Essay on An Insight on Wilmington’s Water Pollution

This ad is directed to many people in the Chesapeake Bay region because there are tons of pollution each year that are destroying the nation’s largest estuary, or part of a body of water where the fresh

     Hazardous wastes are another problem for the water in our world. These wastes are toxic, reactive, corrosive or ignitable. Most problems come from humans not storing the substance properly or not disposing of it correctly. This can be easily proven in 1969, when the Cuyahoga River, in Cleveland, Ohio, caught on fire and burned for sometime. Since this happened environmentalists have taken extreme measures to reduce the amount of pollution that is coming out of the power plants that are on the river and on Lake Erie.

Many of these impervious surfaces have drainage systems that run directly into the watershed. As shown above in the center picture, there is direct drainage from the street to the watershed with no type of filtration, which in return has cause the glistening polluted puddle in front of the drainage pipe.

Water contamination is vastly becoming an alarming issue across the world. We rely on clean water to survive, yet right now we are heading towards a water crisis. Changing climate patterns are threatening lakes and rivers, and key sources that we tap for drinking water are being overdrawn or tainted with pollution (www.nrdc.org). Clean and plentiful water is the cornerstone of prosperous communities. Yet as we enter the 21st century, swelling demand and changing climate patterns are

Due to the large bodies of water in the county, there is a high risk for drowning. Water quality pollutants in the county come from fertilizers, bacteria from animal feces, sediment from land that are being cleared and stream channel erosion. When the rain falls into farms, parking lots, construction sites, and lawns the water collects pollutants and they get carried to the stream and then eventually end up in the Chesapeake Bay. In 2010 10 out of 15 streams sampled were rated far to poor, E-Coli, dissolved oxygen, fecal coliform, Chlorophyll-A and Polychlorinated Biphenyls were noted in the samples (2013 Natural Resource Indicator Report, 2014). C & R Battery Company Inc. and the Defense General Supply Center DLA were found on the national priority list for the most hazardous waste sites identified by the Environment Protection Agency because it is a risk to human and/or the environment (Virginia Superfund Sites, 2013).

How much waste goes into the Chesapeake bay? What kind of animals get harmed by all this waste?. The Chesapeake Bay is a beautiful body of water which helps out in many ways but with all this pollution and chemicals being thrown in the Bay it isn’t able to function. Wetlands around the Bay aren’t able to do their purpose to protect the shore from wave action they provide habitat for certain animals and plants, they help out with floods. Which is why all of the waste being thrown in the bay and all chemicals being thrown in the Bay needs to be cleaned up.

The runoff carries pollutants such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments into the Bay. In urban areas the standard city block creates five times more runoff than a forested area. About 30% of runoff in an urban area is evaporated, 55% stays runoff, and the other 15% soaks into the land with a variation of deep and shallow infiltration. About 40% of runoff in a forest evaporates, 10% stays runoff, and the extra 50% seeps into the ground with a variation of deep and shallow infiltration. The runoff is actually the fastest growing source of pollution for the Chesapeake

Clean water is essential to our basic needs as human beings and has been acknowledged as a basic human right according to the UN as of July 28, 2010. Still, 1 in 9 (782 million) people don’t have access to clean water, 1 in 3 (2.5 billion) don’t have access to adequate sanitation which results in the spread of often fatal and preventable disease. In a world where 2 in 5 people own a smartphone, it’s easy to forget that for some people even the most basic necessities are hard to come by. Approximately 3.5 million people die every year due to inadequate water supplies. Access to sanitation and safe drinking water could save the lives of 1.5 million children each year.

One of the recurring problems at Howard County is the large quantities of stormwater runoff that flow into nearby streams. This is due to meteorological factors and physical characteristics including: land use changes. The more impervious surfaces there are the more surface runoff there will be; thus, placing adverse effects upon the environment. To be exact, these stormwater runoffs carry car oils, fertilizers, pet waste, litter, and sediment to the Chesapeake bay. Hence, 20% of the chesapeake bay’s pollution is due to stormwater runoff. However, not only does storm water contribute to pollution, but it also harms wildlife and its environment, as well as cause floods, erosion, and property damage. To address such issue, Howard Community College

To address this issue, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and NYS DEC have recently increased their attention to stormwater management. Explicitly requiring permits for municipalities in New York State that are located near urbanized areas, and have their storm sewer system separate from their sanitary sewer systems. Unlike municipalities with combined sewer systems, an MS4 discharges untreated stormwater directly into the nearest body of water. This type of system can be detrimental for numerous reasons and has ultimately resulted in the EPA’s creation of a federal regulation known as the Stormwater Phase II. It was published in the Federal Register on December 8, 1999 and has since effected every MS4 community in New York State (US EPA, 2005).

The Duck Creek watershed in Scott County, IA is currently facing high levels of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria contamination. This pollution has put the watershed on the impaired waters list for the state of Iowa. The impaired waters list is a comprehensive list of every waterway in a state that has a contamination problem according to EPA regulations (insert source for impaired waters explanation & EPA regulations). Much of the pollution that can be found in the Duck Creek watershed is coming from nonpoint source (NPS) pollution. Nonpoint source pollution significantly contributes to the deterioration of water quality due to the difficulty in identifying, assessing and controlling the sources of this type of pollution (citation Wang). This pollution is caused by runoff moving over the land. It picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands and even our underground sources of drinking water (citation SCSWCD). Examples of nonpoint sources in the watershed could include failing septic systems, livestock access to streams, pastures full of manure, fertilizers applied to crops, miscellaneous urban sources such as gasoline or oil, pet waste, and wildlife (citation SCSWCD). Another source of NPS pollution is that conventional urban storm

Often, toxic substances are being drained into the air, waterways, and undergrounds wells. According to the report by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over 60 million pounds of deadly chemicals are produced by industries in Florida. Notably, Florida’s water has been suffering mercury contamination until the state’s department of migration issues a circular regularly for regulations of eating freshwater fish in the region (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). In fact, such metals emanate from coal combustion’s emissions which run into water bodies. Not to mention, pesticides and herbicides utilized by government and homeowners pollute the environment (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). Indeed, all chemicals released into the atmosphere find themselves in rivers.

All around the world, countries are fighting to keep their drinking water clean. Whether it’s streams, rivers, or lakes, countries have taken great measures to maintain high quality drinking water for both human consumption and animal consumption. Countries must first understand the sources of the polltion, then determine the best methods to eliminate the pollution. Clean drinking water is a valuable resource and a the key to human survival. Plants and animals also depend on water for their growth, so all water must be kept clean. The major contributors to water pollution can be classified in three categories, industrial, agricultural and municipal.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (2008), industrial livestock operations produce over 300 million tons of wastewater per year. Although there are

Although the state of America’s water infrastructure is of great concern, the types of chemicals found in America’s tap water are equally as frightening. The passage of the Water Act in 1972 prevents the direct dumping of hazardous chemicals directly into waterways, and helps regulate quality standards of water. However, the Clean Water Act is has no jurisdiction on regulating indirect dumping of chemicals that integrates into water supplies. Pesticides and prescription drugs are the greatest cause for concern of indirect containments in America’s water supply (Olsen). An abundance of the harmful chemicals found in liquefied animals feces, used in large dairy states, have percolated into drinking wells that have caused serious infections (Duhigg). However, more harmful containments are infiltrating water supplies. Such containments include