Water

1. Water Quantity and Quality

2. What is Water Pollution? any physical (temperature, oxygen), chemical (mercury), or biological (disease, sewage) change to water that adversely effects its use by living things

3. Cuyahoga River, Ohio Some river! Chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gases, it oozes rather than flows. "Anyone who falls into the Cuyahoga does not drown," Cleveland's citizens joke grimly. "He decays.” Time Magazine, August 1969 November 1952

4. Groundwater Pollution

5. Types of Water Pollution Measured in: Percent (%) Parts per thousand (‰) Parts per million (ppm) Parts per billion (ppb) Biological Chemical Physical

6. Biological Water Pollution Direct (microbes in water): Typhoid, cholera, dysentery, hepatitis… Infectious Disease(Pathogens) Oxygen-Demanding Waste Entamoeba histolytica

7. Biological Water Pollution Indirect (Water breeding carriers):malaria, yellow fever, west nile virus… Infectious Disease(Pathogens) Oxygen-Demanding Waste Treehole mosquito (carried La Crosse ensephalitis)

8. Water Borne Disease

9. U.S. Water Borne Disease

10. Coliform Test Detection: • Solutions: • Sewage treatment • Immunization

11. Biological Water Pollution Infectious Disease(Pathogens) Oxygen-Demanding Waste

12. Dissolved Oxygen Added by: turbulent water and photosynthesis Removed by: Increased temperature (exsolution) and respiration/decomposition Good: > 6 ppm (mosquitoes can survive in 1 ppm)(also measured in % of maximum - Good = 60-80%)

13. Dissolved Carbon Dioxide Added by: respiration/decomposition & weathered rock Removed by: Increased temperature (exsolution) and photosynthesis Good: 1-10 ppm (usually about 1 ppm)

14. Oxygen Sag

15. Measuring DO and other chemical properties

16. Chemical Water Pollution Nutrients (Fertilizers) Toxic Inorganic Materials Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s) Nitrogen, phosphorous

17. Eutrophication & Blue Baby Syndrome Dissolved inorganic nitrogen in Baltic Sea

18. Nitrates • Typically: 0.1-4 ppm • Unpolluted usually below 1 ppm • Sewage pollution increase up to 20 ppm

19. Chemical Water Pollution • Heavy metals • mercury,lead, tin… • Super Toxic Elements • Arsenic, selenium… • Acids, salts, chlorine • Radioactive Isotopes Nutrients (Fertilizers) Toxic Inorganic Materials Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s)

20. Arsenic in U.S. Waters

21. Some We Will Measure • Copper • natural, fungicides, insecticides, copper pipes • can be lethal to some at 0.1 ppb, algae – 1-10 ppb, fish 500ppb • water standard 0.3 ppm • Acidity (pH) • 6.5-8.2 normal (rainwater is usually a little acidic) • >9 – harmful to fish (inc. salmon) • <5.5 releases metals in seds, bacteria die and organics don’t decay • <5 insects die and fish eggs don’t hatch • <4 lethal to adult salmon

22. Some We Will Measure • Salinity • Saltwater 3.5% • Freshwater 1-500 ppm • usually >100 ppm is bad for freshwater organisms • >250 ppm tastes salty (max for drinking water) • Total Dissolved Solids • (Ca,Mg,Hco3, NH4, NO3, PO4, SO4, Na, Cl, Na, K) • from dissolved rock, fertilizer, urban runoff, irrigation, acid rainfall • “watchdog”– high numbers or rapid changes may indicate problem • typically 50-250 ppm • Drinking water must be below 500 ppm

23. Chemical Water Pollution Nutrients (Fertilizers) Toxic Inorganic Materials Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s)

24. Artificial Chemicals

25. The Dirty Dozen

26. Physical Water Pollution Sediment Thermal Pollution Solid Waste Yellow River, China Chattahoochee River, GA

27. Measured in: • NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units) • Normal levels: 1-50 NTU • Drinking Water: 0.5-1 NTU • Visible: >5 NTU • Higher during storms

28. Physical Water Pollution • Causes: • industry • dams • removal of vegetation Sediment Thermal Pollution Solid Waste Optimum – Fish 5-20°C (salmon <12°C)

29. Physical Water Pollution Sediment Thermal Pollution Solid Waste

30. Pollution Sources:Point Source Sewage pipes Leaky gas tanks Industrial sites Injection wells

31. Pollution Sources:Nonpoint Source Agriculture (soil, fertilizer,pesticides) Urban runoff (from pavement) Construction sites Air Pollution

32. Controlling Water Quality What can we do?

33. Solutions Legislation Source Reduction Improved Land Use Practices Remediation Sewage Treatment

34. Clean Water Act 1972 Established water quality standards System for ID’ing point sources Pretreatment for industry Federal funding for sewage treatment Provided for enforcement • Worked well for point sources • Nonpoint sources still a problem

35. Solutions Remove lead from gasoline Reduce road salting Decrease erosion Banning phosphates in detergents Reduce fertilizer use, etc. Legislation Source Reduction Improved Land Use Practices Remediation Sewage Treatment

36. Solutions Stormwater treatment Reduce clearcutting Preserve wetlands Better construction practices Legislation Source Reduction Improved Land Use Practices Remediation Sewage Treatment

37. Solutions Legislation Source Reduction Improved Land Use Practices Remediation Sewage Treatment

38. Solutions Legislation Source Reduction Improved Land Use Practices Remediation Sewage Treatment Water hyacinths absorb arsenic

39. Solutions Legislation Source Reduction Improved Land Use Practices Remediation Sewage Treatment West Point Treatment Plant, Seattle

41. Sewage in King County