David Cwiertny

BOOK REVIEW: The Profits of Distrust: Citizen-Consumers, Drinking Water, and the Crisis of Confidence in American Government Visit the Water Shelf main page Listen to this review:   Every water utility leader and tap water user should have this book. Reading The Profits of Distrust: Citizen-Consumers, Drinking Water, and th...

I’ve got a book for you (co-authored by the lead author of our kiosk water quality paper): mavensnotebook.com/2023/12/02/b...

They are incredibly popular, though. As folks lose trust in central services, including tap water, they seek out higher price, less regulated alternatives. When we sampled in summer, folks were always filling up 5 gallon jugs and buying ice. And they are all over the US.

We have around a dozen free-standing kiosks or vending machines selling water in Iowa, but these water sources are poorly regulated and rarely monitored. Please read and share our deep dive into kiosk water quality (open access!). Unfortunately, some kiosks can release lead into the purchased water.

The researchers compared water dispensed from kiosks and tap water from nearby municipalities across six U.S. states, finding that the two water types can contain different contaminants.

Learn more about the paper's results: buff.ly/yQ0Zu0f

Image credit: Samantha Zuhlke [2/2]

A small tan building with a water dispenser and an ice dispenser on the outside wall. 

Freestanding water vending machines or water-dispensing kiosks are often marketed as providing cleaner water than tap water. A study published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology took a closer look at what’s in that water. 💧 [1/2]

Ha ha. Same!

In a state noted for its high lung cancer rates, let’s go all in on a practice that is worsening air quality and linked to a host of respiratory issues….its a bold strategy but hey, what do I know.

Feenstra says Iowa needs to better promote ag and water quality efforts Congressman was warned by state senator at Newton event that Democrats will make water quality a big issue for midterm election

I have a PhD in Chemistry but I’m an air quotes scientist according to Iowa republicans

www.newtondailynews.com/article/816,...

EXCLUSIVE: Clean Water Advocate Chris Jones Takes Step Toward Iowa Agriculture Secretary Run “I think we need to rethink agriculture,” the professor-turned-advocate tells Sentient.

Been off the socials, but this deserves a 👀:

sentientmedia.org/chris-jones-...

Thanks, Eli! Much appreciated.

A Misstep in the Wrong Direction News on August 25 reported Sheriff Mike Naig unholstering his squirt gun yet again to apply a gentle mist onto the raging inferno that is Iowa’s water quality and overall environmental condition.

open.substack.com/pub/riverrac...

A report tied Iowa’s water pollution to agriculture. Then the money to promote it mysteriously disappeared Roughly $400,000 in the $1m budget was for public awareness – but those funds were recently ‘zeroed out’

Why aren’t more people talking about this? Seems notable that Polk County officials don’t care to promote or raise awareness about the report’s conclusions. Are any local reporters gonna ask Polk County folks what’s going on here?

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Congrats Polk County! You win the “We All Want Clean Water” award for 2025 for zeroing out the CISWRA budget after funding a report and holding a community event that energized Iowans to take action on our water quality. Way to sustain the momentum!

www.thenewlede.org/2025/08/iowa...

Demanding action GUEST COLUMN | CHRIS JONESA progressive platform for Iowa food and agr

cedarrapidsgazette-ia.newsmemory.com?publink=2f2e...

Sounds more like ransom or extortion to me….

Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Environmental Council and Harkin Institute host cancer listening session at Meskwaki Tribal Center MESKWAKI SETTLEMENT — As event moderator Tommy Hexter asked the 20 or so people in attendance for Wednesday night’s listening session how many of them had been affected by cancer in one way or another...

You can’t make this shit up. Representative of IFU says we can “suspect” things like the water, pesticides & fertilizer can cause cancer, but then turns around and says regulations won’t work and farmers simply need to be paid more to change their ways.

www.timesrepublican.com/news/todays-...

Editorials: People are waking up - Storm Lake Times Pilot It isn’t often that over 1,000 Iowans will gather on a summer’s Monday evening to learn about nitrogen, phosphorous and water. Something is in the air. People filled Sheslow Auditorium at …

From @artcullen.bsky.social
“The probable D nominee, Rob Sand, is still trying to find religion on how to think about pollution. He does not want to be perceived as being anti-agriculture. What he fails to understand is that you do not have to pollute to farm.”

www.stormlake.com/stories/edit...

📻 The common good and the establishment (w/ Chris Jones) - Cornhole Champions Interview Toss some bags at agricultural policy... why ethanol might be our biggest mistake... and what a progressive water policy might look like.

Hear about the D day invasion of crop dusters and other fun stuff here from me with @zacharyos.bsky.social

cornholechampions.substack.com/p/the-common...

Chris is spot on in this piece. Who wins with this decision? New dischargers. An enterprising reporter should track who receives new discharge (NPDES) permits into these segments now. Those are the interests that greased the skids to make this happen, Iowans’ water quality and health be damned.

'Clearly misguided': Experts condemn EPA's decision to rescind expansion of Iowa impaired water list Less than a year after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added segments of five Iowa rivers to the impaired waters list for nitrate, the same agency — now operating under the Trump administrati...

The call is coming from inside the house

www.thegazette.com/environment-...

Regents approve new policy aimed at “indoctrination,” instead of anti-DEI, CRT policy Iowa Board of Regent-controlled universities are now required to teach controversial topics “in a manner that fosters critical thinking and avoids indoctrination of one perspective” under a new board ...

“The new policy would aim to promote discussion of both viewpoints, rather than presenting one side or the other as a settled fact…”

dailyiowan.com/2025/08/12/r...

The article is paywalled, but this is some complete and utter bullshit…

Were I to run for governor, I would make environmental quality a centerpiece of my campaign from the word "go," rather than trying to workshop something on the fly. And to be honest, I'd probably just plagiarize @theswinerepublic.bsky.social. open.substack.com/pub/riverrac...

How pesticides help fuel Iowa’s cancer crisis Pesticides are part of why Iowa’s fields are so productive. Research into pesticide exposure also connects them to our cancer crisis.

@zacharyos.bsky.social
@amierivers.bsky.social and @iowastartingline.com doing a nice job with this cancer series, with some help from @dcwiertny.bsky.social

iowastartingline.com/cancer-in-io...

IDALS breaks ground on water quality projects in Tama and Grundy counties • Iowa Capital Dispatch IDALS is beginning construction  on 18 water quality and nitrate reduction projects in Tama and Grundy counties.

I’m old enough to remember when American Public Media reported that saturated buffers are a sham and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Here, we celebrate this wasteful spending as if that report never happened….

iowacapitaldispatch.com/briefs/idals...

Critical infrastructure.

Is it too late for rescue N in 2025? Editor’s note: The following was written by Richard Roth, Iowa State University assistant professor and Extension nitrogen science and soil fertility specialist, and Sotirios Archontoulis, professor o...

Here’s ISU extension talking about more N application yet this year.
Make the case this institution cares about water quality. Go ahead.

agupdate.com/iowafarmerto...

Michigan led on safe water after Flint, but mobile home parks are stubborn rough spot Michigan has become a leader in safe drinking water after the Flint crisis, but mobile home parks remain a rough spot.

Michigan has become a leader in safe drinking water after the Flint crisis, but mobile home parks remain a rough spot.

A hog slaughtering facility in Sioux City, Iowa promised to bring jobs to town, but blood and pollution came with Seaboard Triumph Foods as well. In footage provided to Sentient, animal waste can be seen flowing into a drain in the ground.

At an Iowa Pork Plant, Piles of Dead Pigs and Wafting Sulphur Dioxide When climate technology breaks down, the results can be deadly.

According to one source, the facility has caused a strain on the city’s wastewater treatment.

Read the investigation by @ninaelkadi.com:
buff.ly/7Xqj8zI