Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surf’s edge and and the beach. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached, he could see that there were hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the natural action of the tide.

The man was stuck by the the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached, the person continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf.

As he came up to the person, he said: “You must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You can’t possibly make a difference.” The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and pick up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said: “It sure made a difference to that one!”

British garden ponds are unwittingly being polluted by people topping them up with tap water, a  survey has found.

Around half of 250 ponds examined are in “poorer” condition, three in 10 are “good” and only one in 10 was rated as “excellent”, said the organisers of the Big Pond Dip, Pond ConservatioLord and Lady Hollinscoughn.

Water boatmen, beetles, snails, alderflies and damselfly larvae are among the pond life affected by the problem, which occurred in more than half the garden ponds surveyed.

Tap water has much higher levels of nitrates than the level found in natural ponds. While not directly poisoning invertebrates and other wildlife, they can adversely affect their habitat. Nitrates cause excessive nutrients in the water, encouraging plants such as duck weed and blanket weed, which in turn make life a struggle for the submerged plants that are essential for healthy and diverse pond-life.

“This is mainly an issue with low-lying farming landscapes and is therefore widespread, affecting anywhere in the south of England, all of East Anglia and low-lying areas of Yorkshire,” said Jeremy Biggs, policy and research director at Pond Conservation. “However, for people who get their tap water from Welsh hills, Scottish mountains or up on the moors, it’s not a problem.”

In addition to farms, nitrates enter pond water from treated sewage effluent and run-off from urban areas. While the levels of nitrates in drinking water are brought down to safe drinking levels for people, Biggs said, they can often be 10 times the level found in natural ponds.

Pond owners need to be better educated on how to create a healthy environment for species, Biggs added. “People worry about water levels going up and down, but freshwater creatures are perfectly adapted to ups and downs, and those ups and downs make good habitats.” Instead of using tap water, he said, people worried about a pond’s water level should top them up with rainwater.

Depth of ponds was another wildlife concern raised by the survey. The majority were deeper than 30cm (about 12in), which hinders a variety of species because many garden ponds are small in surface area and result in steeply shelving sides, the opposite of the gently sloping sides most pond-life needs.

“If you’re interested in biodiversity, ponds should be no more than a foot deep. Most creatures – such as amphibians, tadpoles and newt larvae – live in just 2cm of water,” said Biggs. He added it was a myth that ponds need to be deep to prevent them freezing in winter.

While half of ponds were classified as “poorer”, the lowest possible rating in the survey for quality of wildlife habitat, Pond Conservation stressed even those “still provided a useful habitat”. Over half of all ponds were visited by dragonflies and damselflies, three quarters had water snails, water beetles and pond skaters, and almost all were visited by amphibians, with common frogs accounting for most records.

The results of the survey, which was undertaken across the country between May and September 2009, comes ahead of a new mass participation water survey starting next week. The ‘OPAL water survey’ organised by Pond Conservation, the Natural History Museum and University College London, hopes to use public records to produce a better picture of how polluted British ponds, lakes and rivers are. A Environment Department-funded survey earlier this year said eight out of 10 public ponds in Britain are in a “terrible state”.

Survey of garden ponds finds many have high level of nitrates from tap water that can harm wildlife

British garden ponds are unwittingly being polluted by people topping them up with tap water, a  survey has found.
Around half of 250 ponds examined are in “poorer” condition, three in 10 are “good” and only one in 10 was rated as “excellent”, said the organisers of the Big Pond Dip, Pond ConservatioLord and Lady Hollinscoughn.
Water boatmen, beetles, snails, alderflies and damselfly larvae are among the pond life affected by the problem, which occurred in more than half the garden ponds surveyed.
Tap water has much higher levels of nitrates than the level found in natural ponds. While not directly poisoning invertebrates and other wildlife, they can adversely affect their habitat. Nitrates cause excessive nutrients in the water, encouraging plants such as duck weed and blanket weed, which in turn make life a struggle for the submerged plants that are essential for healthy and diverse pond-life.
“This is mainly an issue with low-lying farming landscapes and is therefore widespread, affecting anywhere in the south of England, all of East Anglia and low-lying areas of Yorkshire,” said Jeremy Biggs, policy and research director at Pond Conservation. “However, for people who get their tap water from Welsh hills, Scottish mountains or up on the moors, it’s not a problem.”
In addition to farms, nitrates enter pond water from treated sewage effluent and run-off from urban areas. While the levels of nitrates in drinking water are brought down to safe drinking levels for people, Biggs said, they can often be 10 times the level found in natural ponds.
Pond owners need to be better educated on how to create a healthy environment for species, Biggs added. “People worry about water levels going up and down, but freshwater creatures are perfectly adapted to ups and downs, and those ups and downs make good habitats.” Instead of using tap water, he said, people worried about a pond’s water level should top them up with rainwater.
Depth of ponds was another wildlife concern raised by the survey. The majority were deeper than 30cm (about 12in), which hinders a variety of species because many garden ponds are small in surface area and result in steeply shelving sides, the opposite of the gently sloping sides most pond-life needs.
“If you’re interested in biodiversity, ponds should be no more than a foot deep. Most creatures – such as amphibians, tadpoles and newt larvae – live in just 2cm of water,” said Biggs. He added it was a myth that ponds need to be deep to prevent them freezing in winter.
While half of ponds were classified as “poorer”, the lowest possible rating in the survey for quality of wildlife habitat, Pond Conservation stressed even those “still provided a useful habitat”. Over half of all ponds were visited by dragonflies and damselflies, three quarters had water snails, water beetles and pond skaters, and almost all were visited by amphibians, with common frogs accounting for most records.
The results of the survey, which was undertaken across the country between May and September 2009, comes ahead of a new mass participation water survey starting next week. The ‘OPAL water survey’ organised by Pond Conservation, the Natural History Museum and University College London, hopes to use public records to produce a better picture of how polluted British ponds, lakes and rivers are. A Environment Department-funded survey earlier this year said eight out of 10 public ponds in Britain are in a “terrible state”.

A Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt. He said, “I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one.” The grandson asked him, “Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?” The grandfather answered: “The one I feed.”

There is a difference between knowledge and wisdom.

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit not a vegetable.

Wisdom is knowing not to include it in a fruit salad.

There was an industrialist whose production line inexplicably breaks down, costing him millions per day. He finally tracks down an expert who takes out a screwdriver, turns one screw, and then – as the factory cranks back to life – presents a bill for £10,000.

Affronted, the factory owner demands an itemised version. The expert is happy to oblige: “For turning a screw: £1. For knowing which screw to turn: £9,999.”

There once was a bunch of tiny frogs…

… who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants…

The race began…

Honestly, no-one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as:

“Oh, WAY too difficult!!”

“They will NEVER make it to the top”.

“Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!”

The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one…

… Except for those who in a fresh tempo were climbing higher and higher…

The crowd continued to yell

“It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!”

More tiny frogs got tired and gave up…

…But ONE continued higher and higher and higher…

This one wouldn’t give up!

At the end, everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!

THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?

A contestant asked the tiny frog how the one who succeeded had found the strength to reach the goal?

It turned out…

That the winner was deaf.

A woman who had worked all her life to bring about good was granted one wish: “Before I die let me visit both hell and heaven.” Her wish was granted.

She was whisked off to a great banqueting hall. The tables were piled high with delicious food and drink. Around the tables sat miserable, starving people as wretched as could be. “Why are they like this?” she asked the angel who accompanied her. “Look at their arms,” the angel replied. She looked and saw that attached to the people’s arms were long chopsticks secured above the elbow. Unable to bend their elbows, the people aimed the chopsticks at the food, missed every time and sat hungry, frustrated and miserable. “Indeed this is hell! Take me away from here!”

She was then whisked off to heaven. Again she found herself in a great banqueting hall with tables piled high. Around the tables sat people laughing, contented, joyful. “No chopsticks I suppose,” she said. “Oh yes there are. Look – just as in hell they are long and attached above the elbow but look… here people have learnt to feed one another”.

Rainwater harvesting is the accumulating and storing of rainwater for reuse before it reaches the aquifer. It has been used to provide drinking water, water for livestock, water for irrigation, as well as other typical uses. Rainwater collected from the roofs of houses and local institutions can make an important contribution to the availability of drinking water. It can supplement the subsoil water level and increase urban greenery. Water collected from the ground, sometimes from areas that are especially prepared for this purpose, is called Stormwater harvesting. In some cases, rainwater may be the only available, or economical, water source. Rainwater harvesting systems can be simple to construct from inexpensive local materials, and are potentially successful in most habitable locations. Roof rainwater may not be potable and may require treatment before consumption. As rainwater rushes from your roof it may carry pollutants, such as mercury from coal burning buildings, or bird faeces. Although some rooftop materials may produce rainwater that would be harmful to human health as drinking water, it can be useful in flushing toilets, washing clothes, watering the garden, and washing cars; these uses alone halve the amount of water used by a typical home. Household rainfall catchment systems are appropriate in areas with an average rainfall greater than 200 mm (7.9 in) per year, and no other accessible water sources (Skinner and Cotton, 1992). Overflow from rainwater harvesting tank systems can be used to refill aquifers in a process called groundwater recharge; though this is a related process, it must not be confused with rainwater harvesting.

There are several types of systems to harvest rainwater, ranging from very simple home systems to complex industrial systems. The rate at which water can be collected from either system is dependent on the plan area of the system, its efficiency, and the intensity of rainfall (i.e., annual precipitation (mm per annum) x square meter of catchment area = litres per annum yield) … a 200 square meter roof catchment catching 1,000mm PA yields 200 kLPA.

Basic configuration

Rainwater harvesting systems channel rainwater from a roof into storage via an arrangement of gutters and pipes. The first flush of rainwater after a dry season should be allowed to run to waste, as it will be contaminated with dust, bird droppings etc. Roof gutters should be large enough to carry peak flows. Storage tanks should be covered to prevent mosquito breeding and to reduce evaporation losses, contamination and algal growth.

Quality

As rainwater may be contaminated due to pollutants like microscopic germs etc., it is often not considered suitable for drinking without treatment. However, there are many examples of rainwater being used for all purposes — including drinking — following suitable treatment.

Rainwater harvested from roofs can contain human, animal and bird faeces, mosses and lichens, windblown dust, particulates from urban pollution, pesticides, and inorganic ions from the sea (Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cl, SO4), and dissolved gases (CO2, NOx, SOx). High levels of pesticide have been found in rainwater in Europe with the highest concentrations occurring in the first rain immediately after a dry spell;[3] the concentration of these and other contaminants are reduced significantly by diverting the initial flow of water to waste as described above. The water may need to be analysed

System sizing

 

It is important that the system is sized to meet the water demand throughout the dry season. In general, the size of the storage tank should be big enough to meet the daily water requirement throughout the dry season. In addition, the size of the catchment area or roof should be large enough to fill the tank.

properly, and used in a way appropriate to its safety. In the Gansu province for example, harvested rainwater is boiled in parabolic solar cookers before being used for drinking.[4] In Brazil alum and chlorine is added to disinfect water before consumption.[citation needed] So-called “appropriate technology” methods, such as solar water disinfection, provide low-cost disinfection options for treatment of stored rainwater for drinking.

Ancient period

Rainwater harvesting has been used since biblical times. It was done in ancient Palestine, Greece and Rome. Around 3rd Century BC., farming communities in Baluchistan and Kutch used it for irrigation.[5]In Ancient Tamil Nadu, India, Rainwater harvesting were done by Chola kings.[6]Rainwater from Brihadeeswarar Temple was collected in Sivaganga tank.[7]In the Indus Valley Civilization, Elephanta Caves and Kanheri Caves in Mumbai rainwater harvesting alone has been used to supply in their water requirements.

Now

Currently in China and Brazil, rooftop rainwater harvesting is being practiced for providing drinking water, domestic water, water for livestock, water for small irrigation and a way to replenish ground water levels. Gansu province in China and semi-arid north east Brazil have the largest rooftop rainwater harvesting projects ongoing.

In Bermuda, the law requires all new construction to include rainwater harvesting adequate for the residents.

The U.S. Virgin Islands have a similar law.

In Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, the houses of the Diola-people are frequently equipped with homebrew rainwater harvesters made from local, organic materials.

In the United Kingdom water butts are often found in domestic gardens to collect rainwater, which is then used to water the garden. However, the British government’s Code For Sustainable Homes encourages fitting large underground tanks to new-build homes to collect rainwater for flushing toilets, washing clothes, watering the garden, and washing cars. This reduces by 50% the amount of mains water used by the home.

In the Irrawaddy Delta of Myanmar, the groundwater is saline and communities rely on mud-lined rainwater ponds to meet their drinking water needs throughout the dry season. Some of these ponds are centuries old and are treated with great reverence and respect.

Until 2009 in Colorado, water rights laws almost completely restricted rainwater harvesting; a property owner who captured rainwater was deemed to be stealing it from those who have rights to take water from the watershed. Now, residential well owners that meet certain criteria may obtain a permit to install a rooftop precipitation collection system (SB 09-080).[8] Up to 10 large scale pilot studies may also be permitted (HB 09-1129).[9] The main factor in persuading the Colorado Legislature to change the law was a 2007 study that found that in an average year, 97% of the precipitation that fell in Douglas County, in the southern suburbs of Denver, never reached a stream—it was used by plants or evaporated on the ground. In colorado you cannot even drill a water well unless you have at least 35 acres. In New Mexico, rainwater catchment is mandatory for new dwellings in Santa Fe.[10]

In Beijing, some housing societies are now adding rain water in their main water sources after proper treatment.

Professor Micheal McGinley established a project to design a rain water harvesting prototype in the Biosystems design Challenge Module in University College Dublin.

In Australia rainwater harvesting is typically used to supplement the reticulated mains supply. In south east Queensland, households that harvested rainwater doubled each year from 2005 to 2008, reaching 40% penetration at that time (White, 2009 (PhD)).

In IndiaIn Tamil Nadu, India rainwater harvesting was made compulsory for every building to avoid ground water depletion. It proved excellent results within five years and every other state took it as role model. Since the implementation, Chennai saw 50 per cent rise in water level in five years and the water quality significantly improved.[11] [12]

In Rajasthan, India rainwater harvesting has traditionally been practiced by the people of the Thar Desert. There are many ancient water harvesting systems in Rajasthan, which have now been revived [13]

 

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling.

It seemed that, as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.

She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me, what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” the young woman replied. The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity – boiling water – but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened! The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” the mother asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?” Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong but, with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit but, after a death, a breakup, or a financial hardship, does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavour.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.

The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.