Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions debuts with focus on drinking water

Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions debuts with focus on drinking water. Click here for more information.

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2008 — An authority on the quality of drinking water today describes new challenges for consumers and municipal water supply systems, including unexpected consequences of efforts to conserve water in the first of a special series of podcasts from the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.

Marc Edwards, Ph.D., notes that reduced-flush toilets, low-flow showerheads and other well-intentioned water conservation efforts are allowing water to remain in household pipes longer. As water stagnates in pipes, it may develop undesirable characteristics and have unwanted effects on household plumbing, Edwards indicates.

He discusses the topic in "The Crisis in Clean Water: Water Purification," the inaugural episode of Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions. That series of podcasts focuses on daunting global problems and how new discoveries from the labs of chemists and other scientists offer solutions. The topics include coping with climate change, combating disease, providing safe food, developing new fuels, preserving the environment, assuring personal safety and national security, and promoting public health.

Each podcast will be available without charge for listening on computers and downloading to portable audio devices at iTunes (requires iTunes software) and other podcasting sites. They also can be accessed on ACS's Global Challenges web site. The site provides audio links and full transcripts of each podcast. Additional resources on each Global Challenges topic also are available, on the site, including information for consumers, students, and educators.