Examining Public Water Systems Servicing Schools and Childcare Facilities to Inform Policy: A Study of Lead Exposure in the Mississippi Delta

Abstract This study was initiated with the intent of identifying elementary schools and childcare facilities in the Mississippi Delta with children ages 6 and under that may have public water systems (PWSs) with lead exceedances of 5 ppb. We also aimed to identify the existence, and further the availability, of information regarding which public schools and childcare facilities were serviced by which public water systems. Based on the results of this study, considerations related to Mississippi’s ability to comply with the 2020 Revisions of the Lead and Copper Rule requiring testing in all public schools were determined. Seven principal counties were investigated for possible exceedances. The Mississippi Department of Health’s Drinking Water Watch (DWW) and Public Water System Material Inventory (PWSMI) databases were utilized to determine details regarding each PWS and the concentrations of lead detected over a six-year period from January 1st, 2014 to January 1st, 2020. Elementary schools and childcare facilities for the seven counties were then overlaid with their accompanying PWS. Of the 87 identified PWS, 18 reported lead water concentrations matching or exceeding 5.0 ppb. Thirteen of these PWSs likely serve children ages 6 and younger through elementary schools and child care facilities. This study showed that while information regarding the presence of lead within PWSs is accessible to the public, the capability to easily match schools with their water provider was more challenging because service areas are not easily accessible. This information will be vital in the state’s ability to prioritize and comply with lead in drinking water testing in childcare centers and public schools as required by the new Lead and Copper Rule Revisions

The distribution of the eigenvalues of Hecke operators

For each prime $p$, we determine the distribution of the $p^{th}$ Fourier coefficients of the Hecke eigenforms of large weight for the full modular group. As $p\to\infty$, this distribution tends to the Sato--Tate distribution

Faster than Flintstone? – Could the Ant Hill Mob beat Fred for speed?

This paper calculates the maximum velocity of the Ant Hill Mob from Wacky Races when employing their ‘getaway’ technique of running while carrying the car. It was found that the Mob were slower than Fred Flintstone, another character famous for powering his car with his feet, by a ratio of over 34 times

Interface between the biophysical environment in informal settlements and poverty in developing countries : the case for Sierra Leone

The socio-economic problems of developing countries, especially Sub-Saharan African cities are the result of rapid growth, increasing poverty, unequal distribution of resources, civil conflicts and poor governance. These problems have been exacerbated by perennial incidence of civil wars. In Sierra Leone, eleven years of protracted civil war has exacerbated the problems of rural-urban migration, increased poverty, dislocation of urban governance, severe unemployment and lost income opportunities, which all combined have worsened the unequal distribution of resources and poverty. This has led to the collapse of urban infrastructure and of the formal economy, which have combined to accentuate urban poverty and the deterioration of the biophysical environment. These problems have further been compounded by heavy debts burden and structural adjustment programmes imposed on developing countries to facilitate economic diversification, while multilateral aid policies have failed to address the problems of the poor, especially the urban poor. However, the postulation of this study is that for a pragmatic policy formulation and implementation in aid of poverty alleviation, there must be an adequate understanding of the informal settlement problem. To this effect, two combined survey methods of investigation were employed to access both primary and secondary data on the state of informal settlements in urban areas of Sierra Leone. This consisted of socio-economic and attitudinal survey of residents of three randomly chosen informal settlements two of which have benefited from partial upgrading and one has yet to benefit from any upgrading initiative. The findings from the study clearly presents an understanding of the informal settlement problems, including knowledge poverty, the basic social and economic needs of the residents. Recent efforts by especially international and local aid agencies to improve living conditions in informal settlements have not had significant impact on the quality of life of residents and the biophysical environment. This has been due to bad implementation of programmes and lack of proper co-ordination system among stakeholders rather than choice of strategy. Thus, the central thesis in the present study is that Settlement Upgrading is the appropriate approach to improving the living conditions of residents in informal settlements in Sierra Leone, which can be achieved under the auspices of the Urban Informal Settlement Development Authority as the central coordinating body. Poverty alleviation policies have also been proposed, which are realistic and implementable for better quality of life within the built environment in Sierra Leone