Posts

Military Moves to Clean Chemicals Out of Well Water on Camp Pendleton

/in , /by /KPBS FM/TVby Andrew Dyer

Officials at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton are bringing two new water filtration facilities online by the end of the year to address so-called “forever chemicals” in base drinking water.

Per- and poly fluoroalkyl substances, or “PFAS,” are a family of man-made compounds used for more than 70 years in all manner of consumer products. Non-stick cookware, stain-wicking clothing and even fast food wrappers are just some of the many items in everyday use worldwide containing the compounds.

Full Story

California’s Megadrought is Worse Than You Think

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Anne C. Mulkern

When Maria Regalado Garcia tried to wash the dishes in her California home one recent morning, only a trickle of water emerged from the kitchen faucet. Other taps in her Tooleville house in rural Tulare County ran similarly dry.

The lack of water meant Garcia, 85, couldn’t brush her teeth properly or fill a swamp cooler that pumps out chilled air — a necessity with temperatures topping 100 degrees in her central California town. So Garcia fled to her granddaughter‘s home in Exeter, a few minutes away, to have a place cool enough to sleep.

Full Story

Report Revealing Hundreds of Failing Water Districts in California

/in , , /by /KBSYby Austin Herbaugh

A state audit found that nearly one million Californians have contaminated drinking water.

The report found that 920,000 people could face health issues from unsafe drinking water.

The California State Auditor found there are 370 failing water systems in California that are putting almost a million residents at risk.

Full Story

Acres Residents in Ramona Seek $1.32M Grant to Get Access to Clean Water

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Julie Gallant

Residents of Ramona’s Acres community are working with local officials and a nonprofit on an application for a $1.32 million grant that would give them better access to clean water.

The funds would pay for new water main pipelines for the community, which has contaminated well water and inadequate pipes.

Toby Roy, a specialist with the nonprofit Rural Community Assistance Corporation, provided an update on the application process at the Dec. 14 Ramona Municipal Water District meeting.

Full Story

Well Water Throughout California Contaminated with ‘Forever Chemicals’

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rachel Becker

In the weeks before the coronavirus began tearing through California, the city of Commerce made an expensive decision: It shut down part of its water supply.

Like nearly 150 other public water systems in California, the small city on the outskirts of Los Angeles had detected “forever chemicals” in its well water.

Full Story

What Happens When a Rural Area’s Only Well is Contaminated?

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Rebecca Sohn

In the spring of 2013, Jocelyn Walters moved Nativearth, her family’s small shoe business, into a warehouse in Mariposa Industrial Park that gave them more space to grow.

But there was one quirk of the new space she hadn’t foreseen.

The industrial park, which has only four businesses and isn’t connected to the town’s water system, gets its water from a well on her family’s property on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park. So Walters found herself helping run a water company from a shoe business.

Full Story

How Over-Pumping of Underground Aquifers Can Cause Land to Sink

/in , , /by /Interesting Engineerinngby Trevor English

If you’re reading this, chances are you don’t really have to think about where your drinking water is coming from, how your food was grown, or what effects such processes have had on the environment. Specifically, in reference to our drinking water, around half of the US population gets their drinking water from either public or private wells.

Full Story

Lomita Receives Grant to Remove Chemical from Drinking Water

/in , , /by /Daily Breezeby Nick Green

A grant of up to $2 million will allow Lomita to install a filtration system that removes a potentially carcinogenic chemical from its drinking water, allowing the community to resume using groundwater instead of more expensive imported supplies.

The small city had taken its sole well offline last year and drained its 5 million gallon reservoir after the levels of benzene discovered in its groundwater exceeded state drinking water standards.

The community was forced to tap pricey imported water from the Metropolitan Water District to serve its 4,242 residential and commercial customers.

Full Story

For California Well Owners, Clean Water is Hard to Get as State, Local Hurdles Remain

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado

Water is scarce and dirty for many in Fresno County’s small West Park community.

They’re not alone. It’s a common and persistent challenge for residents throughout California who rely on water wells.

Full Story