CALIFORNIA FOOD, WATER, SEWAGE DISPOSAL PROBLEM
Let's look at a water district press release for one example of the California problem with contaminated produce:
Misrepresentation of facts:
Mr, Richard Atwater's Metropolitan Water District of Southern California supplies drinking water, reclaims sewage
wastewater, composts sludge and cow manure (has to dispose of the disease and chemical contaminated wastewater,
and composted sludge and manure) and has to deal with a new created or mutated bacteria (besides E. coli 0157) he
doesn't know where they came from or how to handle it. One created or mutated strain of cyanobacteria in the drinking
water has been named Planktothrix perornata which Mr. Atwater's group refers to as a simple algae. Its not new, but
for some reason U.S. Scientists don't get involved with the health issues of disease organism related to water and
sewage. In a press release advising the public of a problem with drink water, they couldn't bring themselves to use the
popular term for cyanobacteria, Blue-Green algae. Under certain conditions cyanobacteria are HIGHLY TOXIC,
producing Endotoxins (causes gastroenteritis), Neurotoxins (damage nerves) , Hepatotoxins (damage the liver). As
noted in the following Press Release these toxins can not be filtered out in the treatment process. The water treatment
process to get rid of the deadly cyanobacteria in the lake is copper-sulfate -- a poisonous desiccant. This poison has
been document to cause Escherichia coli to enter the viable but nonculturable (VBNC) condition.
This makes for a serious conflict of interest and a highly interesting situation. No wonder these people want to blame
farmers and cattle ranchers and manure for food and water contamination -- and the cook for food poisoning.
The operation standard is to blame the victims of government lies and abuse of power.
.
http://www.mwdh2o.com/mwdh2o/pages/news/press_releases/2005-09/taste_smell_2.htm
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
PRESS RELEASE
Sept. 23, 2005
NEW ALGAE SPECIES COMPLICATES EFFORTS TO IMPROVE TASTE, SMELL
OF DRINKING WATER FOR SAN DIEGO, SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
Earthy, musty taste and smell of water expected to improve soon
Regional water quality experts reported progress today in dealing with an unrelenting new strain of algae in Lake
Skinner that is affecting the taste and smell of drinking water being served to consumers in San Diego and southwest
Riverside counties.
Jill T. Wicke, manager of water system operations for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said the
district will apply another treatment of copper sulfate on Saturday—the fourth application since Aug. 8—to address the
growth of a persistent new species of G in the drinking water reservoir near Temecula.
"We're hoping that we've turned the corner in dealing with this aggressive new algae strain, which has been particularly
difficult to treat," Wicke said. Since the last treatment Sept. 17, we have observed a decline in algae in the lake, which
we expect will continue to decline with Saturday's application.
"We also expect that cooler fall temperatures will help reduce algae growth and re-growth. It might, however, take as
long as three weeks before some consumers notice an improvement in the taste and smell of their drinking water,"
Wicke said.
Wicke reiterated that water with an earthy-musty taste and smell continues to be safe to drink, but that consumers with
sensitive noses and palates may find it unpleasant. The earthy-tasting water—which cannot be corrected in the filtration
and treatment processes—is being supplied by Metropolitan to supplement local supplies of Eastern and Western
municipal water districts, based in Perris and Riverside, respectively, and the San Diego County Water Authority.
While Saturday's copper sulfate treatment—the safe and approved method to control algae growth—takes effect,
Metropolitan continues to by-pass the lake through nearby pipelines to isolate the lake's supplies in its distribution
system. Metropolitan ultimately plans to return the lake to service once the water's aesthetics improve.
In the meantime, consumers noticing an earthy-musty taste and smell in their drinking water can refrigerate it to improve
its aesthetics or should consider using bottled water, officials said.
Growth of algae in open reservoirs is generally a seasonal problem that usually occurs in warm months. As in previous
years, the cause of this year's taste-and-smell episode has been identified as 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) and geosmin,
compounds that are produced from the growth of certain algae in freshwaters throughout the world. Typically, MIB and
geosmin levels increase in summer months when the warmer weather accelerates algae growth.
This year, however, the seasonal issue has been complicated by the appearance of the new algae species,
Planktothrix perornata, which was first identified in Lake Skinner in late August, said Dr. Mic Stewart, Metropolitan's
water quality manager.
Unlike other freshwater algae species, which attach to the sides or bottom of a reservoir, this new strain tends to
proliferate throughout different lake levels, making it much more difficult to treat because of its widespread
occurrence in the lake, Dr. Stewart said.
Metropolitan officials speculated that the new algae species might have been imported in supplies from Northern
California following the June 2004 levee break in the Upper Jones Tract island of the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-
San Joaquin Delta. Dr. Stewart noted that recent reports suggest the new species has caused similar problems in the
northern part of the State Water Project.
Consumers interested in receiving additional information about the quality of Metropolitan's drinking water supplies may
visit MWD's Web site for the district's annual water quality report and other related materials.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 18 million
people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local
supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage, and other resource-
management programs.
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Press releases
September 9, 2005
TASTE, SMELL OF DRINKING WATER FOR SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE,
SAN DIEGO COUNTIES EXPECTED TO IMPROVE THIS WEEKEND
Officials reiterate water is safe to drink despite earthy, musty taste and smell
September 1, 2005
NO HEALTH HAZARD FROM TAP WATER WITH UNPLEASANT TASTE, SMELL
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Apparently, Mr. Atwater would like his customers to believe the Planktothrix perornata bacteria was really
new and unknown and he didn't know it was a bacteria?
Citation
54. Nogueira, I. and Vasconcelos, V. (2001) “Toxicity of two filamentous cyanobacteria species - Planktothrix
planctonica and P. perornata”. 6th Internacional Conference on Toxic Cyanobacteria, Noosa, Australia.
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How did this problem happen?
http://www.earthjustice.org/library/legal_docs/comments-of-proposed-water-transfer-rule-part-3.pdf
SUMMARY: Water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California is transferred
over 400 miles through the California Aqueduct to Lake Skinner located south and west of Los
Angeles. That lake serves a drinking water reservoir for San Diego which lies further to the
south. Cyanobacteria from the Delta were transferred to Lake Skinner through the Aqueduct and
produced a massive algae bloom which required the Lake Skinner reservoir to be taken out of
service for repeated treatments to kill the algae. The species of cyanobacteria that was
introduced not only produces substances that generate serious taste and odor problems; according
to the World Health Organization it also has the potential to produce both nerve and liver toxins.1
A $241 million addition to the Lake Skinner water treatment plant is now underway to deal with
the taste and odor problems caused by the algal blooms.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/bacteria/cyanointro.html
Cyanobacteria are aquatic and photosynthetic, that is, they live in the water, and can manufacture their own food.
Because they are bacteria, they are quite small and usually unicellular, though they often grow in colonies large
enough to see. They have the distinction of being the oldest known fossils, more than 3.5 billion years old, in fact! It may
surprise you then to know that the cyanobacteria are still around; they are one of the largest and most important groups
of bacteria on earth.
Many Proterozoic oil deposits are attributed to the activity of cyanobacteria. They are also important providers of
nitrogen fertilizer in the cultivation of rice and beans. The cyanobacteria have also been tremendously important in
shaping the course of evolution and ecological change throughout earth's history. The oxygen atmosphere that we
depend on was generated by numerous cyanobacteria during the Archaean and Proterozoic Eras. Before that time, the
atmosphere had a very different chemistry, unsuitable for life as we know it today.
The other great contribution of the cyanobacteria is the origin of plants. The chloroplast with which plants make food for
themselves is actually a cyanobacterium living within the plant's cells. Sometime in the late Proterozoic, or in the early
Cambrian, cyanobacteria began to take up residence within certain eukaryote cells, making food for the eukaryote host
in return for a home. This event is known as endosymbiosis, and is also the origin of the eukaryotic mitochondrion.
Because they are photosynthetic and aquatic, cyanobacteria are often called "blue-green algae". This name is
convenient for talking about organisms in the water that make their own food, but does not reflect any relationship
between the cyanobacteria and other organisms called algae. Cyanobacteria are relatives of the bacteria, not
eukaryotes, and it is only the chloroplast in eukaryotic algae to which the cyanobacteria are related.
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NO ONE WANTS THE PUBLIC TO EQUATE WATER QUALITY WITH SOME DEADLY BACTERIA -- SO - BLUE-GREEN
ALGAE IS SOMETHING YOU FIND IN A HEALTH FOOD STORE. iSN'T IT?
http://www.waterquality.crc.org.au/dwfacts/dwfact_algae.pdf
HIGHLY TOXIC
Blue-green algae produce three main types of toxin:
• Endotoxins are thought to produce allergic
reactions, skin rashes, irritation of the eyes,
and gastroenteritis.
• Neurotoxins damage nerves and can cause
muscle tremors, especially in the muscles
animals and people need to breath.
• Hepatotoxins damage the liver. They may
also increase the risk of certain types of cancer.