After a recent study detected minute quantities of pharmaceuticals in the city’s upstate water supply, the City Council has announced an emergency hearing to investigate the reports. The Associated Press study found sedatives in water nationwide; in New York, traces of 15 different drugs (“for aches, infections, seizures and high blood pressure; hormones for menopause; the active ingredient in a popular sedative; and caffeine") turned up. Presumably the drugs entered the water supply via sewage......

New Yorkers have been proud of its drinking water (heck, the city even started advertising its benefits last year), but will the discovery of "barely measurable pharmaceuticals" in tap water change all that? The AP conducted a survey of drinking water all around the country and found traces of drugs everywhere, including Los Angeles, Kentucky and NJ. In New York City, medicines likes "drugs for aches, infections, seizures and high blood pressure; hormones for menopause;......

On the front page of the NY Times section A, there was a photograph of some workers in Haoro, India and an article titled "New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India." And in fact, the workers are barefoot, bare-chested, bare-handed, and bare-headed as they work in an iron foundry, making manhole covers for Con Ed and other cities. The Times explains that a photographer, J. Adam Huggins, who works with the newspaper brought......

On Friday, Pepsi-Cola announced that its Aquafina brand bottled water would carry labels clearly stating that its water is tap water. If you think "The Aquafina in this bottle is purified water that originates from a public water source" or something along those lines is considered clear. Sure, Aquafina says its water is filtered, but this is a win for environmental groups (think the waste from bottle, the trucking to distribute the product, etc.) and......