New Book Discusses Fate Of Fresh Water

By John McDevitt

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It was inspired over a bottle of French water with Julia Child.

A bestselling author will be in Philadelphia next week to discuss his book about the future of water.

The book is called The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the Twenty-First Century.

"The book is split into four parts. The first part is on water quality. What's in our water? What are we drinking? The second part is on drought and how that is going to impact most of the country, particularly the west. The third part is about flooding. And the fourth part is how we use it now and how we will use it in the future," explains Alex Prud'homme, author of the book.

Prud'homme is the grandnephew of celebrity chef Julia Child and co-author of her bestselling memoir My Life in France.

He says his aunt knew a lot about water and says The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the Twenty-First Century was inspired by a lunch he had with her back in 2004 over a bottle of French mineral water.

The Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center will host Prud'homme for a talk, book signing and screening of Last Call At The Oasis, the documentary inspired by his book.

The event is this coming Wednesday at the Interpretive Center behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 5:30 – 9 pm. Ticket information: Waterworks.com.