Chapter 14: Water Pollution

pollution

the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects.

nonpoint source pollution

pollution that comes from many sources rather than from a single, specific site

pollutant

A material found in air, water, or soil that is harmful to humans or other organisms

septic tank

A large container that receives wastewater from a house as part of a septic system

advantages and disadvantages of drinking water chlorination (---THM)

- Advantages: chlorination helps prevent the growth of pathogens in the distribution system; less bacteria and hazardous material in drinking water; it is easy to achieve - Disadvantages: formation of disinfection by-products (trihalomethanes, THM); suspected carcinogens (they induce cancer); not effective against cryptosporidium; it can cause diseases such as typhoid, colera and dysentery

different types of water pollutants: microbes (E. coli), nutrients, organic chemicals

- Microbes: pathogens - Nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus - Toxic Substances: organic chemicals such as pesticides, heavy metals such as mercury, lead, chromium, etc - Petroleum: by oil spills

CSO in Indianapolis and other US cities.

130 CSO outfalls around Indianapolis. An estimated 6 billion gallons of raw sewage discharged into streams each year.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

Amount of oxygen required by aquatic bacteria to decompose given load of organic waste; a measure of water pollution.

Rachel Carson (Silent Spring).

An American marine biologist wrote in 1962 about her suspicion that the pesticide DDT, by entering the food chain and eventually concentrating in higher animals, caused reproductive dysfunctions. In 1973, DDT was banned in the U.S. except for use in extreme health emergencies. Effects of pesticides on the environment; changed way Americans viewed their impact on nature.

water pollution

Any physical or chemical change in surface water or groundwater that can harm living organisms or make water unfit for certain uses.

drinking water filtration (activated charcoal)?

At some water treatment facilities, additional steps and methods are included between the conventional secondary and tertiary treatments such as activated charcoal. - Filtration with activated charcoal is done to take care of taste and odor problems. Brita Filter is one of the few that utilizes activated charcoal in addition to chlorine.

BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: occurred in August 2010. Sank after an explosion of the vessel. Pipe became detached and leaked around 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day in Louisiana, killing wildlife. Largest oil spill in US history. 5 million barrels of oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico (20 times more oil was leaked than in the Exxon Valdez Spill)

what's a combined sewer system?

Combined Sewer Systems are designed to carry both sanitary sewage (from homes and businesses) as well as storm water from rainfall and/or snow melt. Under normal conditions, combined sewer systems transport all water to a wastewater treatment facility. Water is treated and then discharged into a surface waterbody.

dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico? What is it?

Dead zone: zone with low concentration of oxygen offshore of Lousiana. Area is considered unsuitable for aquatic life. The source of the problem was nitrogen from agricultural fields in the US Midwest flowed all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico (from the Mississippi river watershed)

Define eutrophication. Its main causes

Eutrophication: it occurs when water nutrients become rich. It leads to algal blooms which, in turn, cause high BOD, taste and odor problems. A main cause of eutrophication is excessive plant and algal growth due to the increased availability of one or more limiting growth factors needed for photosynthesis such as sunlight, carbon dioxide, and nutrient fertilizers.

Mercury toxicity? What chemical form of mercury is the most toxic? The food group most often impacted by mercury.

Food impacted by mercury: five of the most commonly eaten fish that are high in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish. Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white") tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. Mercury Toxicity: mercury toxicity most commonly affecting the neurologic, gastrointestinal (GI) and renal organ systems. Poisoning can result from mercury vapor inhalation, mercury ingestion, mercury injection, and absorption of mercury through the skin. Most toxic form off mercury: methylmercury

taste and odor compounds associated with algal blooms - geosmin, microcystin

Geosmin: taste and odor algal blooms Microcystin: river toxin Anatoxin: neurotoxin Anabaena: taste and odor algae Peridinium: taste and odor algae

The Flint Michigan water crisis (starting in 2014). What is the chemical element involved? (Read article Poisonous politics in the Rust Belt by Mark Peplow, Nature 7/12/2018)

In 2015, the news about the high lead levels in Flint, Michigan's drinking water caused the nation to focus its attention on lead. The EPA has a strong regulatory structure for lead in drinking water, yet in 2015, Flint found that lead from its aging pipes was exposing the community to hazardous levels of lead and legionella. The circumstances surrounding Flint's water problem were unique, but other communities across the country are discovering that they too have problems with lead/

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 1989

Its one of the best documented cases of oil spills. The ship ran aground in Prince William Sound (Alaska), rupturing the hull and spilling 250,000 barrels of crude oil. Because of this spill: - commercial/sport fisheries and tourism disrupted - loss of marine life (seabirds, mammals)

Lead (Pb) in drinking water? Potential impact on human health?

Lead can leach into tap water if the service line that connects your home to the water main in the street is made of lead. Lead can also enter tap water if you have lead solder on pipes or brass fixtures in your home. Homes built before 1989, when lead solder was banned, will likely contain lead solder. Potential Impact on Human Health: lead particularly affects the development of the brain (in children) and nervous system (in everyone). Lead also causes long-term harm in adults, including increased risk of high blood pressure and kidney damage.

MTBE as a gasoline additive and water pollutant.

MTBE (methyl tertbutyl ether) is a gasoline additive designed to reduce carbon dioxide emission from cars. Due to urban runoff and leakage of underground with MTBE which imparts objectionable taste and odor to waters and is also a suspected carcinogen.

Nitrate in waters (blue baby syndrome, hypoxia in Gulf of Mexico)

Nitrate is the most common nutrient found in groundwater. Ingestion of drinking water rich in nitrates causes the Blue-Baby Syndrome, which is the reduction of infants' bloodstream to carry oxygen to the body. Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico: Hypoxia means low oxygen and is primarily a problem for estuaries and coastal waters. The hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico forms every summer and is a result of excess nutrients from the Mississippi River and seasonal stratification (layering) of waters in the Gulf. Nutrient-laden freshwater from the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico. This freshwater is less dense and remains above the more dense saline Gulf water.

Oil spills and water pollution (Exxon Valdez, BP Deep Horizon in the Gulf)

Oil Spill: the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. They occur because of spills from tankers, pipelines, and off-shore oil production facilities. Water Pollution: Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities.

cultural eutrophication

Overnourishment of aquatic ecosystems with plant nutrients (mostly nitrates and phosphates) because of human activities such as agriculture, urbanization, and discharges from industrial plants and sewage treatment plants.

waterborne pathogens - Cryptosporidium, E. coli

Pathogenic microbes or microorganisms, which are those that can be seen only with a microscope, are important biological pollutants. Cholera, typhoid infections, hepatitis, and dysentery are all waterborne diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms. - E. Coli: a bacterium commonly found in the intestines of humans and other animals, where it usually causes no harm. Some strains can cause severe food poisoning, especially in old people and children. - Cryptosporidium: a parasitic coccidian protozoan found in the intestinal tract of many vertebrates, where it sometimes causes disease.

point source pollution

Pollutants discharged from a single identifiable location (e.g., pipes, ditches, channels, sewers, tunnels, containers of various types).

acid mine drainage

Pollution caused when sulfuric acid and dangerous dissolved materials such as lead, arsenic, and cadmium wash from coal and metal mines into nearby lakes and streams.

reclaimed water

Recycled used wastewater that has been treated to make it safe for certain uses

Cryptosporidium outbreak, Milwaukee, WI (1993)

Run-off and effluent from waste water treatments were discharged into rivers. Rivers flowed into Lake Michigan where drinking water is taken. Cryptosporidium infection caused diarrhea, abdominal pain, nause, vomiting, fever and dehydration.

Mercury Pollution (Minamata Disease)

Sources: coal burning, incineration, laboratory wastes, old batteries, lamps, thermometers Toxicity: damages to brain and a host of neurological disorders Methylation: bacterial conversion of ionic mercury (Hg++) into methylmercury (CH3Hg). Methylation greatly increases Hg toxicity. Biomagnification: increased Hg concentration in higher levels of the food chain: aquatic insects < small fish < large fish

Wastewater renovation and conservation cycle

The practice of applying wastewater to the land; in some systems, treated wastewater is applied to agricultural crops and as the water infiltrates through the soil layer, it is naturally purified; reuse of the water is by pumping it out of the ground for municipal or agricultural uses AB http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/pictures/wastewaterplant.jpg

chlorination as a drinking water treatment- what's the purpose of that treatment?

The purpose of the chlorination water treatment is to kill pathogens with chlorine gas so that it is safe for consumption

Cuyahoga river (Cleveland) in 1969?

The river was of great use to the early Native Americans who lived along the river and depended on it as a natural route for transporting goods that they consumed and traded with other people. With the growth of industrialization of the river valley and, in particular, the city of Cleveland, Ohio, pollution of the river became more and more common. At that time, laws to prohibit the dumping of waste into the river did not exist, and, with the arrival of the petroleum industry in Cleveland, the river became even more polluted. As a result of the pollution, fish and other living things in the river died, and the river became one of the most polluted in the United States. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River made environmental history when sparks from a train ignited oil floating on the water in the river, setting the surface of the river on fire.

Name the US government agency that sets national drinking water standards

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Water pollution. Distinguish between point source and non-point

Water Pollution: alteration of the biological, chemical, and/or physical properties of water so that it's value as a resource is decreased. - Point Source: "out of a pipe", pollutants discharged from a single identifiable location (e.g., pipes, ditches, channels, sewers, tunnels, containers of various types).- - Non Point Source: "can't pinpoint source", pollution that comes from many sources rather than from a single, specific site.

How to manage water hardness

Water is considered "hard" when high levels of dissolved minerals are found within its makeup. When that water evaporates, it leaves behind the mineral deposits on the surface. While hard water is not a problem for the human body, it can have devastating effects on plumbing, hot water heaters, dishwashers, washing machines, and many other household appliances. Water Hardness can be managed by utilizing water softener or by getting a water filter

Water properties: pH, water hardness

Water properties are determined by the concentration of dissolved ions present. The pH of surface water tends to be in the 6 to 9 area, so it can be neutral, acidic or alkaline (sometimes pH can be as low as 3 due to acid mine drainage). Water hardness is related to concentration of alkaline-earth metal (eg. Ca+2 and Mg+2) in waters: <140mg/L equals soft water 140-210mg/L equals medium hard water >210mg/L equals hard water Hard water actually makes cleaning much more difficult, therefore frequent cleaning is required.