A bad news news-story in Nepal

Oh for God's sake...!

do i even want to know why arsenic were in the manufacture of these tubes???
 
"do i even want to know why arsenic were in the manufacture of these tubes???"

The arsenic did NOT come from the tubes/pipe used to construct the wells...indeed that might be better than the current situation, as it would eventually be flushed out.

The arsenic is present in the underground aquifers which without the wells would be inaccessable.

From the article:

"Arsenic-rich rocks are a natural part of the earth's crust. As these rocks erode, the metalloid toxic element dissolves in water flowing through the area.

"The recent increase in the use of tube wells in the Terai is likely to result in increased health risks for Nepalese citizens," warns US geologist Van Williams."

Just because the water is pumped out of a well, or rises to the surface via a spring doesn't mean it's good water. Naturally occuring water in some areas can contain several harmful substances--In some areas too much flouride can lead to overly brittle bones and teeth. Reliable, inexpensive, low-tech tests for arsenic content were not available to those who installed these wells.

A similar incidence of arsenic poisoning has occurred in Bangladesh, for the same reason. In Bangladesh it's a tough call--water with arsenic, or water with cholera during Monsoon season.
 
:( :( :(
From what it sounds like in the article, there are natural deposits of arsenic, that, with erosion, can contaminate some groundwater. I guess the new (10 years or so) tube wells have the bad fortune to tap into the contaminated water. I'm not sure what the alternatives might be. I don't know if more careful (or luckier?) well placement or depth would be better. Perhaps they need to add some treatment steps, but that ain't easy. It might be easier to treat surface water to knock out the parasites.

I can't get over how lucky we are in the US to be able to go into the kitchen, turn a knob, and out comes potable water. Heck, we even spray the stuff on fires.
 
sorry,

guess it's all this bad news lately that's really gotten me in a impatient attitude.

what really put me over was the bombing of the red cross. i mean really, the red cross!
 
Understandable, Dave.

Sick people are everywhere--appears that some of the fires here in California may have been deliberately set.

As for water, it's pretty amazing that there is still enough to continue to fight the fires. Decent water is precious just about everywhere, when you think about it.
 
Originally posted by firkin
--appears that some of the fires here in California may have been deliberately set.
Click to expand...

Sadly that's been going on for years and years.:( The sickos were alive and well when I lived out in SoCal almost 30 years ago. One of the favored ways of setting the fires back then was with a cigarette and a book of matches and a rubber band. The perp would light a cigarette and wrap the rubber band around it and the open book of matches. When the cigarette burned down to the match heads it was an instantaneous blaze and if it was thrown out anywhere near flammable grass or other tinder there was an instant fire and the perp(s) would be miles away.:( :grumpy: :barf:
Subhumans like that ought to be strung up by their thumbs barefooted over a huge pit of hot coals and as they became more and more BBQ'ed the lower they should be let down.
What's left could be fed to the 'Possums, hopefully still alive.:D
 
Yvsa, I think hog-tying them and leaving them at one of the evac. shelters might work just about as well.

Earlier this year we had some kinda twisted eco-nuts setting fire to partially completed housing developments--fortunately none of those fires got into the brush. Great way to "protect the habitat". Haven't caught them either:mad:

But, anybody who builds a multi-million-$ house in the chapparal with a shake roof and refuses to clear any brush away from the building probably deserves at least few rounds with the possums to knock some sense into them. The homeowner next door can do everything right--if his property is surrounded by big fire-catchers, the odds are against him. And there's plenty of folks with regular houses or trailers burned out too--they just like to show the big houses more on TV. :(

Least we got a break in the weather today and some re-enforcements. Saturday and Sunday were brutal.
 
Does it seem to anyone else that the terrorists attempting to deconstruct,destroy, kill,bomb,pillage,rape,maim,burn and otherwise create chaos in Iraq are very similar the leftist radicals of the modern day Democratic Party?

Arsonists,unibombers,murderers of babies,(euphemistically called abortionists), America haters,despisers of the military,earth liberation frontists,etc.,etc.These people seem to admire, even adore one of the most prolific serial killers in history --Saddam Hussein.
Just goes to show I guess that evil NEVER sleeps.
 
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