Water Pollution Project Research completed by Ms. Gatto’s 3 rd and 6 th period classes Today is Earth Day! April 22 nd

Period 3 working on project

Period 6 working on project

What’s In Our Water?

Water is important As a habitat for wild plants and animals For people to use (like to drink and grow food) and to get food from (like fish) To transport things For recreation

It isn’t the pollution that’s harming the environment. It’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it. Our Society needs a better understanding of how we get clean water for all human needs

What is Water Pollution? any physical (thermal), chemical (pesticides, mercury), or biological (disease, sewage) change to water that adversely effects its use by living things

About 40% of our nation’s lakes and rivers are not healthy to eat fish from, drink water from, or swim in. How are these water resources getting polluted? Where is all the pollution coming from? Pollution damages water resources and ruins the water for people, plants and animals. Only 64% of Indiana’s rivers can completely support all aquatic life. Only 59% of streams surveyed are safe for recreation.

Point sources are easy to detect because the pollution comes from one place. Oil spills, industrial plants and sewers are examples of point source pollution. Because the source is easy to detect, the government does a pretty good job at controlling this type of pollution. The majority of pollution comes from nonpoint sources... Pollution enters the water from either point or nonpoint sources

Nonpoint source pollution happens when rain, snow or irrigation picks up pollutants and carries them to surface water or down into ground water. Examples of contributors to nonpoint source pollution include runoff from agricultural fields and urban areas as well as changes to the environment due to channeling or habitat destruction. It can also happen when small amounts of pollution come from many sources, like leakage from motor boats or acid rain falling. There is no one place that nonpoint source pollution comes from.

Point Sources Single large source Can localize it to one spot Industrial Plants - Sewage pipes

Point source examples

Point Source - Example LUST - Leaky Underground Storage Tanks 22% of the 1.2 million UST are LUSTy Look at water pollution from gasoline...

Non-point Sources Diffuse source or many smaller point sources Automobiles Fertilizer on fields

Non point source examples

Non-point source pollutants - nutrients

Water Pollution

Acid Rain Reactions to convert to acid take place in ~2 days - travel 1000 miles Down wind - Acid rain Dry Dep. vs Wet Dep. Dry Deposition 50 % of total Can react with plants - strip nutrients Tree dieback

Europe The US Capitol

Acid Rain and Trees

Forests affected by Acid Rain Northeast US Canada Northern Europe Asia

Acid Rain Summary

Pesticides and herbicides Toxic chemicals Sediments and nutrients Common water pollutants include

Pollution Categories Chemical Pollution Thermal Pollution Organic Pollution Ecological Pollution Toxic chemicals into water resources Temperatures above or below what is normal Nutrient overloads Stresses that are natural Acid precipitation, pesticide contamination Heated water discharged from power plants Fertilizers from fields running off into streams Heavy rains causing erosion or unusually high tides. While the first three are primarily caused by people, they can naturally occur as well…can you think of examples?

Examples of Smog

Learn to Conserve Water in Your Home Learn to Conserve Water in Your Home - You can also take a virtual tour that will show you how to save water in nearly every room in your house at the California Urban Water Conservation Council's Web site www. cuwcc.com and www. h2ouse.org www. cuwcc.comwww. h2ouse.org Maintain Your Septic SystemMaintain Your Septic System - One in four American homes is served by septic systems. The U.S. Bureau of the Census reported that at least 10% of septic systems failed in the previous year. Help Prevent Stormwater RunoffHelp Prevent Stormwater Runoff - Pollution from storm water run-off is the most common cause of water pollution today. Help Prevent Pollution in Your CommunityHelp Prevent Pollution in Your Community - Learn about a variety of steps you can take. Manage Your Household’s Water Pollution Manage Your Household’s Water Pollution - Although individual homes may contribute only minor amounts of water pollution, the combined effect of an entire neighborhood can be serious. Use bio-degradable detergents, car wash and laundry. What can you do? Preventions