Pure Water Occasional, August, 2024
 
 
In this full summer Occasional , you'll hear about the long-suspected link between fluoride and lowered IQ in children, how water softeners and other ion exchange devices work, what it really means to "waste" water, how water temperature affects water quality, the largest dam removal project in America's history, the rise of violence over water, the alarming decline of Amistad Reservoir, AI's seldom discussed thirst for water, microplastics in the human brain, dead chickens in a South Carolina river, a Chinese effort to extract water from the Moon's soil, how watersheds work, and, as always, there is much, much more.

Thank you for reading, and sincere thanks from Pure Water Products for your continuing support.  
 
Thanks for reading!

Please visit the Pure Water Gazette, where you will find hundreds of articles about water and water treatment, and the Pure Water Products main website, where there is much information about water treatment and specific information about the products we offer. On both of these information-rich sites, pop-up ads and other distractions are not allowed.
 
 

 

Government Report Links Excessive Fluoride in Water to Lowered IQs in Kids


By Robin Foster, HealthDay Reporter


Gazette Introductory Note: Clearly, the idea that fluoride lowers children’s IQ isn’t new. The significance of this report is that it “marks the first time a federal agency has determined there is a link” between fluoride consumption and lower IQ in children.  


 Aug. 22, 2024 (HealthDay News) — High levels of fluoride in drinking water may dim the intelligence of children, a new U.S. government report shows.


Based on an analysis of published research, the potentially controversial report marks the first time a federal agency has determined there is a link between drinking twice the recommended amount of fluoride and lower IQs in kids.


“Since 1945, the use of fluoride has been a successful public health initiative for reducing dental cavities and improving general oral health of adults and children,” the report stated. “There is a concern, however, that some pregnant women and children may be getting more fluoride than they need because they now get fluoride from many sources, including treated public water, water-added foods and beverages, teas, toothpaste, floss and mouthwash, and the combined total intake of fluoride may exceed safe amounts.”
 

Importantly, “the determination about lower IQs in children was based primarily on epidemiology studies in non-U.S. countries such as Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico where some pregnant women, infants and children received total fluoride exposure amounts higher than 1.5 mg fluoride/L of drinking water,” the report authors stated. “The U.S. Public Health Service currently recommends 0.7 mg/L, and the World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5 mg/L.”


One expert welcomed the findings.


“I think this [report] is crucial in our understanding” of this risk, Ashley Malin, a University of Florida researcher who recently published a study on the effect of higher fluoride levels in pregnant women on their children, told the Associated Press.

 
The report did not try to quantify exactly how many IQ points might be lost at different levels of fluoride exposure. But some of the studies reviewed in the report suggested IQ was 2 to 5 points lower in children who’d had higher exposures.

The report noted that about 0.6% of the U.S. population — roughly 1.9 million people — are on water systems with naturally occurring fluoride levels of 1.5 milligrams or higher.


“The findings from this report raise the questions about how these people can be protected and what makes the most sense,” Malin said.
 

The American Dental Association, which champions water fluoridation, told the AP that the organization’s experts were still reviewing the report.
Fluoride is a mineral that exists naturally in water and soil. Though it can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans, the researchers said.


In 2015, U.S. officials lowered their recommendation for fluoride levels in drinking water to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, which can cause splotches on the teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids, the AP reported.


But more recent research has pointed to a different problem, suggesting a link between higher levels of fluoride and brain development. Studies in animals showed fluoride could impact cell function in brain regions responsible for learning, memory, executive function and behavior, the AP reported.
After more research continued to raise questions, the National Toxicology Program started working on a review of the available studies in 2016. The hope was that it could provide guidance on whether new fluoride-limiting measures were needed.


“Since fluoride is such an important topic to the public and to public health officials, it was imperative that we made every effort to get the science right,” Rick Woychik, director of the National Toxicology Program, told the AP in explaining the length of time it took to complete the report.


 
 

 

 

How Water Softeners Work

by Pure Water Annie

 
 
 
Gazette Technical Wizard Pure Water Annie Gives a Quick And Easy Explanation of How Water Softeners Work
 


The softener shown above has a traditional “timer” control.  Most modern residential softeners now use more sophisticated electronic controls, but the softening process described below is still the same.
 
 
A water softener is an ion exchanger. Hard water—water with a high calcium/magnesium content—enters the softener through the “In” port indicated by the green arrow. It passes through the control valve and into the treatment tank, where it goes from top to bottom through a specially prepared resin that “softens” it.
 
 
The resin consists of beads that have been specially manufactured to be saturated with sodium ions. “Softening” occurs as the hardness minerals in the water, mainly calcium and magnesium, attach themselves to the resin and are “exchanged” for sodium. The water is now essentially free of the hardness minerals, but it has a higher sodium content.
 
 
The softened water then enters the long center tube, called a riser, via the strainer basket in the bottom of the tank and passes upward through the riser. The water exits the softener via the control valve (blue arrow) and is sent to the home.
 
 
When the resin becomes saturated by hardness minerals, the softener automatically goes into regeneration. (The regeneration process is initiated by a timer or a meter, depending on the type of softener you own.) By this process the hardness minerals are washed off of the resin and down the drain (via a drain tube not shown in the diagram), and the resin bed is rinsed, resettled, and recharged with sodium. It is now again ready to soften your water.
 
 
The regeneration process is accomplished by passing very salty water from the brine tank through the resin to renew its ability to soften water.
 
 
The brine tank must contain softener salt at all times so that it can regenerate the softening resin again and again.
Regeneration in standard softeners involves several distinct steps:
 
 
The backwash, where water is run upward through the resin bed to clean it and resettle it. Typical time duration: 10 minutes.
 
 
The brine draw or brine rinse, where the very salty brine is slowly drawn from the brine tank and sent through the resin bed. Typical time duration: 60 minutes.
 
 
The rapid rinse, where the softener runs clean water downward through the resin bed to resettle the bed and remove excessive salt. Typical time duration: 10 minutes.
 
 
The brine refill, where the softener puts clean water into the brine tank to make brine for the next regeneration.  Time duration varies according to the size and design of the softener. 
 

Glossary

Brine.  Name given the extremely salty water that is used to regenerate the softener’s resin.
 
Grain.  A standard measure of hardness.  A “grain” of hardness is the equivalent of 17.1 parts per million.
 
Hardness. The concentration of calcium and magnesium salts in the water.
 
Hard Water.  Though not all authorities agree on a precise definition,  water with over 7 grains of hardness is considered “hard” by almost everyone. Many would say that hardness begins at a lower number.
 
Ion Exchange. A chemical reaction in which ions are exchanged in solution. In the case of the water softener, which is a cation exchanger, calcium and magnesium are exchanged for sodium.  Many other ion exchange devices exist for different water treatment tasks.
 
Regeneration. The process by which an ion exchanger (like a water softener) renews its ability to do its job. In the case of the softener, a strong brine solution is passed through the resin bed and sodium from the brine is exchanged for calcium and magnesium on the resin. 
 
Resin. Specially manufactured polymer beads used in the ion exchange process to remove dissolved salts from water.
 
 
Other Ion Exchange Devices
 
What we commonly call a water softener is one type of ion exchanger. It exhanges positively charged ions, called Cations. There are other resins that can be used in devices exactly or nearly like the water softener to acheive different results.  
 

 Common Uses of Ion Exchange Resins in Water Treatment

Ion exchange resin has been an effective water treatment tool for many years. The most common use, by a long way, is for water softening. Ion exchange resins, however, have many other less frequently used applications. Resins are used to reduce arsenic, nitrates, fluoride, uranium, perchlorate, and more. They can also “deionize” water completely, removing the full mineral content.
 
 

Different Resins, Different Results
 

Cation resins exchange positive ions and Anion resins treat negative ions.
 
Here’s a chart showing types of resins and many of their uses:  
 
 
Resin Type Use Discussion
SAC – Strong Acid Cation --Standard Softener Resin Water softening, iron reduction, barium and radium removal. Exchanges for sodium ions.
WAC – Weak Acid Cation Softens water (removes calcium and magnesium), reduces TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) mildly, and reduces alkalinity. Has the often undesirable effect of lowering pH.
SBA – Strong Base Anion Reduces nitrates, arsenic, perchlorate, TOC (Total Organic Carbon), uranium. Can also be used as an antimicrobial disinfectant. Special grades with selectivity built in are often used.
SBC and SBA together.  SAC and SBA resins employed in combination either individually or mixed together can be used to reduce minerals and TDS in water. The process is known as deionization (DI) or demineralization. The media can be placed in the same tank or in separate tanks.
 

 

 

Using Water: What It Means

Water use is unique as an environmental issue because recycling is built into the system.  With water, we recycle whether we want to or not. Someone said that unless water leaves the planet, it is never wasted. That’s why saying that a reverse osmosis unit “wastes water” makes no sense. More correctly, a reverse osmosis unit uses water, much in the same way that a dishwasher or a lawn sprinkler uses water.  A reverse osmosis unit doesn’t send the water to Mars; it uses it to rinse away impurities, then sends it down the drain to be eventually reused. Maybe next week, maybe after a thousand years. That’s what your clothes washer does, but we seldom hear people denounce washing machines for “wasting” water.
 
 
With water, the issue is often more about saving energy than saving water, since using water usually also involves using energy. A Pacific Institute study on the environmental consequences of  bottled water consumption concluded that “bottled water is up to 2000 times more energy-intensive than tap water. Similarly, bottled water that requires long-distance transport is far more energy-intensive than bottled water produced and distributed locally.”  And we aren’t talking about small amounts of energy.  The Pacific study estimated that between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil were used in bottled water production, packaging and delivery in 2007 in the U.S. alone.
 
 
We now have 333,000,000 Americans sharing essentially the same amount of fresh water that was once shared by 4,000,000 Americans.  Although we aren’t sending any water to Mars, we’re overusing it to the point that we are disrupting natural cycles.  For example, we’re extracting ground water much faster than the natural process can replenish it and, as our generation has done with all our natural resources, we are stealing water from the future.  It’s no small thing when the Nestle Corp. pumps the groundwater supply of a small community dry in order to truck the water to remote points for sale at a markup of hundreds of times what they paid for it.  It will take generations for the natural hydrological cycle to restore the groundwater.  The short-sighted city council that sells water rights to meet its current expenses has stolen from the future.
 
 
 
Adapted from the Pure Water Occasional, July 20, 2009.
 

Groundwater Could Be Too Hot to Drink for 75 Million People by 2100

Gazette Note: The short Newsweek article below addresses a seldom-mentioned aspect of rising temperatures: its effect on water quality. 
 
Access to groundwater is crucial to life on Earth, but rising temperatures could render it undrinkable for 75 million people within the next 75 years.
 
 
In a new study, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) based their projections on two climate scenarios, SSP 2–4.5 and SSP 5–8.5, which represent different socioeconomic pathways and greenhouse gas concentrations. SSP 2–4.5 falls in the midrange of future greenhouse gas trends, while SSP 5–8.5 represents the upper extreme.The study indicates that by 2100, groundwater temperatures will rise by 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit in one scenario and 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the other.
 
 
"Our results show how important it is to take action to protect groundwater and find lasting solutions to counteract the negative impact of climate change on groundwater," study author Dr. Susanne Benz, from the Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing at KIT, said in a statement.
 
 
"Depending on the scenario, as many as several hundred million people could be affected by 2100. There are already about 30 million people living in regions where the groundwater is warmer than stipulated in the strictest drinking water guidelines," Benz said.
 
 
"That means it may not be safe to drink the water there without treatment. It may need to be boiled first, for example. The drinking water also gets warmed up in water pipes by heat in the ground."
 
 
The research suggests that by 2100, due to varying climate changes and population trends, anywhere from 77 to 188 million people could be affected by SSP 2–4.5 and 59 to 588 million under SSP 5–8.5.
 
 
The temperature of groundwater plays a crucial role in water quality by influencing chemical, biological, and physical processes. Warmer groundwater also affects groundwater-dependent ecosystems, aquatic biogeochemical processes, geothermal energy potential, and river thermal regimes. Moreover, it poses challenges to biodiversity and risks to carbon and nutrient cycles.
"Under certain conditions, rising groundwater temperatures can lead to increasing concentrations of harmful substances like arsenic or manganese. These higher concentrations can have a negative impact on human health, especially when groundwater is used as drinking water," Benz said.
 
 
Earth's climate is warming as greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, limiting its release. Oceans absorb much of this heat, yet soil and groundwater also serve as significant reservoirs for thermal energy.
 
 
 
 
 

Water News —August, 2024

 
 

Water News for August 2024

The Largest Dam Removal Project in U.S. History Is Almost Finished

The dismantling of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, which began in June 2023 and has involved hundreds of workers, is the largest dam removal effort in U.S. history. Full story. LA Times.
 
PFAS in River Fish

Scientists tested nine fish species from four northern Illinois rivers for contamination with per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, synthetic chemicals found in numerous industrial and commercial products and known to be harmful to human health. They found fish contaminated with PFAS in every one of their 15 test sites. Elevated levels of PFOS, one type of PFAS compound, were found in nearly all fish tested. Technology Networks.
 
Climate Change and Wastewater Systems

The Pacific Institute, Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN), and Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated (RCAP) released new research outlining how climate change impacts are leading to devastating consequences for water and wastewater systems in rural communities across the United States. Water Online. 
 
Record Number of Heat Records Broken

A record 15 national heat records have been broken in 2024, as weather extremes grow more frequent and climate breakdown intensifies. The geographic range of all-time national records is staggering. Mexico tied its peak of 52C (125.6F) at Tepache on 20 June. On the other side of the world, the Australian territory of Cocos Islands tied its all-time high with 32.8C (91F) on 7 April for the third time this year. The Guardian.

Violence over Water On the Rise

Violence over water resources increased dramatically in 2023, continuing a steep growth trend of such incidents over the past decade. These events include attacks on water systems, unrest and disputes over the control of and access to water, and the use of water as a weapon of war. The number of events has risen rapidly in recent years, with 150% as many incidents in 2023 as those recorded in 2022 (347 events versus 231). In the year 2000, there were only 22 such incidents recorded.
 
“The significant upswing in violence over water resources reflects continuing disputes over control and access to scarce water resources, the importance of water for modern society, growing pressures on water due to population growth and extreme climate change, and ongoing attacks on water systems where war and violence are widespread, especially in the Middle East and Ukraine,” said Dr. Peter Gleick, Senior Fellow and co-founder of the Pacific Institute. Wateronline.
 
 
Amistad Struggling

Amistad reservoir in Texas reached record-low levels this summer, with images from space capturing the staggering scale of its decline. The Amistad reservoir, straddling the Texas-Mexico border on the Rio Grande, dropped to less than a quarter full in July this year, hitting a record low of 1,047.15 feet above sea level on July 17. The previous record low was seen in August 2022, when the reservoir hit 1,052.48 feet. This year, the reservoir has been below 1,052 feet since February. The Amistad was created with the construction of the Amistad Dam in 1969 and is a joint venture between the U.S. and Mexico to provide water and hydroelectric power to both countries. MSN.com.


AI and Water Consumption

AI is thirsty for water. ChatGPT gulps roughly a 16-ounce bottle in as few as 10 queries, according to calculations by Shaolei Ren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Riverside, and his colleagues.
 
AI Doesn’t Just Consume Tons of Energy. It’s a Water Hog as Well

“The growing carbon footprint of artificial intelligence (AI) models, especially large ones such as GPT-3, has been undergoing public scrutiny. Unfortunately, however, the equally important and enormous water (withdrawal and consumption) footprint of AI models has remained under the radar. For example, training GPT-3 in Microsoft’s state-of-the-art U.S. data centers can directly evaporate 700,000 liters of clean freshwater, but such information has been kept a secret. More critically, the global AI demand may be accountable for 4.2 — 6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal in 2027, which is more than the total annual water withdrawal of 4 to 6 Denmark-sized countries or half of the United Kingdom. This is very concerning, as freshwater scarcity has become one of the most pressing challenges shared by all of us in the wake of the rapidly growing population, depleting water resources, and aging water infrastructures. To respond to the global water challenges, AI models can, and also must, take social responsibility and lead by example by addressing their own water footprint.”    LA TIMES. 
 
 
Microplastics in Human Organs

Microplastics are infiltrating brain tissue, studies show. Twenty-four brain samples collected in early 2024 measured on average about 0.5% plastic by weight. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs, including the brain. Studies have detected tiny shards and specks of plastics in human lungs, placentas, reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels and bone marrow.Given the research findings, “It is now imperative to declare a global emergency” to deal with plastic pollution, said Sedat Gündoğdu, who studies microplastics at Cukurova University in Turkey. Humans are exposed to microplastics – defined as fragments smaller than 5mm in diameter – and the chemicals used to make plastics from widespread plastic pollution in air, water and even food. Full article from The Guardian.
 
Dead Chickens in South Carolina River

A South Carolina riverkeeper reported finding hundreds of dead chickens floating in the water of Edisto River. Throwing animal bodies into a river is a crime and a threat to public health.
 
Federal Funds for Lead Removal in Schools

The schools and daycare centers in Georgia were awarded $1.5 million in additional federal funds to get lead out of water. This is one of several federal grants for water protection for schools announced this month.
 
More News
 
A federal judge has slapped the son of Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice with a contempt of court citation for repeatedly failing to respond to a Clean Water Act lawsuit against a family-owned coal products firm.
 
Chinese scientists claim to have invented a way to extract water from the Moon’s soil – a potentially vital step towards building a lunar research base.
 
A recent study from Utrecht University in the Netherlands warns that climate change and socio-economic transformations will exacerbate water scarcity, disproportionately affecting populations in South Asian countries. Countercurrents.org.
 
 

  Check Valve / Air Gap Adapter

 
 
 
If  your undersink reverse osmosis unit has an "air gap" faucet, the simple device pictured above allows you to bypass the drain feature of your air gap faucet if you want to. It's a check valve—it allows drain water to flow away from your unit but not toward it.
The white tube is the drain water coming from your RO unit. The black tube connects to the drain saddle on your drain pipe. Fittings are John Guest-style Quick Connect.
 
The only installation tool you'll need is a pair of scissors. Remove the two drain tubes from the faucet, trim as needed, and plug the ends into the adapter.  Details on our website.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Leonardo da Vinci's Understanding of Watersheds
 
by Emily McBroom

“In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time." - Leonardo da Vinci


Leonard da Vinci's comparison of blood flowing through human arteries to the movement of water upon the Earth demonstrates his understanding of watersheds. In fact, da Vinci, along with Nicollo Machiavelli, used this knowledge of river systems to attempt a diversion of the River Arno from Pisa to Florence in the early 1500s as a military strategy. But that is another story for another time. 

Da Vinci recognized that water flowed over and under the surface of the Earth in a connected, veinous pattern akin to the human anatomy. Water flows across and under an area of land to enter rivers, streams, and other water bodies to arrive at a common point. This is the description of a watershed. Watersheds come in different shapes and sizes due to topography, geology, climate, and amount of development. For example, the Continental Divide in the United States determines which direction water will flow toward its most outward point. On the west side of the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River flows toward the Pacific Ocean. On the eastern side, surface water flows toward the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Similar to da Vinci's connection of the human body to water flows, our own understanding of watersheds tells us much about local water sources and quality.

Another way to think of a watershed is as a big bowl separated from other watersheds by ridges or elevation directing water runoff in a certain direction. Our water supply is located in one or more of those watershed bowls. The quality of the water we receive from either wells or utility companies is determined by the runoff of water within our watershed. 

There are 78 major watersheds in the lower 48 states of the US of which the Mississippi drainage basin is the largest. It is also the third largest in the world after the Amazon in South America and the Congo in Africa. On a local scale, however, there are many smaller watersheds contained within the major ones. 


 
Why do we care about watersheds?

Everything that occurs in a watershed can affect a stream, lake, or river. This can help individuals be aware of drinking water issues and treatment options. A watershed located in an area where livestock production is prominant may have a higher concentration of nitrates in the local water supply. Additionally, watersheds containing large urban areas can experience more flooding or runoff pollutants than rural areas. 

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) provides an interactive map for locating your watershed.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 


 
 
     
 



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Places to visit for additional information:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thanks for reading. 
Pure Water Products, LLC, 523A N. Elm St., Denton, TX, 76201.  www.purewaterproducts.com. Call us at 888 382 3814, or email pwp@purewaterproducts.com.
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