The Stream, April 14: Crowdsourcing Data to Map China’s Water Quality

China
A startup program in China, initiated by the company behind the Taobao Marketplace, seeks to create a map of water quality across the country by allowing residents to purchase water quality testing kits and upload the results with their smartphones, Bloomberg News reported. The results will be aggregated in a map that the company’s founder, Jack Ma, hopes will help prioritize environmental cleanup efforts.

Chinese officials are investigating the response to an oil leak near Lanzhou that contaminated the city’s water supply with the carcinogenic substance benzene, Reuters reported. The city’s water utility, a unit of Veolia Environment, allegedly found the leak on Thursday but did not report it to officials until Friday.

Water Supply
Researchers from Australia’s National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training are studying how the environmental pulse flow in the Colorado River Delta is contributing to groundwater recharge, Phys.org reported. The researchers are honing in on how flooding along large rivers helps replenish groundwater supplies in order to better conserve those supplies.

Water service has been partially restored in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, but water is still largely available only at night, and water pressure is low, the Guardian reported. Deteriorating water infrastructure has been blamed for the water problems, but some residents are also questioning the role of the water company.

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Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek