WaterNews: December 19, 2019

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2019.12.20

Few states have rules for preventing the spread of Legionella bacteria. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue

Against Advice of Health Officials, Georgia Rejects Legionella Rules in New Plumbing Code

When plumbing code revisions in Georgia go into effect on January 1, 2020, rules to prevent the growth of deadly Legionella bacteria within buildings will not be one of the new requirements.
In a meeting on January 8, 2019, the task force rejected a code amendment that would have incorporated into Georgia’s rules an industry standard for managing building water systems to prevent the growth of Legionella.
The amendment was proposed by the Georgia Department of Public Health, and it advocated for a Legionella standard that has been adopted by New York and federal healthcare agencies.

Sand miners operate in the Mekong delta south of Vietnam’s Co Chien bridge. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue

Dams, Sand Mining Threaten to Wreck Mekong Delta

About 18 million people live in the low-lying Mekong delta, where half the land is less than 1 meter above sea level.

Sepehr Eslami looks across this geographical profile and sees a vulnerable landscape. To rising seas, certainly. But given the relatively slow rate of sea-level rise, which is currently measured in millimeters per year, that aspect is a minor player right now in the delta’s alteration, he says.

Hotspots H2O:
Famine Risk Increases in South Sudan
as Floods Ravage Harvests

Life in South Sudan continues to be a struggle. After being hit by drought and then severe flooding, the Nile basin country now faces widespread food insecurity. The UN’s food aid organization estimates that 5.5 million people are at risk of going hungry at the beginning of 2020.

What's Up With Water - December 16, 2019
“What’s Up With Water” condenses the need-to-know news on the world’s water into a snapshot for the start of the workweek via podcast.
This week's episode features coverage on how Earth’s mountain water is vanishing, putting a quarter of the human population at risk. Additional international reporting looks southern Africa, where Zambia’s withering drought has starved Victoria Falls, reducing the iconic waterfall to a trickle. For news in the United States, a global shoe manufacturing company has agreed to pay nearly $70 million to help clean up groundwater contaminated by its leather processing waste. Finally, Circle of Blue's featured story continues its focus on water debt in the United States, with a look at what Louisiana is doing to address the problem proactively.
You can listen to the latest edition of What's Up With Water, as well as all past editions, by downloading the podcasts on iTunes, following Circle of Blue on Spotify, following on i Heart Radio, and subscribing on SoundCloud.

From Circle of Blue's Archives:

Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue

As Legionnaires’ Disease Cases Surge,
Lawsuits Pile Up

Most legal actions are civil lawsuits against building owners or their maintenance contractors for negligence or failure to protect guests on their property, a personal injury claim akin to a slip-and-fall case, lawyers say.

But criminal charges against Michigan health officials in the wake of 12 deaths in Flint linked to Legionnaires’ disease awakened the public health community to the legal risks of inaction against a disease that was first identified four decades ago but has grown in prominence only in the last few years.