Drinking Water In Chicago Essay

Between the 1840s and the 1960s, New York City established the greatest metropolitan water distribution system internationally. Even though NYC’s Water system is a work in progress it can be considered one of the best in respects to its quality, reliability and innovative management.

Water is one of life’s most precious resources. Without it, life as we know it would cease to exist. Almost all life is dependent on water for survival. Humanity uses water in almost everything they do in their daily lives, whether that be for consumption or production. However water itself is not enough to sufice, clean water is required for life to thrive. Dirty untreated water can be the cause for death as well, so it is integral that water be kept clean. The government has enacted laws to ensure that our water is maintained and kept clean. These laws cover industries, plumbing, and sanitation among other things. Unfortunately, the city government in Flint Michigan willfully failed to provide safe water for its citizens.

“For many of us, clean water is so plentiful and readily available that we are rarely, if ever, pause to consider what life would be like without it,” said Marcus Samuelsson. According to the Des Moines Register, “The federal Environmental Protection Agency is adding $12.3 million to a loan fund that will help pay for drinking water systems or improve efficiency.” There are obvious water quality issues in Iowa, and people around the state including farmers and the governor are trying to help.

In the fourth chapter, “Fouling Our Own Nests,” of Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What to do About It, Robert Glennon discusses the dangers of water contamination that plague many parts of the United States. His main claim that water pollution requires the help of the entire population stems from an unmentioned warrant: contaminating the national water supply with chemicals from individual communities and industries is detrimental to American society. In order to strengthen his argument, Glennon showcases the impacts of local contamination issues on larger populations and utilizes quantitatively intimidating statistics to solidify his position and inspire his readers to fight for better water regulation.

The Midwestern region of the United States, such a small corner of the world, is notorious for its prosperous agriculture and its abundant livestock population. Citizens of the Midwest, and consequently, the United States, rarely have to worry about where meals will come from or when the next time water will be available. Water fountains are a common sight within public places, specifically schools and workplaces, and each system reliably produces water at the touch of a button, every time, without fail. However, what happens when the dependability of water in the Midwest is compromised? Over the past decade, the water quality in Flint, Michigan, a town very close to Iowan homes, has seen a rapid decadence, given that the Flint River has been exposed to “the presence of fecal coliform bacteria, low dissolved oxygen, plant nutrients, oils, and other toxic substances,” though the main focus has

The local issue as described in the first Milestone submission is water quality. Independence is a rural area in southeast Kansas. With a population of 9,453 residents being reported in last year’s census reports of the town of Independence, you can imagine that it is a relatively small community when compared to even your hometown. This population total is significantly lower this year with the closing of the local hospital in December of last year, with a community lacking the basic necessity of an emergency room and medical testing facility, many residents have decided to make a change and move to a more stable area. With the closing of the hospital the city of Independence has decided to spend $3.5 million to renovate the vacant facility into a new city offices location, in an attempt to modernize the township and combine all of the city’s services into a central location. This decision was made by our local representatives because they felt this was the best way to spend the tax payer’s money, the irony of the situation is that the hospital needed $3.5 million to renovate the facility for themselves in order to pass the states medical inspection and remain open to the public.

California is in a drought and has been for the last three years. Southern California especially is affected by the drought that is now become a regular occurrence with no end in sight. With decreased rainfall and a steadily growing population, Southern California residents now have to make an effort to conserve the renewable resource that is water. Everyone uses water and humans, like all mammals, requires water for survival. With increased demand and decreased supply, water companies now charge more for water than ever before. Water companies can also use this as a way to educate the customers who habitually overuse water with the goal of persuading them to conserve the limited resources available. Recycled water is a more sustainable alternative, however even after treating and purifying that water, it would be still unsafe to drink, and even if it were, no one in their right mind would want to pay to drink what is a essentially sewer water.

For the past three years Flint, Michigan has been making headlines due to what seems like a never-ending water crisis. One day their water seems to be just fine, but then all of a sudden it’s contaminated and dirty; full of lead and fecal particles which will slowly begin to harm more people than imaginable. Hospital admissions skyrocket, school attendance numbers began to drop, and more and more adults are calling off of work because they’ve fallen ill. People begin to go without showers to help keep them “safe” from contamination, bottled water is now being used for not only drinking but also showering, mixing baby formulas, watering plants, etc. Major cost-cutting measures led to contaminated drinking water, lifelong health effects, and

Chicago’s water is still polluted. The Chicago River has been polluted for most of history. An article from the Chicago Tribune states, “Within minutes, the noxious blend of liquid waste began flushing out of more that three dozen overflow pipes that empty into the Chicago River … During the next twenty nine hours, more than two point six billion gallons of bacteria-laden sewage and runoff poured into the river …’”. This article was written only in June of 2017, that’s almost one year ago. Looking at it from the perspective of history it is not that far back in time that this happened. Fifteen years ago a polluted covered up river in South Korea started to become something better. Cheonggyecheon River in Seoul South Korea had been covered up

The freshwater that is available for use is becoming more contaminated with each use. The Clean Water Act of 1972 put in order more regulations in regards to wastewater and the dumping of it into rivers and lakes. Multiple-step filtration systems have been used since then to better remove toxins from wastes before it enters freshwater. In a personal interview with Moe Crabtree, Nature Resource Specialist for the Washington Department of Natural Resources, I learned some measures taken to keep water clean. Her common job is to setup timber sales which includes much precaution of rivers and streams. I asked her- “In what ways do you have to avoid water contamination?” she replied, “we have to divert culverts at minimum one hundred feet from

There are two sources of drinking water, surface water and ground water and they are each managed, monitored and regulated differently even though the actual water systems are interrelated and integrated. The state of Missouri has historically had plenty of high-quality fresh water sources; in the northern half of the state most of the drinking water comes from surface water while the majority of the southern population gets water from underground aquifers (Missouri Department of Natural Resources, 2010). The Missouri River and its alluvium wells provide more than half of the state’s residents with drinking water as most of the urban centers in the state are located along its course. Water from wells located adjacent to the Missouri River

The forty one % of the a 100,000 residents who are living in Michigan exist under or on the nation’s poverty line which makes this a socio-political hassle as much as it's an environmental one (Foley). Indeed, the town absolutely used to be stimulated to make the water switch over within the first place with the aid of economic issues which held that an upgraded water useful resource could make critical upgrades within the city’s strained finances. Unluckily, the economic maneuver has ended up costing them a couple of million extra dollars than it saved. It's this financial difference that definitely contributed to the failing of the state authorities to adequately tackle the issues within the time and manner because of the danger inherent to the infection.

New York City has one of the most top quality drinking water and is called "the champagne of drinking water"[13] which is due to its unique water treatment system that consists of a vast reservoir system. A reservoir is a natural or artificial source of untreated water that can be found underground or at ground level that can include water treatment and associated equipment (pumps and piping systems).[1] There are three major watershed systems in which New York receives its water which are The Croton System, The Catskill System, The Delaware System. The reservoir systems pump approximately 1.1 billion gallons of fresh and clean

People all around the world are beginning to recognize the importance of sustainability and how it is the key to future generations. Because the human ecological footprint is reaching the point of limitation, it is necessary that we adapt and develop more efficient, sustainable communities. Due to improper waste treatment and disposal practices, many cities today face the problem of relying on heavily contaminated and polluted sources of water. This problem often arises when pollutants and particulates find their ways into lakes, underground reservoirs, and other accessible water sources. The city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is just one example of how this problem is evolving and may do well to serve as a model for future water management plans. This essay will go over several causes of Pittsburgh’s current state of affair, but most importantly provide Pittsburgh with a guideline to conquer its water issue. The following solution is a four-step process which incorporates a combination of restructuring and reorganizing Pittsburgh’s wastes management. It is designed to address poor water quality but providing gradual steps and alterations to Pittsburgh’s current system of treatment and planning. In the end, this remedy will point the city towards healthier water supplies and overall sustainability.

Every day Americans depend on public water systems to treat and deliver over 44 billion gallons of water to homes daily (“Importance of Clean Water”). However, Americans