More than two billion people lack access to clean and safe drinking water, according to a new report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Although significant progress to ensure access to drinking water has been achieved, there is still a long way to go to ensure the quality of water—deemed free from pollutants and safe for drinking.

“Clean water and sanitation is central to other outcomes, for example, nutrition among children. While many countries like India have made it a top priority, many others haven’t been able to emphasise the issue yet,” Sanjay Wijesekera, Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at UNICEF, told IPS. Read more

Water is the substance that gives life. Even if it is coming from the earth like a scalding fountain. Even in ancient times, people found the use of geothermal sources. And to the XXI century the scope of their application has grown from baths to power plants that produce environmentally friendly energy. The most amazing objects will be discussed in today’s Water-gallery.

1. Tuscany (Italy). The hills occupy about two thirds of the Tuscan countryside, and about a quarter of -the mountain. If you for some reason are tired of the Mediterranean Sea, head for the Cascata del Mulino, the so-called mill falls. Once it spun the millstones mills and now the tourists are splashing in the water with a constant temperature of 37.5 degrees year-round. Wishing to heal you can visit Bagni di Petriolo. Even the name of these hot springs is consonant with the Russian «banya» (bath), but even with a nice bonus in the form of mineral clay. Tuscany has not been bypassed by the attention of power engineering, in the near future it is planned to build a geothermal power station Bagnore 4 with a capacity of 40 MW. Read more

Many of us from childhood were accustomed to think of a bucket under the sink as universal container, where you can throw anything you want. But not every device or tube can be disposed with other household waste. Read our tips and learn what to do with harmful waste to leave future generations clean air and water.

Household chemicals

These tools give us health and beauty, and our house clean, while being true time bombs for the environment.

What harm can cause household chemicals, if they get to the city dump? Surfactants and abrasives, phenol, formaldehyde, chlorine, acetone, ammonia, bleaches and flavors – this is not a complete list of what is contained in the home care and hygiene products. Once in the environment, these chemicals begin to actively interact with it, impacting primarily on reservoirs. We can help nature in this case in several ways: Read more

A company’s vision to pump water from the Mojave Desert and sell it to thirsty Southern California cities had looked to some to be a long shot.

Lemon orchards in the Cadiz Valley in 2015

Cadiz Inc., which owns about 50 square miles atop a major aquifer in the Cadiz Valley, has pushed proposals to tap the water since the 1990s. The latest iteration has been mired for years in a thicket of regulatory and legal hurdles.

But a series of developments has invigorated backers of the project, which involves both federal and state jurisdictions.

Investors appear to have taken note. Last month, Cadiz announced up to $255 million in new funding. Read more

When a vein is hard to find beneath a patient’s skin, doctors and nurses will sometimes tap on an arm, making the vessel visible.

A topographical map of New York from 1874 showing original water courses

On Friday afternoon, using blue chalk paint, Stacy Levy plans to palpate a few sidewalks on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to visualize the path of a stream, now out of sight, that has been running since ancient times.

Water doesn’t stop flowing because subways, shops and towers are built over streams and ponds. Much of New York before European settlement was a rich, wet archipelago. “Nature is not kicked out of the city,” said Ms. Levy, an environmental artist.

Searching for the city’s vanished waterways has become a form of specialized detective work, much of which begins with the Viele Map. Read more