Water Pollution

Cuyahoga River

River that in the 1960s carried so much flammable waste that it caught fire.

Clean Water Act (1972)

Establishes and maintains goals and standards for U.S. water quality and purity. It has been amended several times, most prominently in 1987 to increase controls on toxic pollutants, and in 1990, to more effectively address the hazard of oil spills.

Water pollution

any change in water quality that adversely affects living organisms or makes water unsuitable for desired uses

Natural sources of water pollution

Oil seeps, erosion, volcanoes

example: hot springs in Yosemite

Point Sources

discharges pollution from specific locations

example: power plants, drain pipes

Non-point Sources

indirect or diffuse discharge

example(s): agricultural fields, feedlots, golf courses, construction sites, roads

Atmospheric deposition

contaminants transported by wind which makes pollution less predictable and more difficult to monitor, regulate and treat

ex: industrial chemicals in the Great Lakes

Types of water pollutants

1. Infectious agents

2. Oxygen-demanding wastes

3. inorganic wastes

4. Organic chemical wastes

5. Sediment

Infectious agents that contribute to water pollution include

metals, which are highly toxic and tend to bioaccumulate in food chains

True or false: Mercury is the most widespread toxic metal

True

Mine drainage also contributes to:

1. an increase in steam acidity

2. a depletion in oxygen

3. fish death

Yellow Boy Pollution

Pollution that turns the river into a fool's gold color, resulting from a over-concentration of purite (FeS2) being dumped

Flint, Michigan

city where residents were drinking bad water contaminated by old lead pipes

Arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh

1. Arsenic enters through groundwater from rocks

2. Wells brought contaminated water for drinking and cooking

3. Contaminated water used to irrigate crops where plants, especially rice, absorb it

Organic Chemical wastes that contribute to water pollution include:

chemicals used to make pesticides, plastics, pharmaceuticals, pigments, and many other day-to-day chemicals

How do pharmaceuticals get into our drinking water?

1. Excretion

2. Disposal (main source): unused drugs should be bought to a collect site OR mixed with coffee grounds

True or false: Contraceptive pills, ibuprofen and prozac don't get removed by waste treatment plants

True

True or False: Fish in freshwater communities are developing sexual deformities due to hormones in waste treatment

True

How is water getting polluted via sediment?

Human activities have accelerated erosion rates and have obstructed shipping channels, clogs, hydroelectric turbines, smothering fish eggs, blocking out light needed for photosynthesis

Sediment building can also be beneficial

in building coastal wetlands and nourishing flood plain fields

True or false: Drinking bottled water is better than drinking tap water

False

True or False: Louisiana has some of the worst water pollution in the US

True

ex: Exxon Mobil Refinery in Baton Rouge is one of the TOP contributors to water pollutants, exempt from meeting 1976 pollution prevention requirements

Example of polluted body of water in the Southern US

Lake Maurepas in Lower Mississippi is highly contaminated due to nearby oil refinery

Bayou Bonfouca

former superfund site due to contamination from abandoned creosote facility

Lake Karachay, Russia

world's most polluted waterbody in 1960, site of former nuclear facility

-vats exploded in 1957 so they pumped the waste into nearby lakes which eventually dried up, leaving contaminates to be blown by wind all around

Results of Lake Karachay's Pollution

41% increase in leukemia

40% increase in cognitive disabilities

29% increase in cancer

Citarum River, Indonesia

Worst polluted river

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

patch of solid waste the size of Texas floating in the currents of the North Pacific gyre, mostly consisting of plastics.

True or False: Most of the debris in the Gulf of Mexico is textiles, plastic beads, and irregular plastics such as water bottles

True

Which uninhabited island in the South Pacific has been described as having the highest density of plastic waste in the world?

Henderson Island

True or False: Orleans Parish recycled 3% of all trash at the curb.

True