More About Bottled Water, and a New Question

Dear Madame L,

I have enjoyed reading the questions posed by "Boggled," along with your answers. I want to share some things about bottled water that I learned in my Environmental Science class from a few years ago. Did you know that bottled water does not have to meet the same cleanliness standards as our culinary tap water? 

In fact, according to my environmental-scientist-neighbor, who is also the head of the Environmental Science Department at our local university, 20% of bottled water has unacceptable levels of bacteria in it, as compared to culinary water standards. That means that one in five bottles of water don't meet basic cleanliness standards!! 

Also, bottled water can be marketed as "spring water" if it is bottled within a certain distance of a spring, like a mile or something. In other words, it doesn't have to have anything to do with the spring in order to be called spring water. At least, that's how my memory serves me from what I learned in class.

And now, I have a question for you. Yesterday I heard on the news something about earthquakes happening in Arkansas, and how research is being done to find out if they could be triggered by drilling for natural gas. Is there any possibility of truth to that? Can earthquakes be triggered by the actions of man?

Sign me,

Wondering 

Dear Wondering,

Thanks so much for your comments and additional information about bottled water. Yuck! That makes Madame L even more determined not to buy or drink the stuff.

Now, to answer your question about natural gas and earthquakes:

Yes, it's possible that there is a connection between drilling for natural gas and the injecting of water into the ground as part of that process, and earthquakes --- as well as flames shooting out of the kitchen faucet instead of water and underground fires that have resulted in the evacuation of entire towns.

As you know, one of the documentary films nominated for an Academy Award this year was "Gasland," which covered the issue very thoroughly and objectively. (The movie is available now at Amazon.com for $13.49 plus tax and shipping.) The director researched the issue at the request of people in Arkansas who experienced all kinds of problems as a result of the drilling. One major concern is that federal and state regulations were lifted, so that clean air and water provisions were not followed in the drilling.

You may NOT know that the lobbying association for natural gas companies tried to get the Academy to withdraw this film, but the Academy replied that it would "Let Academy voters have their say."

You may be interested in a reading about a discussion of the issue at Hendrix College in Arkansas. 

Please also consider writing to the USGS "Ask a Geologist" page for more information about the geologic formations where natural gas is found.

Yours in wondering, boggling, and asking,

Madame L