aquifers

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One of Our Largest Water Sources Is Contaminated

Water in Indo-Gangetic Basin contains toxic salt and arsenic

(Newser) - A river basin in southern Asia is so enormous that 750 million people rely on it for their groundwater. Now, a new study in Nature Geoscience presents an equally staggering stat: 60% of that water is unfit for drinking or farming because it's contaminated by salt or arsenic, reports...

This City Is Sinking Twice as Fast as New Orleans

Up to 4 inches per year in some districts in Beijing

(Newser) - If New Orleans is sinking, Beijing might as well be in freefall. A new study in the journal Remote Sensing finds depleted groundwater is causing the Chinese capital—the growing Chaoyang district, in particular—to sink as much as four inches per year; a recent study found New Orleans was...

'Terrifying' NASA Find: We're Running Out of Water

21 of world's 37 largest aquifers draining faster than they can be refilled

(Newser) - A human being without water is a dead human being, which makes NASA's latest data on the world's water supply pretty chilling. About 35% of the fresh water people use comes from large underground aquifers, but supplies are dwindling, with more water removed from 21 of the world'...

Big Find Under Greenland's Snow: 100B Tons of Water

Snow insulates it, keeping it liquid year-round, say researchers

(Newser) - As far as discoveries go, this one is literally huge: An aquifer holding more than 100 billion tons of water that covers an area larger than West Virginia has been discovered beneath Greenland's snow-covered ice sheet. And it caught the researchers who stumbled on it in 2011 off-guard, with...

New Water Source: Under the Sea?

Vast reserves found beneath coastal shelves

(Newser) - Under trillions of tons of water might not be the most obvious place to look for ... more water, but that's where scientists have found vast reserves of freshwater that could sustain future generations as aquifers run dry. Water resources under seabeds were once thought to be rare, but researchers...

Big Find Under Kenya: Rhode Island-Sized Lake

It, along with 2nd aquifer, could supply country for 70 years

(Newser) - It's another kind of liquid gold: Technology typically used to find oil has instead led scientists to massive lakes, or aquifers, hundreds of feet beneath some of Kenya's driest land. UNESCO yesterday announced that five aquifers were identified and two have thus far been verified in the Turkana...

One of Africa's Driest Countries Finds Water

And aquifer could be enough to supply northern Namibia for centuries

(Newser) - Namibia is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, but perhaps not for long. The BBC reports that an aquifer flowing beneath its boundary with Angola has been discovered—and the new water source could keep the country's north anything but parched for some 400 years. And one encouraging announcement...

Africa Sitting On Tons of ... Water?

Seemingly dry continent has vast groundwater reserves

(Newser) - Believe it or not, Africa is lousy with water—it's just mostly underground. British scientists have produced a new map of the groundwater hidden in aquifers under the arid continent, and found that there's about 100 times more water down there than there is on the surface, the...

Drugs Found in US Water Supply
Drugs Found in US Water Supply
Mar 10, 2008 7:50 AM CDT

Drugs Found in US Water Supply

Water drunk by 41M people contaminated

(Newser) - Small amounts of a wide range of prescription and over-the-counter drugs have been found in drinking water used daily by 41 million Americans in 24 major cities. A major AP investigation found pain killers, anti-seizure drugs, angina and cholesterol medications, mood-altering drugs, and other pharmaceuticals in tap water, the water...

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