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What impacts water quality
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Summary Only 1% of Earth’s surface water is fresh but it is essential for life. Water has multiple uses including for drinking, food production and waste treatment. Water quality is an issue for many countries especially because water is a universal solvent. It is easily polluted by the addition of organic and inorganic materials which can have detrimental effect on ecosystems and human health. Nutrient inputs into lakes and streams have increased as a result of human activities which has increased eutrophication in water bodies (especially lakes like Lake Washington that had 11 sewage discharge points entering it). Attempts to improve water quality have been implemented using different management and prevention methods. Sewage wastes are …show more content…
One method is to treat sewage, which recently, is more efficient and reduces the amount of phosphorus entering water bodies (Wright & Boorse, 2014) despite being an expensive process (Fig. 9) (Connell, 1993). Lake Washington reduced the sewage entering the water which improved the water quality (Miller & Spoolman, 2009). Non-point sources of nutrients are the hardest to manage because there is no distinct area (Pilditch, 2014a). Agricultural areas can fence off their waterways which restricts stock access to streams and this stops defecation directly into water as well as bank erosion (Botkin, …show more content…
Lake Erie has been affected by introduced species (zebra mussels) (U.S Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Rehabilitation of a eutrophic lake can be done. Artificial aeration can be used to re-oxygenate water which prevents bacteria growth because other higher organisms can strive (Morton, 1976; Miller & Spoolman, 2009). Lake Washington, U.S.A, is an example of a rehabilitated lake. The 11 sewage discharge points into the lake were diverted to Puget Sound where tidal flushing diluted and distributed the waste over a larger area (which meant that the Puget Sound did not have the effects of eutrophication) (Wright & Boorse, 2014). Future effects of changes in land-use patterns and hydrology need to be researched as this could help predict where and when lakes and streams are likely to be affected by eutrophication (U.S Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). The ability to predict this would mean that management procedures are implemented before the ecosystem changes too much (U.S Environmental Protection Agency,
...bility to multiply fast and to attach to almost any hard surface they are a hard species to handle (“Zebra Mussels,” 2013, para. 3). They can ruin ecosystems and ruin economies with their effort to eradicate them. It is unfortunate that at present time there’s no really good or safe way to get rid of them and return lakes and rivers back to normality. Until then we have to take the necessary measure to ensure that the spread of Zebra Mussels is at halt. The people who work at Lake Pueblo and the DOW have done a great job in making sure Zebra Mussels are not a threat. Since the first incident no Zebra Mussels or larvae have been found at Lake Pueblo or in any other water in Colorado (“Pueblo Chieftain,” 2008, para. 12). Hopefully the Zebra Mussel is a thing of the past here in Colorado but a watchful eye must always be present just in case they do ever show up again.
Also, it takes years to replenish the biodiversity of a lake after it has been infested by zebra mussels. Although little can be done to restore a body of water after zebra mussels have moved in, you can help stop the spread of zebra mussels. Proper cleaning of equipment, disposing of unused bait, and letting equipment dry completely dry before placing it in another body of water will effectively remove any traces of adults, larvae, and zebra mussel eggs and stop them from spreading to the next place you take your boat
So far the solutions that people and scientists have come up with are to make the farmers use fewer fertilizers, time when you use your fertilizers and control waste. Using fewer fertilizers and controlling waste are the most obvious solutions, as they would directly prevent nitrogen and nitrates from being in the water. They are the hardest to achieve though because the farmers need them to grow their plants. The other thing is to time when you use your fertilizers. This is so that you don’t add too much fertilizer in the rainy seasons because then the water will run down and go into the Gulf of Mexico.
About 80% of the State’s surveyed freshwater rivers and streams have good water quality that fully supports aquatic life uses, 17% have fair water quality that partially supports aquatic life uses, and 3% have poor water quality that does not support aquatic life uses. Ten percent of the surveyed rivers do not fully support swimming. The major sources of impairment are agriculture (responsible for 53% of the impaired river miles), urban runoff (responsible for 16%), and construction (responsible for 13%). These sources generate siltation, bacteria, and organic wastes that deplete disssolved opxygen.
Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable. GLRPPR, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. .
Latham, A., Wright, E., & Tsang, A. (n.d.). Pollution's Effects on the Great Lakes Ecosystem. Retrieved from University of Michigan website: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/section5group1/introduction_and_background
... moral direction and rightful reason for leadership. When the civilization is still intact in the beginning of the book Jack and Ralph go hunting. A harsher side of Ralph is shown, that he can be savage, but he, unlike Jack, realizes his corrupt thoughts and sees the error of his ways. This shows hope for the future, that if some people in mankind can stand behind people with good values, then civilization can progress to balance with savagery, instead of being overtaken by it.
Lake Erie now is having bad algae blooms. For example in 2011 algae took up ⅙ of Lake Erie’s water. Photoshorus is sneaking back into the waters and feeding the algae, too. Since there is now more plastic, algae, and phosphorus than water the fish population has gone down which has caused charting fishers companies drop 40%! The water gets so dangerous sometimes you can’t drink the water because people are worried about the chemicals in the water affecting us. What’s causing all the algae? “ It's extreme weather that creates blooms.” (Pearson). Lake Erie has gone from bad, to the best example of ecosystem recovery, to the bad algae
Three Medical Doctors wrote the book, The Water We Drink: Water Quality and Its Effects on Health. Their names are Joshua I. Barzilay, M.D., Winkler G. Weinberg, M.D., and J. William Eley, M.D. In order to put the issue of drinking water quality and its effects on health into perspective, the book is divided into three parts. It first reviews the history of water, disease, and sanitation. The next section deals with health issues. At the conclusion of the book are chapters regarding bottled water and methods of purification. The intent of the book is to educate consumers.
Water is an essential part of life for any living organism in the world. People use water every day to drink, do daily housework, or to bathe in; while animals use water to survive. Because of the doings of humans, the water that is so essential to all organisms’ well being is being polluted. The water drink and use every day may have oil from large petroleum companies spilling into it. Debris from sewer plants float into the ocean when they overflow. Even prescription pills are contaminating the water. Not only is the water affecting the humans that drink it but also affects the aquatic life. Aquatic species may have problems reproducing which disrupts the whole food chain and biodiversity web of life. How water becomes contaminated should
Eutrophication is the reaction resulting from the addition of harmful substances to aquatic ecosystems. Eutrophication causes decreased biodiversity, changes in species composition and dominance dissolved oxygen depletion and problems in water treatments. Eutrophication is currently happening to many of the Canadian Lakes including Lake Winnipeg. Since 1969, it has been observed that Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) has been the reason for the 90% hike in the algal blooms.Cyanobacteria causes a smelly odour and releases toxins that are detrimental to humans and some other organisms. When the lake is enriched with phosphorus, cyanobacteria thrive due to nitrogen-fixing. Due to the unfair advantage cyanobacteria has over other non-nitrogen-fixing species and its cause in oxygen depletion, other species die off causing decrease in biodiversity. It has been proven through the recoveries of lakes in many countries, including Canada, that reducing phosphorous is the most inexpensive and efficient way to solving the Cyanobacterial blooms. Synthetic fertilizer applications and manure from ca...
The consumption of contaminated water can be dangerous for health reasons and several people have passed away from these water-borne diseases. Some of these diseases include Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery, Giardiasis, and Malaria. These unfortunate diseases are currently the cause of numerous deaths, especially in small children. The availability of clean water can prevent many problems in low-income communities. The available resources for clean water are very rare, so these water sources need to pass through a process of water sanitation in order to just be sustainable to drink, “The world’s surface is made up of approximately 80% water, which is an indestructible substance.
Smith, Zachary A., and Grenetta Thomassey. Freshwater Issues: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Print
Even though the Midwestern United States produces the majority of the country’s agriculture to date, this immense agricultural activity in the Midwest region has not only degraded the land itself but also the water in the regional rivers and tributaries, which is all interconnected in the network known as the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (also referred to as MARB). The MARB (Figure 1) covers an extensive 1,245,000 square miles and drains out into the Gulf of Mexico, where over the years it has accumulated an increased and dangerous amount of agricultural runoff pollution, namely nitrogen and phosphorus. Over the years, researchers have identified and pointed to several human interactions that have contributed to the degrading and toxic ecological changes occurring in the Gulf of Mexico. However, only 3 human interactions have been chosen as part of the focus for this research project, all of which will be introduced later in the paper. In addition to the human interactions that accelerates the degradation of the water in the GoM, it also important to note that the continual increase and accumulation of excess nutrients resulting from runoff is defined as eutrophication and is a true real world problem that must be reduced before water becomes uninhabitable.
Water pollution is something that can be prevented; it is important to be aware of the causes of water pollution to keep the environment safe and clean for the many generations to come. Domestic households and industrial and agricultural practices often produce wastewater that can cause rivers and lakes to become polluted. This is typically called sewage and wastewater pollution. Sewage is a term for wastewater that usually contains feces, urine, and laundry waste. With there being billions of people on earth, treating sewage is a big priority.