Tag: water

Inside the Texas town where locals are running out of water because huge energy plants are guzzling the supply

Residents of a Texas city are running out of water due to huge energy plants hoarding the supply, according to officials.  

Big name companies, including Exxon Mobil and Tesla, have gone on to call South Texas their home in recent years so they can scoop up cheap energy, land and copious amounts of water. 

Over the past 20 years, the companies have shelled out billions of dollars to build massive plants that use up tons of water to turn fossil fuels into gasoline, and other products like jet fuel. 

And in recent years, these corporations have pushed further with the move to electric vehicles and batteries. In doing so, they refine lithium to make the batteries and produce plastic pellets. 

All of this has severely impacted locals in Corpus Christi, a coastal city about two hours outside of San Antonio. 

An active drought has taken over the area that is home to about more than 500,000.

The city anticipates it won’t be able to meet its water demand within the next 18 months, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

The city’s water supply not only serves the big companies, but is also the source for residents across seven counties. 

And the excess use of water is not only affecting locals, but the companies that guzzle it all away. 

Soon, they could also see a water shortage that could then trickle down to layoffs and a pause in the industry. 

Meanwhile, residents are just trying to do the best they can with what they have while also preparing for the worst. 

Many are trying to financially prepare for booming water prices and also keep their lawns from running dry. 

According to Mike Howard, chief executive of Howard Energy Partners, the water situation ‘is about as dire as I’ve ever seen it.’ 

Howard, who runs a private energy company that owns multiple facilities in the area, said his powerful business can’t even make it through because of the lack of water. 

‘It has all the energy in the world, and it doesn’t have water,’ he said. 

Corpus Christi might not be the only location in the state to be impacted by the drought, as its refineries provide products to markets and regional airports in San Antonio, Austin and Dallas, Texas. 

They also provide supplies to Mexico, as Corpus Christi sits approximately 150 miles from the border.  

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Scientists Discover a New Form of Ice That Shouldn’t Exist

Researchers at the European XFEL and DESY are investigating unusual forms of ice that can exist at room temperature when subjected to extreme pressure.

Ice comes in many forms, even when made of nothing but water molecules. Scientists have now identified more than 20 unique solid structures, or “phases,” of ice, each with its own molecular arrangement. These variations are labeled with Roman numerals, such as ice I, ice II, and ice III.

In a recent breakthrough, an international team of researchers led by scientists from the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has discovered a completely new phase known as ice XXI. Using advanced X-ray facilities at the European XFEL and PETRA III, the team captured and analyzed this previously unknown structure. Their findings have been published in Nature Materials.

Ice XXI is unlike any other form of ice observed so far. It develops when liquid water is subjected to rapid compression, creating what scientists call “supercompressed water” at room temperature. This phase is metastable, meaning it can persist for a time even though another type of ice would normally be more stable under the same conditions. The discovery provides valuable new insights into how ice behaves and transforms under extreme pressure.

Water or H2O, despite being composed of just two elements, exhibits remarkable complexity in its solid state. The majority of the phases are observed at high pressures and low temperatures. The team has learned more about how the different ice phases form and change with pressure.

“Rapid compression of water allows it to remain liquid up to higher pressures, where it should have already crystallized to ice VI,” KRISS scientist Geun Woo Lee explains. Ice VI is an especially intriguing phase, thought to be present in the interior of icy moons such as Titan and Ganymede. Its highly distorted structure may allow complex transition pathways that lead to metastable ice phases.

Because most ice variants exist only under extreme conditions, the researchers created high-pressure conditions using diamond anvil cells. The sample – in this case, water – is placed between two diamonds, which can be used to build up very high pressure due to their hardness. Water was examined under pressures of up to two gigapascals, which is about 20,000 times more than normal air pressure. This causes ice to form even at room temperature, but the molecules are much more tightly packed than in normal ice.

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Single US Water Utility Receives 6 Million China-Based Connection Attempts In 1 Week: Security Report

A single water utility in California has received more than 6 million hits from China-based addresses within a week, pointing to the Chinese communist regime’s ongoing efforts to scan for U.S. critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, according to security experts.

The South Coast Water District (SCWD) blocked these connection attempts between July 15 and July 23.

It revealed the figure in a July 23 industry webinar hosted by the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center, showing a firewall dashboard by security company ThreatSTOP.

SCWD provides potable water, recycled water, and wastewater services to about 40,000 residents, 1,000 businesses, and 2 million visitors annually in Orange County, California.

During the webinar, ThreatSTOP CEO Tom Byrnes and chief scientist Paul Mockapetris, who invented the Domain Name System, advised water industry professionals to tailor who is allowed access to their servers and said that there are some obvious limits one can set.

“If you’re a water district in southern California, you probably don’t have any customers in China,” Mockapetris said.

A ThreatSTOP case study on its website shows that as far back as 2011, even a school district’s network printers in West Memphis, Arkansas, were receiving regular access attempts from China.

Byrnes stated that the 6 million figure had increased overnight from 5 million, demonstrating that critical infrastructure, such as water systems, is constantly being scanned for vulnerabilities.

SCWD’s ThreatSTOP firewall dashboard also showed more than 34,000 blocked connection attempts originating from Bulgaria and more than 21,000 from Iran.

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MIT Invents “Bubble Wrap” That Pulls Fresh Water From The Air…Even In The Driest Places In The World

MIT researchers have invented a new water-harvesting device — a high-tech version of “bubble wrap” — that can pull safe drinking water straight from the air, even in extreme environments like Death Valley, the driest desert in North America, according to LiveScience.

In a study published June 11 in Nature Water, the team described how their innovation could help address global water scarcity. “It works wherever you may find water vapor in the air,” the researchers wrote.

The device is built from hydrogel, a material that can absorb large amounts of water, sandwiched between two glass layers resembling a window. At night, the hydrogel draws moisture from the air. During the day, a special coating on the glass keeps it cool, allowing water to condense and drip into a collection system.

The hydrogel is molded into dome shapes — likened to “a sheet of bubble wrap” — that swell when absorbing moisture. These domes increase surface area, helping the material absorb more water.

LiveScience writes that the system was tested for a week in Death Valley, a region spanning California and Nevada that holds the record as the hottest and driest place in North America.

Despite the harsh conditions, the harvester consistently produced between 57 and 161.5 milliliters of water daily — about a quarter to two-thirds of a cup. In more humid regions, researchers expect even greater yields. According to MIT representatives, this approach outperforms earlier water-from-air technologies and does so without needing electricity.

One major breakthrough was solving a known problem with hydrogel-based water harvesters: lithium salts used to improve absorption often leak into the water, making it unsafe. The new design adds glycerol, which stabilizes the salt and keeps leakage to under 0.06 parts per million — a level the U.S. Geological Survey deems safe for groundwater.

Though a single panel can’t supply an entire household, its small footprint means several can be installed together. The team estimates that eight 3-by-6-foot (1-by-2-meter) panels could provide enough drinking water for a household in areas lacking reliable sources. Compared to the cost of bottled water in the U.S., the system could pay for itself in under a month and remain functional for at least a year.

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Trump blocked Biden-era plan to remove Snake River dams, and he may have prevented an eco-disaster

President Donald Trump issued a memorandum last week blocking an effort that was underway during the Biden-Harris administration to remove four hydroelectric dams in the Snake River. 

Trump’s memorandum revokes a directive from the previous administration, which Trump described as an effort by “radical environmentalism” to raise the “equitable treatment for fish” above that of human flourishing. 

“The negative impacts from these reckless acts, if completed, would be devastating for the region, and there would be no viable approach to replace the low-cost, baseload energy supplied,” Trump stated in the memo. 

If the experiences of those in northern California living along the Klamath River are any indication, Trump is right that a dam-removal project on the Snake River would cause serious and lasting impacts. 

Bad outcomes of dam removal in the past

Last year, four dams near the Klamath River near the Oregon-California border were removed, and people living in communities along the river tell Just the News that the sediment that flooded the river has turned the Klamath into a muddy waterway. While proponents of dam removal say it helps salmon populations, the Klamath River dam removal has decimated fish populations, ruined fishing tourism, and may impact agriculture. 

The worst part, they say, is that all the problems were known long before the removals were carried out. Opponents of the project fought for years to stop it, but the environmentalists who supported the project had more resources and ultimately succeeded in getting what they wanted. 

“We’re a rural community, and we had to have bake sales and auctions to raise money to fight this. And we just didn’t have the funding to be able to fight people coming from all over the globe, essentially, to make this happen,” Richard Marshall, a resident of Fort Jones, California, told Just the News. 

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EPA cancels limits for several PFAS chemicals in drinking water

More than 150 million Americans drink water contaminated with toxic forever chemicals. Last year, after decades of inaction, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set limits to protect public health. Now, that same agency is undoing those defenses.

Some protections designed to save lives from a dangerous class of chemicals in drinking water are being shut off.

It’s a move being called “devastating” by some experts, including Melanie Benesh, Vice President for Government Affairs at the Environmental Working Group.

“Every time we look at these chemicals, we discover that they are more toxic than we had previously thought,” Benesh said.

She’s been working to protect Americans from PFAS chemicals for years.

Linked to developmental issues in kids, cancer, and reproductive harm, these toxic “forever” chemicals contaminate the water supply from industrial releases, landfills, and firefighting foam.

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US billionaire dubbed ‘the most powerful man on Wall Street’ denies neighbours’ claims he’s plundering Wiltshire’s underground water to fill his nine-million-gallon lake

A US billionaire’s dream of creating a grand English country estate in the tradition of 18th Century landscape designer Capability Brown is facing a backlash from neighbours convinced he is tapping into their water supply.

American financier Stephen Schwarzman bought the magnificent Conholt Park in Wiltshire – described as one of the finest shooting estates in southern England – for £82million three years ago. 

He has funnelled millions of pounds into transforming the 2,100-acre estate’s parkland by building a huge lake that will hold more than nine million gallons of water.

But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Mr Schwarzman, dubbed the most powerful man on Wall Street, is under fire from neighbours who believe he is using a borehole to extract groundwater to fill the lake. 

This, they allege, could lead to water shortages at their own properties because they rely on a shared aquifer.

There is also anger at plans to ‘enhance’ the estate’s pheasant shoots, with local sources claiming Mr Schwarzman is preparing for up to 500 birds to be shot a day.

‘I don’t like what he is doing,’ one local shooting enthusiast told the MoS. ‘That’s not sport.’

Last night a spokesman for Mr Schwarzman, 78, the boss of Blackstone, one of the world’s largest private-equity funds, denied the lake is being filled by a borehole and said the estate was instead using a ‘highly sophisticated water collection system’ that carries rainfall into the lake.

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EPA declares Flint water emergency over after more than $100 million in taxpayer-funded grants

Anearly decade-long fight for safe drinking water in Flint is over.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced Monday the city met all of the requirements of a Safe Drinking Water Act emergency order, which has been lifted.

The EPA issued the order in January 2016.

“Today we celebrate a decade’s worth of hard work and partnership at the local, state and federal level to ensure the residents of Flint, Michigan have access to clean, safe drinking water,” Zeldin said in a statement Monday. “Lifting this emergency order is a cause for great celebration for residents of Flint who worked so hard and sacrificed so much to get to this point.”

Zeldin said water sampling shows the city’s water system is in compliance with lead standards.

Since the order was implemented, the city has replaced more than 97% of its old lead pipes, and the water system has tested below the acceptable limit since July 2016.

The EPA has given more than $100 million in taxpayer-funded grants to the city and the state since 2016 to address the issues.

“The lifting of the EPA’s emergency order is a powerful testament to the strength, and advocacy of Flint residents,” Flint Mayor Sheldon A. Neeley said. For nearly a decade, we have worked tirelessly to restore trust and integrity to our water system, as well as meeting rigorous standards. While this milestone marks progress, our commitment to clean, safe drinking water remains unwavering. We will continue to advance infrastructure, strengthen safeguards, and ensure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated. Flint families deserve nothing less.”

The city’s water crisis began in 2014 when it switched from Detroit’s system to the Flint River to save money. Without proper treatment, that water corroded lead pipes that led to lead contamination and a declared public health emergency.

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‘Public Health Betrayal’: EPA Tosses Drinking Water Limits on 4 Toxic PFAS Chemicals

U.S. regulators said Wednesday they will do away with limits on certain types of toxic chemicals in U.S. drinking water, a move that critics warn could expose millions of Americans to dangerous contaminants.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it intends to rescind limits set under President Joe Biden in April 2024 on four types of harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals widely found in drinking water — perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) and GenX.

The EPA will keep the limits of 4 parts per trillion in drinking water for two other types of PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), the agency said in a statement.

But, in another move drawing criticism from health advocates, the agency said it will delay the deadline for drinking water systems to comply from 2029 to 2031.

“This is a public health betrayal, plain and simple,” said Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.

“Science is clear: PFAS are dangerous even in tiny amounts. The agency must protect all Americans, not just from two chemicals, but from the entire class of harmful PFAS.”

The four PFAS chemicals the EPA plans to roll back regulations for “are the ones currently in use because industry developed them to replace PFOA and PFOS, so they are the chemicals most likely to increase contamination in the future,” Betsy Southerland, a former EPA senior scientist and a former director in the agency’s Office of Water, said in a statement.

PFAS are types of chemicals that have long been used in a wide variety of products and industrial processes, but many have been linked to health problems that include certain cancers and immune system and reproductive harms.

Countries around the world have been pushing companies to eliminate the use of PFAS, known to be particularly dangerous, such as PFOS and PFOA, but the chemicals remain difficult to eradicate.

A recent study found residents of a Michigan community polluted with PFAS from a paper mill continue to have high levels of the chemicals in their blood, even though the mill closed down 25 years ago.

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Scientists spark major breakthrough with ‘blanket’ that makes rivers drinkable: ‘We are the only ones who have made these structures’

Ohio State University researchers have developed a way to supercharge titanium oxide nanoparticles, creating a light-absorbing blanket that can clean water and generate power.

The process starts with electrospinning — a method of applying electrical force to create small fibers — in order to develop fiber-like strips of titanium dioxide (TiO2). This material is often used in solar cells, gas sensors, and various self-cleaning technologies, as the school reported.

The power generation abilities of TiO2 have previously been limited since the necessary chemical reactions only occur through the use of non-visible UV light.

Following the addition of copper, however, these new nanomat structures are able to absorb enough light energy to break down pollutants in air and water, according to Professor Pelagia-Iren Gouma, the lead author of this study.

“There hasn’t been an easy way to create something like a blanket that you can lay on water and start creating energy,” she said. “But we are the only ones who have made these structures and the only ones to demonstrate that they actually work.”

When it absorbs light, the report explained, TiO2 forms electrons that oxidize water and break down pollutants until they’re benign. The addition of copper was able to supercharge the process and optimize the material’s effectiveness.

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