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WATER STORIES, NEWS & FACTS

 2005

Bottled Water Helps Save Christmas For One Small Town

Residents of Charlotte will go without drinkable tap water over the holidays
By Karetha Dodd

December 2005                                                                                                                        Back to the Top

 November 2005                                                                                                                        Back to the Top

Bottled Water Still Number 2  

Bottled water emerged as the second largest commercial beverage category by volume in the United States in 2003, and, despite its significant stature, it continued to grow at a rapid pace in 2004. The category is growing even more forcefully on a global scale but in the U.S., volume is unparalleled.  

In 2004, total U.S. category volume surpassed 6.8 billion gallons, an 8.6% advance over 2003�s volume level. That translates into an average of 24.0 gallons per person, which means U.S. residents now drink more bottled water annually than any other beverage, other than carbonated soft drinks (CSDs).  

While CSDs still have volume and average intake levels more than twice as high as bottled water, the soft drink market has been stagnant lately, in no small part due to competition from bottled water. Per capita consumption of bottled water has been growing by at least one gallon annually, thereby more than doubling in a decade. 

 October 2005                                                                                                                                        Back to the Top

The Current State of Our Water Resources

There is approximately the same amount of water on Earth today as there was when the Earth was formed. Water is continually recycled in the Earth's hydrologic cycle (see diagram). The dinosaurs once drank the same molecules that are in your faucet.



Nearly 97% of the world's water is saltwater or otherwise undrinkable. Another 2% is held in ice caps and glaciers. That leaves just one percent for all of humanity's needs - agricultural, residential, manufacturing, and community needs. (United States Geological Survey)

Water regulates the Earth's temperature. It also regulates the temperature of the human body, carries nutrients and oxygen to cells, cushions joints, and protects organs and tissues. The human brain is 75% water. Human blood is 83% water and bones are 25% water. (American Water Works Association)

Each day, the sun evaporates 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) tons of water. (United States Geological Survey)

In a one hundred year period, an average water molecule spends 98 years in the ocean, 20 months as ice, about two weeks in lakes and rivers, and less than a week in the atmosphere.

At least 1 billion people must walk three hours or more to obtain drinking water. Nearly 2% of U.S. homes have no running water. In Mexico, 15% of the population must haul or carry water. (National Geographic Society)

Households turn on water faucets an average of 70 times daily. It is estimated that up to 50% of the water families use could be saved by implementing simple conservation methods. (National Drinking Water Alliance)

One inch of rain falling on one acre of land is equal to about 27,154 gallons of water. (United States Geological Survey)

The 250 million U.S. residents living today have access to about the same amount of water as U.S. residents did 200 years ago, when the population was four million. (National Drinking Water Alliance)

Courtesy of The Freshwater Society

September 2005                                                                                                                                        Back to the Top

The Body�s Connection To The Planets Water

 The ancient Greeks believed that there was a watery substance called physis that flowed throughout all life and connected the inner body with the outer world. This thought has evolved to where we now use the world �physiology� to refer to our inner world and the word �physics� to refer to the outer world. 

Physiologically speaking we use our minds and bodies to relate to the physical world around us. We survive by ingesting water and forms of life created, grown, and sustained by water outside our bodies. In this way, pollutants that are placed in water outside our bodies are inevitably end up inside our bodies.  

The relationship between our body water and the ocean has long been understood. Human sweat and tears are salty � just like the ocean. The blood and liquid inside the human body are also like the ocean and equally rich in trace elements such as gold and magnesium. If life did begin in the sea then we are alive today because we carry our own sea within us. For that matter, all things living on land are living in a sea of rarefied water called water vapor.  Without water in the form of water vapor in the air, there would be no naturally reoccurring oxygen for us to breathe. The relationship between air and water is demonstrated further by the fact that sound travels 4 times faster through sea water than it does through air. This ratio of 4:1 between air and seawater also manifests itself in the human body. On the average, for every breath of air we take into our lungs, our heart beats four times as it pumps our seawater like blood throughout our bodies. Excerpted from The Holy Order of Water by William E. Marks.

August 2005                                                                                                                                        Back to the Top

Bottled Water and Your Activity Level

A person's body weight, and their activity level, determine the amount of water needed to maintain proper hydration. A good rule to follow is to drink at least eight, eight-ounce servings of water a day, adding more for each hour of activity.

As Temperatures Rise, So Does Your Body's Need for Water

When summer comes, remember to keep your body properly hydrated when the 'heat wave' comes.

Summer hydration tips....

• Bring a supply of bottled water with you when traveling.
• Drink extra bottled water in extreme heat to keep body temperature low.
• Drink before you feel thirsty.

Source: IBWA

July 2005                                                                                                                                        Back to the Top

The �Hangover� Cure That Works

 The Hangover headache results from the cells of the body (especially those of the brain) sacrificing their water to dilute and flush toxic alcohol from the body. The brain, which is about 85 per cent  water, is a major contributor of water to dilute poisons such as alcohol. Even though the brain makes up one � fiftieth of our body�s weight, it receives about 20 percent of the body�s blood circulation. Such information as this shows that our bodies are engineered to give the brain top priority at all times under any set of circumstances.

The �morning after� headache can be greatly minimized by drinking water before, during and immediately after the intake of alcohol. Drinking water saves the cells of the brain from having to sacrifice their water to help rid the body of poisonous alcohol. Drinking water before, during and after the drinking of alcohol also helps reduce the damaging residence time of alcohol inside the body.  Excepted from �The Holy Order of Water� by William E. Marks.

June 2005                                                                                                                                        Back to the Top

Body Health and Clean Water 

The constant flow of water through our bodies refreshes and recreates them as it removes toxins and wastes. This is why it is crucial to drink the cleanest water obtainable. If the water we drink is polluted, it will not do its job of cleaning out our bodies and will only burden them with unnecessary wastes. 

The flow of unpolluted water through our bodies cleans every cell, removes toxins and wastes, lubricates our bone joints to protect them from injury and reduce arthritic pain, keeps our skin clean and healthy looking, prevents constipation and urinary tract infections, helps reduce hair loss by maintaining cleaner follicles and enhancing blood circulation to the scalp, prevents the occurrence of gout by flushing uric acid from the body, protects us from kidney stones, minimizes jet lag by preventing dehydration caused by pressurized cabins, helps to balance the pressure in and out of our body cells, makes us more energetic and alert, and helps us to have a more positive outlook on life. Excerpted from The Holy Order of Water by William E. Marks.

 May 2005                                                                                                                                        Back to the Top

New Water Bottle Approved by the Biodegradable Products Institute

Today, the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) announced its approval of the bottle used for BIOTA premium spring water. The BPI�s certification demonstrates that BIOTA�s bottle meets the specifications in ASTM D6400 and will biodegrade swiftly and safely during municipal or commercial composting.

BIOTA�s new bottle is the first approved by the BPI as well as the first to be derived entirely from corn, a renewable resource.

"BIOTA water is the perfect combination of premium spring water and environmental respect," says David M. Zutler, CEO of BIOTA Brands of America, Inc. "Obtaining BPI�s approval is a critical part of our marketing efforts," says Zutler. The BPI certification is only granted to products that meet ASTM D6400 "Specifications for Compostable Plastics" based testing in approved, independent laboratories.

Compostable plastics are gaining popularity as interest in food scrap diversion continues to grow. Residential and commercial food scrap programs are in place from San Francisco, Calif., to Prince Edward Island, Canada. By replacing ordinary plastic items with PLA compostable plastics, these communities are able to divert and compost large parts of the waste stream, while helping composters reduce processing, separation and disposal costs.

"BIOTA�s new bottles are the first to be approved by BPI and continue to expand the array foodservice items that are certified," notes Steve Mojo, BPI executive director. "As the BPI list grows, it will be easier to implement diversion programs, especially for sporting events and festivals," he added. The complete list of approved products can be found at www.bpiworld.org.

BIOTA is bottled in a new multi-million-dollar, state-of-the-art plant in Ouray, Colo., where local residents package, label and ship supplies of BIOTA. "This water is pristine, pure and untouched. It is protected deep within the mountain and is captured at the source, flowing directly to our bottling facility," said Zutler.

The natural spring water comes from a hidden source more than 9,000 feet above sea level, making it one of the highest protected alpine springs in the world.

BIOTA Brands of America Inc. has its corporate headquarters in Telluride, Colo. The company was formed to bring pristine Colorado Rocky Mountain spring water to market while respecting the local and global environment. BIOTA is available in a half liter, a 12-ounce "Stubby" bottle, and a one liter "thirst quencher."

BPI is a multi-stakeholder group, involving people and organizations that produce, use or recover biodegradable plastic products. It promotes the growth of biodegradable plastics through education, use of scientifically-based standards, and cooperative efforts with organizations in Europe and Asia.

April 2005                                                                                                                                        Back to the Top
 

Sacred Springs and Other Water Lore

Part 2

by Terri Windling  (Click for Part 1)

     As Christian tales were attached to the springs and wells, they became as colorful as any to be found in pagan folklore. Wells were said to have sprung up where saints were beheaded, or had fought off dragons, or where the Virgin Mary appeared and left small footprints pressed into the stone. Wells dedicated to St. Anne were called "granny wells" (because, as the mother of the Virgin Mary, she was grandmother of Christ) and were attributed with particular powers concerning fertility and childbirth. According to one Breton legend, St. Anne settled in Brittany where she was visited by Christ before she died. She asked him to create a well to help the sick people of the region; he struck the ground three times, and thus the well of St. Anne-e-la-Palue was created. Up until the 19th century, the holy wells of Britain and Europe were still considered to have miraculous properties and were frequently visited by those seeking cures for disease, physical deformity or mental illness. Other wells were famous for offering prophetic information -- generally determined through the movements of the water, or leaves floating upon the water, or fish (or eels) swimming in the depths. At some wells, the water was drunk from circular cups carved out of animal bone, an echo of the cups carved out of human skulls by the ancient Celts. Pins (usually bent), coins or bits of metal were common offerings; rags tied to trees around the holy well were another tradition dating back to pagan times (the cloth was symbolic of ill health or misfortune left behind as one departed). Some wells, known as cursing wells, were rather less beneficent; curses were made by dropping special cursing stones into the well, or the victim's name written on a piece of paper, or a wax effigy. At the famous cursing well of Ffynnon Elian (in Wales) one could arrange for a curse by paying the well's guardian a fee to perform an elaborate cursing ritual. A curse could also be removed at this same well, for a somewhat larger fee.

     In the mid-19th century Thomas Quiller Couch (father of the writer Sir Arthur Quiller Couch) became interested in the history of sacred wells in Britain; he spent much of his life wandering the wilds of his native Cornwall seeking them out. Extensive notes on this project were discovered among his papers after his death, and in 1884 The Ancient and Holy Wells of Cornwall was published by the antiquarian's daughters, the Misses M. & L. Quiller Couch. This fascinating book is somewhat difficult to come by today, but a more recent guide to the subject -- citing Quiller Couch's text -- is now available. Folklorist/photographer Paul Broadhurst re-visited the sites documented by Quiller Couch and in 1991 he published Secret Shrines: In Search of the Old Holy Wells of Cornwall, an informative guide to the many sacred wells still to be found in the Cornish countryside. (Pendragon Press, Box 888, Launceston, Cornwall, U.K.) In addition to holy sites dedicated to Celtic goddesses and Christian saints, Broadhurst discovered crumbling old wells half-buried in ivy, bracken and briars inhabited by spirits somewhat less exalted: the piskies (faeries) of Cornish folklore. Wells under the protection of the piskies are not wells to be trifled with, for the piskies will take their revenge on any who dare to disturb their homes. A farmer decided to move the stone basin at St. Nun's Well (also known as Piskey's Well), with the intention of using it as a water trough for his pigs. He chained the stone to two oxen and pulled it the top of a steep hill -- whereupon the stone broke free of the chains, rolled downhill, made a sharp turn right, and settled back into its place. One of the ox died on the spot, and the farmer was struck lame. (This rather enchanted-looking well can still be found in the beautiful part of Cornwall between Liskeard and Looe.)

     All running water (not just spring water) can prove to be the haunt of faeries, for crossing over (or through) running water is one of the ways to enter their realm. Here, one still finds country folk who avoid running water by dusk or dark, for the spirits who inhabit water can be troublesome, even deadly. The water spirit of the River Dart, for instance, is believed to demand sacrificial drownings, leading to the well-known local rhyme "Dart, Dart, cruel Dart, every year she claims a heart." The water-wraithe of Scotland is thin, ragged, and invariably dressed in green, haunting riversides by night to lead travellers to a watery death. In the Border Country, the Washer by the Ford wails as she washes the grave clothes of those who are about to die; this frightening apparition is similar to the dreaded Banshees of Irish legends. The Bean-nighe is a similar creature found in both Highland and Irish lore, a dangerous little faerie with ragged green clothes and webbed red feet. (Yet if one can get between the Bean-nighe and her water source, she is obliged to grant three wishes and refrain from doing harm.) Jenny Greenteeth specializes in dragging children down in stagnant pools. The Welsh water-leaper (Llamhigyn Y Dwr) is a toad-like creature who delights in tangling fishing lines and devouring any sheep who fall into the river. The fideal is a faery who haunts lonely pools and hides herself in the grasses by the water; the glaistig, half-woman and half-goat, tends to lurk in the dark of caves behind waterfalls. The loireag of the Hebrides is a gentler breed of water fairy, although -- as a connoisseur of music -- even she can prove dangerous to those who dare to sing out of tune.

     In Ireland, a faerie creature known as the Lady of the Lake bestows blessings and good weather to those who seek her favor; in some towns she is still celebrated (or propitiated) at mid-summer festivals. Her name recalls the Welsh Lady of the Lake, who gave King Arthur his sword and now guards over his body as he sleeps in Avalon. Brittany, on the west coast of France, also claims the home of the Lady of the Lake. The Chateau de Comper, where she is said to have lived and raised Sir Lancelot, still stands near the old Forest of Paimpont (called Broceliande in Arthurian lore): a magnificent manor house of golden stone, crumbling romantically at the edges. Nearby is a lake whose origin is attributed to Morgan Le Fay, located in the mysterious Val san Retour (Valley of No Return). In Somerset, the town of Glastonbury is one of several sites where the Holy Grail is reputed to be hidden. At the foot of ancient Glastonbury Tor is a lovely garden where one can drink the red-tinged water of Chalice Well -- colored, according to legend, by the blood of Christ carried in the Grail. Although the well's association with Arthur may be (as some Arthurian scholars suggest) a legend of recent vintage, archaeological excavations in the 1960s established the site's antiquity -- and the place manages to retain a tranquil, mystical atmosphere despite its transformation from sacred site to tourist attraction. One often finds small offerings in the circle around the well's heavy lid: flowers, feathers, stones, small bits of cloth tied to a near-by tree . . . remnants of ancient pagan practice carried down through the centuries.

     Today, we generally view such practices as quaintly (or foolishly) superstitious; we dismiss our early ancestors as ignorant savages, worshipping natural phenomenon because they lacked the rationality of science. Yet a look at animist religions that still thrive in certain cultures around the globe indicates that this may be a simplistic view of nature-based religions. Rather than focusing on the hocus-pocus of the supernatural (as they are often portrayed), such religions are rooted in the natural world, celebrating and regulating the relationships between mankind, other species, and the land which sustains us all. In America, animism runs through the various indigenous religions of our land. Various springs, wells and pools are sacred to Native tribal groups; and in such holy places, one also finds offerings similar to those by Chalice Well: feathers, flowers, stones, sage, tobacco, small carved animal forms, scraps of red cloth tied to trees, and other tokens of prayer. The Native American sweat-lodge ceremony uses water sprinkled over red-hot rocks to create the steam that is called the "breath of life"; the lodge itself is the womb of mother earth in which one is washed clean, purified and spiritually reborn. Water is sacred through its absence in the four-day Sundance ceremony, or the ritual of Crying for a Vision; after four days without water (or food), the first drop on the tongue is a potent reminder to be thankful for this precious gift from mother earth.

     The words attributed to Suquamish Chief Seattle* upon the forced transfer of tribal lands to the U.S. Government in 1855 make painful reading in light of the ecological ravages of the last hundred years. "The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred. Each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father. The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give any brother . . . . This we know: The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to earth." Standing at Dupath Well, a century later and an ocean away, Chief Seattle's words seem to me to be as vital as ever. I am reminded here at this ancient sacred site that I too had ancestors who did not consider themselves greater than the land on which they lived; who did not take good, pure water for granted; who knew man belonged to earth.

     An old English folklorist told me once that nature spirits would live in a well, a spring, a lake or a grove of trees only so long as they were remembered and addressed respectfully. If the spirits were neglected, they'd leave the place; the land would feel soul-less and dead henceforth. Remembering this, I dropped a pin into the brown water of Dupath Well. The well-house stands near the work-yard of a farm; I could hear the traffic of the roads nearby; and yet somehow the spot still seemed quite peaceful, timeless, magical . . . and very much alive. I felt a little foolish saying "Thank you" right out loud � and I couldn't even tell you now who exactly I thought I was addressing there: a nature spirit, a well faery, a Celtic goddess, or the earth itself.
And yet, as we turned to go, I'd swear that someone was listening.

 Presented with permission from the author, Terri Windling, and The Endicott Studio. 

March  2005                                                                                                                     Back to the Top

Sacred Springs and Other Water Lore

by Terri Windling

 February 2005                                                                                                                     Back to the Top

Hidden Hazards of Winter Dehydration 

Many people who are vigilant about drinking enough water during the summer months tend to be less vigilant during the winter. Whether you are an athlete or an armchair quarterback, your need to attend to hydration after the temperatures fall is every bit as important as it is during the summer. Winter dehydration can be an insidious contributor to health problems associated with cold weather. Children and the elderly are at the greatest risk. 

The human body loses water in many ways during the winter. For example, although it may not seem as pronounced, exercising in cold weather still caused the body to lose substantial amounts of water through sweating. Cold, winter air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air, therefore drier air draws more moisture from the lungs as we breathe. In addition, interior environment are usually very dry in the winter due to drying heating methods. The decreased interior humidity also increases water loss from the lungs and skin. When the body becomes chilled, blood is drawn away from the periphery (i.e. arms, legs, skin) toward the interior organs to preserve vital body heat for these life-sustaining tissues. The directing of blood to the interior increases its flow to the kidneys, automatically increasing the kidney filtration rate and urine output. This effect is called �cold diuresis.� Cold weather increases the body metabolism and associated water needs required to maintain healthy body temperature. 

Respiratory illnesses associated with winter, such as the common cold and influenza, cause the body to generate large amounts of mucous in an effort to rid itself of the offending microbes. The water in these discharges must be replaced. Intestinal influenza, leading to diarrhea and vomiting, requires additional water and, perhaps, electrolyte replacement. We recommend four to eight additional cups of water daily. 

Excerpted from �Water, The foundation of Youth, Health, and Beauty� by William D Holloway Jr. and Herb Joiner-Bey, ND.

January 2004                                                                                                                           Back to the Top