Better Water in 10 Minutes!

Here is another interesting and entertaining water-related device to help you feel good about drinking regular, old water (or wine, or juice or whatever).  Please be aware that I have altered the product's real name for the protection of everyone involved.

"The WATER RESINATOR is the original water balancing technology used by Tibetan and Buddhist monks for hundreds of years. Each one has been meticulously designed and handmade by Buddhist monks. Each consists of a gold-plated platform affixed to a gold-plated frame that is geometrically precise. The gold-plated platform has a neodymium activator magnet at its center on the underside. Mounted to the three precise triangles are the three primary resonator arrays which consist of three Siberian Blue, optically clear, laboratory grade quartz crystals.

Each of the three crystals has two gold-plated, properly polarized, neodymium magnets which are wound against the crystal with powerful pressure which activates the energy of the crystal, much like a quartz crystal watch which pulses to a precise rhythm. This highly pressurized copper winding, combined with the magnetic field of the dual magnets, appears to generate a high power pulsing effect which in turn causes a profoundly positive and beneficial effect on water and other liquid beverages.

It has been generally thought for a long time that passing a conductive fluid through a properly designed magnetic field has an effect on the polar molecules in the fluid. Even wine connoisseurs and professional wine tasters are using magnets these days to realign wine molecules to smooth and mature the taste of a young wine. This effect, or an even more enhanced effect, can be achieved by placing wine or other beverages on the WATER RESINATOR plate.

The WATER RESINATOR is a masterpiece of beauty, workmanship, form, and function. We choose to make no claims regarding the effects of this wonderful device; however, many users report that the WATER RESINATOR is the most powerful water balancing and energizing technology they have ever used.

We are told by the Buddhist monks who make the WATER RESINATORS that each one is personally blessed by Buddha M_______. Each purchase of the WATER RESINATOR includes a special audio CD which features tones, blessings, and chants by Buddha M______ himself.  Each one was hand made by Buddhist monks, so stock is very limited.

The WATER RESINATOR can be used with most any beverages including water, wine, coffee, tea,  juices, and even soft drinks. Simply place your chosen beverage in a clear glass in the center of the WATER RESINATOR. The effect is instantaneous, although most users leave the beverage in the WATER RESINATOR for 5 to 10 minutes for best results. (Water and glass not included.)

The price of the WATER RESINATOR is $495 and Insured Shipping is FREE in the continental U.S."

Well, If I add this product to my collection, I'll now be out a total of well over $3,395.00, but...what a collection it'll be.  I'm banking on the fact that I can mix and match these products - use my MiraculeOfWaters accelerator pendant on the resinator, play the Buddhist Monk chants for the Chrysallis 8 instead of the Gregorian Chants, and loop the Gregorian and Buddhist Monk chants in double stereo for the MiraculeOfWaters device!  And then run it all through the Imploder!  OMG, this is exciting - can you imagine the end water product?.... Anybody want in on the ground floor?

Cool Oklahoma Water Website

I ran across a pretty cool water website in the state of Oklahoma... excuse me... in the "United State Of OklaH2Oma" which is worth a visit I think.  It is almost exclusively video driven, but is very well done with high quality pictures and videos.  It was created by the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, and really pushes all the water buzz word buttons I've ever heard.

Through video statements offered to music and water scenes, many prominent Oklahoma water folks offer up the seven essentials to water in Oklahoma - which incidentally - make up the elements of their current state water plan.  The overriding themes of the site are to meet every Oklahoman's water needs while remaining sustainable and allowing every Oklahoman to participate in the process with a seat at the water policy table. The sub-themes of rural and urban growth, drought protection and expanded agriculture are prominent as well.

If I had any qualms at all it'd be a question of whether all these things are possible over the entire state all at the same time - that is without some new water coming into the system.  There is of course no mention of needing new supplies, or where any new water would come from, but I'm pretty sure their message precludes any Oklahoma water going anywhere else.  All this said without even mentioning Tarrant County, Texas!  I also wonder if a more realistic rendering of the state's water realities might actually do the Oklahoma state water planning process more good than not.

Regardless of what I think (or think I think) it is a really nice site with lots of visuals to WOW the visitor.  Sure makes Oklahoma look spectacular while issuing an almost spiritual set of heartwarming messages.  I hope they can pull it off.

Promised Land - The Movie

Well, Hollywood has stepped up to the plate finally on the issue of oil and gas production and hydraulic fracturing (or fracing, or fracking, or don't frack with our water, or...whatever...).

Starring Matt Damon, Frances McDormand, John Krasinki and Hal Holbrook, this new movie is all about the land and water and people of rural America - and of course the private corporate structure that wants the profits to be made from same.

Some suggest it will be that Hollywood envirofest that will give Erin Brockovich a run for her money - pardon the pun.  And the trailer seems to support this notion.  It certainly ups the ante when in one scene we see the whole farm go up in flames - not just something as mundane as a kitchen faucet.  What a visual.

I won't tell any more about the film so as not to spoil anything, but for us groundwater types that have had an inkling or more of "experience" with the oil and gas industry, it should prove very interesting, indeed.  Oh, and it's NOT a documentary like "Gasland", but a real moving picture show.  It plans to release on December 28, so watch for it in a theater near you.

Who Says Water Policy is Easy?

It appears that Oregon Water Policy is a high stress job - at least in and around Portland.  Take the Clackamas River Water District where officials learned this week that they will lose their liability and property insurance soon because of "ongoing instability and internal conflict."  They must deal with tough issues, for sure.

In Oregon, state agencies and special districts (what I assume are special purpose districts much akin to the "political subdivisions of government" we have here in Kansas) are provided liability insurance through an association called The Special Districts Association of Oregon.  This group provider says it has express responsibilities to protect all members from costs and liability likely to be generated by any rogue member - in this case the Clackamas River Water District Board which has been branded a "contentious and dysfunctional board".

This district has in the last 10 years had 6 managers, submitted to three special audits precipitated by claims of mismanagement and fielded a half-dozen ethics and workplace complaints.  Moreover, as of July 1, the board was involved in six lawsuits and an FBI inquiry.  An investigation by the local newspaper concluded that the district wastes an excessive amount of money on infighting, is legally a loose cannon on deck and has the highest legal bills (by far) of any Portland-area water district (mostly over internal personnel disputes).  But one of the final straws came in the September 13 board meeting when the manager and a board member got into a tug of war over an operations manual.  And this following a June board meeting that also erupted in flared tempers. 

With all the legal battles, the internal disputes, the ethics and labor disputes and the harassment claims, the district was finally notified that their insurance coverage is to be cancelled in 90 days.  This follows a January decision to up the district's deductible to $50,000 and eliminate their coverage for ethics and labor disputes.  Their rate paying customers have even entered the fray by demanding resignations from offending board members, which finally had an effect, when one board member did resign in July.  However, this left the remaining four members locked in a hopeless deadlock on most other issues - including the appointment of a tie-breaking replacement board member.  The situation is so bad that they're at impasse on declaring an impasse so the County Commissioners can step in and help.

The latest news finds that two more board members have indicated a willingness to resign - but only if all the board members resign - allowing the district to start anew with a fresh slate.  Of course, at least one of the remaining two has announced no resignation plans, so the stalemate goes on.

Things don't always go smoothly, and once again we learn that passion is great - until it obscures reason.  I hope this board can settle their differences and get back on the track of serving their rate payers.  Water is too important not to have at least an expectation that reasonable decision-making and planning can get accomplished by those you elect.

December 3, 2012 Update:  In October, two more board members resigned to help the struggling situation - leaving just two active board members.  On October 30, the two remaining board members appointed two more members, fired the attorney and placed the general manager on administrative leave.  However, these actions were challenged and a local judge ruled that the remaining two members did not constitute a quorum and therefore their appointments and administrative actions were illegal.   In November, the Clackamas County Commissioners appointed three new board members, who were elected as officers, and on November 20, they held their first "normal" board meeting since September.  Their first issue?  Get insurance. 

Kansas Stamp In The Middle Where It Should Be!

The USPS has just issued a new series of Forever stamps commemorating "Earthscapes".  The cool thing about this series is that all the stamps are pictures taken from the air - all the way from an ultralight craft to satellites orbiting earth. Another cool thing is that one of them is from Kansas. 

The pictures are themed in this new series of stamps - with the top row being scenes from "Nature", the middle row showing "Agriculture" scenes and the bottom row representing "Urban" views.

The middle stamp is from Kansas, and shows about a 25 square mile area of Grant County, Kansas - north and east of the County seat of Ulysses.  How do I know that?  I looked and found this quite distinctive pattern of pivots on Google Earth.  This picture was taken by the Landsat 7 satellite, but it's an older one - because the current Google Map shows 5 new pivots in this same tract of land.

According to the USPS the agriculture row depicts the growing or harvesting of salt, timber, grain, cherries and cranberries - all requiring water I might add.  And actually, water plays a role in most of the natural and urban scenes as well.  Most notably in the upper right stamp called "Inland Marsh", taken by Cameron Davidson.  This picture is part of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland.

USPS art director Howard E. Paine designed this unique series of stamps, which were issued just days ago to kick off National Stamp Collecting Month.  Leave it up to the USPS to have Mr. Paine create the newest pane of stamps.  With a little luck this unique set will also help mitigate the current fiscal pain of the USPS - I'm going to buy several sets!

Norman, Oklahoma Water - 1918

I ran across a copy of the July 9, 1918 Daily Transcript - the newspaper for Norman, Oklahoma, and was surprised to find 5 articles therein that mentioned "water".

The first was on the front page and was reporting on the water quality results of a new well Norman had recently completed.  The article reads:  "Analysis of water coming from the new city well shows it to be fully the equal of that of the old well, according to a report made to Mayor S.W. Hutchin, by Dr. Edwin DeBarr, state chemist, who has recently completed an analysis of the water for drinking and domestic purposes," says Dr. DeBarr in his letter to the mayor.  No pathogenic germs nor acid-forming bacteria are present in the water, according to the report. The chemical analysis of the water is as follows:  Odor, none. Albuminoid ammonia, .22 parts per million.  Free ammonia, .4 parts per million. Nitrogen as nitrates, .0005 parts per million.  Chlorine, 17 parts per million.  Magnesium oxide, 4 parts per million.  Calcium oxide, 53 parts per million.  Sulfuric anhydride, 119 parts per million.  Alkalinity, 175 parts per million.  Total solids, 315 parts per million."

As a student (many years ago) at OU I remember that the chemistry classes were always held in DeBarr Hall.  Now at least I know where they got the name for that building.

There is also an article reporting that Chicago's drinking water from Lake Michigan was undergoing "strong chlorination" due to an unusual number of dead fish washing ashore.  It's nice to know that the Health Department tested the fish and found no poison was involved, and found no pollution of the Lake Michigan water either.  You don't suppose the 17 parts per million Chlorine in the Norman City well was a result of Chicago's shock treatments, do you?

Another article covered the daily routine of the quartermaster  in the Office of the County Food Administrator.  It included a visit from "..an elderly spectacled gentleman who looked neither decidedly sweet nor sour..", and from ".. a middle-aged, stout, healthy "farmerette".." who asked "Do you think you can arrange for us to have some water soon for our crops?"  No, she wasn't wanting rain, but an irrigation well.

All in all, an eclectic set of articles for a 1918 newspaper from Norman, don't you think?

Water Horses & Water Babies? What about Waterbears!

"Waterbear" is the cute name for Tardigrades - those indominable little water creatures that can go anywhere and come back for more - well, almost anywhere.

They can survive wide ranges of environmental conditions - from very cold temperatures (almost to absolute zero) to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Are you kidding me!  They can survive without water for close to 10 years by entering a suspended metabolic state called cryptobiosis, even though they live in water.  They must be related somehow to the world famous sea-monkeys!  (Oh, no! Could this possibly be another blog post?)

They can also withstand, at least for a while, very wide pressure ranges - from an absolute vacuum to the 6,000 atmospheres you'd find at the bottom of the deepest part of earth's oceans.  They are so resilient that just a year ago a bunch of them spent 10 days in open space on an ESA satellite, and upon their return, half of them went on about their business as if nothing had happened.  Of course, the half that were unshielded from dosages of the sun's UV rays at 1,000 times stronger than here on earth didn't fare too well, but reportedly even some of them made it to live another day.

While they're nicknamed "waterbears" and I've played off the other water creatures in the title of this post (that I've blogged about earlier) I'm NOT going to put this article under the "Water folklore" label because these dudes are real.  In fact, science has been studying them since 1773 when a German scientist first called them "kleiner Wasserbar" - little water bears.  I shudder to think how many of these guys I've guzzled down in my years of swimming in the Delaware Bay and elsewhere.  Then again, they look nutritious as all get-out.  Just the same, I'll try very hard to get these images out of my head!