Impairments to Water Quality

Module Topics What is Water Quality? What are Pollutants? Types of Water  Stormwater  Wastewater  Process water

What is Water Quality?

Water Quality Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of waterwater

Did You Know? In the United States, water utilities treat nearly 34 billion gallons of water every day In the United States and Canada, the total miles of water pipeline and aqueducts equal approximately one million miles; enough to circle the globe 40 times Americans drink more than one billion glasses of tap water per day Children in the first six months of life consume seven times as much water per pound as the average American adult

How We Use Water in the U.S. Total Water Use: 410,000 million gallons per day  Aquaculture: 2%  Domestic: 1%  Industrial: 4%  Irrigation: 31%  Livestock: less than 1%  Mining: 1%  Public Supply: 11%  Thermoelectric Power: 49%

We Expect our Water to be Safe! Play MPEG file Play

Clean Water

What are Pollutants?

What Is A Pollutant? The term pollutant is defined very broadly in the Clean Water Act because it has been through 25 years of litigation  It includes any type of industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water dredged soil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste.

Potential Pollutants Affecting Water Quality Infiltrated ground water pumped from mines to surface water Stormwater runoff from mine sites, concrete plants, brick factories (with mines), and asphalt plants Wastewater from truck and mixing equipment washing Wastewater from spillage at ready mix concrete plants Process generated wastewater

Infiltration Infiltration refers to the movement of water into the soil layersoil  The rate of this movement is called the infiltration rate  If rainfall intensity is greater than the infiltration rate, water will accumulate on the surface and runoff will begin

Infiltration Flow of water from the land surface into the subsurface

Types of Water

Stormwater Stormwater – the runoff generated from rain or other forms of precipitation Regulated

Wastewater Water that has been used in homes, industries, and businesses that is not for reuse unless it is treated Liquid waste substance derived from industrial, commercial, municipal, residential, agricultural, recreational, or other operations or establishments Other liquid waste substance containing liquid, gaseous or solid matter and having characteristics which will pollute any waters of the State

Process Water Process Water – the wastewater generated from various processes at a facility  Washing of aggregates  Truck washing  Mobile equipment cleaning stations When stormwater mixes with process water, then the mix must be treated as process water

"Process Generated Wastewater" Any wastewater used in the slurry transport of mined material, dust control, or processing, including product preparation and washing, exclusive of mining The term shall also include any other water which becomes co-mingled with such wastewater in a pit, pond, lagoon, mine, or other facility used for treatment of such wastewater

How Could These Pollutants Impact the Watershed? Changing levels of dissolved oxygen in the water Adding Sediment Affecting the water temperature Changing the flow of receiving waters Changes to water clarity Affects pH level in receiving waters Oil and grease runoff

Water Quality = Water Standards = Regulations