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Fresh Water Systems: Evaluating Water System’s Health

Fresh Water Systems: Evaluating Water System’s Health. You will be able to determine the health of a fresh water system using bio and physical indicators. Rank the pictures in terms of the healthiest water. A. B. C. D. Understanding Water’s Health 2 Main Indicators.

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Fresh Water Systems: Evaluating Water System’s Health

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  1. Fresh Water Systems:Evaluating Water System’s Health You will be able to determine the health of a fresh water system using bio and physical indicators

  2. Rank the pictures in terms of the healthiest water A B C D

  3. Understanding Water’s Health2 Main Indicators • Physical Indicators- the presence or absence of chemicals or the clarity of the water • Bio-Indicator- Using life forms to determine the health of a water system

  4. Physical Indicators: 5 Types • Temperature: heat gained or lost by water • Dissolved Oxygen: as temperature goes up levels go down drastically • pH: how acidic (H+) or basic water (OH-)is scale 7.0 “perfect” for fresh water / 8.0-8.5 for salt water • Turbidity (Clarity): sediment or algae in water • Hardness- amount of metal dissolved in the water (Mg or Ca)

  5. What causes changes in Physical Indicators? • Temperature- affected by global warming and cooling events; also algae blooms • Dissolved Oxygen- most affected by temperature increase, as temp goes up levels go down quickly • pH- acid rain created by air pollution (both natural and man made) makes pH levels drop; decay of organic matter also causes this, water hardness goes up • Turbidity- caused by increase of sediment or algae in water: blocks sunlight and kills. Fertilizer Run-Off a BIG PROBLEM!

  6. What’s so bad about Fertilizer Run-off? • Addition of fertilizers releases Nitrates directly into water and causes Algae Blooms • Algae blooms can be deadly with RED TIDE (dinoflagallate)! • Algae grows so quickly and rapidly it (1)blocks sunlight and (2)removes all oxygen in water and (3)releases toxins in water

  7. Bio-Indicators • The use of living organisms to determine the health of a Water System. • Ecologist use “fragile” or sensitive organism to best determine health of system: trout would be used over catfish since trout are more delicate and live in all zones of the water; catfish live on bottom so not accurate in determining health of system

  8. Determining Pollution Sources2 Types • Pollutant- any chemical, compound, or organism (microbe) not naturally found in the environment • Point Source Pollution Problem- You can clearly find where pollution is coming from • Non Point Source Pollution: You can not clearly state where problem is from. Chemical, Compound, or organism (microbe) too widely spread or too commonly found.

  9. Oil tanker in Ocean Insecticide in River E.Coli in Water from sewer Mercury in soil and groundwater High nitrate levels in River High Temperature Water from power plant Muddy Water from Construction Site Plastic bags drifting in Ocean Low pH levels in lakes High CO2 in Air Point Source Non Point Source Point Source Non Point Source Non Point Source Point Source Point Source Non Point Source Non point Source Non Point Source Point or Non Point Source

  10. Closing • Agree or Disagree • “All pollution comes from a source. Therefore, there is no such thing as Non Point Pollution”

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