Penn State: Biofilters Could Clean Dirty Water. Biofilters, using plants to clean dirty water from washing machines and other sources, can make that water fit for growing vegetables and flushing toilets, according to Penn State horticulturists.
"Our global fresh water supplies are fast depleting," said Robert D. Cameron, doctoral student in horticulture. "So it is critical that we begin to look at alternatives on how we can take wastewater and turn it into a resource."
"We have shown that with this system we can take wastewater from a washing machine and remove more than 90 percent of the pollutants within three days," said Cameron. "The treated water had very low levels of suspended solids and no detectable levels of e.coli." Click here for more information.

Concerns expressed on Marcellus Shale natural gas development by Olivia Thorne, President PA League of Women Voters. The League just completed a year-long study of the benefits and costs of extraction and looks at the cumulative, long-term consequences. The study is available online.

Local Action Video Showcase Sponsored By Alliance For Chesapeake Bay. Are you doing your part to help your local river, stream, or the Chesapeake Bay in your community? Is your local watershed group, school group, community or municipality restoring a shoreline, replacing a parking lot with porous pavement, planting rain gardens, holding cleanups or doing other restoration work to protect your local waterways?
Grab your camera and send us a short video that shows what you’re doing in your community to help your local waterway or the Chesapeake Bay. We’ll use all the video submissions to create a collective video that highlights all the local work being done throughout the Bay watershed – from New York to Virginia, West Virginia to Delaware – to restore and protect the Bay and its many streams, creeks and rivers.
Entries are due May 14. Click here for submission rules.

Green City, Clean Waters Philadelphia has chosen to implement an innovative "urban greening" and a "green before gray" as a fundamental strategy for meeting the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act to manage its stormwater and improve water quality. From GreenTreks Network on Vimeo.

2010 River Sojourns Set. Eleven river sojourns are planned around the state from May through August 2010. These multi-day educational paddling trips offer an unparalleled experience on Pennsylvania’s premier waterways. This video from the 2009 Delaware Sojourn offers a glimpse of one of these voyages. Sign-up now through the PA Organization for Watersheds and Rivers Sojourn webpage.