Understanding Water Pollution: Sources, Impact, and Solutions

1. Water pollution

2. Sources • Air • Mercury (hg), SO2, NOx, ammonia, • Hg bio-accumulates in aquatic organisms • Green house gasses • Cause increased acidity in oceans • Damaging corrals EXC,

3. Sources • Excess nutrients from farms (fertilizer) • Organic waste • Toxic waste-industrial • Sediments-construction/farming • Heat/Cold- Dams and power plants. • Coliform bacteria-human and animal waste.

4. Chemical Sources • Industrial and agricultural sources • Metals, organic, compounds, solvents, detergents, oil. • Car and storm drain. • 21 billion barrels of oil. • Ballasts of ships.

5. Response • 1969 Cuyahoga river caught on fire. • 1972 Clean water act • Established water quality standards • 1992 79% met water quality standards • 2002 94% meet standards • Limited wetland loss • Increased rivers clean enough for fishing and swimming.

6. Tests • pH • Hardness-concentrations of calcium magnesium • DO-dissolved oxygen • Turbidity-suspended particles

7. Water Treatment Plants

8. Waste water • Water coming from humans • Sewage / Shower

9. Waste water-physical treatment • Filters remove suspended solids • Rags –other gross stuff is removed to land fill • Settling tank-suspended solids settle out.-some times iooks like a pond • Removes 60%suspended solids-30% of organic waste.

10. Secondary Treatment-procedures • Physical treatment-filtered through screens • Sludge processor (or trickling screens) –bacteria breaks down the waste. • Sludge-bacteria and waste is removed broken down further and sold as fertilizer. • It used to be dumped in toe oceans • Large amounts of Methane are produced

11. Removed • 97% of suspended solids, • 97% organic waste, • 70% of toxic metals • 50%nitrogen

12. Water returns to the streams • Before returning water to streams it is chlorinated to kill any remaining cells. • Grey water-water is used to water lawns rather than being returned to streams.

13. Solid waste • Form land fills • Many land fills in America are full • Contaminate ground water

14. Solutions to solid waste • Recycle • Reuse • Reduce

15. Land fills • How to manage our trash

16. Composting • Individual households convert food and husks back to soil. • Involves a • Pit • Red Worms • Several months • Soil is generated

17. Recycling • Closed loop- substances are used to build the same thing. • Plastic milk bottle to new plastic milk bottle • Open loop-the recycled material is converted into something new. • Plastic milk bottle to synthetic wood decking.

18. Hazardous Waste • Types • Corrosive • Ignitable • Reactive • Toxic • Radioactive

19. Solutions • Surface impoundment-shallow ponds where hazardous liquids evaporate • Deep well. Hole is drilled in ground – waste pumped down. • Land fills-

20. Types of radioactive waste • High level-high levels of ionizing radiation. • Low level

21. EPA-categories • Nuclear reactor waste-high • Repossessing waste-high • Weapons manufacture-high • Uranium processing-high • Research sites (gloves exc.)-low • Radioactive natural materials-low • Some (EPA) High level radioactive wastes may actually be low level waste.

22. Ways to deal with radioactive waste • Holding tanks-in power plants power rods in a swimming pool. • WIP-Waste isolation plant- • in New Mexico- • a giant hole in the salt beds • several hundred feet down • Stores nuclear weapons. • Yucca Mountain-N • Nevada • Tunnel into a mountain

23. Superfund sites • Toxic sites where the corporations or land owners must match federal dollars to clean up the waste.

24. Case studies • Rocky flats- • A nuclear processor plant. • The ventilation system was contaminated. • 1980s shut down • cleaned up and • now a wildlife preserve. • Love canal- • subdivision built on a toxic land fill- • 1978 toxic drums where dug up in back yards • Trees and plants died • Fowl sludge was observed • Children became sick-or burned by caustics • The community was evacuated