THE HEALTH OF A WATER SYSTEM There are 6 indicators of the health of a water system: Dissolved oxygen (DO) Temperature Nitrates pHTurbidity Biological indicators

DISSOLVED OXYGEN Also known as DO Also known as DO Is oxygen that is dissolved in water Sewage, fertilizers, and animal wastes can make DO levels drop Low levels of DO kill organisms

TEMPERATURE COLD WATER HOLDS MORE DISSOLVED OXYGEN THAN WARM WATER COLD WATER HOLDS MORE DISSOLVED OXYGEN THAN WARM WATER NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS RELEASE WARM WATER AFTER GENERATING ELECTRICITY THIS IS CALLED THERMAL POLLUTION

NITRATES ARE NITROGEN –OXYGEN COMPOUNDS ELEVATED NITRATE LEVELS FROM ANIMAL WASTES AND FERTILIZERS CAN REDUCE DISSOLVED OXYGEN ELEVATED NITRATE LEVELS FROM ANIMAL WASTES AND FERTILIZERS CAN REDUCE DISSOLVED OXYGEN

pH IS ACID/BASE BALANCE NORMAL RANGE IS pH OUT OF THIS RANGE INHIBITS INTAKE OF NUTRIENTS Alkalinity is ability to neutralize acid

MONITORING WATER QUALITY 3 WAYS TO LOOK FOR CHEMICAL OR BIOLOGICAL IMBALANCES CHEMICAL- MEASURE pH, D.O., OR NITRATES BIOLOGICAL- DO POPULATION COUNTS TURBIDITY- MEASURE HOW CLEAR THE WATER IS

WAYS TO MONITOR DIGGING TEST WELLS DIGGING TEST WELLS CAN MEASURE WATER LEVELS AND TEST FOR POLLUTANTS USE SATELLITES AND AIRCRAFT TO MEASURE TURBIDITY AND WATER TEMPERATURE

Where the Water Comes From  Only 3% of Earth’s water is drinkable  Groundwater is stored in aquifers  Most important aquifers are located in coastal plains of NC Figure from pg. 63 in textbook

Where the Water Goes  Wastes from homes goes to either a septic tank or a waste treatment plant  Septic Tank – a tank under the ground that cleans waste from an individual home  Drain field – buried pipes that distribute cleaned water into the ground

Where the Water Goes  Water in agriculture  Water is lost through runoff and evaporation  Drip irrigation helps conserve water  Delivers water directly to the roots of plants Photo from: image.tradeindia.com/ /b/0/Drip- Irrigation-System-Garlic-Plantation.jpg

Where the Water Goes  Water in industry  19% of water in the world is used for industry  Manufacturing goods, cooling power stations, cleaning industrial products, generating energy  Trying to conserve water by recycling it  Most water is treated and returned to surface water Image From: content/uploads/2009/05/recycle-corp-ad-52.jpg

Where the Water Goes  Water at home  Average household in the U.S. uses 100 gallons of water per day!  Ways to conserve at home  Low-flow shower heads  Low-flush toilets  Use native plants to cut down on watering  Take shorter showers  Turn water off while brushing your teeth  Wait until dishwasher or washing machine are full before running Pie Chart from pg. 63 in textbook

Analysis Questions What is a tank under the ground that cleans the wastewater from a household called? What are the buried pipes that distribute cleaned water into the ground? What percentage of the Earth’s water is drinkable? Drip irrigation delivers water directly to what? Where are the most important groundwater sources in NC? What do we call efforts by industries and homes to use less water?