Wondering what's in your water?

Have you ever wondered what's in your drinking water? With a recent high-profile series called Toxic Waters in the New York Times on the state of the nation's water supply, it's no surprise that at least one user of Ask Water, our online reference service, did.

Thankfully, when it comes to drinking water, there's a mandate of transparency. Water systems that serve the same population year-round, known as Community Water Systems, are required to file Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR) annually. Including basic data on contaminants, violations and their potential health effects, and other water-related educational information, CCRs are good places to start learning about what's in your water.

And they're convenient. Since Community Water Systems are required to make a good-faith effort to notify their users, they often arrive without even asking. Maybe you've found one in your mailbox.

But if you haven't, don't worry. A few online databases can also do the trick.

In Wisconsin, the Department of Natural Resources maintains the Drinking Water System, a database on water quality testing that includes links to CCRs. It can be searched by Public Water System, or other things, like specific contaminants.

Nationally, the EPA also has a number of databases, including the Safe Drinking Water Information System. It can be found at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/databases/index.html

Banned books resource

If you live in Madison, Wisconsin and work with children of any age, you might already be aware of the incredible resource librarians and educators have at their fingertips: The Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC). The CCBC is a unique examination, study and research library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The CCBC’s noncirculating collections include current, retrospective and historical books published for children and young adults.

They have extensive knowledge and expertise on intellectual freedom issues as they relate to children's and teens' access to materials in libraries and classrooms: check out their Web site.

Visualizing banned books

Check out this map created for Banned Books week - it shows via Google Earth the places where books have been challenged.

Link.

Celebrate the Freedom to Read

Banned Books Week 2009

Saturday September 26th marked the start of the national Banned Books Week 2009. Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment.

This week AquaLog will be featuring posts related to this very important event.

To start, here is the offical Web site from the American Library Association that includes a list of the most frequently challenged books.

And read Dave Zweifel's recent column on intellectual freedom on madison.com. Newspapers are another important player in the freedom to read and in support of our first amendment rights.

Look on AquaLog for more on intellectual freedom in the coming days.

Water found on the moon!

AquaLog doesn't typically highlight water stories in outer space but this looks fascinating. It also illustrates how science can still be surprised! Have a look a the photos and imagine life on the moon!

Enjoy!

NPR story

Interview with USGS scientist about the finding

An intersection of EATING, BOOKS, and SCIENCE

Tonight is Michael Pollan's big talk at the Kohl Center at UW Madison as part of the Go Big Read program. It's happening at 7pm. There has been much news, resources and information out about the common book reading but AquaLog just stumble across a new favorite:

Center for Integrated Agricultural Sciences Go Big Read site.

I like this site because it accomplishes a lot simply.

This AquaLog writer is looking forward to volunteering tonight at the Kohl Center - hope to see you there.

Migratory Birds of the Great Lakes

Here is a beautiful and interesting way to learn about the incredible birds that live this region of the country. The University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute created a Web site as a resource for people interested in birds and the Great Lakes.

Learn more about issues challenging Great Lakes migratory birds and related UW Sea Grant-funded activities. Funding provided by the National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the State of Wisconsin.

Enjoy!