Urban Areas

Recently I spoke with some residents of mid sized urban city of in the greater Los Angeles area. These residents are concerned about the quality of their water. The city's aging water infrastructure desparately needs to be updated. The story is always the same, older, urban cities with a majority of urban poor, usually have water quality issues so the residents are scared to drink the water. The water vendors come in and sell the very same water to the residents. The water vendors filter the water so the discoloration is removed and sell the water back to the residents of the city. Unfortunately the filters that people install in their homes sometimes do not do the job, if the screens are not regularly replaced, the water discoloration comes back. It's a vicious cycle. Water agencies and cities need to really start talking to the community in a manner that is culturally sensitive and is available in multi languages. I'm hoping the new EPA Secretary Lisa Jackson will focus on urban problems which have been neglected for many years.