LeeAnne Walters: An Everyday Hero

Posted by: Rhona Reid On May 1, 2018 7:00 am

The Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded to a small handful of people from around the world in recognition of their grassroots environmental activism.  

Heroes are not born, they are made…

Selected by an international jury, this year’s seven winners came from places as diverse as Vietnam, Colombia, South Africa…and Flint, Michigan.  

A Short History of Environmental Heroism

Just after Flint officials notoriously switched the city water source in April 2014 to save money, LeeAnne Walters started to become concerned that the water she and her four children were drinking was harmful.

She was, of course, right, but proving it was a struggle.  State authorities didn’t want to listen and LeeAnne worked tirelessly with the EPA and Marc Edwards, a

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Filter Facts: Why a Water Ionizer Beats a Pitcher Hands Down

Posted by: Rhona Reid On April 17, 2018 7:00 am

Let’s not beat around the bush.  If we ignore for a moment all the important benefits of hydrogen alkaline water and look purely at the issue of filtration, it’s no secret that there are cheaper ways to filter your water than with a water ionizer.  

Even the best jug filters can’t compare to a water ionizer.

At some point, many people consider buying a jug filter.  Pitchers are cheap and easy to use, but how do they really compare?  

Putting You in The Pitcher

Even the most high-end and technically advanced filter pitchers have only a tiny proportion of the capabilities of a water ionizer.  They remove some impurities from your water and make it taste better, but quite often,

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The Sins of Saint-Gobain?  

Posted by: Rhona Reid On April 10, 2018 7:00 am

Back in 2016, French multinational corporation Saint-Gobain ‘fessed up to releasing carcinogenic chemicals from its premises in Merrimack, New Hampshire, causing private wells in the area to become contaminated though the local groundwater.  

Industrial waste: Leaking into the landscape
Bottled Water Hand-Out

Following the spill, bottled water was provided to residents with a private well within a one-mile radius of the plant, which meant supplying around 400 properties with bottled water.  

The state gave Saint-Gobain strict deadlines to fix the problem, requiring the 350-year old corporation to conceive, design and install a water treatment solution to clean up the contamination.

A Satisfactory Solution?

Flash forward to March 2018, and state officials have reached “a monumental agreement” to ensure that

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Coal Ash Ponds – Are They Contaminating Your Water?  

Posted by: Rhona Reid On March 22, 2018 12:00 pm

Look, don’t shoot the messenger, but there’s something else to worry about in America’s water.  

Is there coal ash contamination near your town?

Bosses at coal-burning power plants country-wide are required to file reports with the Environmental Protection Agency this month, looking into the toxins that are being released into groundwater from vast, unlined “ponds” containing coal ash and debris.

“Coal ash ponds need to be addressed as potential environmental and human health issues.”

~ Avner Vengosh, Professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Duke University

Coal Ash Court Cases

130 million tons of coal ash is produced each year.  Arsenic, Chromium-6, mercury and radium are just a few of the dangerous substances potentially leaching into the water supply.  And

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Why Reverse Osmosis Is NOT the Answer to Chromium-6

Posted by: Rhona Reid On February 6, 2018 7:00 am

The cancer-causing contaminant Chromium-6, brought to the public gaze by Erin Brockovich, is at levels exceeding public health goals in 50 states.

Chromium-6 – Here to Stay?

Millions of people are trying to find a workable solution to protect themselves and their families and to avoid drinking contaminated water.  

What Reverse Osmosis Water Does to the Pipeline

A reverse osmosis water system is sometimes touted as a possible solution on both a domestic and municipal level.  After all, it removes contaminants and that’s the goal, right?

Unfortunately, reverse osmosis is not a solution on either front.  On a city-wide basis, aside from the prohibitive cost of building the plant, the stripped-back water – though admittedly free of contaminants –

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Half of All Americans Have Radiation in Their Water

Posted by: Rhona Reid On February 1, 2018 12:00 pm

According to this report published in January by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), 173 million people – around half of all Americans – have been exposed to radiation in their drinking water.  That means an increase in the possibility of developing certain types of cancer and can also have a detrimental effect on fetal development.  

Radioactive elements enter our groundwater…and stay there.
The “Erin Brockovich” Chemical

By studying 50,000 water systems countrywide, the EWG found that millions of people across 50 states are drinking water that contains radioactive contaminants; including the most commonly-occurring radioactive element, radium.

In Texas – one of the worst affected states – up to 80% of homes are supplied with water containing potentially dangerous levels of

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