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Thursday 11/14/13

Objective : SWBAT identify the goals of US water legislation and articulate the environmental impacts of bottled water. Do Now : Define estuary and identify three characteristics that make it a productive ecosystem. Agenda : Ch. 20 Quiz Water Laws Is Bottled Water the Answer? Life’s Work:

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Thursday 11/14/13

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  1. Objective: SWBAT identify the goals of US water legislation and articulate the environmental impacts of bottled water. Do Now: Define estuary and identify three characteristics that make it a productive ecosystem. Agenda: • Ch. 20 Quiz • Water Laws • Is Bottled Water the Answer? Life’s Work: Study for Unit Test next Tuesday (11/19) Thursday 11/14/13 Week at a Glance:

  2. U.S. Clean Water Act of 1972, 1977 Water Legislation • Sets standards for allowed levels of 100 key pollutants and requires polluters to get permits that limit how much of these various pollutants they can discharge Has two basic goals: • To eliminate the discharge of pollutants in U.S. waterways • To attain water quality levels that make these waterways safe for fishing and swimming

  3. Successes of the Clean Water Act • Percentage of Americans served by community water systems that met federal health standards went from 79% to 94% • Percentage of US streams found to be fishable and swimmable went from 36% to 60% • Percentage of US population served by sewage treatment plants went from 32% to 74% • Annual wetland loss decreased by 80% 1972 to 2002

  4. Water Legislation • The U.N. estimates that 5.6 million Americans drink water that does not meet EPA standards. • 1 in 5 Americans drinks water from a treatment plant that violated one or more safety standard. Using Laws to Protect Drinking Water

  5. Water Legislation • Requires the EPA to establish national drinking water standards (maximum contaminant levels) for any pollutants that may have adverse effects on human health • Currently limits levels of 91 pollutants or contaminants in U.S. tap water • Many health scientists call for strengthening the Act, but water-polluting industries are calling to weaken it U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974

  6. Is Bottled Water the Answer? • The US has some of the world’s cleanest drinking water, but half of all Americans are afraid to drink tap water • In 2009, Americans spent $11 billion to buy billions of plastic water bottles • Bottled water costs between 240 and 10,000 times as much as tap water, and it uses between 100 and 2,000 times more energy • More than 40% of the expensive bottled water that Americans drink is just bottled tap water • Each year, the number of bottles thrown away, if put end to end, would circle the Earth’s equator 8 times Tapped Out

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