Showers to Flowers or Toilet to tap

The title of post may be catching. But the subject behind it is the threat that every one in the world going to face. It has been predicted that a third world war will set out for water. The prediction was a fun when it came first , but now around the world the situation is too worse. water crisis is too severe.

Recently I read a news about California ,the golden state in America. California is the state where the agriculture sector of United states is mostly concentrated. But now the state is facing serious drought. The fields in California are becoming dry and dry. Hence the residents of Golden state are thinking about a new idea of toilet to tap which they call as showers to flowers for water reuse.

California has the largest water recycling plant in the world. This was installed to face the threat of Orange County’s running out of water. In the third year of drought in West America , more than half California is reported to be suffering the worst drought. As a measure of control of water usage the state had made some water usage actions illegal. The main among them are use of hose. Operating fountains are also made illegal. The offence will lead to a fine upto 500 dollars.

The main sources of water in California were ground water. The other sources were imported water from Colorado river and snow melt from Sierra Nevada. But all these sources are in decline. Realising this decline the Orange County has been using highly purified waste water to recharge the ground water resources. Waste water from showers , kitchens , washing machines and toilets of residences are collected by Fountain Valley recycling plant. About 70 million gallon water per day are converted to drinking water through highly purification methods. As the demand of drinking water is raising day by day the capacity is going to increase to 100 million gallon per day from next year onwards. Still it will cater only 8.5 lakhs people’s needs. That is only one third of population of Orange County is covered still after  expansion!

Now most of the readers will have a doubt. Will these waste water be drinkable after purification as it is collected from toilets and kitchens. As per their words the purification is done in three stages. In first process the bacteria are removed by filtration through a series of tiny straws. Second stage is removal of dissolved chemicals and other materials through reverse osmosis. The final stage of purification is ultra violet light exposure with hydrogen peroxide. After these series of purification the Water coming out will be distilled water.

The toilet to tap is not a common situation at present. But the thoughtless use of water and water resources will lead every country or state to the current situation of Orange county. So before spoiling the next drop of water just think about showers to flowers of California and decide what to do – save or spoil  ?

Muthalamada – A Toxic Hub of Kerala

The killer pesticide Endosulphan had banned globally 3 years ago. Still it is extensively used in many crops especially in mango gardens. The mango city of Kerala named Muthalamada in Palakkad district is one of such place where endosulphan is used by farmers thoughtlessly.

Muthalamada is one of the largest mango production centre in whole India. Acres of land is solely used for mango tree cultivation. During the flowering season of mangoes the whole area will be filled with the nice smell of mango flowers and the scenery also will be very beautiful. But the high end pesticides like Malathion , Azoxistobin, Omethoate etc are sprayed in these gardens to kill pests and mites. They attack the mango trees mostly during flowering season. Pest attack at this season will affect the production of mangoes as well as its quality. So farmers indiscriminately use high end pesticides.

 Local environmental activists are raising sound against these pesticide usage. Kerala had already witnessed the bad affect of thoughtless use of endosulphan at Kasaragod district creating a toxic hub. Eventhough the endosulphan application had stopped in Kasaragod , babies are still born with many abnormalities and disabilities. But the farmers in other parts of Kerala are not taking it seriously. In Muthalamada the Endosulphan reaches in large cans without any label from Pollachi in Tamilnadu. Most of the farmers are unaware of the deadly impact of endosulphan in their life. In most cases the nozzle of the endosulphan sprayer is directed to sky and hence it immediately reaches the lungs of spraying man. Instantly it starts its action , and begins killing the affected person inch by inch.

Muthalamada earns crores from mango export. A rough statistics says that about 200 crore rupees mangoes are exported from Muthalamada in every mango season. The mango orchards of Muthalamada is about 20,000 acres. February to June is the season of Muthalamada. Hundreds of trucks rush in and out of Muthalamada mango tree gardens during these months. Almost all the best varieties of mangoes in India are produced in Muthalamada.  Malgova, Alphonso, Neelam etc are the favourites in mango market and all these varieties are produced in Muthalamada.

Mangoes reach in world market mainly from Latin American countries like Peru and Venezuela. But one advantage of Muthalamada is that they are the early birds in mango market. Before getting ripened the mangoes from Peru and Venezuela these Muthalamada mangoes are ripened. Hence they reach in world market earlier than the other items.

But the indiscriminate use of pesticides especially endosulphan will oust Muthalamada mangoes from world market soon. Before happening it another danger will occur in Kerala. After Enmakaje and other villages in Kasaragod district a new toxic hub will be set up in Muthalamada.

Rise in Nilgiri Tahr population

        The Nilgiri Tahrs were abundant in Western Ghats once upon a time. But the thoughtless hunting for meat reduced their count near to 100. Then only a sense of protection of Nilgiri Tahrs came in minds of authorities. The area where Nilgiri Tahrs were abundant was Eravikulam which was declared as National Park after this stunning news. Now the wild life census shows that their count is 894 at present.Read more.