As we welcome the end of an unprecedented year and prepare to welcome 2021, we would like to reflect on some of the key industry topics of 2020 that will likely provide clues to the issues and challenges our industry is sure to experience in the New Year.
From the Ashes: Wildfire Effects on Water Quality
Once again, lower than average winter rainfall has paired with exceptionally hot summer months and set California up for a disastrous wildfire season with the potential to surpass that of the historic 2018 fire season. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday that fires had burned through more than 1.4 million acres burned so far in 2020. That’s already well ahead of this time in 2019, when Cal Fire reports just shy of 28,060 acres burned.
Safe Recycled Water in a Petri Dish?
What makes bioanalytical screenings of interest are their sophisticated yet targeted approach to screening recycled water. Rather than requiring laboratory professionals to test for each individual contaminant to determine presence and approximate risk, bioassays screen for total bioactivity for a given pathway or mode of action, allowing analysts to characterize potential cumulative effects on the organisms without necessarily needing to know all the components of the samples. They are a meaningful counterpart to common testing methods, as they account for the fact that contaminants often work together additively, synergistically, or antagonistically to produce an effect that is harmful to humans and the environment.
Rain Quenched CA Braces for Even Worse Wildfire Season
Pulling Water Out of Thin Air
March 22nd marked World Water Day, an annual United Nations observance aimed at tackling the global water crisis. This year’s theme, “leaving no one behind,” focused specifically on U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 6: access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030.
With the wide-spread scarcity of safe drinking water supplies, one might wish it were possible to pull water out of thin air—and that’s exactly what one company has done.