Resources and Pollution

Chapter Ten Topics

Water Resources
Major Water Components
Water Availability and Use
Freshwater Shortages
Water Management and Conservation
Water Pollution
Water Quality Today
Pollution Control
Water Legislation
Mean Annual Precipitation
Part 2: Major Water Compartments
 Interactions of water with soil.

Groundwater, after ice, is the

2nd largest reservoir of fresh
water
Infiltration - Process of water
percolating through the soil
and into fractures and
permeable rocks.
Zone of Aeration - Upper
soil layers that hold both air
and water.
Zone of Saturation - Lower
soil layers where all spaces
are filled with water.
Water Table is at the top of
the Zone of Saturation
 Aquifers

Recharge zones - areas where surface waters

filter into an aquifer
 Rivers, Lakes and Streams - Precipitation that does not
evaporate or infiltrate into the ground runs off the surface,
back toward the sea.
Best measure of water volume carried by a river is discharge.
The amount of water that passes a fixed point in a given amount of time
(usually expressed as cubic feet per second).

Wetlands - Play a vital role in hydrologic cycle.

Lush plant growth stabilizes soil and retards surface runoff, allowing more
aquifer infiltration.
Disturbance (including urban development) reduces natural water-
absorbing capacity, resulting in floods and erosion in wet periods, and
less water flow the rest of the year.

The Atmosphere - Among the smallest water reservoirs.

Contains 0.001% of total water supply.
Has the most rapid turnover rate.
Provides a mechanism for distributing fresh water over landmasses and
replenishing terrestrial reservoirs.
Rivers, Lakes, and Wetlands

Rivers contain
a minute
amount of
water at any
one time.
Lakes contain
100 times
more water
than all rivers.
Wetlands play
a vital role in
the
hydrological
cycle.
Part 3: Water Availability and Use
Clean, fresh water is requisite for
human survival.
Renewable water supplies
consist of surface runoff and
infiltration into accessible
freshwater aquifers (shallow
ground water). These supplies are
most plentiful in the Tropics.
Picture to the left shows a ditch
being used to divert water for
irrigation of crops. Water rights for
such activities have long been a
source of tension and conflict.
Part 4: Freshwater Shortages
About 25% of the world's people
lack adequate, clean drinking
water and about 50% lack
adequate sanitation.
Water stress is a phrase used to
describe countries where water
consumption exceeds by >20%
the available, renewable water
supply
Widespread water shortages are
predicted by 2025.
 Depleting Groundwater
Groundwater provides nearly 40% of the fresh water for
agricultural and domestic use in the United States. In many
areas in the U.S., groundwater is being withdrawn from
aquifers faster than natural recharge can replace it.
Withdrawing large amounts of groundwater in a small area
causes porous formations to collapse, resulting in
subsidence.
Sinkholes form when an underground channel or cavern
collapses.
Saltwater intrusion can occur along coastlines where overuse of
freshwater reservoirs draws the water table low enough to allow
saltwater to intrude.
Ogallala Aquifer (large aquifer in the Central Plains) - water
usage here is the similar to mining for a nonrenewable
resource and the water resource is being depleted rapidly.
San Joaquin Valley, California - ground surface sinking is
occurring due to excessive groundwater pumping.
 Ways to Increase Water Supplies
Building Dams, Canals and Reservoirs
Seeding Clouds
Condensation Nuclei
Towing Icebergs
Cost
Desalination
Most common methods are distillation and reverse
osmosis.
Three to four times more expensive than most other sources.
Dams are controversial in terms of environmental costs, justice,
price mechanisms and water policy, sedimentation, evaporative
losses, etc.
Part 5: Water Management and
Conservation
Watershed management
Sound farming and
forestry practices
Wetlands conservation
Domestic conservation
Water reclamation and
recycling
Water rights
 Domestic Conservation

Estimates suggest many

societies could save as
much as half of current
domestic water usage
without great sacrifice or
serious change in lifestyle.
Largest domestic use is
toilet flushing.
Small volume of waste in
large volume of water.
Significant amounts of
water can be reclaimed
and recycled (purified
sewage effluent)
 Part 6: Water Pollution

Point source pollution - Nonpoint source pollution -

source is from drain pipes,
ditches, sewer outfalls,
factories and power plants -
easy to monitor and regulate
runoff from farm fields and
feedlots, lawns and gardens, golf
courses, construction sites,
atmospheric deposits - no specific
location so harder to monitor and
regulate
Types and Results of Water Pollution
Infectious agents - 25 million deaths a year
Organic materials - biological oxygen demand (BOD)
increase resulting in oxygen sag
Plant nutrients - eutrophication, toxic tides
Metals - mercury and lead poisoning
Nonmetallic salts - poison seeps and springs
Acids and bases - ecosystem destabilization
Organic chemicals - birth defects, cancer
Sediments - clogged estuaries, death of coral reefs
Thermal pollution - thermal plume
 Infectious Agents
Main source of waterborne pathogens is untreated and
improperly treated human waste.
Animal wastes from feedlots and fields is also an important
source of pathogens.
In developed countries, sewage treatment plants and
pollution-control devices have greatly reduced pathogens.
Tests for water quality are done for coliform bacteria
(intestinal bacteria). Such tests are easier and cheaper.
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the major coliform bacterium
species
 Basics for Understanding Environmental
Implications of Oxygen-Demanding Wastes
Water with a Dissolved Oxygen Content (DOC) content > 6
parts per million (ppm) will support desirable aquatic life,
whereas water with < 2 ppm oxygen will support mainly
detritivores and decomposers.
Oxygen is added to water by diffusion from wind and waves,
and by photosynthesis from green plants, algae, and
cyanobacteria. Oxygen is removed from water by respiration
and oxygen-consuming processes.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is the amount of
dissolved oxygen consumed by aquatic microorganisms in
respiration.
When organic wastes are added to rivers, microorganisms
demand oxygen for respiration used in consuming the
increase in food resource. As a result, DOC levels decline
downstream (oxygen sag) from a pollution source as
decomposers metabolize organic waste materials.
Oxygen sag
 Plant Nutrients and Cultural
Eutrophication
Oligotrophic - Bodies of water
that have clear water and low
biological productivity.
Eutrophic - Bodies of water that
are rich in organisms and
organic material.
Eutrophication - Process of
increasing nutrient levels and
biological productivity.
Cultural Eutrophication -
Increase in biological
productivity and
ecosystem succession
caused by human
activities.
 Inorganic Pollutants
Metals
Many metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel
are highly toxic.
Highly persistent and tend to bioaccumulate in food chains.
Lead pipes are a serious source of drinking water pollution.
Mine drainage and leaching are serious sources of environmental
contamination.

Nonmetallic Salts
Many salts that are non-toxic at low concentrations can be mobilized by
irrigation and concentrated by evaporation, reaching levels toxic to
plants and animals.
Leaching of road salts has had detrimental effect on many ecosystems.

Acids and Bases

Often released as by-products of industrial processes.
 Organic Chemicals

Thousands of natural and synthetic organic

chemicals are used to make pesticides,
plastics, pharmaceuticals, pigments, etc.
Two most important sources of toxic organic
chemicals in water are:
Improper disposal of industrial and household
wastes.
Runoff of pesticides from high-use areas.
Fields, roadsides, golf courses
 Sediment

Human activities have accelerated erosion

rates in many areas.
Cropland erosion contributes about 25 billion
metric tons of suspended solids to world
surfaces each year.
Sediment can either be beneficial (nourish
floodplains) or harmful (smother aquatic life).
 Thermal Pollution
Raising or lowering water temperatures from normal
levels can adversely affect water quality and aquatic life.
Oxygen solubility in water decreases as temperatures
increase.
Species requiring high oxygen levels are adversely affected by
warming water.
Industrial cooling often uses heat-exchangers to extract
excess heat, and discharge heated water back into
original source.
Thermal Plume
Produce artificial environments which attract many forms of
wildlife.
Part 7: Water Quality Today
 Groundwater and Drinking water
Pollution
About half the US population, and 95% of
rural residents, depend on underground
aquifers for drinking water.
For decades, groundwater was assumed
impervious to pollution. It was considered the
gold standard for water quality.
An estimated 1.5 million Americans fall ill from
fecal contamination annually.
Cryptosporidium outbreaks
Groundwater Pollution
Progress and Problems in Other
Countries
Sewage treatment in
wealthier countries of
Europe generally equal
or surpass the US.
In Russia, only about
half of the tap water
supply is safe to drink.
In urban areas of
South America, Africa,
and Asia, 95% of all
sewage is discharged
untreated into rivers.
Two-thirds of India's
surface waters are
contaminated
sufficiently to be
considered dangerous
to human health.
 Part 8: Pollution Control
Nonpoint Pollution Sources and Land Management
Reduce nutrient loading thru land use regulations
Source reduction is cheapest and most effective way to
reduce pollution. To work society must get public and
business leaders to avoid producing or releasing
substances into the environment.
Studies show as much as 90% less road salt can be used without
significantly affecting winter road safety.
Soil Conservation
Banning phosphate detergents
Sewage Treatment
Remediation
 Sewage Treatment
Rationale
More than 500 pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and
parasites can travel from human or animal excrement
through water.

Natural Processes
In many areas, outdoor urination and defecation is the
norm.
When population densities are low, natural processes can
quickly eliminate waste.

Artificial Wetlands Are a Low Cost Method

Natural water purification
Effluent can be used to irrigate crops or raise fish for human
consumption.
 Municipal Sewage Treatment
Primary Treatment - Physical separation of large solids from the
waste stream.
Secondary Treatment - Biological degradation of dissolved
organic compounds.
Effluent from primary treatment transferred into trickling bed, or
aeration tank
Effluent from secondary treatment is usually disinfected (chlorinated)
before release into nearby waterway.
Tertiary Treatment - Removal of plant nutrients (nitrates and
phosphates) from secondary effluent.
Chemicals, or natural wetlands.
In many US cities, sanitary sewers are connected to storm
sewers.
Heavy storms can overload the system, causing by-pass dumping
of raw sewage and toxic runoff directly into watercourses.
Sewage Treatment
 Water Remediation

Containment methods confine liquid wastes in

place, or cap surface with impermeable layer
to divert water away from the site.
Extraction techniques are used to pump out
polluted water for treatment.
Oxidation, reduction, neutralization, or
precipitation.
Living organisms can also be used effectively
to break down polluted waters.
 Part 9: WATER LEGISLATION

Clean Water Act (1972)

Goal was to return all U.S. surface waters to "fishable
and swimmable" conditions.
For Point Sources, Discharge Permits and Best Practicable
Control Technology are required.
Set zero discharge for 126 priority toxic pollutants.
Areas of Contention
Draining or Filling of Wetlands
Many consider this taking of private land.
Un-funded Mandates
State or local governments must spend monies not repaid by
Congress.