Poisoned Waters Case Study

Would you drink, and bathe in the water coming out of that tap? The word no is what every sensible human would say when seeing this orange colored liquid. Unfortunately, residents in Flint Michigan are having toxic water like that, running through their pipes and there is one major problem... It’s too late to fix it. How did this happen? How poisonous is the water and what are the effects of it?

The article “How Tap Water Became Toxic in Flint, Michigan” By Sara Ganim and Linh Tran talks about the toxicity in the tap water from Flint, Michigan. In the article it is described that the levels of led in Flint's’ water system was because there was a corrosive agent in the water that was taking led off the pipes and putting it into the drinking water. The start of everything happened when Flint stopped paying Detroit for water and switched to a temporary source until they could build their own pipe to lake Huron. The temporary water source that they switched to was the Flint river. The water in the Flint river is 19 times more corrosive than the water from the lake Huron. Pipes that carried the water were not used to the level of corrosion

It is easy person to point their finger at big industrial and chemical plants and blame them for the cause of so much pollution in our water. When taking a closer look, those same people pointing the finger are equally contributing to the pollution of our water supply and are also to blame. This person could be a friend, family member, classmate, or even you. Even if people do not think that they have a part in this, most do. A variety of data has shown traces of pharmaceuticals used by every day humans in our water. As well as pharmaceuticals there is a presence of chemical contaminants, mainly pesticides that are causing harm to our environment and wildlife. Even humans can be affected by such contamination in the water supply, and

Contaminated water poses health risks on humans, pets, wild animals, and farm animals. (Mcdermott-Levy 2013)

What effect did each of the contaminants have on the water in the experiment? Which contaminant seemed to have the most potent effect on the water?

While steps have been taken by the government to help bring standards to water treatment and wastewater treatment plants some of the contaminants seep into the water supply after it has been filtered. The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued standards for drinking water with policies like the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, but the standards are not foolproof and some municipalities are not in compliance with the standards. Another problem is the cost of setting up better filtration systems to catch some of the contaminants that are not being filtered at the present time.

To develop a better understanding of water contamination, a field comparison between two separate water sources was conducted. The first water sample was gathered from the Simmons Park Pond and the second from a NES water fountain. The data gathered from this experiment was used to answer several questions regarding the prevalence of contamination in nearby water sources. The field analysis ultimately concluded what contaminants had the greatest prevalence, thereby exemplifying the defining differences between the two water sources.

They actively portray this by stating “Polluted drinking water or water polluted by chemicals produced waterborne diseases like, Giardiasis, Amoebiasis, Hookworm, Ascariasis, Typhoid, Liver and kidney damage, Alzheimer’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, multiple Sclerosis, Hormonal problems that can disorder development and reproductive processes, Cancer, heart disease, damage to the nervous system, different type of damages on babies in womb, Parkinson’s disease, Damage to the DNA and even death, meanwhile, polluted beach water contaminated people like stomach aches, encephalitis, Hepatitis, diarrhoea, vomiting, gastroenteritis, respiratory infections, ear ache, pink eye and rashes,” (Marica, Corches, 2016, para. 5). This statement appeals to the emotional aspect by explaining how contaminated water can cause several different diseases and problematic complications. It explains how certain cases have caused errors in infants to appeal to the emotions of those with children, or uses cancerous aspects to gain the attention of those who have endured, or know someone who had endured, something similar to what is being explained. They use these examples to gain domination over the pathos, or emotional, aspect caused by water pollution.

The purpose of my experiment is to find a good way to extract oil from water. My reason for asking this question is because I love animals and I want to keep them safe. Also, when I went on a whale watching trip I loved watching them jump with their calves in the blue waters and I don't want the whales dying just because we aren't careful about what we put in the ocean.

Domestic wells are usually shallower than public wells and are more susceptible to contamination from surface waters (Kumar et al., 2010). From 1971-2008, private wells were responsible for 67 percent (n=40) of reported outbreaks from groundwater (Wallender et al., 2013). Contamination of the groundwater that feeds drinking water wells results from infiltration from rivers, septic tank leach fields, and leaking sewer lines (all sewer lines leak). Cross contamination with septic system wastes due to poor design, maintenance or improper spacing is listed as the primary cause. Contamination of groundwater is reportedly widespread (Auld et al., 2004; Curriero et al., 2001; Fong et al., 2007; Thomas et al., 2006; Tornevi et al., 2015) and

Water has a huge ability to serve as a mode of transmission for certain pathogens. Even though water carries so many different pathogens, due to fecal contamination, it is impossible and expensive to try and ensure ever type of water is free of pathogens. In this experiment, we verified three different samples of water and determined the amount of fecal contamination in each. The three samples of water included: Little John Lake, Leaf River, and a roadside lake. It was predicted that all three water samples would be affected by some coliforms, but that the water sample, Little John Lake would contain the most coliforms, which contained fecal contamination. In order to determine which sample of water contained the most fecal contamination,

This lab experiment was to examine the effects of water contamination. This experiment was based on the quality of water in a town named Fruitvale in which the water had been infected due to rubbish and litter. Our task was to conduct an experiment using the different water samples and universal indicator. The universal indicator displays the ppb(contamination level) level in the water. In total there were 40 well that could be possibly be tested. I tested 23 wells in all. My final hypothesis is: if I tested wells 12, 9, 6, 16, 15 then the ppb level would be higher because these wells are near the old chemical company, the farm that uses pesticides and the trash land.

The contamination of water and drinking supplies with high concentrations of nutrients from animal waste has fatal effects on different organisms. “Elevated nitrates in drinking water...hinders the ability of the...blood to carry oxygen” (Hribar 4), which can cause serious health conditions such as birth defects, miscarriages, and can even lead to death in seniors and infants. Although nitrates may have the greatest consequences on younger and older individuals, adults that consume tainted water develop increased risks of “cancer and non-cancer diseases...diabetes...and neurodevelopmental defects” (Halden and Schwab 16). Contaminated drinking water poses a serious threat to human health, and can affect people’s happiness and quality of life.

The hypothesis for the experiment was if the contaminated water is poured through a filter then the clarity will be more clear and the pH of the water will be closer to 7. The contaminated waters’ pH before going through the filter was 8.33 and after going through the filter became 7.42, due to this pH lowering our hypothesis was right about the pH being closer to 7. The contaminated waters’ clarity was 71.1% before being filtered and after going through the filter lowered to 44.1%, making it lower then it started. These numbers are not great and drinking this water is not recommended. The hypothesis was correct, however the numbers are not the best and the filter could be improved to make the numbers better. In this experiment the filter

The city has issued numerous precautionary steps residents should take in order to prevent lead poisoning, such as: increase the use of bottled water, buy filters for sinks and showers, and boil cold water. As you can imagine, this causes a great economic stress on the residents who are already struggling below the poverty line. Governor Rick Snyder is urging FEMA to provide Flint with more federal funding, in the amount of $140 million, as this crisis is highlighting the failure of infrastructure. Due to the effects of eroding iron from the lead toxicity in the water, the pipelines will need to be replaced.