CH2M Hill

What is the state of global lake water quality? A global assessment covering 16,409 lakes across 145 countries reveals that only 63.3% of lakes worldwide meet good water quality standards. More concerningly, among the approximately 2 billion people living within the service areas of freshwater lakes, more than half are exposed to lakes with poor water quality, indicating potential health risks associated with freshwater security.

Industrial wastewater from electronics manufacturing, metal processing and other sectors often contains two difficult pollutants at once: high levels of salt and toxic heavy metals. Current treatment methods typically address those problems separately, creating costly, complex systems that can produce hazardous brines or metal-laden sludge. Now a group of researchers at Rice University and Vanderbilt University have created an electrochemical platform that could do both jobs at once.

Every summer, algal blooms turn rivers and lakes green. Although they are widely known as a major form of water pollution that makes the water murky, a KAIST research team has now shown for the first time that algal bloom conditions can make discarded plastics, such as plastic bags, more prone to breaking apart, potentially accelerating the formation of microplastics. The study points to a new direction for the era of climate change: water pollution and plastic pollution need to be managed together, rather than as separate problems.

The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) today announced a comprehensive water main improvement plan along 14 Mile Road in Oakland County designed to strengthen the reliability of the regional water system in an area that has experienced four major breaks in the last seven years, causing major disruptions for the surrounding communities.

South Wairarapa District Council has signed a contract with Filtec Limited for the delivery of upgrades at Martinborough, Greytown and Featherston wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs).

Enva and Clean TeQ Water Limited are pleased to announce the successful completion of commissioning and contractual performance testing for the first full-scale commercial PHOSPHIX phosphate removal plant, delivered in partnership in Ireland.