The following is a transcript of the Nov. 10, 2011 edition of the WaterWorld Weekly Newscast.
Hi, I'm Angela Godwin, digital media editor for WaterWorld magazine, bringing you this week's water and wastewater news headlines. Coming up...
• Water tower collapses in Indiana
• Nuclear generating station completes major wetlands project
• Turning sewage into frack water in Tioga
• Village gets water from fog
[story1]
A water tower in the small town of Goodland, Indiana, collapsed Monday night -- leaving about a thousand residents without water.
The tower, built in the early 1960s, had shown no signs of trouble before crashing to the ground and spilling 250,000 gallons of water.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported. Although the rushing water did cause some minor damage to nearby residences.
Engineers are still surveying the damage and trying to understand what could have caused the incident.
In the meantime, Goodland residents are under a boil water advisory.
[story2]
One of the largest West Coast estuaries has been created under the $90 million San Dieguito Wetlands Restoration Project, an environmental project 14 years in the making.
The project, which revitalizes 150 acres of coastal wetlands, was designed to offset adverse environmental impacts of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station's cooling water intake system, which uses ocean water for non-nuclear cooling.
The wetland mitigation project offsets the small percentage of small fish and fish larvae impacted by the intake system.
[story3]
Construction is nearing completion on $3 million dollar wastewater treatment plant near Tioga, North Dakota, that will treat sewage from housing sites accommodating oil field workers -- and turn it into water suitable for hydraulic fracturing.
The plant will serve workers at Target Logistics' Tioga Lodge as well as another work camp nearby -- in total about 2,500 workers.
It will be able to handle about 180,000 gallons per day of waste -- waste that had been being hauled to a municipal lagoon in Tioga until it reached capacity in June.
Target Logistics said building the new facility is more cost efficient that hauling to another lagoon -- and providing treated water for hydraulic fracturing is not only environmentally responsible, it's a revenue stream.
Target logistics said it already has two interested companies.
The plant is expected to be online by the end of November.
[story4]
In international news...
In a remote South African village where water is scarce, fog means clean drinking water.
Thirteen-foot high fog harvesting nets, set up in 2007 on the grounds of a local elementary school in Tshiavha village, trap fog -- yielding as much as 660 gallons on a good day.
The mesh net has a gutter at the hem where water droplets are collected and diverted to a nearby water tank.
The system requires no electricity and very little maintenance.
Fog harvesting doesn't work for everyone; it requires a particular climate.
But for certain areas, like this Limpopo village, it's meant access to clean water, better children's health, and fewer waterborne diseases.
For WaterWorld magazine, I'm Angela Godwin. Thanks for watching.
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