Weisner, Meagan L.

Water treatment facilities across the United States are known for providing high-quality drinking water to their residents. However, differences in treatment methods, aging infrastructure, and outdated household plumbing may affect the quality of drinking water by the time it reaches the consumer’s tap. Palm Beach County, Florida, is an area with large socioeconomic contrasts where some families live in dilapidated structures and others reside in luxurious, gated communities. This research highlights the variation of household water quality by determining metal concentrations in tap water samples in communities of different socioeconomic status. In addition, interviews were conducted with personnel from five different Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) in the study area to understand the relationship between customers and their water utility. Results indicate that effective communication strategies are needed to boost public trust and fill critical information gaps about the water treatment process. Ninety-six tap water samples were collected from households throughout eastern Palm Beach County and analyzed for different metals using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry. Surveys were also administered at the same households where tap water samples were collected. Residents were asked about their perceptions of tap water and social and economic questions regarding their household characteristics. A Socioeconomic Status (SES) index was created using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to understand how perceptions of tap water quality and concentrations of metals in household tap water vary based on SES. Results provide evidence that those living in the lowest-ranking SES neighborhoods are the least satisfied with their tap water quality and consume less tap water than those living in higher SES neighborhoods. Water quality results highlighted large variations in concentrations of aluminum (Al) and thus, analyses focused specifically on how Al concentrations varied according to SES. Results from Ordinary Least Squares regression show that as socioeconomic status decreases, the concentration of Al in tap water increases. Six samples exceed the State of Florida’s Secondary Maximum Contaminant Level (SMCL) for Al, and five of those samples were found in the lowest-ranking SES neighborhoods (SES 1 and 2). The results of this research provide evidence that inequities in household water quality exist across eastern Palm Beach County, Florida.

South Florida’s racial and ethnic diversity make it an interesting, as well as significant region to
examine issues of inequality. Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties represent a
unique demographic and cultural milieu that composes south Florida. As part of Florida Atlantic
University’s Peace, Justice and Human Rights Initiative, we are working towards creating a report card
that reveals various health, social, economic and other disparities experienced by local populations.
This project promotes a greater awareness centered on the issues of inequality by looking specifically
at datasets that highlight demographic information within south Florida. Constructing a human rights
report card requires an assiduous effort in locating and analyzing relevant and available data.
Healthcare, education, crime and poverty were among the indicators for which data was collected. All
data was gathered from various government agencies including the U.S. Census Bureau, Florida
Department of Education, National Vital Statistics, among others. Statistics were then compared
between the four
counties, the state of Florida, and the United States to demonstrate south Florida’s current status as it
relates to state and national levels of inequality. This report card highlights the various areas of
socioeconomic disparities present between south Florida’s communities by analyzing county-level
demographic data. The analysis of various health, social and economic data contributes towards a
more comprehensive understanding of the adversities that local populations experience.

The practice of yoga is an increasingly popularized movement within the West that incorporates the desire for physical fitness, spiritual consciousness, and environmentalism. Emanating from the New Age movement, the popularity of yoga has proliferated as a subculture that seeks to encourage mind–body wellbeing while representing an ethos that assumes environmental responsibility. This thesis examines the techniques of modern yoga and the influence that asana (posture) and meditational relaxation have on the senses and subsequently on environmental awareness and activism.