1. 5-3 How Water Pollution Affects Ecosystems
Unit 5: Water
“All is born of water;
all is sustained by water.”
Take out Notebook
March 3, 2009
Sanders

2. Bioaccumulation Pesticides settle in the water bottom.
Bottom feeding organisms have the toxins accumulate.
Small fish eat hundreds of small organisms.
Larger fish eat hundreds of small fish.
Birds of prey eat several large fish.
Also known as biomagnification.
DDT's insecticidal properties were not discovered until 1939 it was used with great effect among both military and civilian populations to control mosquitoes spreading malaria and lice transmitting typhus, resulting in dramatic reductions in the incidence of both diseases.
In 1962, Silent Spring by American biologist Rachel Carson was published. The book catalogued the environmental impacts of the indiscriminate spraying of DDT in the US and questioned the logic of releasing large amounts of chemicals into the environment without fully understanding their effects on ecology or human health.
November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water

3. Water Pollution Affects Ecosystems
All of the toxins get concentrated at each trophic level.
Silent Spring:
In January 1958, Carson's friend, Olga Owens Huckins, wrote a letter to The Boston Herald describing the death of numerous birds around her property resulting from the aerial spraying of DDT to kill mosquitoes, Huckins sent a copy of the letter to Carson. After Carso received the letter she turned her attention to conservation and the environmental problems caused by synthetic pesticides.
The book stated that uncontrolled pesticide use not only led to the deaths of animals and especially birds, but also humans. Its title was meant to evoke a spring season in which no bird songs could be heard, because they had all died from pesticides.
November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water

4. November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water

5. Artificial Eutrophication
Lakes and slow moving streams slowly eutrophy.
Eutrophication means an over abundance of nutrients.
Fertilizers and detergents contain materials that accelerate this process.
In an accelerated processes, plants and animals die off.
November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water

6. Natural Eutrophication
Eutrophication is an increase in chemical nutrients — compounds containing nitrogen or phosphorus — in an ecosystem, and may occur on land or in water. However, the term is often used to mean the resultant increase in the ecosystem's primary productivity (excessive plant growth and decay), and further effects including lack of oxygen and severe reductions in water quality, fish, and other animal populations.
Natural Eutrophication
November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water

7. Artificial Eutrophication
November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water

8. Thermal Pollution Hot water from power plants disrupts the ecosystem.
Fish die off as a result of the excessive heat.
Warm water typically decreases the level of dissolved oxygen in the water . The decrease in levels of dissolved oxygen can harm aquatic animals such as fish, amphibians and copepods. Thermal pollution may also increase the metabolic rate of aquatic animals, as enzyme activity, resulting in these organisms consuming more food in a shorter time than if their environment were not changed. An increased metabolic rate may result in food source shortages, causing a sharp decrease in a population.
November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water

9. Power Plants Heating the Water
Thermal pollution is the rise or fall in the temperature of a natural body of water caused by human influence. A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers. When water used as a coolant is returned to the natural environment at a higher temperature the change in temperature impacts organisms by (a) decreasing oxygen supply, and (b) affecting ecosystem composition. Thermal pollution can also be caused by the release of very cold water from the base of reservoirs into warmer rivers. This affects fish (particularly eggs and larvae), macroinvertebrates and river productivity.
November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water

10. Cleaning up Water Pollution
1972 Congress passed Clean Water Act.
“Restore and maintain chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters”
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States. (The Act does not deal directly with ground water nor with water quantity issues.) The statute employs a variety of regulatory and nonregulatory tools to sharply reduce direct pollutant discharges into waterways, finance municipal wastewater treatment facilities, and manage polluted runoff. These tools are employed to achieve the broader goal of restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters so that they can support "the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and recreation in and on the water."
November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water

11. Cleaning Up Water Many toxins removed.
Metals removed before discharge in streams.
Agricultural wastes channeled into pools.
Pollutants decomposed.
Waste treatment processes improved.
Water seen in this picture is discharge from a factory.
After environmental laws have been passed, water can be used for passive recreation.
November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water

12. Special Problem of Ground Pollution
Groundwater is pollution that seeped into ground.
Pesticides
Chemical fertilizers
Agricultural chemicals
What is the problem
with cleaning this up?
November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water

13. Bottled Water Bottled water.
What are some problems associated with bottled water?
November 10, 2018
Unit 5: Water