The bottled water wars are heating up.

Today's Miami Herald writes about radio ads that tout Miami-Dade's tap water as cheaper, purer and safer than bottled water.

But Nestle Waters North America, which makes nearly $4 billion a year selling bottle water brands, has objected.

“It's an attack on the integrity of the company. It's an attack on the product we produce — and it's blatantly wrong,” Nestle spokesman Jim McClellan is quoted as saying.

According to the article, the ads ended a five-week run last month, so Nestle's threats to sue hold no water.

But John Renfrow, director of the county's Water and Sewer Department, defended the county's right to tout its tap water in the article. “Basically, the message is that our water is fine,” he said. “It's wonderful. It's delicious. This is just one of many different spots we've done.”

Plenty of municipalities have touted their own water. But this is the first time, Nestle told the Herald, that one stepped over the line to attack bottled water specifically.

Meanwhile, The Environment Report recently published an interview with Elizabeth Royte, formerly a trash maven who wrote the illuminating "Garbage Land," now author of "Bottlemania: How Water Went On Sale And Why We Bought It."

Her message: "You're paying for advertising, you're paying for lawyers, you're paying for PR flacks, you're paying for the right to extract water from communities where many people might not. So there's a lot of legal battles going on over it, so some of your money may be going toward that. You'll be doing your pocketbook and the environment a big favor by just getting a good refillable, reusable, washable bottle and filling it up with good old tap water."

The website for the book is www.bottlemania.net. It has excepts, reviews and a oodles of additional information.

Lisa Margonelli wrote in a New York Times review: ""The facile answer is marketing, marketing and more marketing, but Elizabeth Royte goes much deeper into the drink, streaming trends cultural, economic, political and hydrological into an engaging investigation of an unexpectedly murky substance."

Birders are known for their counts. The Christmas bird count. The life list. And so many more.

This Sunday, birders across the country will be engaging in another -- the 14th annual "Big Sit!" Participants stake out a 17-foot diameter circle and note as many species as possible in 24 hours.

The rules are simple and non-competitive, according to press information about the event. "Count all the birds you see or hear from within one 17-foot diameter circle, real or imaginery (species, not individuals). For competitive birders, it's a chance to showcase identification skills. For casual bird-watchers, the Big Sit! can be a wonderful opportunity to learn new species while meeting new people or old friends."

They have 24 hours - midnight to midnight - to do it. But birders in this area will team up dawn to dusk for a sit at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum in Philadelphia.

They'll gather at the Observation platform about .75 miles from the Visitor Center - "a nice walk along the dike road," says participant Debbie Beer. Several members of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club will be there, she reports, under the leadership of Tony Croasdale, a passionate birder since grade school and a favorite volunteer at Tinicum.

(The date, but the way, coincides with National Wildlife Refuge week, October 12-18.)

Read more about the Big Sit! at the website of one of the sponsors, BirdWatcher's Digest, www.birdwatchersdigest.com

RecycleBank customers are used to getting incentive points for recycling that they can redeem at area retailers.

Now, they can convert those points into charitable deductions.

Under a new program announced earlier this month by RecycleBank and George Leck and Son Inc., a waste removal company in Bucks County, customers can make donations to The Aark, which for more than 30 years has been aiding in the care and rehabilitation of birds and other animals in the area.

Aark, which recently moved to a new location in Chalfont, provides temporary sanctuary and care for thousands of injured and orphaned birds and mammals annually. The staff sets broken bones, treats illnesses and then, ideally, releases them again into the wild.

RecycleBank will contribute $10 for every 100 points donated by area residents, with the hopes of giving $10,000, according to a press release.

A Pro Formance coach and volunteer

I keep hearing about ways to better fuel economy, and sometimes the tips seem so simple it’s hard to believe they can make that much of a difference, even though I’ve proven it to myself in a previous column.

Now, the Environment Report’s Rene Gutel chimes in. She recently went out with an “eco-drive trainer” and drove the same route three times.

First time around, with no advice: 27 miles a gallon. By the third time: 36 miles a gallon.

She did it by upshifting and a whole lot of anticipating and coasting. She did it by accellerating and breaking smoothly.
She said it was like learning how to drive all over again.

Rene’s coach was Mike Speck from Arizona’s Pro Formance Group, which has teamed up with Ford to pilot an eco-driving program for companies with fleets.

Over a four-day period, according to a Ford press release, the drivers got improvements that ranged from six percent to 50 percent, which I suppose just goes to show how difficult some people find it to lighten up on the gas pedal.

The Sports Car Club of America verified the results, which average a 24 percent improvement.

Here’s a list of tips (nothing really surprising, but some people need all the help they can get).

The auto industry has historically fought government-mandated fuel efficiency standards. But the Alliance of Automovile Manufacturers nevertheless prmotes eco-driving at www.EcoDrivingUSA.com.

Interstate 65, which goes through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, is being touted as America’s first “biofuels corridor.”

As the result of a $1.3 million federal project, E85 ethanol (a gasoline blend with 85 percent ethanol) and B20 Biodiesel (a blend with 20 percent biodiesel) is  available the entire length of the interstate, from Gary to Mobile.

A driver is now no more than a quarter-tank’s drive from a fuel retailer carrying E85, which can be used in “FlexFuel” vehicles. (This is something you’d have found out when you bought the car. If you have one, you probably know it; if you don’t think you have one, you probably don’t. If you want to be sure, check www.biofuelsindiana.com) Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine.

Of course, there will be much hoopla, centered around a trip along the highway that starts tomorrow. One set of officials will start in Gary and head south, the other in Mobile, headed north. They’ll have news conferences along the way and meet for a final celebration at 3 p.m. Thursday in Clarksville, Indiana.

Interesting that this first highway is in the nation’s heartland, where corn used to make ethanol is a big crop.

Meanwhile, plenty of debate remains about whether corn-based ethanol is beneficial. Critics have blamed corn-based ethanol for higher food prices and shortages in countries and cultures that have diets heavily dependent on corn.

Researchers are developing a myriad alternative sources, from sugar cane to algae.

There’s also concern about the amount of natural land being converted to crop land to grow stock for biofuels. The New York Times wrote about two interesting studies last February.

Click here to learn more about biofuels from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The U.S. Department of Energy also has a good site about its biomass program.

You can see daily industry updates here, at the website for the Daily Biofuels New Digest.

Atlanta’s combined waste and stormwater system overloads during heavy rain, rushing raw sewage into the Chattahoochee River, which supplies the city’s drinking water. The city is currently building a massive tunnel to store the water until it can be properly treated.

Underground and out of sight, more than two million miles of water, sewer and stormwater pipes criss-cross the nation.

Many are really, really old.  Some, as much as 150 years old. Some are so old they’re made of wood.

And experts are worried that they’re going to need repairing or replacing soon, and that it’s going to cost a bundle.

Indeed, what’s seen as a failing water infrastructure could threaten our health, safety and economy.

“If you look at what we’re spending now and the investment requirements over the next twenty years, there’s a $540 billion difference,” says Steve Allbee, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Penn State Public Broadcasting has produced a 90-minute documentary on the subject, and Philadelphia is one of the cities profiled. “Liquid Assets” is scheduled to air Sunday at 4:30 p.m. on WHYY.

Read more about it and see a video trailer here.