Sri Lanka's coastal drinking water supply continues to suffer the effects of the December 2004 tsunami. Much of the island nation's coastal area relies on wells, usually hand dug and relatively shallow. Some 40,000 such wells, each typically serving several families, were destroyed or contaminated by the tsunami, and the continued sustainability of the aquifers that supply such wells is in doubt.
The nuclear industry has said that it will more closely monitor and keep local and state officials informed about releases of radioactive water into ground water from power plants, though it says such releases have not posed a health risk.
Members of the water well drilling unit of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7 from Gulfport, Miss., are making a difference in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia by drilling wells that will produce clean drinking water for residents, as well as water for crops and livestock.
Sandvik Mining and Construction announces that an agreement has been reached with U.S.-based Smith International Inc., Houston, to acquire its 50 percent interest in Sandvik Smith AB.
Following three months of around-the-clock work, the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater Deep Drilling Project successfully completed its operations, extracting more than a mile-long segment of rocks and sediments from the Earth.
The one place in water-short Israel where natural ground water is available and not being fully exploited is - of all places - in the mostly uninhabited Judean desert.
Mathematical models have developed to calculate the natural degradation capacity of polluted ground water, allowing predictions of whether a polluted area will become larger or smaller.
Despite recent rain, water levels in streams throughout the Mid-Atlantic and surrounding regions remain near record lows for this time of year, according to hydrologists at the U.S. Geological Survey. Although recent rains have improved conditions in parts of the Midwest, West Virginia and Ohio, rivers and streams from northwestern Pennsylvania to southeastern North Carolina still are flowing at below-normal levels.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to allow higher levels of contaminants such as arsenic in the drinking water used by small rural communities, in response to complaints that they cannot afford to comply with recently imposed limits.