By: Hugh Anderson&

Andrew Stipicevic

Most people feel that young people from this generation are to young to appreciate that water was once far more polluted than it is now.

30 years ago Lake____ was on the verge of ecological collapse.

In 1972 President _____ signed the Clean Water Act In 2005 a poll given by both Republicans and

Democrats, showed that 90% of Americans believe we should invest more money in cleaning water.

Since 1972 erosion from farm fields, construction sites, and streets has progressively gotten worse

Any physical, chemical, or biological change in water quality or makes water unsuitable for desired uses can be considered pollution.

Natural sources cause water pollution as well.

Factories, power plants, sewage treatment plants, mines and oil wells are considered _______ because they discharge pollution from specific locations, such as drain pipes, ditches, or sewer outfalls.

These sources are relatively easy to monitor and regulate.

These pollution sources are generally possible to divert effluent from the waste streams of these sources and treat it before it enters the environment.

These sources are scattered or diffuse, having no specific location to where they discharge into a particular body of water.

Runoff from farm fields Roads Golf Courses Lawn and Garden Construction sites Logging areas Parking lots

Since nonpoint sources are irregular meaning there location and timing cannot be predicted it is much harder to monitor, regulate, and treat.

The most diffuse nonpoint pollution is atmospheric deposition, which is carried by air currents and precipitated into watersheds or directly onto surface waters as rain, snow, or dry particles.

For example, the __________ have been found to be accumulating industrial chemicals such as PCB’s. Amounts of these pollutants are very large, around 60,000 kg of the herbicide atrazine which has mostly came from the atmosphere.

Infectious agents are the main waterborne threat to human life.

The most serious type of water pollution is pathogenic organisms.

In developed countries, sewage treatment plants and other pollution-controlled techniques have reduced or eliminated most of the worst sources of pathogens in inland surface waters

Coliform Bacteria is usually analyzed by water quality control personnel for any of the many types that live in the colon or intestines of humans and other animals.

If any coliform bacteria is present in a water sample, infectious pathogens are also present.

Coliform Bacteria is tested through water sample.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is a tests used to find the presence of organic wastes in water.

Dissolved oxygen content (DO) is used directly by an oxygen electrode.

Oxygen sag is the oxygen decline downstream.

Water transparency depends on the sediments, chemical, and the abundance of plankton in the water.

Rivers and lakes that have clear water and low biological productivity are said to be oligotrophic.

Eutrophic waters however, are waters that are rich in organisms and organic materials.

Eutrophication occurs in nearshore water and partially in enclosed bays or estuaries.

Seas such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Black Sea, the Baltic, and the Mediterranean tend to be in especially critical condition because they are enclosed.

Metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel are highly toxic substances to water. Since these metals are in the PPM range they cannot be tasted or seen.

Metals are so hazardous to waters that they even have installed Itai-Itai, which is a disease that has developed in Japan.

Lead poisoning is known as one of the dangerous to human health dates back to the Romans.

One of the main causes of metal pollution is because mining companies drain their wastes into water.

Most pesticides that we use day in and day out are very harmful to the waters around us.

The two most important sources of toxic organic chemicals in water are improper disposal of industrial and household wastes and runoff of pesticides from farm fields, forests, roadsides, golf courses, and other places where they are used in large quantities.

The U.S. EPA estimates that about 500,000 metric tons of pesticides are used in the United States each year.

The EPA estimates that about 26,000 hazardous waste sites will require cleanup because they pose an imminent threat to public health, mostly through water pollution

Rivers have always carried sediment to oceans, but erosion rates in many areas have been greatly accelerated by human activities.

However, sediment can also be helpful in many ways. Mud carried by rivers nourishes floodplain farm fields.

Sediment deposited in the ocean at river mouths creates valuable deltas and islands.

Raising or lowering water temperatures from normal levels an adversely affect water quality and aquatic life

Lowering the temperature in tropical oceans by one degree can be lethal to some corals and other reef species.

If water temperature is raised it can also have the same effect.

Oxygen solubility in water decreases as temperatures increase, so species requiring high oxygen levels are adversely affected by warming water.

The cheapest way to remove heat from an industrial facility is by drawing cool water from an ocean, river, lake, or aquifer. This is done by running a heat exchanger to extract heat, and then dump the heated water back into its original source.

A Thermal Plume of heated water is often discharged into rivers and lakes, where raised temperatures can disrupt many processes in natural ecosystems and drive out sensitive organisms

To minimize thermal pollution, power plants frequently are required to construct artificial cooling ponds or cooling towers in which heat is released into the atmosphere and water is cooled before being released into natural bodies of water.

Water quality is greatly improving everywhere in the world.

Since the Clean Water Act in 1972, water pollution has cut down greatly because of new rules and regulations set by the government.

One of the biggest improvements is in sewage treatment.

States are required to identify waters that are not meeting the water quality goals, and to develop total maximum daily loads for each pollutant and list the specific water body.

The greatest impediments to achieving national goals in water quality in both the United States and Canada are sediment, nutrients, and pathogens, especially from nonpoint discharges of pollutants.

Waters may be improving in wealthier countries, but in poor countries polluted water remains a major concern.

Coastal zones, especially bays, estuaries, shoals, and reefs near large cities or the mouths of major rivers, often are overwhelmed by human-caused contamination.

High levels of toxic chemicals, heavy metals, disease-causing organisms, oil, sediment, and plastic refuse are adversely affecting some of the most attractive and productive ocean regions.

Few coastlines in the world are not contaminated by oil, or oil products.

When an area of water doesn’t have enough dissolved oxygen to support life

Healthy aquatic systems usually have about 10 PPM dissolved oxygen

runoff from the farms enters the Mississippi and exits in the Gulf of Mexico

Runoff=> high levels of nitrogen=> large amounts of algae => depleted amounts of dissolved oxygen

Nearly 150 dead zones in the world, and has been doubling each decade since 1970

They can recover

Cheapest and most effective way to reduce pollution is to not do it

Recycling and reclaiming are very effective

Nonpoint means that there is no specific place or way that contaminates enter the ground or surface water

Agriculture - accounts for about 60% of all affected surface water

Urban runoff - from streets, parking lots, industrial sites and other places that may contain salts, oily residues, rubber, metals and industrial toxins

Construction sites – produce huge amounts of sediment Land disposal – If done correctly it is a good way to

dispose of unwanted materials. If done incorrectly, it can contaminate local waters

Soil conversion helps to protect water quality Federal, state, and local groups are starting to help

protect shores from erosion

High population density causes higher concentrations of human waste

Most of the dust in Mexico City is dried, pulverized human feces

Farms (especially in Asia) use human and animal waste as fertilizer

Septic tanks are a great improvement to human waste disposal

Primary treatment – removes large solid debris

Secondary treatment – removes fine organic material and disinfects

Tertiary treatment – removes inorganic materials

Effluent sewage – hybrid septic/sewer system

Natural or artificial wetlands can be used to dispose of wastes

If there's a known contaminate in the ground, a cap can be placed on top so the water goes around

The contaminates can be solidified or immobilized so ground water doesn’t mix

Pollutants can be destroyed or detoxified Living organisms usually have a way to

breakdown the contaminate naturally

The goal was to restore all surface waters to “swimmable and fishable” conditions

Best Practicable Control Technology(BPT) Best Available Economically Achievable

Technology (BAT) Nearly $200 billion invested

Regulates water quality in commercial and municipal systems

Critics say that its not doing enough

Program for remediation of toxic waste sites

Created in 1980 by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)

Designed to immediate response to emergency situations and provide permanent remedies for abandoned or inactive sites