How much water is available on Earth?  A surprisingly small amount.  This visual from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute really brings that home.

If all the water on the planet were gathered into a ball, the radius would be only 700 km (420 miles).  The amount of freshwater available is even less than that.

Illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Howard Perlman, USGS

When the mining companies left, they shut down pumps that kept the mines from filling with water. The water filled the underground caverns and flushed heavy metals onto the surface. Flowing water erodes the mines and causes sinkholes.

The government is buying out the properties left in Treece, but the water from the mines goes into drinking water systems for the surrounding areas.

The New York Times article includes some photos. These three videos are a series on the site that was done in 2000. You can see the orange water flowing and some of the sinkholes. Also, the high chat piles that loom over a landscape in an area that is naturally flatter than a pancake.

Part 1, Lead Poison

Part 2, Subsidence and Cave-ins

Part 3, Political Morass

NOAA released their annual report this week, which shows that U.S. fisheries are improving.

The fifteenth Annual Report to Congress on the Status of the Nation’s Fisheries documents the agency’s efforts towards ending overfishing and rebuilding the nation’s fisheries. Key findings in the report:

• 258 stocks were reviewed
• 36 stocks are subject to overfishing
• 45 stocks are overfished
• 27 stocks previously overfished have been rebuilt
• 51 stocks are in rebuilding plans

Of the twenty-seven stocks declared rebuilt, six are new to this report. Those are Gulf of Maine haddock, summer flounder, widow rockfish, Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and Bering Sea snow crab.

Fisheries and related businesses generate $183 billion per year in the U.S. economy and generate more than 1.5 million full and part-time jobs. Keeping the fisheries healthy through sound science-based management is an important task.

Snow Crab photo via Creative Commons

Grey water is the wastewater in your home that does not come in contact with your toilet waste. This comprises of the water from your washing machine, washbasins, shows, bathtubs. This does not include water from soiled diapers, sinks of photo labs or even kitchen sinks. Of late, grey water filtration is considered as an environmentally responsible effort, which turns out to be lucrative to the user as well. By choosing grey water filtration over sending your wastewater down the drain, you help in the global effort of saving water.

Grey water filtrations are a cheap and easy way of filtering the water and making it ready for reuse. These filters help in sieving through the wastewater and removing impurities like soaps, detergents and chemicals, which could be present in shampoos and conditioners. Filters help in collecting and storing the grey water. This water can be used for watering your plants and mundane jobs like cleaning your car or cleaning household items. The same water can also be used for flush your toilets. Moreover, the same water can also be diverted to your washing machine as well.

Various types of filters are used for filtering the grey water.

• Distillation: In this type of filtration, the impurities are segregated as per their level of volatility i.e. how soon the impurity can transform into gas. A good example of this would be the solar powered distillers that do not even use fossil fuels.
• Constructed wetland: Also known as, wet-parks these types of filters are in actuality a kind of marsh or swamp that can be generated for myriad reasons like discarding grey water. Both manmade and natural wetlands can be utilised for other reasons like eliminating various objects and articles from water. This includes water pollutants and gravel.
• Reed-Bed filtering: Reed-bed is found in natural habitats like estuaries and flood plains. These type of system need four reeds every sq.mt. Excluding the shipping part of it, the reed-bed is very cheap. The reeds must be submerged one meter under water.

Other than the above mentioned, the filter basket also works as an ideal filter than can be cleaned and used. It has a spray system that constantly cleans the basket and also assists in maintaining the unobstructed flow through the basket

Just as Idea design studio serves as an answer to design needs, the grey water filtration method serves an answer to water recyclability.

Joel Cordle is the Marketing lead at Idea Design Studio. Idea Design Studio is a product development firm that specializes in top-of-the-line design work for inventors. If you have any question on how to get invention help just contact Idea Design Studio.

With the 2012 Farm Bill moving through the U.S. Congress right now, it looks like conservation programs will be slashed significantly. So it’s good news to hear the USDA is funding a program separate from the conservation programs in the farm bill. The Water Bank Program is aimed at reducing flooding and enhancing wildlife habitat.

Flooding of agricultural land is a problem in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. To provide an alternative use for flooded or frequently flooded lands, participants will receive annual payments.

Protection of wetlands gives migratory birds a place to rest and feed and also recharges aquifers. Wetlands also reduce flooding by slowing down the flow of water during heavy rains.

Minnesota wetland photo via Shutterstock

Brittle Stars have five legs and are radially symmetrical, which means they could move in any direction. How they move is interesting, though.

One leg points in the direction they want to go and the two legs to either side of the pointer push forward. When they change direction, they choose a different pointer leg.

The movement reminds me of kids playing at being seals. Their arms provide the push and the legs just trail behind. Here’s a short video of a brittle star.

Brittle star photo via Shutterstock

The drinking water in Dimock, Pennsylvania has been found to be safe, according to the EPA. This latest finding indicates that fracking is not the source of the contaminants in the area’s well water.

Dimock residents complained that their well water tasted odd after Cabot Oil and Gas began fracking in their area. The residents asked the EPA to test for contaminants. The EPA tested and found chemicals in the water, but after some industry fuss, the EPA retested and found the chemicals were all below safe levels for human consumption.

Now they’ve released the results from another round of testing sixty-one homes. Once again, they’ve found chemicals in the drinking water, but not enough to give the EPA reason to take further action. The chemicals are considered to have natural origins.

The data samples are online at the EPA’s Pennsylvania site. The pdf file is fairly large, so I’ve linked to the home page. Scroll down a bit on that page for the link to the file.

Refinery photo via Shutterstock

The Czech Republic is considering a moratorium on fracking. The moratorium would last two years and would give the Czech environmental ministry time to determine what regulations should be in place for gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing.

In the early 1990s, some parts of the Czech Republic looked like someone had sprayed motor oil over the landscape, while other parts appeared pristine.  Since then, the country has managed to clean up a great deal of the mess left by the Soviets.  Finding a balance between keeping the Czech Republic clean and keeping its industries productive has been a priority since then.

Strip mine photo via Shutterstock

A new study indicates that groundwater pulled from aquifers for drinking water, irrigation, and other uses has a measurable effect on sea level rise.

The study published in Geophysical Research Letters shows that groundwater depletion has more than doubled in recent decades due to increased water demand.  At the same time, fewer dams being built and the removal of older dams allows the groundwater to reach the ocean more quickly.

The researchers estimate that by 2050, groundwater depletion will contribute 0.87 mm annually to sea level, for a total of 31 mm between 2015 and 2050.

Beach photo via Shutterstock

Today the U.S. Department of the Interior released draft rules governing hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking. The new rule covers federal lands and Indian lands.

The draft rule has three main requirements:

1)  Drilling companies must publicly disclose the chemicals used in fracking on public and Indian lands. The disclosure would occur after fracking operations have been completed. Having records of what chemicals were injected into the rock will allow later tracking of any contamination.

Drilling companies had been concerned that disclosing the fracking chemicals before drilling would delay the permitting process. This concession will allay those fears.

Several states already require companies to post a list of their chemicals to an online database, FracFocus, which is available to the public. Companies drilling on public and Indian lands might use the same site.

2)  Before fracking, drilling companies will need to submit information showing they have tested the well and the cement casing has shown sufficient integrity to withstand fracking pressures.  Testing the well is standard procedure with most companies and should not be a problem.

3)  A water management plan will be required. During fracking, some of the water and chemicals injected into the ground comes back up through the well. This water will be stored in enclosed tanks or in lined pits.

Many drilling companies already follow the required procedures and keep the necessary documentation. The new rule was designed to be in accord with state regulations already in existence.

The rule applies to all “usable water’, which is not limited to fresh water, but includes water used for industrial and agricultural purposes.

The additional costs of the regulation is estimated at approximately $15,000 per well, or 0.3% of the cost of a well.

The Department of the Interior will accept public comments for sixty days before issuing the final rule.

Oil rig on a prairie via Shutterstock