Clean Water Act Types of Pollution WATER POLLUTION

CLEAN WATER ACT Purpose: To restore and maintain the chemical, biological, and physical integrity of the nation’s water. Sister Acts: Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act

CLEAN WATER ACT Main Goal: To change all of the United States surface waters to “fishable” and “swimmable” conditions.

CLEAN WATER ACT Focused only on point source pollution!

CLEAN WATER ACT Most of the money spent on sewage treatment facilities!

CLEAN WATER ACT Section 404 – Wetland Protection Who Dislikes? Developers – housing, mining, logging, urban expansion, ….

CLEAN WATER ACT Weaken the Act and call it the Dirty Water Act. Clean Water Act is administered and enforced by the EPA – Environmental Protection Agency.

CLASSIFICATIONS Point Source Pollution – comes directly from an identifiable source. Non-Point Source Pollution – diffuse, hard to identify source, runoff (agricultural, urban), atmospheric deposition

TYPES OF POLLUTION Infectious Agents - disease

TYPES OF POLLUTION Oxygen Demanding Wastes –BOD (measure of organic matter), DO

TYPES OF POLLUTION Cultural Eutrophication – Nutrients like Nitrogen and Phosphorus

TYPES OF POLLUTION Sediments – erosion, sedimentation

TYPES OF POLLUTION Thermal – cooling/heating, dams

TYPES OF POLLUTION Toxic Inorganics – heavy metals: tin, lead, arsenic, mercury, (mine drainage) Blue, purple, yellow – cadmium, zinc, lead Green – more neutral, but still concerning Red, orange – contributes less to water contamination

TYPES OF POLLUTION Organics – hydrocarbons, pesticides, solvents, dioxins, PCB’s, …..