Friday, May 28, 2010
Frequently Asked Questions –
1. What is water pollution?
Water pollution is any chemical, physical or biological change in the quality of water that has a harmful effect on any living thing that drinks or uses it.
2. How does water pollution affect you?
Water pollution affects you by making your drinking water dirty, killing the animals that live in your local environment, and destroying lakes and rivers in your towns.
3. How can we control water pollution?
We can control water pollution by turning off running water, by not putting flushing items other than poop down the toilet, by not overusing pesticides and fertilizers, using more environmentally friendly products, and not littering in bodies of water.
4. What are the costs of water pollution?
The affect water pollution has on the environment costs more than anyone can imagine.
5. How do you clean up a polluted body of water?
The first step to cleaning up polluted bodies of water is to stop polluting it, cleaning up trash in the water, and finally allowing it to regain its former prominence.
6. How does water pollution occur?
Water pollution occurs through too much sewage and waste, industrial waste dumping, oil pollution, atmospheric deposition, marine dumping, radioactive waste, and underground storage leakages.
7. What are some examples of the affects of water pollution?
Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, New York, is a prime example of water pollution, and its affect on a community.
8. What is eutrophication?
Eutrophication is when the nutrient levels in the body of water raise so much that there is a damaging amount of algae and that causes other negative effects on water life.
9. What is the difference between point source and non-point source pollution?
Point source pollution is when the pollutant is being poured or enters directly into the water while non-point source is pollutants entering indirectly, such as runoff from pesticides and fertilizers.
10. Why is algae such a bad thing?
Algae in moderate to low levels is not bad, however if there is too much algae it can absorb to much oxygen in the water or even block sunlight to other plants and animals.
http://www.water-pollution.org.uk/
This website was extremely helpful in every way that I needed for my project, and was probably my most used source.
http://www.lenntech.com/water-pollution-faq.htm
This gave me some ideas on what to use for frequently asked questions and also described some things in further depth.
http://www.epa.gov/gmpo/edresources/water_5.html
This website gave some interesting facts about water and how we can help conserve it.
http://pearl.maine.edu/windows/community/Water_Ed/pH/pH_whatisit.htm
This website describes a how pH levels and alkalinity levels in bodies of water.
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/waterpollution.html
This website was great; it gave a lot of information on water pollution, and describes it in good depth.
http://projects.nytimes.com/toxic-waters/polluters/new-jersey
This website is interesting because it gives factories that have committed illegal dumping since the clean water act in 1970, in each state.
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/07-26/water-pollution-facts-article.htm
This website is a great overview to start my project with, and gives many interesting facts and a lot of good information.
http://www.cityofbremerton.com/content/sw_waterpollutionfacts.html
This website gives a large number of facts that helped me in further research.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-water-pollution.html
This article opens new ideas about some important facts and problems with water pollution.
http://scipeeps.com/water-pollution-facts-in-numbers-and-stats/
This article is great for interesting and frightening facts on water pollution.
http://scipeeps.com/effects-of-water-pollution/
This article gives some specific information of effects and causes of water pollution.
http://www.fofweb.com/ActiveLink2.asp?SK=IP&BID=7&ItemID=WE40
This website gives a good definition of water pollution, that I use in my powerpoint.
http://www.fofweb.com/ActiveLink2.asp?SK=IP&BID=7&ItemID=WE40
This website talks about water pollution in the Great Lakes, which I later go on to use as one of my case studies.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Written Statement –
Why should we care about water pollution? Water is a necessary resource for everyone in the world, and although it is a renewable one we are using it and polluting it at such rates that it is not going to be able to sustain us forever. Two main types of water pollution are point-source pollution and non-point source pollution. Point-source pollution is when the pollutant is dumped directly into the body of water, while non-point source pollution is when the pollutant There are processes to help clean polluted water but those are expensive and unnecessary if everyone does their own part. To help prevent water pollution we can turn off running water, flushing only things are supposed to be flushed down the toilet, using more environmental friendly products, not overusing pesticides and fertilizers, and not littering in water environments. Other causes of water pollution are sewage and waste, industrial waste, oil pollution, atmospheric deposition, marine dumping, radioactive waste, underground storage leakages, global warming, and eutrophication. The dangers of water pollution are that the water contains toxic material, it can spread infectious diseases, there is an increase in algae which is bad for the whole ecosystem and the pollutants in the water ruin its quality for drinking. The government agency for keeping water unpolluted is EPA, or the Environmental Protection Agency. However, they have a hard time controlling water pollution, and do not do enough to punish those who break the laws. There are many examples that show how awful water pollution can be. Onondaga Lake, Syracuse, New York, is arguably the most polluted lake in the U.S., the pollution started in the late 1800s when mining was a growing industry. Swimming in the lake was lost to pollution in the 1940s while fishing was gone by the 1970s. Water pollution has ruined many lakes the same way that it did with Onondaga Lake. Water pollution is a serious health concern, there have been many cases of people either drinking polluted water without knowing, or being forced to drink polluted water because they have no other option. There was pretty recent case in India where they found that the bottled water being made in India contained an unhealthy amount of pesticides and fertilizers. However, there were no laws in India indicating where the water had to be taken from to be put into the bottles. The companies creating the bottled water were either not doing enough cleaning or treatments of the water, or they were just completing ignoring treating the water at all. The amount in the water was much higher than the legal limit in every European country. For my local solutions, I decided to clean up the lake in my town called Brainerd Lake, and put up signs that said do not litter in the lake. Although water pollution is a major health concern, is damaging our ecosystems, and destroying all plants and animals, we as humans are not doing enough to try and save ourselves and our environment.
Case Studies
Onondaga Lake, New York, United States
http://blog.syracuse.com/video/2008/03/032608_lake.jpg
Onondaga Lake, in New York, is one of the most polluted lakes in the United States. Once a sanctuary for the likes of Atlantic salmon and Onondaga Lake Whitefish, Onondaga Lake become so polluted during the late 1940s people were no longer able to swim in the lake, and in the 1970s there was no more fishing. However, there have been attempts to restore the lake to its former prominence. A 15-year program is underway to try and create a cleaner lake and cause less pollution to flow into it, and further steps can be taken after this.
http://www.upstatefreshwater.org/html/onondaga_lake.html
Great Lakes –
http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2007/07/31/polution-in-lake-michigan_5106.jpg
Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, and Lake Superior are considered the Great Lakes in North America. The Great Lakes contain 20% of the fresh water in the world, and are very important to millions of people. However, pollution has been a recurring problem in these lakes. Although, point-source pollution may be more negative than non-point source pollution, it is easier to control than non-point, making non-point more of a problem for the Great Lakes. Another problem facing the Great Lakes is eutrophication, when the lake is over-filled with nutrients and there is uncontrolled plant growth, which is unhealthy for the environment. Lake Erie is the most polluted of the Great Lakes, while it is also the smallest, it fell to eutrophication in the 1960s. The Great Lakes almost went beyond repair in the 1960s and 1970s, however with the care and help of many people they are working towards being as clean as they once were.
http://www.great-lakes.net/teach/pollution/water/water1.html
Pesticides in Indian Bottled Water –
In the early 2000s, Indian scientists in New Delhi found that Indian drinking water is filled with pesticides used on Indian crops. There is no law in Indian to say that the factories that create the bottled waters need to be in clean areas. The plants in India have not been using the more effective, yet more expensive treatment of water that uses a membrane to extract the water, they use a less effective, yet cheaper charcoal absorption process. Other treatments that they use are reverse osmosis, and granular activated charcoal methods. However, if they were using this treatments correctly there would not be as many pesticides in the water. The Indians need to clean their water up.
http://www.environmentandpeople.org/WaterPollutionCasestudy.html
Article Summaries
Title - Americans' Biggest Environment Concern? Water Pollution
Author - Katie Connolly
Date Published – Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Source – Newsweek
Summary – Pollution in water we drink is one of the leading environmental problems facing the United States today. Drinking Polluted water is not healthy for anyone and is something we are able to fix relatively easily. If enough people think that it is the most important issue facing the United States today that getting things done can happen.
Title – Water Fight
Date Published – Monday, Apr. 27, 2009
Source – Time
Web Link – http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1891640,00.html
Summary – In Asia there is a growing sense of concern over clean water supplies. Asia is the continent with the least water per person and its population is expected to grow by 500 million people within the next 5 years. Tensions are running high and the example of the pollution spill in the Songhua river, that also runs through Russia shows just how important having clean water is.
Title – Why the EPA Struggles With Water Pollution
Author – Daniel Stone
Date Published – Monday, March 1, 2010
Source – Newsweek
Summary – Big companies are dumping in small waterways because they argue that the laws allow them to do so. However, in affect this is the same thing as dumping in larger waterways because water moves in a cycle and there is no definite spot where it will end up next and it will still be contaminated. EPA needs to move to a stricter policy that does not allow dumping which is creating greater pollution in all water.
Title – U.S. Water Polluters Rarely Punished
Author – N/A
Date Published – September 13, 2009
Source – Facts on File
Web Link – http://www.fofweb.com/Science/default.asp?ItemID=WE40
Summary – In the last five years, more than 500,000 cases of self-reported pollution has occurred, yet punishment for these companies has been few and far. Many Americans are drinking polluted water with harmful chemicals without even knowing it, about 10%. The EPA is working on doling out more punishments while their top priority is to make all tap water clean to drink.
Title – Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering
Author – Charles Duhigg
Date Published – September 12, 2009
Source – NY Times
Web Link - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/us/13water.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=water%20pollution&st=cse
Summary – Americans are drinking water filled with unhealthy chemicals and pollutants, thanks in large part to dumping by companies. Local and State authorities are not doing enough, and do not have enough funding to do much more. The Environmental Protection Agency does barely anything more than collecting data and finding out who is polluting. In the best case scenario, only 3% of companies that dump their pollutants are being punished. Although improvements have been made and are being made, there is still a lot of work left.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Movie about Water Pollution
http://www.grinningplanet.com/embed/water-pollution-video/poisoned-waters-frontline.htm
This Video explores what waters have turned into since the Clean Water Act was passed. It focuses on the Chesapeake Bay and the Puget Sound, and shows how awful the water is there.
This video focuses on Newport, Rhode Island, and how when it rains the water becomes polluted with human and animal feces. Waste water treatment plant releases water over the limit since the pass of the Clean Water Act, yet they have never been fined by EPA.
This video shows that everyone is to share for pollution, not just factories and farmland. Regular humans can have a big impact on how polluted lakes are.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Science behind Water Pollution
Water Pollution is defined as “the presence in water of harmful foreign substances. Both parts of this definition must be met. That is, the material must be harmful (must have the potential of damaging the health of humans or the environment or of interfering with some industrial process) and it must be foreign (pure sea water is not considered polluted, even though it is harmful to animals and plants that are adapted to freshwater). Water pollution is a severe problem; there are approximately 11,750 reported pollution incidents in the United States each year, involving an average of nearly 1,600 gallons each—a total pollutant load in the nation's waterways of some 18.6 million gallons annually. (This does not count permitted discharges of pollutants, which total several times this amount. Permitted industrial discharges of biochemical oxygen demand directly into the Great Lakes, for example—not counting discharges into tributaries or into municipal sewerage systems that then discharge into the Lakes—amount to approximately 100,000 tons per year.) The cost of U.S. water pollution abatement activities for all types of pollution, permitted and accidental, amounts to an average of about $10 billion annually.”[1] Although the world is covered 80% by water only 1% of this water is drinkable fresh water. “In the United States, more than 50 percent of our wetlands that recharge and purify ground water have been destroyed.”[2] The pH levels in lakes and rivers are affected by pollution. Usually the pH levels are right around 7; however this number can become more acidic with pollution. Acid rain is a negative effect of more acidic water.[3] Another side effect of water pollution is an excess amount of nutrients that lead to the creation of harmful algae. When there is too much algae covering the surface of the water and uses a lot of oxygen creating oxygen deprived zones, called “dead zones.”[4] Severe forms of pollution come from “polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)” which are highly toxic chemicals. One more kind of “toxic pollution comes from heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium, and mercury.”[5] Water pollution affects ecosystems starting at the vegetation level and working its way up to humans. If algae increases immensely and creates dead zones, while in other areas vegetation sores and fish are dying. People living in an area where this is happening would be devastated. Plants and animals that drink the water would not be able to survive in this environment. People would have no food source and no water source.
[1] Ashworth, William, and Charles E. Little. "water pollution." Encyclopedia of Environmental Studies, New Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2001. Science Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE40&SID=5&iPin= envrnstud3423&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 13, 2010).
[2] http://www.epa.gov/gmpo/edresources/water_5.html
[3] http://pearl.maine.edu/windows/community/Water_Ed/pH/pH_whatisit.htm
[4] http://www.explainthatstuff.com/waterpollution.html
[5] http://www.explainthatstuff.com/waterpollution.html
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