Many remote communities in Australia’s north rely on bore water. But a new microbiology analysis suggests that the chemistry of untreated water can allow disease-causing bacteria to grow unchecked.
Fast tests can help keep people out of the water when it’s unsafe, and let them back in sooner once the coast is clear.
Paul Fisher
In many municipalities, aging water infrastructure is serving fewer people than it was built to accommodate. Out of sight has meant out of mind – but resulting changes in water quality may affect safety.
Regional councils monitor water quality in streams and rivers.
Troy Baisden
Freshwater data in the latest report on the state of New Zealand’s environment suggest improvements in water quality are possible but many gaps in understanding remain.
Celebrations for Kumbh Mela, 2019.
EPA-EFE/RAJAT GUPTA
Kumbh Mela is the world’s largest congregation of people – so large, it’s visible from space. However, river pollution is a major issue here and new solutions are needed.
The city of Uvira, in the South Kivu province, study site for new research on cholera.
MONUSCO Photos / Flickr
In the fight against cholera, new research in the DRC suggests that the rehabilitation of water networks would be more sustainable than other interventions whose effectiveness is debatable.
Ontario Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe released her annual environmental report on Nov. 13, 2018.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)
Premier Doug Ford’s proposal to downgrade Ontario’s environmental watchdog is bad news for the environment, public health and safety, and evidence-based decision-making.
Black water cascaded down Cameron Falls in Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta after a 2018 wildfire denuded the landscape.
(Kaleigh Watson)
Red tide and a blue-green algae outbreak are fouling hundreds of miles of coast, killing fish and driving tourists away from beaches. Some of the causes are natural, but human actions play a big role.
Elon Musk may be on the hot seat for political donations and slurs against a British cave rescuer in Thailand, but his offer to pay for water filters in Flint, Mich., is laudable.
(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
An audit of Sydney’s drinking water has found worryingly high salinity. If the biggest water catchment in the country has problems, what about regional and rural Australia?
South-East Queensland residents need to prepare for more regular floods, according to new data.
Shutterstock
We rely on climate data to help us make important decisions for our future, such as building infrastructure. But what if a region’s climate has long been more volatile than we realised?
The new funding is focused on measures that are already in the foreground.
Robert Linsdell/Flickr
The federal government’s new $500 million funding package for the Great Barrier Reef seems predominantly focused on the tactics that are already being tried, without much success.
What if air quality standards were decided not by governments but by a dedicated federal body?
AAP Image/Dan Peled
Environmental and health groups have called for the creation of a non-political federal agency with the power to rule on pollution levels - much like the Reserve Bank does for interest rates.
Community-led research in the Inuit community of Rigolet, Labrador, helped identify dirty water containers as a source of drinking water contamination.
Can community-led research help address Canada’s Indigenous water security issues? One project from the Inuit community of Rigolet in Labrador suggests it can.
Water quality is one of the major issues that threatens the Great Barrier Reef’s health.
AAP Image/Dan Peled
The updated plan for improving water quality on the Great Barrier Reef still doesn’t address the need to curb intensively farmed crops such as sugar cane, and to enforce existing environmental laws.
If you have bought an Aldi “The Spiral Spring Mixer Tap” you should not use water from it for drinking or cooking until investigations of reported lead contamination is complete. What we know The media…
Turtle hatchlings could be released into the Murray River to manage the sudden influx of dead carp.
Ricky Spencer
Millions of dead carp will fill the Murray-Darling Basin after the government releases a targeted virus. Scavengers like turtles and crayfish might help – as long as we protect them.