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Australia

Almost 200,000 Australians don’t have safe drinking water, new report finds

Almost 200,000 Australians are often forced to drink water containing unsafe levels of uranium, arsenic, nitrates, fluoride and E.coli, according to the peak body for water suppliers.

A further 400,000 people across Australia regularly drink water that fails aesthetic standards, a new Water Services Association of Australia report has found.

Researchers discovered unsafe drinking water in 115 locations, while hundreds more had water that failed aesthetic standards.

Towns and communities in the Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia returned the worst water quality results, with remote Indigenous communities found to be the most affected by unsafe drinking water.

Jackie Mahoney and Pam Corbett, who live in Alpurrurulam, 500 kilometers north-east of Alice Springs on the NT-Queensland border, say poor water quality causes a wide range of illnesses and problems.

“It makes you itchy … and causes kidney problems and makes you sick in the stomach,” Mr Mahoney said.

“People with sensitive skin were treated for scabies, but it wasn’t scabies. Children’s scalps were dry and itching, and lots of calcium on the taps and clogged pipes caused problems.”

A calcified shower head
Hard water in remote areas causes plumbing problems and contributes to chronic health issues. (ABC Alice Springs: Steven Schubert)

The community recently installed a filtration system which, they said, had helped to improve the water quality, but it did not remove everything and many people still suffered health issues because they had been forced to drink poor quality water for years.

“Before that it was worse,” Ms Corbett said.

“We didn’t know we were drinking no-good water. It made our stomach sick, and… our kids.”

Ms Corbett said she and her partner had approached governments, the Central Land Council and other funding bodies for a new water bore for the community but progress had been slow.

“I’m worried because of our kids, their future, the next generation. We need to fix this. We need new water soon, ASAP,” Mr Mahoney said.

“It’s our homeland. We’re there for life and we should have good water.”

600,000 rely on poor quality drinking water

The Water Services Association of Australia report shows 115 locations across remote Australia exceeded safe guidelines at least once in 2018-19, while 408 locations did not meet aesthetic standards, affecting more than 600,000 people.

More than 40 per cent of all locations surveyed were remote Indigenous communities, the report said.

A sign in Yuelamu about using water wisely
Many remote Indigenous communities struggle with drinking water access, including Yuelamu north-west of Alice Springs. (Supplied: Adam Lovell)

But association executive director Adam Lovell said the number of locations and breaches of the guidelines actually could be much higher because there was not enough testing being done.

“There’s hardly any data to understand what the water quality looks like,” he said.

“When we talk about closing the gap, we don’t know what that gap actually looks like right now.”

Unacceptably high levels of elements like uranium or arsenic could result in long-term chronic health issues, Mr Lovell said, but the most common risk was E.coli.

“It’s immediate. If a water supply is not being disinfected properly then there’ll be gastrointestinal problems in the house,” he said.

“Over the longer term you’ll see that the chemical impacts build up and build up and build up and they’re the chronic impacts, which are much harder to see immediately and then much harder to treat.”

A man drinks water in a remote Indigenous community.
Adam Lovell tests drinking water in Yuendumu, NT. (Supplied: Adam Lovell)

‘Blame shifting’ over water quality

Mr Lovell said in Australia’s major cities there were usually hundreds of water samples taken a day, testing for microbial contaminants like E.coli and chemicals.

“Australian drinking water guidelines should preferably be legislated and regulated across all states and territories, which currently it is not,” he said.

Report author Eric Vanweydeveld said there were too many government departments and other organizations involved in service provision for remote communities, which led to blame shifting and inaction.

Two men stand in a desert community.
Eric Vanweydeveld and Adam Lovell say there’s too much bureaucracy in managing water in remote Indigenous communities. (Supplied: Adam Lovell)

“If there is a water leak in the street, and you are a member of a remote community and you try to understand ‘who do I need to talk to fix this leak?’, you will deal with probably seven or 10 different departments ,” he said.

The report has recommended that the federal government spend $30 million to establish a national water monitoring program.

“That will help us understand what closing the gap looks like,” Mr Lovell said.

Steven Porter, from the Northern Territory Power and Water Corporation, said it had been working with the Central Land Council to secure $5.2 million from the National Indigenous Affairs Association to bring two new bores online but there was still a $1 million shortfall.

“In doing that we can access better sources of water and improve the quality of water for the local community,” he said.

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Categories
US

More human remains found at Lake Mead as water levels drop in drought

National Park Service rangers found more human remains at the drought-hit Lake Mead National Recreation Area to the east of Las Vegas over the weekend.

Why it matters: It’s fourth such discovery in the nation’s largest reservoir by volume since May as a megadrought sinks Lake Mead’s water levels to the lowest since 1937, per AP.

Details: “National Park Service rangers received an emergency call reporting the discovery of human skeletal remains at Swim Beach in Lake Mead National Recreation Area,” Nevada, on Saturday morning, according to an NPS statement.

  • Park rangers worked to recover the remains with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s dive team, the NPS said.
  • The Clark County Medical Examiner is investigating the cause of death.

Driving the news: The Southwest is in the grip of a megadrought lasting more than two decades and studies show it’s more severe than any in at least 1,200 years, which is being driven in large part by climate change, Axios’ Andrew Freedman notes.

The big pictures: Lake Mead spans Nevada and Arizona and is part of the vast Colorado River basin that provides water for agriculture and human consumption to seven states, while also generating electricity at the massive Hoover Dam.

Go deeper: New Colorado River drought discovery shows how bad things can get

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Categories
Business

Gold mine near Orange stops extraction, carries out evacuation following underground incident

An underground incident in one of Australia’s largest gold mines has forced the evacuation of staff and extraction to be suspended.

Cadia Gold Mine near Orange in the central west of New South Wales has not mined any ore for almost two weeks after it halted underground work on July 22.

Its surface operations, which involve the production of gold and copper concentrate, are still operating and it says it still delivering the same volume of product as usual.

General manager Aaron Brannigan released a statement after the mine was evacuated that said the decision was made to ensure the health and safety of its workforce.

“The evacuation was due to instability in one of Cadia’s vent rises [ventilation shafts],” Mr Brannigan said.

“All personnel were unarmed and many are continuing work in other areas of the operation.”

Road closed sign and road closed barriers across bitumen road
A section of Cadia Road between Woodville and Panuara roads is shut as a precaution following an incident in the underground mine.(ABC Central West: Joanna Woodburn)

The Environment Protection Authority and NSW Resources Regulator have confirmed water from an intersecting aquifer has flowed into the ventilation tunnel.

The Natural Resources Access Regulator said it was also investigating the incident.

Cadia confirmed it was carrying out visual assessments.

“We have limited access to the vent rise [and] we will complete our visual inspections through remote techniques and technologies as soon as it is safe to do so,” a statement said.

Damage closes road

The damage underground has also now forced the partial closure of a road bordering the mine.

Cadia Road between Panuara and Woodville roads has been shut and it was not yet known when it would reopen.

The mine is owned by Newcrest Mining, which hosted a community meeting on Tuesday night.

Local farmer Gemma Green said she had not realized how close the ventilation shaft was to Cadia Road.

“It’s actually closer than I thought, it’s about 35 to 45 meters from that main public road,” Ms Green said.

“I would not have that road open after what I heard last night.

“The instability in that top 100 meters that was shared and the potential crumbling of what they call the collar.

“My biggest concern is emergency services route, in the event that someone has to call an ambulance.”

Road sign with sign pointing to mine
A local road bordering Cadia Gold Mine has been partially shut after its underground mine was forced to temporarily close.(ABC Central West: Joanna Woodburn)

Water concerns

Gemma Green chairs the Cadia Community and Sustainability Group and said one if its key issues was the protection of local water sources.

“The damage is obviously very serious and one of their key intentions is to stop that water flowing into the ventilation shaft,” she said.

“Newcrest made it very clear that their intention is to stop the water as quickly and safely as they can.

“I’d be encouraging people to give their feedback locally in and around that aquifer in the event they have changes in their bore levels.”

In a statement on Wednesday Cadia’s general manager Aaron Brannigan said the proposed response plan would be carried out in a series of steps.

“The initial assessment of the area directly surrounding the ventilation [shaft] to ensure it is safe to access, the mobilization of drill rigs to install a high-pressure grout curtain to minimize the water inflow and filling the vent with inert rock material to stabilize it,” the statement said.

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Categories
Australia

Murray system reaches full allocation before spring making river operators and landholders ‘nervous’

Authorities are warning landholders downstream of the Hume Dam near Albury-Wodonga to prepare for flooding as spring approaches.

Up to 100 millimetres of rain is predicted this week in Victoria’s north-east and the New South Wales Southern Riverina region with Upper Murray, Mitta Mitta, Kiewa, Ovens, and King rivers expected to see flooding.

After a fairly dry July, Hume Dam is sitting at 92 per cent capacity and is expected to fill this season.

The dam filled in September last year.

Yesterday the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) advised landholders downstream from Hume Dam “to be flood ready as we enter the wettest period for southern basin catchments.”

MDBA executive director of river management Andrew Reynolds said the Hume Dam currently had 250 gigalitres of airspace available before the dam was considered full.

“We’ve been in close contact with the Bureau of Meteorology, we’re anticipating that we will be able to manage this rain event with the airspace that we have got,” Mr Reynolds said.

“We will make further releases to preserve further airspace in advance of future events.”

Farmers downstream of Hume Dam said the abundance of water already in the system was “very concerning.”

Chairman of the Murray River Action Group, Richard Sarsgood, said landholders along the Murray would be checking storage levels every day in anticipation of flooding.

“Everybody is watching this coming rain event and we’ll see how much airspace it soaks up in Hume Dam,” he said.

“By the next rain event people will start looking at moving stock to higher ground or out on agistment.”

Murray at full allocation

Irrigation season officially starts on August 15. Already Victoria irrigators have their 100 per cent high reliability allocation.

A dam wall has water being released.
Hume Dam reached capacity in September 2021 for the first time since 2016.(Rural ABC: Annie Brown )

Resource manager with Goulburn Murray Water, Mark Bailey, said this was the earliest the system had reached full allocation in 20 years.

“The last time we were at this level was 2002/2003. It’s something that we haven’t seen in a very long time,” Mr Bailey said.

Authorities are anticipating a wetter year, warning irrigators and landholders to expect more water.

“It’s something that makes a river operator quite nervous in terms of what’s happening with potential inflows and where the dams are,” Mr Bailey said.

‘High probability’ Dartmouth will spill

Further upstream from Lake Hume, Victoria’s largest capacity dam in Dartmouth is sitting at around 95 per cent capacity, holding 3.8 million megalitres of water.

The view of Dartmouth Dam's signage over the water.
Dartmouth Dam is Victoria’s largest storage with a capacity of 4 million megalitres.(Rural ABC: Annie Brown)

The last time Dartmouth dam spilled was in October 1996, and excitement has been building that the mega dam could overflow for the first time in more than a quarter of a century.

“There’s a reasonably high probability that Dartmouth will fill this year,” MDBA’s Andrew Reynolds said.

“It is a much bigger storage than Hume, however it’s also has a much smaller catchment upstream, so the inflows are not necessarily as large.

“We’re not pre-releasing water from Dartmouth because it would just make its way into Hume and we would have more water to manage there.

“At the moment it’s better that we protect the airspace at Hume Dam.”

Living on the floodplain

A full river.
The Murray system has reached full water allocation.(Rural ABC: Annie Brown)

Richard Sarsgood has been farming along the Murray River outside Howlong, NSW, for 66 years.

Among the 120 members of the River Action Group living between Lake Hume to Yarrawonga, Mr Sarsgood said there was a higher concern for flooding this year with an abundance of water already in the system in August.

“There’s a lot of concerned landholders and tourism operators because the system has been fully charged since February,” Mr Sarsgood said.

“With the rain event this week, and future events, there’s a lot of concern there’s going to be repeat flooding like in previous years.

“To the MDBA’s credit, they have drawn Hume dam down to 92 per cent which is a step in a right direction.

“However with Dartmouth so full, and the Bureau of Meteorology predicting a wetter than average next three months, we are really concerned the flooding will be heading our way.”

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Categories
Australia

Water promised to the Murray-Darling Basin won’t be delivered, despite PM doubling down on commitment

Almost a Sydney Harbour’s worth of water committed to Australia’s largest river system can’t be delivered by a 2024 deadline, a new report has been found, despite a promise from the now-Prime Minister his government would deliver the water.

It could cost taxpayers almost $11 billion to deliver 450 gigalitres (GL) of water for the environment across the Murray-Darling system, according to the latest statutory review required under the Water Act.

“Putting aside program and timing limitations, the estimated cost to recover the full 450 GL through efficiency measures is between $3.4 billion and $10.8 billion,” the second review of the Water for the Environment Special Account (WESA) found.

“It is not possible to reach the 450 GL target through the current efficiency measures program … even if the WESA’s time and budget limits were removed.”

Less than $60 million of the $1.7 billion WESA fund for water-saving projects had been spent as of June last year.

WESA reviewers said not enough water had been recovered to date, and requirements for where water savings could be found were too limiting.

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Categories
Business

This Paper Battery Is as Powerful as a AA, And Is Activated by Water

A newly developed, water-activated disposable paper battery promises to make a big impact on single-use electronics – those temporary gadgets used in medical and industrial fields where electronic waste can quickly start piling up.

The battery that has been demonstrated by researchers is biodegradable, made from sustainable materials, and cheap to put together. What’s more, it can be produced in a variety of shapes and sizes as needed.

To give an idea of ​​the power, a two-cell battery made using the technology was enough to power an LCD alarm clock. While it won’t be charging up your laptop anytime soon, there’s lots of potential for low-powered sensors and trackers.

“We present a printed paper battery developed to power single-use disposable electronics and to minimize their environmental impact,” write the researchers in their published paper.

“The battery is based on a metal-air electrochemical cell that uses zinc as a biodegradable metal in the anode, graphite in the cathode, paper as a separator between the electrodes, and a water-based electrolyte.”

The battery, made from sodium chloride salt-diffused paper, can measure as little as one square centimeter (0.15 square inches), and is based on printed inks: one ink contains graphite flakes and acts as the cathode (positive end), while another on the other side of the paper contains zinc powder and acts as the anode (negative end).

A third ink, composed of graphite flakes and carbon black, is printed on both sides, on top of the other two inks, connecting the positive and negative ends to two wires. These are attached to one end of the paper, dipped in wax.

All that’s needed, then, is a small amount of water, as little as two drops. This dissolves the salts within the paper, releasing charged ions that then activate the battery as they travel. The circuit is closed by attaching the wires to the electrical device, meaning that electrons can be transferred from the negative to the positive ends.

With a stable voltage of 1.2 volts, the paper battery is close to the level of a standard AA alkaline battery at 1.5 volts. The battery starts producing power around 20 seconds after water is added, as per the experiments carried out by the team.

“This demonstration shows that despite its limited power density when compared to standard technologies, our battery is still relevant for a wide range of low-power electronics and the Internet of Things ecosystem,” write the researchers.

Although the performance decreases over time as the paper dries out, it can be topped up to some extent with more water. With extra water, the battery can still be producing 0.5 volts two hours after first being activated.

This is very much a proof-of-principle study for the time being, but the battery described in the paper isn’t overly complicated to produce. The researchers say they want to improve the efficiency of the battery in the future, and get it working for longer.

“With a rising awareness of the e-waste problem and the emergence of single-use electronics for applications like environmental sensing and food monitoring, there is a growing need for low environmental impact batteries,” write the researchers.

“This shift from traditional performance-oriented figures of merit creates new opportunities for unconventional materials and designs that can provide a balance between performance and environmental impact.”

The research has been published in Scientific Reports.

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