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WATER POLLUTION AND SOCIETY

By David Krantz and Brad Kifferstein

INTRODUCTION
Comprising over 70% of the Earths surface, water is undoubtedly the most precious natural resource that exists on our planet. ithout the seemingly invaluable compound comprised of hydrogen and oxygen, life on Earth would be non!existent" it is essential for everything on our planet to grow and prosper. #lthough we as humans recogni$e this fact, we disregard it by polluting our rivers, la%es, and oceans. &ubse'uently, we are slowly but surely harming our planet to the point where organisms are dying at a very alarming rate. (n addition to innocent organisms dying off, our drin%ing water has become greatly affected as is our ability to use water for recreational purposes. (n order to combat water pollution, we must understand the problems and become part of the solution.

POINT AND NONPOINT SOURCES

#ccording to the #merican College )ictionary, pollution is defined as" *to ma%e foul or unclean+ dirty., ater pollution occurs when a body of water is adversely affected due to the addition of large amounts of materials to the water. hen it is unfit for its intended use, water is considered polluted. -wo types of water pollutants exist+ point source and nonpoint source. .oint sources of pollution occur when harmful substances are emitted directly into a body of water. -he Exxon /alde$ oil spill best illustrates a point source water pollution. # nonpoint source delivers pollutants indirectly through environmental changes. #n example of this type of water pollution is when fertili$er from a field is carried into a stream by rain, in the form of run!off which in turn effects a'uatic life. -he technology exists for point sources of pollution to be monitored and regulated, although political factors may complicate matters. 0onpoint sources are much more difficult to control. .ollution arising from nonpoint sources accounts for a ma1ority of the contaminants in streams and la%es.

CAUSES OF POLLUTION
2any causes of pollution including sewage and fertili$ers contain nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. (n excess levels, nutrients over stimulate the growth of a'uatic plants and algae. Excessive growth of these types of organisms conse'uently clogs our waterways, use up dissolved oxygen as they decompose, and bloc% light to deeper waters. -his, in turn, proves very harmful to a'uatic organisms as it affects the respiration ability or fish and other invertebrates that reside in water. .ollution is also caused when silt and other suspended solids, such as soil, wash off plowed fields, construction and logging sites, urban areas, and eroded river ban%s when it rains. 3nder natural conditions, la%es, rivers, and other water bodies undergo Eutrophication, an aging process that slowly fills in the water body with sediment and organic matter. hen these sediments enter various bodies of water, fish respiration becomes impaired, plant productivity and water depth become reduced, and a'uatic organisms and their environments become suffocated. .ollution in the form of organic material enters waterways in many different forms as sewage, as leaves and grass clippings, or as runoff from livestoc% feedlots and pastures. hen natural bacteria and proto$oan in the water brea% down this organic material, they begin to use up the oxygen dissolved in the water. 2any types of fish and bottom!dwelling animals cannot survive when levels of dissolved oxygen drop below two to five parts per million. hen this occurs, it %ills a'uatic organisms in large numbers which leads to disruptions in the food chain.

ADDITIONAL FORMS OF WATER POLLUTION

-hree last forms of water pollution exist in the forms of petroleum, radioactive substances, and heat. .etroleum often pollutes water bodies in the form of oil, resulting from oil spills. -he previously mentioned Exxon /alde$ is an example of this type of water pollution. -hese large!scale accidental discharges of petroleum are an important cause of pollution along shore lines. 4esides the supertan%ers, off!shore drilling operations contribute a large share of pollution. 5ne estimate is that one ton of oil is spilled for every million tons of oil transported. -his is e'ual to about 0.0006 percent. 7adioactive substances are produced in the form of waste from nuclear power plants, and from the industrial, medical, and scientific use of radioactive materials. &pecific forms of waste are uranium

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and thorium mining and refining. -he last form of water pollution is heat. 8eat is a pollutant because increased temperatures result in the deaths of many a'uatic organisms. -hese decreases in temperatures are caused when a discharge of cooling water by factories and power plants occurs. Demonstrators Protest Drilling 5il pollution is a growing problem, particularly devastating to coastal wildlife. &mall 'uantities of oil spread rapidly across long distances to form deadly oil slic%s. (n this picture, demonstrators with 9oil! covered9 plastic animals protest a potential drilling pro1ect in :ey ;argo, <lorida. hether or not accidental spills occur during the pro1ect, its impact on the delicate marine ecosystem of the coral reefs could be devastating.

Oil Spill Clean !p

or%ers use special nets to clean up a California beach after an oil tan%er spill. -an%er spills are an increasing environmental problem because once oil has spilled, it is virtually impossible to completely remove or contain it. Even small amounts spread rapidly across large areas of water. 4ecause oil and water do not mix, the oil floats on the water and then washes up on broad expanses of shoreline. #ttempts to chemically treat or sin% the oil may further disrupt marine and beach ecosystems.

CLASSIFYIN" WATER POLLUTION

-he ma1or sources of water pollution can be classified as municipal, industrial, and agricultural. 2unicipal water pollution consists of waste water from homes and commercial establishments. <or many years, the main goal of treating municipal wastewater was simply to reduce its content of suspended solids, oxygen!demanding materials, dissolved inorganic compounds, and harmful bacteria. (n recent years, however, more stress has been placed on improving means of disposal of the solid residues from the municipal treatment processes. -he basic methods of treating municipal wastewater fall into three stages" primary treatment, including grit removal, screening, grinding, and sedimentation+ secondary treatment, which entails oxidation of dissolved organic matter by means of using biologically active sludge, which is then filtered off+ and tertiary treatment, in which advanced biological methods of nitrogen removal and chemical and physical methods such as granular filtration and activated carbon absorption are employed. -he handling and disposal of solid residues can account for => to >0 percent of the capital and operational costs of a treatment plant. -he characteristics of industrial waste waters can differ considerably both within and among industries. -he impact of industrial discharges depends not only on their collective characteristics, such as biochemical oxygen demand and the amount of suspended solids, but also on their content of specific inorganic and organic substances. -hree options are available in controlling industrial wastewater. Control can ta%e place at the point of generation in the plant+ wastewater can be pretreated for discharge to municipal treatment sources+ or wastewater can be treated completely at the plant and either reused or discharged directly into receiving waters.

Wa#$e%a$e& T&ea$'en$

7aw sewage includes waste from sin%s, toilets, and industrial processes. -reatment of the sewage is re'uired before it can be safely buried, used, or released bac% into local water systems. (n a treatment plant, the waste is passed through a series of screens, chambers, and chemical processes to reduce its bul% and toxicity. -he three general phases of treatment are primary, secondary, and tertiary. )uring primary treatment, a large percentage of the suspended solids and inorganic material is removed from the sewage. -he focus of secondary treatment is reducing organic material by accelerating natural biological processes. -ertiary treatment is necessary when the water will be reused+ ?? percent of solids are removed and various chemical processes are used to ensure the water is as free from impurity as possible. #griculture, including commercial livestoc% and poultry farming, is the source of many organic and inorganic pollutants in surface waters and groundwater. -hese contaminants include both sediment from erosion cropland and compounds of phosphorus and nitrogen that partly originate in animal wastes and commercial fertili$ers. #nimal wastes are high in oxygen demanding material, nitrogen and phosphorus, and they often harbor pathogenic organisms. astes from commercial feeders are contained and disposed of on land+ their main threat to natural waters, therefore, is from runoff and leaching. Control may involve settling basins for li'uids, limited biological treatment in aerobic or anaerobic lagoons, and a variety of other methods.

"ROUND WATER

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0inety!five percent of all fresh water on earth is ground water. @round water is found in natural roc% formations. -hese formations, called a'uifers, are a vital natural resource with many uses. 0ationally, >A% of the population relies on ground water as a source of drin%ing water. (n rural areas this figure is even higher. Eighty one percent of community water is dependent on ground water. #lthough the 6??= &ection A0>BbC &tate ater Duality 7eports indicate that, overall, the 0ations ground water 'uality is good to excellent, many local areas have experienced significant ground water contamination. &ome examples are lea%ing underground storage tan%s and municipal landfills.

"LO)AL WATER POLLUTION

Estimates suggest that nearly 6.> billion people lac% safe drin%ing water and that at least > million deaths per year can be attributed to waterborne diseases. ith over 70 percent of the planet covered by oceans, people have long acted as if these very bodies of water could serve as a limitless dumping ground for wastes. 7aw sewage, garbage, and oil spills have begun to overwhelm the diluting capabilities of the oceans, and most coastal waters are now polluted. 4eaches around the world are closed regularly, often because of high amounts of bacteria from sewage disposal, and marine wildlife is beginning to suffer. .erhaps the biggest reason for developing a worldwide effort to monitor and restrict global pollution is the fact that most forms of pollution do not respect national boundaries. -he first ma1or international conference on environmental issues was held in &toc%holm, &weden, in 6?7= and was sponsored by the 3nited 0ations B30C. -his meeting, at which the 3nited &tates too% a leading role, was controversial because many developing countries were fearful that a focus on environmental protection was a means for the developed world to %eep the undeveloped world in an economically subservient position. -he most important outcome of the conference was the creation of the 3nited 0ations Environmental .rogram B30E.C. 30E. was designed to be *the environmental conscience of the 3nited 0ations,, and, in an attempt to allay fears of the developing world, it became the first 30 agency to be head'uartered in a developing country, with offices in 0airobi, :enya. (n addition to attempting to achieve scientific consensus about ma1or environmental issues, a ma1or focus for 30E. has been the study of ways to encourage sustainable development increasing standards of living without destroying the environment. #t the time of 30E.Es creation in 6?7=, only 66 countries had environmental agencies. -en years later that number had grown to 60F, of which 70 were in developing countries.

WATER *UALITY

ater 'uality is closely lin%ed to water use and to the state of economic development. (n industriali$ed countries, bacterial contamination of surface water caused serious health problems in ma1or cities throughout the mid 6G00s. 4y the turn of the century, cities in Europe and 0orth #merica began building sewer networ%s to route domestic wastes downstream of water inta%es. )evelopment of these sewage networ%s and waste treatment facilities in urban areas has expanded tremendously in the past two decades. 8owever, the rapid growth of the urban population Bespecially in ;atin #merica and #siaC has outpaced the ability of governments to expand sewage and water infrastructure. hile waterborne diseases have been eliminated in the developed world, outbrea%s of cholera and other

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similar diseases still occur with alarming fre'uency in the developing countries. &ince orld ar (( and the birth of the *chemical age,, water 'uality has been heavily impacted worldwide by industrial and agricultural chemicals. Eutrophication of surface waters from human and agricultural wastes and nitrification of groundwater from agricultural practices has greatly affected large parts of the world. #cidification of surface waters by air pollution is a recent phenomenon and threatens a'uatic life in many area of the world. (n developed countries, these general types of pollution have occurred se'uentially with the result that most developed countries have successfully dealt with ma1or surface water pollution. (n contrast, however, newly industriali$ed countries such as China, (ndia, -hailand, 4ra$il, and 2exico are now facing all these issues simultaneously.

CONCLUSION

Clearly, the problems associated with water pollution have the capabilities to disrupt life on our planet to a great extent. Congress has passed laws to try to combat water pollution thus ac%nowledging the fact that water pollution is, indeed, a serious issue. 4ut the government alone cannot solve the entire problem. (t is ultimately up to us, to be informed, responsible and involved when it comes to the problems we face with our water. e must become familiar with our local water resources and learn about ways for disposing harmful household wastes so they dont end up in sewage treatment plants that cant handle them or landfills not designed to receive ha$ardous materials. (n our yards, we must determine whether additional nutrients are needed before fertili$ers are applied, and loo% for alternatives where fertili$ers might run off into surface waters. e have to preserve existing trees and plant new trees and shrubs to help prevent soil erosion and promote infiltration of water into the soil. #round our houses, we must %eep litter, pet waste, leaves, and grass clippings out of gutters and storm drains. -hese are 1ust a few of the many ways in which we, as humans, have the ability to combat water pollution. #s we head into the =6st century, awareness and education will most assuredly continue to be the two most important ways to prevent water pollution. (f these measures are not ta%en and water pollution continues, life on earth will suffer severely. @lobal environmental collapse is not inevitable. 4ut the developed world must wor% with the developing world to ensure that new industriali$ed economies do not add to the worldEs environmental problems. .oliticians must thin% of sustainable development rather than economic expansion. Conservation strategies have to become more widely accepted, and people must learn that energy use can be dramatically diminished without sacrificing comfort. (n short, with the technology that currently exists, the years of global environmental mistreatment can begin to be reversed.