Thirsty For Some Water?

Have you ever wondered where your water comes from?  For most people this question falls into the category of questions that we never expect to get an answer to, such as "Why is the sky blue?"  For me however, I am really interested in finding out more about where the water I use on a daily basis comes from.  I also want to know what is in my water and how it can effect me as well as my family.  So I decided to do a little research this past week and I am going to share my results with you.

http://1000greensteps.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/mpglass.jpg

 

The first thing I had to find out was where my water comes from.  I live in the city of Perris, CA, which does not have their own private water source so they purchase the water from Eastern Municipal Water District.  I have to say that I was a bit surprised to find out that we purchase our water from an outside source, but I found that this is a pretty common thing.  According to the city web site http://www.cityofperris.org/residents/water.html, the city purchases approximately 640 million gallons of water a year from EMWD.

So now that I know where our water comes from, the outside source, I did some research on EMWD.  I went to their website http://emwd.org/index.aspx?page=157, and guess what I found out!  About 75% of EMWD's potable (drinkable) water is imported from the Metropolitan Water District from the Colorado River Aqueduct.  I'm starting to feel like I do when I am on the phone trying to talk to someone and I keep getting transferred from person to person.

In all seriousness though, I am surprised at all the different agencies that are involved just to supply us with a water source for our homes.  The remaining 25% of EMWD's potable water comes from groundwater wells in Hemet, San Jacinto, Moreno Valley, Perris Valley, and Murrieta.

Okay, now that I REALLY know where our water comes from, I need to find out about the quality of the drinking water in my home.  On the same EMWD website, they have the 2010 Consumer Confidence Report on Water Quality for my area. http://emwd.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=1034

There was quite a bit of information on the water Quality Report for my area, some of which I could understand or relate to , such as total coliforms and water pH levels, since I deal with these at work, however there was a lot of information that would take me a bit longer to interpret.  Overall the water supplied by EMWD to its customers in 2010 either met or surpassed all health-based drinking water standards.  This is good news!

http://www.themagazine.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/tap-bottled-water.jpg

 

Speaking of water quality standards, where do they come from?  The tap water standards are set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and they are enforced by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).  According to the EPA website http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/, the EPA sets legal limits on the levels of certain contaminants in drinking water.  There are a large amount of regulations and for me to list all of them would mean you would be reading this blog for hours.  I will however list a few of them:

• Regulations of chemical contaminants (ex. Arsenic, lead, copper, radionuclides)
• Regulations of microbial contaminants (ex. coliforms, water treatment rules, disinfectant/disinfection byproducts)
• Analytical methods regulations
• Pre-treatment regulations
• Sewage sludge regulations

Since we know that our tap water is regulated, what about the bottled water we purchase.
Bottled water standards are regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  According to their website http://www.fda.gov , the regulations for bottled water are very similar to tap water regulations:

• Processing and bottling regulations
• Coliform bacteria
• Arsenic
• Uranium
• Disinfectants/disinfection byproducts
• Cyanide, nickel, thallium

So who's standards are more strict?  According to the water quality department at Cornell University http://waterquality.cce.cornell.edu/bottled.htm#stds , tap water from municipal plants are subject to more frequent testing and inspection than bottled water.  Also the municipal plants must report their test results to the public, bottled water companies are not required to do this.  As a matter of fact, the FDA cannot even require that bottled water companies perform regular testing on their water, they can only require the companies to provide a nutrition label and expiration date on the bottle. This doesn't look to good for bottled water!

The last thing I am going to talk about tonight (I know this blog is pretty long this week, but it's important) is how bottled water affects the environment.  We all know that bottled water is convenient to have on hand but it truly is not good for the environment.
1/2 a billion bottles of water a week are consumed in the US.  According to a report from the California Department of Conservation http://www.consrv.ca.gov/index/news/2003%20News%20Releases/Pages/NR2003-13_Water_Bottle_Crisis.aspx, more than 1 billion water bottles are winding up in the trash in California each year.  That equals almost 3 million empty water bottles going into the trash EVERYDAY!
By not recycling, Californians are not claiming an estimated $26 million in CRV (California Refund Value) deposits annually.  Also, if we did recycle those bottles, they could be used to make 74 million square feet of carpet.

WOW!

http://www.seathos.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/floatingbottles.jpg

Sustainability. Yes it is possible!

As you can see from my last few blogs, I have been focusing on ways that I can do my part to help our environment preserve it's natural resources, making it better for all of us.  This blog, I have decided to put my focus on my college campus.  I currently attend Riverside City College, and I want to see just how "green" our campus really is. 

There are many areas around campus that would affect our "green" status, however I have listed just a few of them.

• How much wast is thrown out on a monthly basis on campus.
• How much energy is used on a monthly basis on campus.
• How many trees do we have on campus.
• How much does our campus spend on water services on a monthly basis.
• Do we have a recycling program in place on campus.  Are students and faculty aware of these programs.

These are questions that not only I ask, but many other Colleges and Universities around the nation ask as well.  The University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth, actually completed a sustainability assessment recently to help them with their goal to achieve carbon neutrality over the next 40 years.

University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth    www.umassd.edu

Their assessment is titled "Responsibility and Renewal".  They started with baseline calculations, suggested improvements, and made a blueprint for long term sustainable planning and management.  This assessment took 2 years to complete, and included information and surveying of over 200 faculty, staff, and students.

Their assessment includes the areas of purchasing, waste, transportation, and land use, as well as many other areas.

You can click on the link below to see the complete assessment (140 pages long).  This will give you a better idea of how detailed the campus needed to be, to ensure they have all the information needed to make a reliable plan for sustainability.

www.umassd.edu/sustainability/campussustainability/assessment

If I was to choose just one of the areas I mentioned above, and complete an assessment of my campus' current sustainability, I would choose the question "How much waste is thrown out on a monthly basis".

To do this, I will first contact the President of Riverside City College, Dr. Cynthia Azari, and ask for permission to conduct this assessment.  I will present her with my plan and express how I believe this assessment will only help our school achieve a "green" status faster.

Next I will contact Ralph Perez, Director of Facilities/Operations and Maintenance at RCC.  I will ask if he could tell me how many times the trash is picked up by Waste Management each month, and if he had an average weight of each pick up.  I will also ask Mr. Perez if we have any current plans in place to help limit the amount of waste we use, such as recycling programs.

I will also contact someone in Accounting Services to see if they could give me an estimate of how much money the campus pays monthly for waste removal.

Now it is time to make a plan!

Let's start with a baseline, which is how many pounds of waste is removed from campus on a weekly basis.
Now, we will implement a recycling program on campus, that will consist of cardboard recycling bins placed strategically throughout the campus.  I know for a fact that the new math and science building, which is four stories high, does not have any recycle bins on any of the floors.  There are plenty of regular trash cans though, which only gives students and faculty the excuse to toss trash that COULD be recycled into the county landfill system.

I will work with Mr. Perez to keep a tally of how much waste is removed on a weekly basis for the entire Fall 2012 semester.  I will monitor any trends, whether positive or negative, and make adjustments to my plan if things are not working out in a positive way.

There will be no labor costs as I will be tallying the data myself.  There will be no additional costs for the maintenance department since they will still keep their regular work load.  Also, I will ask Dr. Huff, faculty adviser for the Sustainability Club, if they would be willing to be responsible for the recycling bins, and in return, the club could keep the funds received from recycling for their clubs activities.

Finally, I plan to get the support of the entire faculty and student body by showing them that by making some small changes, we can not only help preserve our natural resources and help the environment, but we can also save money for the campus, and that might just help us during these tough budget times.  Maybe, just maybe, we can stop the reducing of available classes each semester.

I know this seems like a lot to concur, but I'm up for the challenge!

The new Math & Science building  www.rcc.edu

HOW much do I use???

Have you ever wondered how many of our Earths natural resources you use in a 24 hour period, just going about your normal day to day activities?  I have to admit that I never really paid attention to the things I use on a daily basis, so I decided to spend an entire day keeping track of the items I use everyday.  Let me first say, I had no idea that I used so many different items each day.  With that said, here is all the items I used, broken down into different groups:

Food & Drink                                                             
Fiber One Bar                                       
Diet Coke                                             
Garden Salad                                        
Lite Italian Dressing
Hot Dog                                                                        
Mustard
Hot Dog Bun
Rice
Chicken Curry
Strawberry Ice Cream

Housing & other buildings
Concrete
Stucco
Wood
Electricity

Photo credit: www.coca-cola.com

Water
Refrigerator
Stove

Clothing
Jeans
T-Shirt
Bra
Underwear
Socks
Tennis Shoes
Lab Coat
Pajamas

Transportation & Roads                                                             
Car - plastic and metal                                
Tires                                                    
Asphalt                                                
Paint                                                    
Plastic reflectors                                   
Concrete                                              
Metal railings 

School Supplies
Paper
Pencil
Pen
Textbooks
Calculator                                            
Plastic dividers
Binder

Photo credit: www.apple.com

Personal Care Products
Shampoo
Conditioner
Hair Dryer
Brush
Face soap
Barrett
Eye Liner
Lipstick
Lip gloss
Deodorant
Toothpaste
Toilet Paper

Leisure Activities
Computer
iPhone
iPad                                                               
Shopping
Movies
Book
Television

Other
Items from work:
Agar
Test Tubes
Incinerator
Incubator
Bio Safety Hood
Biological Waste Bags
Pipette
Microscope
Biochemical Tubes
Centrifuge
Water Bath
Refrigerator
Freezer

Wow! Look at this list.  It is amazing to think that each and everyone of these items on this list uses up one or more of our Earths resources.

Let's look at just one of these items in more detail.  This is the shampoo that I use on a daily basis.  Suave Professionals: Damage Care


http://www.suave.com

Here is a list of the ingredients in this shampoo as provided on the bottle:

Water (Aqua), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Chloride, Glycerin, Dimethiconol, Fragrance (Parfum), Carbomer, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, TEA-Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, PPG-9, Tetrasodium EDTA, TEA-Sulfate, DMDM Hydantoin, Citric Acid, PEG-45M, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Ascorbic Acid [Vitamin C], Niacinamide, Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891)

This shampoo is used by applying it to your hair once a day, lathering, and rinsing.

This shampoo is made by L'Oreal USA Creative Inc.  I tried to contact them to see if they could tell me how and where this shampoo is made, but I have not received a return e-mail yet.  I will let you guys know if and when they get back to me.

I bought this shampoo at Wal-Mart, however, I am sure that it had to get there by a delivery truck to the store and possible a boat if the product was made outside of the United States.

I am not sure if this product will ever become "not useful", but if it did, all of the ingredients listed are compounds that can definitely be used elsewhere on Earth.


According the the website http://www.suave.com , there is very minimal animal testing with this product and they are in the process of testing all of their products with non-animal testing methods, which will be implemented in the near future.  Also, the shampoo is biodegradable so it will be absorbed naturally into the Earth.


This product was not around 100 years ago, but I am sure that back then, people used what ever soap (possibly handmade) they had available to wash their hair.


Reflecting back on everything that I have observed during this 24 hour period, I realize that I use way too many natural resources on a daily basis.  There are 3 other people living in my household, so I can just imagine how my totals would increase when I multiply them by 4.  Now think about all the people in my city, in our state, and in the entire world that use many of these products on a daily basis as well.  All of this "environmental soul searching" is really opening my eyes to the value of our planet.  I am definitely ready to make some major changes in mine and my families lives.  I hope you will do the same.