In Philadelphia, there are 3,300 miles of water mains in the city and they replace 20 miles a year. They’re on 160-year replacement cycles. One of the officials from the Philadelphia water utility said to me ‘We want to make sure we get the 20 miles right.’ That’s not a question of money, it’s a question of public resistance to digging up streets.’

— Charles Fishman on the antiquated municipal water systems in the United States. 

Investigative reporter Charles Fishman on the future of clean, safe and cheap water: “In the U.S., we spend $21 billion a year buying bottled water and we spend $29 billion a year maintaining the entire water system — pipes, treatment plants, pumps. We spend almost as much on crushable plastic bottles of water as we do maintaining the water system.”

Hell No Yes H20: Today’s show: the future of water. 

Las Vegas Tries To Prevent A Water Shortage (Popular Mechanics, Oct 2009)

The word water is commonly pronounced /wʊdər/ (with the first syllable identical to the word wood, so that it sounds like wooder.

— From Philadelphia Dialect, aka the way everyone in Philadelphia says the word water.

Monday: the future of water with investigative reporter Charles Fishman

(by karlerikbrondbo)

faspgt:

Nuclear Bomb

About 20 percent of America’s power is generated from nuclear plants. Before the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, nuclear power was being rebranded as a green form of energy. On tomorrow’s Fresh Air, New York Times reporter Matt Wald will explain how that’s now changed.

“You can think of Antarctica as an amazing layer cake, made from millions of layers of snow that gradually turns to ice. But a new study finds that’s not always the case. Some of the ice in Antarctica is actually forming from underneath the glaciers, instead of being piled on from the top, according to a report published online by Science magazine.” — It’s Bottoms Up For Antarctic Ice Sheets

Still No Cure For Cancer: The most-viewed story on the NPR website right is about the physics of cats drinking water. Choice quote from said article: “You don’t induce the cat to drink; you just wait until the cat decides to drink.”