Surface Water PollutionUnit Essential Questions:

How does the Earth cycle its water through its major reservoirs? How does society’s use of resources affect water quality?

Presentation Objectives: § Differentiate between point source and non-point source pollution. § Identify and describe the various pollutants that affect lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans. § Describe the human behaviors that negatively impact water quality. § Identify ways that individuals can improve water quality.

The Story of The Lake• From “The Story of the Lake”, we can see that human activities

impact the water quality of lakes.• Examples from the story...

– Cleaning chemicals and disinfectants – Fertilizer – Raw sewage

• Septic tanks • Sewage treatment plants

– Litter and road salt – Sediment – Pesticides – Acid Rain – Toxic and hazardous chemicals – Gasoline and Oil

Lake pollution is also experienced by streams and estuaries, such as Long Island Sound or Chesapeake Bay.

Categories of Water Pollution• Point Source

– Pollution that comes from a single identifiable source. • Industrial Chemicals • Sewage Treatment Plant Discharge • Thermal Pollution from power plants.

• Non-Point Source – Pollution that is carried as runoff so the source is not easily

identified. • Fertilizer, pesticide, and sediment pollution. • Litter and Road Salt • Bacteria and nutrients from livestock. • Oil, grease, and cleaning solutions going down the drain.

Q1 Sediment Pollution• Sediment pollution is when soil particles are washed into

water by runoff.

• Plants are affected by a reduction in the amount of sunlight! • They are unable to undergo photosynthesis!

• There is now less food available. • Fish are affected when the sediment clogs their gills, makes it

difficult to hunt for food, and lowers their ability to spawn.

Number 1 form of pollution on Earth!

Q2

How Is This Our Fault?• Sediment pollution is caused by any activities that

increase erosion, particularly by wind and water.

Deforestation

Firewood and LumberPaper

Space

Agriculture

Construction

Q3

Deforestation happens everywhere, including in Southington! From our Changing Southington activity, we saw that at the forests decreased and developed land increased.

Nutrient Pollution• The addition of nitrogen and phosphorous into freshwater resources.

– Causes eutrophication and possibly hypoxia or anoxia.

Q4

Sources for Chesapeake Bay

Connecticut is currently updating sewage treatment plants to remove nutrients before discharge.

• Sewage - Septic Tanks - Sewage treatment plants - Animal feed lots

• Produce lots of manure.

• Fertilizer - From agricultural fields and lawns.

• Acid Rain - Nitric acid precipitates into the water.

Disease-causing Agents• A disease-causing agent is something that can enter the

water supplies and affect human health.

• Human health is threatened. –Contaminated shellfish is consumed. –Water is consumed.

– Reason for beach closures!

Connecticut tests the water for disease-causing agents after every heavy rainfall!

Viruses

Bacteria

Protozoa

Parasitic Worms

Amoeba

Q5 How Is This Our Fault?

– Domestic animal waste – People don’t pick up after their pets. – Manure from feedlots.

• Disease-causing agents are carried in animal and human waste.

–Human waste – Sewage treatment plants discharge the

wastewater without proper treatment. – Cannot handle water after a

rainstorm. – Septic tanks are not working properly.

E. Coli acts as an indicator!

Q6

Thermal Pollution• Thermal pollution is when there is a temperature change

that negatively impacts a water resource. –Temperature can increase or decrease.

• The change in temperature affects what can live in the river or lake. – Some aquatic species are sensitive to

temperature change. • Some will not be able to survive. • Some become more susceptible to disease.

– Amount of dissolved oxygen available changes. • Warm water means that there is less dissolved

oxygen. – Animals may not be able to survive.

Q7

• Warming things up! - Nuclear power plants and factories

produce A LOT of heat. - Excess is released into the surround

air or water.

How Is This Our Fault?

• Cooling things down! - Hydroelectric dams produce

electricity by blocking a river. - Allow water to enter through a

channel. - Water entering the channel is cold

because it is at the bottom of the reservoir.

Q8

Debris/Litter• Garbage and medical waste disposed of improperly that

gets into surface water.

• Littering is not just an issue at the beach. - Runoff, especially after a heavy rainstorm

will carry the litter to the nearest river, lake, and eventually to the ocean.

Q9Can You Guess The Top Ten?Top Ten Debris Items In Connecticut (2005)

Debris Item Total: 47,696 items10 Cigar Tips 1.1%9 Beverage Cans 2%8 Bags 2.5%7 Glass Beverage Bottles 2.6%6 Plastic Beverage Bottles 3.2%5 Straws and Stirrers 3.6%4 Cups, Plates, and Utensils 8.1%3 Caps and Lids 11.3%2 Food Wrappers 16.1%1 Cigarettes 38.6%

Effects of Litter• Animals mistake small pieces

for food. – Blocks their digestive tract.

• Causes starvation.

• Animals get entangled. – Balloon ribbon, plastic bags, and six-pack holders.

Q10 The Pacific Garbage Patch

Toxic Inorganic Compounds

• Examples of Toxic Inorganic Compounds Include: – Heavy Metals

• Mercury, Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, etc.

– Acids – Synthetic Industrial Chemicals

• An inorganic compound is a gaseous, liquid, or solid compound that do NOT typically contain carbon. • These compounds are known to cause...

– Long-term health effects or death – A change environmental conditions, such as pH.

– Harms the wildlife.

Q11

• These chemicals are required for making the products that we use on a daily basis. • Enter the environment because of...

- Improper disposal of waste products. - Leaking landfills. - Exposure during manufacturing.

Hat Felting - Mercury Danbury, CT

Brass Industry - Heavy Metals Waterbury, CT

How Is This Our Fault? Q12

Toxic Organic Compounds

• Examples of Toxic Organic Compounds Include:

• An organic compound is a gaseous, liquid, or solid compound that contains carbon.

Oil

Gasoline

Grease

Detergents

Hygiene Products

Cosmetics

Industrial SolventsPesticides

Q13

• Humans add toxic organic compounds to water resources by...

All drains lead to a water resource!

How Is This Our Fault?

- Using solvents to manufacture items we purchase. • Released from spills, leaks, and improper disposal and

storage.

- Pouring grease, oil, etc. down household and storm drains.

Q14

PesticidesPesticides are chemicals used to increase food

production by eliminating organisms that destroy crops.✦ Main Impacts of Pesticides

✦ Necessary organisms can be killed unintentionally. ✦ Insects can become resistant. ✦ Surface and groundwater pollution. ✦ Many of them remain in the environment for a long time.

Q15 Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification✦ Bioaccumulation is when chemicals are stored in the tissues of

an organism. ✦ Builds up inside them.

✦ Biomagnification is when chemicals have high concentrations at the top of the food chain.

✦ Caused by bioaccumulation.Most famous pesticide that does this is DDT!

3 DDT

3 DDT3 DDT

3 DDT

1 DDT

1 DDT

1 DDT

1 DDT

1 DDT

1 DDT

12 DDT

12 DDT? DDT

Q16

DDT is Famous!✦ DDT is the reason the

environmental movement began.✦ In the song, Big Yellow Taxi

They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot

Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got till it's gone They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot

!They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum

And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them No, no, no, don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you've got till it's gone They paved paradise, and put up a parkin' lot

Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT I don't care about spots on my apples,

Leave me the birds and the bees - please Don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you got till it's gone They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Hey now, they've paved paradise to put up a parking lot Why not?

Emerging Contaminants• Chemicals that have not historically been considered

contaminants. –Includes prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

• Antibiotics, contraceptives, anti-depressants, steroids, etc. – People flush unwanted, unused, or expired medications down the drain.

• Possible Effects – Wildlife:

• Resistant-Bacteria • Feminization of Fish

– Human: • Microbial Antibiotic Resistant

bacteria. • Endocrine system issues

Q17

What Can You Do?If everyone reduces their pollution things can get better!

• Things You Can Do: – Use Less Water!

– Allows the treatment plants to work correctly.

– Clean up after your animals.

– Use Fertilizer Properly! – Use just enough and don’t over water

– Don’t Litter! – Use Less Electricity!

– Don’t dump inappropriate things down the drain!

– Participate in cleanup projects!

Q18