father — former Mayor Chester Stranczek — and water official Frank Scaccia told residents and the state EPA the village used 100 percent Lake Michigan water, without mentioning that 3 to 20 percent of the water came from the contaminated well. That same month Crestwood ends its longtime practice of rebating property taxes to residents, citing mounting legal costs from the water scandal. Also, the village’s insurance companies deny its request to pay to defend the village in dozens of lawsuits.
March 2010: Scaccia is fired.
July 2010: Crestwood settles with residents who believed they were paying for pure lake water between 1985 and 2007, establishing a $500,000 fund that gives residents and businesses partial refunds on past water bills.
April 2011: Just before municipal elections, the village sends a newsletter to residents downplaying the water scandal as a “manufactured issue.” Two incumbent trustees are replaced by newcomers who campaigned against village secrecy over the water scandal.
August 2011: A federal grand jury indicts Scaccia and Theresa Neubauer, another former water official now working as village police chief.
Petition Congress to Dump Bottled Water
Corporate Accountability International has started a petition to urge our Congress to stop spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per quarter on bottled water.
Click here to see/sign the petition:
Tell the House of Representatives to Ditch Bottled Water and Save Taxpayer Dollars
Targeting: The U.S. House of Representatives and Speaker of the House John Boehner
Started by: Corporate Accountability International
The new Speaker of the House John Boehner recently made waves with his intention to cut $35 million of bloated spending from the U.S. House of Representatives’ budget.
News reports noted a prime example of that waste: In the first quarter of 2010 alone, the House spent $190,000 taxpayer dollars on bottled water.
That’s a lot of money—equivalent to paying perhaps 4 teachers’ salaries—so that our elected officials can sip water that’s bad for the planet to boot.
Luckily, Speaker Boehner has plenty of support if he wants to cut back on bottled water spending. On January 5th,
George S. Hawkins, general manager of the area water utility DC Water, wrote Boehner a letter offering to supply each member of Congress with his or her own reusable water bottle (for free!).
Hawkins even offered Congress free water quality testing to assuage concerns from lawmakers who aren’t keen on the idea, and some DC residents have opted for water filters in cases where they feel their water needs it—our elected representatives could do the same.
Bottled water is not safer or healthier than tap water, and often comes from the tap anyway. It can be up to 1,900 times more expensive, and the energy needed to produce the plastic is enough to fuel nearly 3 million cars for a year. Nearly one million tons of plastic water bottles are discarded as litter each year, ending up in landfills, lakes and streams.
Already, many state and city governments are phasing out their bottled water purchases in this era of environmental and fiscal responsibility. The Congress of the United States should do the same.
Tell Speaker Boehner and your own Congressional representatives to make good on the promise to cut wasteful spending, and eliminate bottled water purchases from the House budget. Sign the petition to the new speaker below.
Bottled Water Report Cards are out…
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) issued a report card for bottled water based on the the transparency of the labeling and most bottled water failed miserably. EWG wants bottlers to disclose the source of the water, the purification process used, and any contaminants found. Filtered Tap Water scored the only A, since you know where it is from and you can remove the contaminants you wish to remove. Good idea!
http://breakingnews.ewg.org/bottled-water-2011-home
What’s In Your Bottled Water – Besides Water?
Download the Full Report PDFPure, clean water.
That’s what the ads say. But what does the lab say?
When you shell out for bottled water, which costs up to 1,900 times more than tap water, you have a right to know what exactly is inside that pricey plastic bottle.
Most bottled water makers don’t agree. They keep secret some or all the answers to these elementary questions:
- Where does the water come from?
- Is it purified? How?
- Have tests found any contaminants?
Among the ten best-selling brands, nine — Pepsi’s Aquafina, Coca-Cola’s Dasani, Crystal Geyser and six of seven Nestlé brands — don’t answer at least one of those questions.
Only one — Nestlé’s Pure Life Purified Water — discloses its water source and treatment method on the label and offers an 800-number, website or mailing address where consumers can request a water quality test report.
The industry’s refusal to tell consumers everything they deserve to know about their bottled water is surprising.
Since July 2009, when Environmental Working Group released its groundbreaking Bottled Water Scorecard, documenting the industry’s failure to disclose contaminants and other crucial facts about their products, bottled water producers have been taking withering fire from consumer and environmental groups.
A new EWG survey of 173 unique bottled water products finds a few improvements – but still too many secrets and too much advertising hype. Overall, 18 percent of bottled waters fail to list the source, and 32 percent disclose nothing about the treatment or purity of the water. Much of the marketing nonsense that drew ridicule last year can still be found on a number of labels.
EWG recommends that you drink filtered tap water. You’ll save money, drink water that’s purer than tap water and help solve the global glut of plastic bottles.
We support stronger federal standards to enforce the consumer’s right to know all about bottled water.
Until the federal Food and Drug Administration cracks down on water bottlers, use EWG’s Bottled Water Scorecard to find brands that disclose water source, treatment and quality and
that use advanced treatment methods to remove a broad range of pollutants.
Super Slow-Mo water drop video
This is a very cool video showing a water drop bounce off of the surface of water like it’s on a trampoline.
Water Drop video
Fiji Plant Reopens
In a not very shocking development, which I predicted, Fiji waters reopened its bottling plant on its namesake island. After “negotiations” with the Fiji government. And all is well with shipping water across the globe again because Hollywood likes a square bottle…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704679204575647062823813710.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Fiji Water Reopens Bottling Plant
Bottled-drink company Fiji Water said it reopened its bottling facility in the South Pacific country for which it is named, ending a two-day standoff with the local government over taxes.
The company, which is owned by billionaire investors Lynda Resnick and Stewart Resnick, closed the facility Monday, sending about 400 workers home. The shutdown came in response to a move by Fiji’s government to impose a steep tax increase on companies that extract large volumes of water from the country. Fiji Water was the sole company affected by the increase.
On Tuesday, Fiji Water lawyers Craig Cooper and Marigold Moody met with Fiji government officials, including Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, seeking to resolve the dispute. After the meetings, Fiji Water agreed to accept the tax increase and reopened the plant Wednesday at 8 a.m. local time.
"Fiji Water is committed to working with the Fijian government and remains dedicated to helping the country’s economy and its people," company President John Cochran said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Commodore Bainimarama, who came to power in a 2006 coup, said he would welcome a rival taking over Fiji Water’s assets if the company refused to comply with the government’s tax increase.
Fiji Water, which was started in 1996 by Canadian businessman David Gilmour, has close ties to Fiji. Its water comes from an artesian aquifer in the Yaqara Valley, a remote part of Fiji’s main island. Almost all of the company’s workers are Fijians.
On Monday, the company idled those employees, saying it would pay them two weeks’ salary. However, it said it called them back to work for Wednesday’s re-opening.
Fiji Water accounts for about 2% of the $10.6 billion U.S. bottled-water market, making it one of the biggest imported waters in the U.S.
The Resnicks’ holding company, Roll International Corp., bought Fiji Water in 2004from Mr. Gilmour, who also founded a resort in the country.
Fiji Water’s sales rose to $141 million in 2008 from $78 million in 2005 but fell last year to $85 million.
FIJI Water to Leave Fiji?
According to a press release from Fiji Water, they will be closing their bottling plant on the island of Fiji after the government imposed a 15 cent per liter tax on bottled water. Apparently, the tax only applies to Fiji Water as the largest bottler on the island. Fiji water is often criticized for being one of the least environmentally responsible bottled water choices (despite their Green Water advertising campaigns), so maybe now they will produce closer to their customers.
But they’ll have to change the claims about their source water, I suppose.
Actually, my guess is that this is a bit of posturing by both sides, so I’d expect a compromise solution before they actually abandon the facility. Stay tuned…
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Fiji Water closes facility on namesake island country
Monday, November 29, 2010
SUVA, FIJI — Bottled water company Fiji Water announced that it is closing its facility on the South Pacific country of Fiji, according to a press release.
The company said it was forced to close operations on its namesake island country due to a massive tax increase, the release stated.
Fiji’s government announced last week that it will impose a 15-cent per liter tax on bottled water at locations where more than 3.5 million liters per month are extracted.
Fiji Water, which currently pays 1/3rd of a cent per liter, is the only bottled water producer in Fiji affected by the increased tax, according to the release.
“This new tax is untenable and as a consequence, Fiji Water is left with no choice but to close our facility in Fiji, effective Monday Nov. 29, 2010,” said Fiji Water President John Cochran. “We are saddened that we have been forced to make a business decision that will result in hardship to hundreds of Fijians who will now be without work.”
November 29, 2010 at 12:40 pm Comment (1)
