Invent Civil

I just finished reading an interesting post from Pruned entitled “Deep-Sea Living in the Underground Tunnels of New York City”.  The post is inspired by a recent New York Times article describing a leak in one of the tunnels that brings water to New York City.  It’s an interesting read to say the least, particularly [...]

Over at whymap.org, they posted a new world map showing aquifers throughout the world.  It’s good to see some organizations preparing to deal with possible future disputes over water scarcity. It’s also interesting to see the great variation within every continent on the map (besides Antarctica of course).
[Global Groundwater Maps] via Water for the Ages
Note [...]

I think this article at The Record says it all:
Officials from an association of bottled-drink manufacturers — and from Nestle, which runs water-bottling plants in Puslinch — told council there is no environmental justification to ban tightly regulated bottled water. Most bottles are recycled in Ontario, they said.
Well, if NESTLE says it, then it must [...]

In an article by the Economist, they discuss the current shortage of water throughout the globe.  According to the article,
Farming, which accounts for some 70% of human water consumption, offers the best opportunity for thrift. Repairing leaks and better irrigation in poor countries could help reduce wastage by up to 70%, as could switching to [...]

Only a few days ago, the Region of Waterloo agreed to ban the sale of bottled water in their buildings and at their events.  Now, I know that there was some people who didn’t like the idea.  Sure - why shouldn’t we be allowed to decide where we buy our drinking water?  Well, unfortunately people [...]

Charles Paton has created a design for a desalination greenhouse is entitled “Teatro del Agua”.  It’s a design that will be presented as an option for desalination in Spain’s Canary Islands.
The process uses the temperature differential between the deep, cold seawater from the ocean and the warm air off the surface to produce freshwater condensation [...]

The Water Wired blog posted an article about the death of 60 year old Ron Rivera.  Ron Rivera worked for Potters for Peace, teaching locals how to create ceramic pots that would help purify drinking water:
The pots, with their small pores and silver lining, would eliminate such pathogens as E. coli, giardia, and cryptospiridium. They dramatically [...]

Today I stubled across a website for an organization called “charity:water”.  I’ve been quite impressed with the website itself.  The pictures and videos that have been collected from various projects are very well done.
charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. We give 100% of the [...]

According to the Record:
Waterloo regional council voted 13-0 today to ban bottled water from regional buildings and events, in a bid to promote tap water.
In my opinion, it’s a good move.  I’m not a fan of bottled water. Not just because of the environmental impacts, but also because it’s a waste of money.
While [...]

I’ve always been interested in civil engineering throughout the world, and how location changes the requirements and the challenges in engineering practice.  Unfortunately, it’s not always just challenges caused by the natural environment  that a civil engineer encounters.  Lately, I’ve been learning that a large portion of civil engineering involves business relationships with the public [...]