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The importance of clean water
Water quality needed for daily life
The importance of having clean drinking water
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A tremendous amount of toxins in Lake Erie has caused more than a half-million residents in Northwest Ohio to be deprived of drinking water. The recent drinking-water crisis was brought on by a harmful algae bloom (HAB). HABs occur when excess nitrogen and phosphorus are present in lakes and streams. Lake Erie, which is a source of drinking water for the Toledo water system has been impacted. Flooded by tides of phosphorus mainly from farm fertilizer runoff and sewage treatment plants, leaving behind toxins that have contributed to oxygen-deprived dead zones where fish can’t survive. The toxins can kill animals and sicken humans. Lucas County Health Department Officials state that “residents consuming contaminated water should know the following: …show more content…
Water quality cleanup efforts, individuals and communities need to be more involved. Lake Erie was mocked as dead in the 1960’s. The demise of Lake Erie even made it into a Dr. Seuss’ 1971 book, The Lorax:
You’re glumping the pond where the Humming-fish hummed! No more can they hum, for their gills are all gummed. So I’m sending them off. Oh, their future is dreary. They’ll walk on their fins and get woefully weary In search of some water that isn’t so smeary. I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie. The Cuyahoga and Black river were so polluted that an official announcement was made warning against contact with the water. The Cuyahoga was polluted with oil and debris that collected on the surface that caught fire in 1969. The fire pulled national media attention, including stories in Time
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The Maumee River was the main source of Toledo’s early economic success and is the largest watershed in The Great Lakes system. The Maumee River runs through the Midwest, filled with highly productive farmlands. Drainage tiles allow removal of water from the top of the soil, and creates swampland used for farmers. Drainage tiles also collect majority of the runoff and transports to rivers and streams. Creating wetlands are vital to the health of waterways. Wetlands filter, clean and store water, they are some of the most important ecosystems in the world. The global climate change also plays a big role in the recent algae blooms. High amounts of rainfall create runoff. Director of Ohio Sea Grant Dr. Jeffrey Reutter said, “Bloom is regulated by the amount of phosphorus entering the lake. A wet year means a worse bloom.” Algae blooms during the summer have become more frequent around the western end of Lake
Nitrogen and nitrates relate to Hypoxia via the process of eutrophication. Since Nitrogen is a limiting nutrient in most waters, the added input of nitrate causes massive growth in algae. The algae rapidly consume all available N, and once the nutrient is limited again, the alga dies en masse. As the alga decomposes, oxygen is depleted in the water. This lowers dangerously lowers the level of dissolved oxygen in the water, which harms living organisms in the area. Small organisms and organisms that are immobile or unable to escape low-oxygen areas are particularly vulnerable. Hypoxia and resulting “dead zones” are harmful to local fishing and shrimping industries and algal blooms hurt the tourism industry. Hypoxia has lead to a decrease of about 25% in the brown shrimp habitat, forcing shrimping operations further offshore. As the hypoxia issue continues to grow, negative human effects will only increase. Since nitrate runoff from ag. has been proven to be the dominant source of hypoxia, policies could be enacted to effectively deal with “point-source” pollution. This makes enacting environmental policy more easily adapted, possibly included in past policy such as the Clean Water Act.
INTRODUCTION: There are over 50 lakes and ponds in Cumberland County, Maine, all of various sizes and shapes. Many of these lakes serve different purposes, from hydrating plants to being a source of water for both animals and humans. With this responsibility, comes the question, are these ponds and lakes safe drinking water for animals and humans? Contaminated water poses a risk for both humans and animals.
In the early 1880s, Chicago was a bustling city on its way to becoming one of great cities in the world. There was a problem though. Horrible sanitation problems plagued the city. The Chicago River was virtually an open sewer covered with visible filth. Most of the river’s worst pollution came from homes and bathroom waste thought the city. “Bubbly Creek” was one of the worst branches of the river. It was filled with enough stockyard waste to equal the pollution from a sizable city. To further the problem, all of the contents of the river flowed into Lake Michigan, polluting Chicago’s drinking water causing a sever outbreak of water born diseases.
The quality of any water sources is imperative to every creature in the ecosystem due it being vital to survival. For example, humans can’t go without water for a few days while can survive for days without food. Hence protecting water sources is imperative. Lake Merritt is a tidal lagoon in the center of Oakland California, a refuge for animals. Lake Merritt was created by Dr. Samuel Merritt, the Mayor of Oakland, who at that time owned a majority of the properties near the shorelines of the lagoon ("A Brief History"). He proposed to construct a dam to manipulate the flow of the water to enable the water level inland to rise, thus turning the lagoon into a lake. Sewages and storm drains were later directed into the lake, thus the condition of the lake reflects the community level of pollution within the ecosystem. Throughout the years, Lake Merritt has deteriorated and still is due to the pollution and the stagnant state of the water. The pungent stench releases during the drought seasons and the summer’s heat cause the lake once beautify state to decline. However, in November 2002, Oakland voters approved a $198 million dollar bond measure to fund restoration and clean water projects throughout the city. A total of $115 million was allocated for Lake Merritt’s restoration (Miller). However, there are critics conveying the misused of funds and that Oakland can’t afford to fund this project. The enormous loan from the projects will have to be pay off from the people of Oakland through higher charge for public services and tax’ rates. With the restoration project, not only will the stench of the lake be resolve, but the ecosystem around the lake will have major improvements. The constant influx o...
As global temperatures and ocean levels rise, the water levels of the Great Lakes continues to fall. As the lakes hit their all time lowest level in global history in 2012, society remains ignorant to the imposing doom that lurks ahead. Since the Great Lakes make up the largest group of fresh water lakes on Earth and are responsible for approximately 21% of the Earth’s fresh water supply, this issue is becoming one of the largest environmental and economical issues our modern world faces. The effects of this issue include destroying animal habitats and a major economic market; shipping. Water levels in the Great Lakes have been dropping for the past fourteen years, but it wasn’t until boats were scraping the bottom of Lake Huron that people began to take notice. This terrible environmental issue has been dubbed a long term cycle of over evaporation and not enough precipitation to replenish the Lakes. Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology for the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit has been monitoring this issue for a decade and has made startling discoveries, such as in 2012, he discovered Lake Michigan and Lake Huron’s water levels only rose four inches after winter, whereas the Lakes have been regularly recorded as gaining a foot of water after the winter season had ended. This amount of water added is not enough to maintain a proper water level during the dry, hot summer seasons that evaporate much water from the Great Lakes. While some scientists say that this is just a cycle that will adjust itself naturally, most experts that have been studying this phenomenon, such as Kompoltwicz, would agree that the issue has gone to far
Kenneth Schiff wrote an editorial for the Marine Pollution Bulletin in 2014 where he asked environmental scientist about the effectiveness of the Clean Water Act. Three topics were discussed to support their approval; The Cuyahoga River, Platform A and declines in marine life. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio had hit a point 1969 where there was so much oil on the surface of that it caught on fire and now it has been deemed as fishable by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, thanks to the Clean Water Act. Platform A was located in Southern California. In 1969, an explosion occurred, causing 100,000 barrels of oil to devastate beaches along the Pacific Ocean and kill thousands of animals located in this region. Also discussed was the effects of hazardous substances, in this example DDT, on marine life. The use of this pesticide caused brown pelicans and California sea lions to experience intense decline in population- thanks to the Clean Water Act being followed by much research, restrictions and bans were able to be placed on these chemicals, allowing these populations to flourish once more. Within this editorial, there is also many who state that this Act has not been effective enough. One big argument is that the EPA has a list of pollutants that has not changed since the 1970’s yet in the last 40 years, there has
In 1968, a survey was conducted. It found that pollution in the Chesapeake Bay cause $3 million annually in losses to the fishing industry. Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of sports fisheries measured DDT, a pesticide, in 584 of 590 samples. These levels were nine times the FDA limit. In 1969 bacteria in the Hudson River was 170 times the safe limit. Over 41 million fish were killed. This included the largest ever with 26 million from four food processing plants in Thonotosassa, Florida dumping discharges into the lake. South of Cleveland, Ohio the Cuyahoga River burst into flames causing damage to railroad trestles. The cause is unknown but investigation pointed to a discharge of highly volatile petroleum derivatives that could ignite easily.
Clean water involves seclusion of lakes and hoping the acid rain does not reach these pure water supplies. Another major source of contaminating clean water are oil spills and how destructively they blanket the shoreline they come in contact with. Although offshore drilling expeditions contribute some to the devastating outcome, oil tankers are the superior enemies toward the water. One estimate is that for every one million tons of petroleum shipped one ton is spilled. The largest super tanker spill was in 1979 when 3.3 million barrels was spilled off the coast of France. The largest in the United States was the Exxon Valdez in the gulf of Alaska. On the night of March 24, 1989 the 987 foot Exxon Valdez ran aground in the gulf of Alaska spilling 260,000 barrels of oil. With the help of the forceful winds, the slick soon covered about 1,100 miles of shoreline, including many islands in the sound.
I chose to watch the Frontline episode on “Poisoned Waters”. This documentary showed the environmental issues involving case studies on the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. By examining how these rising pollutants along with industrial contaminants like PCB, lead, mercury and agricultural pollution. America has kept from making many of the nation’s waterways fishable and swim able again. This was a goal set by Congress nearly four decades ago.
Imagine, if only for a moment ‘being on an old soggy fishing boat that creaked and moaned as it rose and fell, rose and fell, across the
The algal growths in the lake feed on phosphorus mostly caused by fertilizer runoff from farms and local residences. Microcystin, a toxin that causes liver problems, is produced by the growths have caused major health concerns for wildlife and people using the lake. It is our moral obligation to clean up this mess or it will continue to harm the wildlife and environment in and the lake, as we are the one’s solely responsible for it. Organizations such as the Ohio EPA and Buckeye Lake for Tomorrow, have taken a notice to the pollution of Buckeye Lake and are formulating plans to return the lake to its former glory. Our plan is to provide a short term solution for the lake via the process of dredging, while a much larger and permanent solution is put in
"Water Pollution." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 May 2014.
Hennigan, Robert D. "Water Pollution." Oxford University Press 19.11 (1969): 976-78. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
Smith, Zachary A., and Grenetta Thomassey. Freshwater Issues: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Print
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