1. THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE WATER! H 2 SO 4, actually.

2. The Pollutants in Acid Rain Acid rain is any rain with a pH lower than 5.6 The principal pollutant become H 2 SO 4 and HNO 3 Sulfur Oxides: From combustion of coal and industrial processes. In the atmosphere, converts to. Heavy metal pollutants and solid particles catalyze the reaction, which lead to the creation of acids in the presence of moisture.

3. Pollutants, continued Nitrogen Oxides: Produced by combustion, lightning, and plants and soil. Nitrogen dioxide itself is dangerous, but can also be converted to nitric acid in the presence of moisture or hydroxyl free radicals.

4. The Environmental Effects

5. The rain can raise the acidity of lakes and streams. Those lakes that are on minerals (e.g. limestone) that can react with the acid may be buffered, though this effect has only limited power. Clays containing poisonous minerals and compounds (such as mercury and cyanide) may be released into the water as an effect of the increased solvent power of the water. The release is not only bad for the lake, of course: released aluminum can strip tree roots of nutrients and damage them. Fish that swallow mercury of aluminum, may be poisoned, as well as poison humans who eat them—aluminum for Alzheimer’s; mercury for run of the mill insanity.

6. Acid Rain and Monuments Acid rain is notorious for destroying great marble monuments, as shown. This is done by converting insoluble rock to soluble sulfates CaCO 3 +H 2 SO 4  H 2 O+CO 2 +CaSO 4 CaSO 4 is soluble, and washes away.

7. Why we’re running out Only a tiny fraction of the available water on earth is drinkable (fresh) and available for consumption Water used by humans becomes impure Rain water is not currently capable of replenishing aquifers. Water is not equally available all over the world. (Arabia comes to mind.) Due both to industrialization and poor treatment facilities, much of the fresh water in the world is contaminated or polluted. (Think Mexico.) Rising population (Think India and China.)

8. How to Save your water Dams (caveat emptor—this can prevent necessary water from getting down stream.) Shower heads, smaller toilets, direct reuse of water for drinking purposes from sewage (this is actually a common process in the more arid regions of the world and in closed environments, e.g. the Space Shuttle) Just conserve it, dude! Note that we are in no way actively promoting sponge baths.

9. Prevention Major sources of acid rain producing chemicals include, but are not limited to: Smoke stacks emitting sulfur oxides  Can be reduced dramatically by scrubbers Cars without proper converters  Make sure your car passes its emissions test Lightning  Build a fantastically tall conducting tower so that the charge can dissipate.

10. Clean-Up Liming the water This is a process of dumping chemicals that will react with the acid (lime, for instance) to neutralize the acidity and bring the lake back up to more neutral levels. Arsenic troubles MIT is currently working on finding a bacterium that will convert the highly poisonous arsenite to less troublesome arsenate, or alternately one that creates a sludge that can be easily removed. (Elderberry wine’s a favorite.)

11. There’s plenty, if you can get it. Reverse Osmosis This is a form of desalination that pressurizes water, thereby forcing it through a semi-permeable membrane. The upside is that it’s cheap and energy- efficient; the downside is that, so far, the membranes have proven finicky and short-lived, often not more than 3 years, though this is expected to improve. Salt water Fresh water

12. Distillation This is the age-old process of evaporating water to separate out the impurities, then collecting the condensation and purifying that again. It has the advantage of being highly dependable, but it is very, very costly as far as required energy goes. Ion Exchange This is the process of two ions of like charges crossing across a membrane of opposing charge—ions with charges like those on the membrane are blocked—which is driven by an imbalance of charge, arising from concentration or electric current. It also has the added benefit of being cheaper than almost any other method on the market, but it is also more sensitive to chemicals, such as chlorine, in the water.