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Incluye el nombre: Seth M. Siegel

Obras de Seth M. Siegel

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Excellent and fascinating read. Spoiler alert; if you see the author speak you've read the book.

I read this book back in June 2016. I had not yet made a practice of posting my reviews. So here goes, from what I can remember.

This work detailed a little-explored are of how Israel made the desert bloom. Back in the 1930's there was much British hand-wringing about the ability of what is now the State of Israel to safely bring millions of the world's persecuted Jewry to the land. Bit by miraculous bit, Israeli engineering and ingenuity solved the problem. Now, from a satellite, one can see the border between Israel and Gaza, one side green the other side desert brown. Some water was imported from the Galilee region but more has been made by desalination, recycling of waste water and other amazing feats.

In a desert land, the ability to water is the ability to populate. I recommend this book for anyone interested in engineering, water or Eretz Yisrael.
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JBGUSA | 3 reseñas más. | Jan 2, 2023 |
I just finished reading the book. The description of the author on the Macmillan Publishing website is, in relevant part "SETH M. SIEGEL is a lawyer, an activist, a serial entrepreneur and the author of the New York Times bestseller Let There Be Water."

Let me start with praise; the book is incredibly researched and well-written. My praise cannot go further. The book details the sometimes horrible health and other consequences of the adulteration of drinking water. So far I am reminded of a lecture I attended in sixth or seventh grade by Geraldo Rivera, who had recently written exposes on Willowbrook and migrant farm labor. I asked him, as a young student, what solutions he proposed, given the need for relatively low costs both to care for numerous incurably mentally retarded people and to pick vegetables for mass consumption. He stated he didn't have any, but promised not to write again a book or TV show that didn't discuss solutions. I wrote, at the halfway point, "I think this book treads on idealism more suited to a middle school audience than supposedly mature and thinking adults."

On further reading, my view is less harsh. The book does pay some attention to the fiscal costs of the reforms in how water is processed and distributed that the author believes is necessary. The author uses Orange County, California as his emblematic example. The problem is that Orange County is more affluent than other areas. The author's solution is not to seek moneys from the Federal budget, correctly pointing out that it is subject to the vicissitudes of politics. His solution is to tax sales of tap water and bottled water. The problem is that thinking that kitty wouldn't be raided in the manner that gasoline tax revenues are diverted for other purposes may be a bit naive.

Also, in my view this is a solution in search of a problem. While there are publicized situations such as cancer clusters in places such as Hoosick Falls, New York and high lead levels that affect academic performance in Flint, Michigan, by and large the U.S. is doing pretty well with its water. As the author points out the extension of life spans that occurred between 1900 and 1950 was in part due to the removal of most disease organisms from water.

I do agree with him that "climate change" steals proceeds of environmental fund raising from quality water and other pursuits. I fear that positing a "water crisis" may be a bit of an alarmist position.
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Denunciada
JBGUSA | otra reseña | Jan 2, 2023 |
Water availability is already a precious resource in much of the world, and many areas are struggling to meet their needs. For example, some have blamed the origins of the ongoing political unrest in Syria on the sustained drought over the past several years. California and the southwest regions of the United States have imposed water restrictions on their citizens and industries due to continuing water shortages. Likewise, Brazil is dealing with ongoing water shortages, even though they continue to have a generous rainfall. And as as bad as this water problem may be today, it is only projected to get worse in the coming decades in many regions due to the effects of a changing climate. So Countries which have succeeded in managing their water resources have valuable lessons to share. One of these countries is Israel. ​M​any, if not m​ost of us​,​ are aware of the fact that Israel ​has made the desert bloom, transforming an arid, infertile land into an agricultural oasis in the Middle East. How they did that is a story worth telling, and Seth Siegel does just that in his book, "​Let There Be Water".

Siegel ​shows what can be accomplished when mankind is faced with this type of challenge. Israel today supports a population of approximately 8-1/2 million people. Yet when the land of Palestine was under the British Mandate after the First World War, it was thought to be able to support only a very limited population​, perhaps around two million, due to its desert-like setting with very limited water. "Let There Be Water" discusses how ​the government of Israel has ​transitioned from a water-challenged land to a water exporter. This was accomplished even though the country was half desert, rainfall has diminished since the state was founded, and their population increased ten-fold. Mr. Siegel describes how they were able to​ convert much of the desert into farming communities​ by utiliz​ation of brackish water, ​by developing drip-irrigation techniques, ​by instilling a water-saving ​mentality among ​their citizens, ​by utilizing waste water conversion, develop​ing​ desalination plants, creat​ing​ new farming techniques and new seeds for their arid climate, etc. It provides a very hopeful and optimistic view for the future as water becomes even more of a prescious and limited resource for the global community.

​While many countries have developed a relationship with Israel to copy their water management techniques, those techniques and attitudes may be slow to be accepted in the United States. Even in my State of California, where we've been in a severe drought condition for several years and water restrictions have been imposed, many people seem reluctant to change their water use habits. Generations of Americans have been brought up to appreciate our "inexaustible" resources, our abundance of riches, our blessings living in this "land of plenty", and conserving and restricting access to ​natural ​resources is an unnatural concept. ​Many have come to believe that we​'re "exceptional", ​that our God-given natural resources ​can be used ​without regard to ​any finite limits, and the free market​ is the best management policy. So this book, talking about how government ​policy, and not individuals or the free market, w​as used to ​transform Israel from a desert land to a Country which ​exports water and water-technology ​may be a hard sell for many.

Yet Siegel provides a road map of how water can be conserved without harming the citizens or the economy. Almost all the the techniques discussed in the book can be used in other areas around the world. However, success is dictated by several factors, not the least of which is educating the public and our elected leaders, research and development funding, and a political climate which allows elected officials to work together for the public good. "Let There Be Water" is an excellent guide showing how all this can be accomplished.
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Denunciada
rsutto22 | 3 reseñas más. | Jul 15, 2021 |
I enjoyed Seth Siegel's earlier book "Let There Be Water: Israel's Solution for a Water-Starved World", and looked forward to receiving a copy of his new book "Troubled Water: What's Wrong with What We Drink" . Once again, I wasn't disappointed. In his earlier book, Siegel discussed how we can improve our water conservation actions by seeing how creative Israel has been in making optimum use of its limited water availability. In this new book, he discusses water quality issues, water contamination, its causes, and helpful information on how we can be sure that the water we consume is as pure as can be.

Mr. Siegel's main point is that drinking water in the United States isn't necessarily as pure as we might think. The lack of access to clean, safe water might be a problem we attribute to third-world developing nations, but the problem can be found in U.S. cities and towns as well. Lead in the water is a problem most of us are aware of, certainly since the Flint, Michigan water crises of a couple of years ago. It was there that cost-cutting measures led to drinking water becoming contained with lead and other toxins. [ For anyone interested learning more about the water crisis issue in Flint, Michigan, Mona Hanna-Attisha's book "What the Eyes Don't See" is worth reading].

But Flint isn't alone, and many other communities have been found with high levels of lead or other contaminates in their drinking water. Clean drinking water isn't something we can take for granted. This is especially true for small or rural communities, where water may come from unregulated wells or from water providers of limited resources. For example, I recently saw a report that in 2016, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued water violation notices to 37% of the 3780 small community water systems it monitors, and 25% of those violations were determined to pose immediate health concerns to their customers.

Seeing that might prompt many of us to wonder about the quality of our own water. One good tip which Siegel provides is that information about local tap water is searchable by zip code on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Tap Water Database at https://www.ewg.org/tapwater. Local water utilities should also be able to provide a copy of their Consumer Confidence Report about tap water quality to local customers. This information is important, since dangerous elements can and do enter drinking water supplies. There are well over 100,000 chemicals used in the United States on a regular basis, and less than 100 of these chemicals are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Many of the other unregulated chemicals could potentially be dangerous, but don't have standards set as of yet.

Chemical spills, pollution in rivers and streams, mining tailings, coal ash pond leakage, animal wastes, illegal dumping, fracking, naturally-occurring substances, etc. are but a handful of sources of water contamination. In many cases, the pollution in water may not be immediately detected, or may not be recognized as being a health hazard for many years.

An example of unknown harmful chemicals in drinking water which Siegel discusses is that of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) being found in the water in Hoosick Falls, NY. It wasn't recognized as being a hazard in the water for years, but eventually residents began to develop health problems. It took a local resident, suspecting that the local water supply was the source of the observed health problems, to have his water sampled to identify the contaminants. Once identified, it led to the recognition of the need to clean up the water and to set limits for the chemicals in the water supply. [Note: I found other books about how unidentified chemicals in drinking water supplies led to serious health impacts of interest, including Dan Fagin's book "Toms River", describing illegal dumping and a cancer cluster in Toms River, NJ; and Eliza Griswold's book "Amity and Prosperity" about how fracking impacted water in two Pennsylvania towns].

The incident in Hoosick Falls mentioned above had local impact, but of course, larger bodies of water which become polluted can impact a large number of communities. Herbicides and pesticides, along with fertilizers, routinely get washed into rivers and streams in agricultural areas. One study mentioned by Siegel examined pesticides in food and water, and found that 28 of 29 cities examined along the Mississippi River (including New Orleans, Kansas City, Omaha, and Columbus) exceeded Federal Standards for one or more herbicide or pesticide.

These cities along the Mississippi, like must of us, trust that our water provider complies with all Federal and State regulations, and provide water meeting all standards. But Siegel points out that while generally true, there still may be problems in large or small water providers where an unregulated chemical is in the water, and has yet to be identified as a health issue.

One problem is the limited scope of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974. Mandatory testing is only required for a limited number of contaminants. Other chemicals, many of which are suspected of having health effects, may be under study for setting limits, sometimes for decades. Examples include per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of nearly 5000 chemicals often called "forever chemicals" because they take so long to breakdown. Two of this class of chemicals which are the subject of many stories in the news lately are PFOA and PFOS. These fluorinated compounds have been used in firefighting foams, nonstick cookware, stain-resistant carpets, waterproof clothing, food containers, etc. They have been linked to health issues, and have been under study for health effects for a number of years. There have been health advisories and State standards set in some cases, and tighter Federal Standards are currently being considered. But before new Federal Standards are set, three separate conditions must be met. First, under the 1996 Amendments to the SDWA, the contaminant must be frequently found in drinking water, then the chemical must be shown to have an adverse effect on health, and third, the EPA must be able to demonstrate that by regulating the substance, any public health threat will be reduced in a meaningful way.

Beyond that, there's also a cost-benefit analysis which takes place which can delay or negate setting standards. Industry weighs-in on proposed regulations, and costs incurred can be significant if new standards are enacted. Water Companies may weigh-in too, since they must be able to test for and treat the contaminant, which can be expensive for large water companies with adequate resources, and next to impossible for the small companies without the same size staffs and resources. And determining the effects on health, and setting the right limit on the contaminant can be contentious issues. Each of these decisions are made by politicians and political appointees, not by doctors and scientists, and as a result, the setting of new standards are infrequent. Also, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) wields vast power over the EPA, specifically when it concludes an environmental regulation would be too costly or be a drag on the economy.

Siegel uses perchlorate as one example of how difficult it is to set new drinking water standards. Perchlorate is commonly used in solid rocket propellants, munitions, fireworks, airbag initiators for vehicles, matches and signal flares. The EPA considered advisory (non-binding) thresholds as low as 1 part per billion (ppb), but their recommendation was raised to a level of 24.5 ppb after a review by the OMB in conjunction with "experts" from Department of Defense, NASA, and Department of Energy. Before standards for perchlorate were enacted however, late in 2008, the EPA reversed course and indicated it would not be regulating perchlorate, believing that such regulations would not have a meaningful impact on health. When Obama became President, that was reversed again. But the EPA was slow to develop a new standard, eventually leading to a Federal Judge ruling that a standard must be set by the end of 2019. EPA now has proposed rules for regulation of perchlorate, which are currently under review. But under President Trump, whose policy is to provide regulatory relief from environmental regulations whenever possible as part of his economic program, it remains to be seen if a final and meaningful standard will be agreed upon soon.

With problems such as these, and questions about water quality, many consumers have turned to using bottled water and/or in-house water filters. But Mr. Siegel points out that some bottled waters are not much better than tap water. Paradoxically, despite the perception of greater safety, bottled water is subject to even less regulation than the water we receive from our taps. Tap water oversight is done by the EPA, bottled water by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Siegel point out that the FDA has only two employees working on bottled water, and they have other non-water responsibilities as well. As a result, federal oversight of bottled water is barely a step-up from the honor system. Plus, not all bottled water is required to follow FDA rules. If bottled water is bottled and sold within the same State, it's exempt from FDA regulations.

Even so, Siegel seems to agree that bottled water does appear to be safer than tap water. He points out that there have been only six product recalls of bottled water in the past 20 years, while several million Americans get sick from tap water each year. But still, he points out that there are cautions in using bottled water. Bottles stored for long periods, or in hot places, may be subject to contamination migration from the plastic bottles into the water. So it's important to not leave bottles of water in a heated car, or to store them in direct sunshine. And some bottled water brands appear to be of a higher quality than others. Brands from protected sources, such as Fiji and S. Pelligrino, are likely to have fewer contaminants. And some domestic brands with nanofiltration or reverse osmosis (RO), such as Aquafina and Dasani, are also likely to be of a higher quality.

But the majority of bottled water companies don't publish their water quality test results, so comparisons are difficult to make. And as previously mentioned, you can look up your city's water quality test results in in EWG’s National Tap Water Database, but if you have a private well, you may have to get the water tested yourself. Siegel also advises that since plastic bottles can leach harmful chemicals into water, it's advisable to carry stainless steel or shatter-proof glass bottles. Also, he recommends that single-use plastic water bottles not be reused. The plastic can harbor bacteria and break down to release chemicals.

Lastly, for people using water pitchers with activated carbon filters in their home, Mr. Siegel reminds consumers that the filter should be changed every 40 gallons or so. Faucet filters may last for 200 gallons, but it's important that users follow manufacturers instructions.

He also makes the case for water company consolidation. There are thousands of water providers, some serving only several hundred customers. This is inefficient and redundant, and limits the economy of scale. Many smaller providers can't access the best technologies, and are under-resourced and under staffed. And because of the small size of many providers, they are eligible to apply for EPA waivers on testing for many contaminants, and may defer fixes due to financial constraints.

If this book has a final message, it might be that informed consumers should be able to use their voices to urge their governing bodies to ensure their domestic water is appropriately tested, regulated, and treated.
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rsutto22 | otra reseña | Jul 15, 2021 |

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