Entries by Circle Blue

A Warning, from 2016, to the U.S. Water Sector about Pandemics and Disasters

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During the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security asked an advisory council to prepare a report on the ability of the country’s water and wastewater providers to withstand a disaster. The National Infrastructure Advisory Council’s report, published in June 2016, identified a number of key risks. Natural disasters, including pandemic flu, topped the list. […]

UN Migration Agency Issues Covid-19 Warning for Burkina Faso

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The International Organization for Migration is stepping up efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among asylum seekers and internally displaced people in Burkina Faso, which has become a hot spot for the disease in West Africa. “We are concerned that increased displacement creates a fertile ground for more tensions among the population and leads […]

EPA Relaxes Environmental Enforcement During Coronavirus Emergency

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will relax enforcement of civil penalties for noncompliance with industrial air and water pollution laws during the coronavirus outbreak, the agency announced on Thursday. Quarantines and illness may limit staff availability and cause a facility to violate the terms of its permits, wrote Susan Bodine, the EPA assistant administrator for […]

Halt in Water Supply from Northern Syrian Plant Raises Virus Fears

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A water plant in the Kurdish region of northern Syria has stopped supplying drinking water to nearly half a million people in the region, raising concerns about sanitation and hygiene during the coronavirus epidemic, reports Deutsche Welle, a German media outlet. The Alouk water station is under the control of Turkish militias, which have cut […]

Volunteer Network Rescues Small Alabama Water System

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It’s a time of people helping people. After its only water system operator went into self-quarantine for potential exposure to the new coronavirus, the small Alabama town of Gordon (population: 364) needed to find a temporary replacement. Shana Ray, the mayor of Gordon, reached out to the Alabama Rural Water Association, which is compiling a […]

UN Outlines $2 Billion Covid-19 Plan to Protect the Most Vulnerable

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The United Nations is requesting $2 billion from member countries in a plan to prevent the coronavirus from spreading within refugee camps, slums, and other vulnerable populations. UN officials argue that, when it comes to infectious disease, helping the poor to avoid illness is beneficial to all. “Covid-19 has already upended life in some of […]

Water-Bill Assistance Not Part of Senate Coronavirus Relief Package

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The $2 trillion coronavirus relief package that Senate and White House negotiators announced earlier today includes funding for child nutrition, virus research grants, and support for teleworking. It would direct $1,200 to adults who earn less than $75,000 a year and expand unemployment benefits. What is not included in the deal is financial assistance for […]

Webinar: WASH Emergency Response for Covid-19

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The Sanitation and Water for All partnership will host a webinar on March 26 on Covid-19 emergency response for water, sanitation, and hygiene. The webinar will feature presentations from the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Government officials from Cambodia, Colombia, and Guinea will discuss the water, sanitation, and hygiene preparations in their countries. The webinar, […]

Water Utilities Prepare for Staffing Shortages

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Keeping the water flowing, even in times of emergency, requires certified workers to operate treatment plants. But operators cannot work when they are sick. As the coronavirus spreads across the country, water utility leaders say that potential staffing shortages due to illness and quarantine are their biggest current concern in the Covid-19 pandemic. Read the […]