Water Pollution

Humans depend on very small reservoirs of water for all our needs; These reservoirs cycle/ turnover very quickly. As they cycle they can either collect pollution from other sources, or be cleaned by passing through functioning ecosystems

Water Pollution

Water can be polluted by chemical, physical or biological agents.

State of Water in KS

• Percent of Rivers, Streams and Creeks in KANSAS assessed by agencies for 1997-98 reporting period:

• 12%  Percent Waterbodies Affected• Pathogens 50%• Salinity/TDS/Chlorides 47%• pH 17%• Pesticides 12%• Inorganics 9%

Type of Pollution

• Wastewater and water runoff

• Artificial Eutrophication

• Thermal Pollution

• Groundwater Pollution• Ocean Pollution (helped by the Oil Pollution

Act of 1990—all oil tankers traveling in US waters to have double hulls by 2015)

Water Pollution

Water Pollution

Pollutant Types and Sources

• Pathogens—sewage, animal feces• Organic Matter—nonpoint sources• Organic Chemicals—farms, lawns, wastewater,

leaking landfills resulting in artificial eutrophication

• Inorganic Chemicals—point and nonpoint sources, road surfaces, polluted participation

• Heavy Metals—mining processes, industrial discharge, landfills

• Physical agents—thermal pollution from industry, suspended solids from soil erosion.

Two Type of Water Pollution

• Point Source—discharge from a single source

• Non-point Source—discharge from many sources that are often difficult to identify.

Point Sources

• Single large source

• Can localize it to one spot– Industrial Plants

- Sewage pipes

Point Source - Example

• LUST - Leaky Underground Storage Tanks• 22% of the 1.2 million UST are LUSTy• Look at water pollution from gasoline...

Point sourceexamples

Non point sourceexamples

Non-point Sources

• Diffuse source or many smaller point sources

• Automobiles• Fertilizer on fields

Non-point source pollutants - nutrients

Acid Rain—another non-point source of pollution

• Reactions to convert to acid take place in ~2 days - travel 1000 miles

• Down wind - Acid rain• Dry Dep. vs Wet Dep.• Dry Deposition

– 50 % of total– Can react with plants -

strip nutrients– Tree dieback

Acid Rain and Trees

Forests affected by Acid RainNortheast USCanadaNorthern EuropeAsia

Acid Rain and Buildings

Many buildings are made of concrete and or stone

These compounds act as bases and react with acid

The building technically “weathers” very fast, orNon technically “crumbles”

Europe

The US Capitol

Acid Neutralization

• How does this work?

• Cation Exchange on clay minerals

• Role of chemical weathering...

Major powerplants – sources of N emissions – Acid rain

Nitrogen deposition 1989 - 1991 Nitrogen deposition 1995 - 1998

Surface water sensitivity to Acid Deposition - known in 1990

Surface water sensitivity to Acid Deposition - known in 1998

Acid Rain Summary

Examples of Smog

How does acid kill the fish?One way is mobilizing metals

• When all base cations are striped from soils

• Acid now reacts with metals e.g. aluminum – Normally aluminum is immobile– below pH 5 - mobile aluminum

• Fish breath in the water – Aluminum comes out of solution– Clogs gills - suffocate

When the pH drops below 6.0 species start to die off.When one species dies, others that depend on it may as well

Acid Rain Effects – Aquatic Systems

Federal Laws

• 1972 Clean Water Act• 1972 Marine Protection, Research, and

Sanctuaries Act, amended in 1988• 1975 Safe Drinking Water Act• 1980 Comprehensive Environmental

Response Compensation and Liability Act• 1987 Water Quality Act• 1990 Oil Pollution Act (won’t be fully effective

until 2015)