Watersheds And Drinking Water

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

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

Pharmaceuticals are defined as prescription, over the counter and veterinary therapeutic drugs used to prevent or treat human and animal diseases, while personal care products (PCPs) are used mainly to improve the quality of daily life [16]. Over the past few years, there has been growing awareness of the unintentional presence of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in various compartments of the aquatic environment at concentrations capable of causing detrimental effects to the aquatic organisms. This has become a major concern because PPCPs are extensively and increasingly used in human and veterinary medicine, resulting in their continuous release to the environment.

The chemicals found in water can be dangerous toward our health. We live near the Great Lakes which supplies 20% of the World’s fresh water. It also has chemicals that threaten the life evolving around the fresh water. There are medical drugs that are being introduced to the fresh water lakes. Stuff like antibiotics and steroids. These pharmaceuticals are posing danger for the environment. This could affect the lake life,s growth.

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.

Environmentalists all over the nation highly discourage flushing prescription drugs down the toilet in fear of contaminating the water supply. Although the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) states on their website that flushing certain medications down the toilet is the best option in fear of children, or young adults getting into the potentially harmful prescription drugs… Environmentalists say otherwise. In fact, the Ohio Environmental Council warns that there are many studies supporting their argument that flushing the medication is harmful to the water supply. Studies state that the amount of prescription drugs being found in waterways is creating issues such as the reproductive health of different fish even completely feminizing male fish.

"It is not possible to add pesticides to water anywhere without threatening the purity of water everywhere. Seldom if ever does Nature operate in closed and separate compartments, and she has not done so in distributing the earth's water supply" (Carson 42).

The universal distribution of synthetic and natural substances with endocrine disrupting properties in the environment and their potential adverse health effects in humans and wildlife has become a concern during the past few decades. As a result of various anthropogenic activities, endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are introduced into the ecosystem and dysregulate the endogenous hormone system. EDCs can alter biosynthesis, secretion, transport, binding action or metabolism of endogenous hormones, and interfere with synthesis and metabolism of hormone receptors. The disruption of the endocrine system may result in interference with reproduction, homeostasis, metabolism, developmental processes and behavior (Diamanti-Kandarakis et al., 2009).

Due to man’s pollution of environments all of the world, today’s rivers serve as chemical fingerprints, so to speak, for their respective ecosystems. They carry chemical cocktails, and a new study recently analyzed the nuanced differences between substances throughout a watershed to figure out more about the biological processes happening both in the water and on land. This was a Mississippi River watershed comprised of all the headwaters of the Upper Mississippi.

These drugs included natural and synthetic hormones, antibiotics, antihypertensives, painkillers, and antidepressants. In Royte’s article, David Norris says that “pharmaceutical levels are low in absolute terms, but they aren't low on the biological level. You could have six chemicals below the no-effect level, but all together they are above the no-effect level.” This causes unwanted effects on the animals and plants that live in the waters of contaminated rivers.

At least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals deposit into the drinking water waterways in the United States. (Donn) Pharmaceuticals find their way into the water through either unintended or direct disposal. In unintended disposals, medicines occur by ingestions and later excretions. In direct disposals, individuals discard unused medicines. The medicines, not often disposed of properly, end up in the water supply. Next, the water, containing discarded, unused medicines, flows to a waste disposal site intermingling with ground water and then tap water. Numerous research supports the reduction of direct and indirect pharmaceutical footprints by the improvement of treatment facilities. This research states, “Advanced wastewater treatment

Ground water is present below the surface in porous rocks and is susceptible to contamination by natural and especially human related activities. Large amounts of chemicals like soap and detergents, fertilizers and pesticides, pharmaceutical by-products are discharged in to fresh water aquifers every day. These contaminants leach in to the soil and dissolve in ground water. Different contaminants have different rates of solubility and degradation once they reach the underground water table either by simple flow or by the downward movement of rain water. The ground water may become contaminated with both organic and inorganic substances especially heavy metals like Cadmium, Chromium and Nickel, etc. (Christensen et al, 2001). Pharmaceutical wastes can cause cancer in human cells. (Krifa et al. 2013). Many pharmaceutically active chemicals reach

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

Ground-waters pollution is particularly dangerous for the water we drink, coming from wells and natural sources of the areas where pesticides are used, given that pesticides, after reaching the deep layers of the soil and the ground-waters, are protected from the oxidation by the air and are more persistent.

It is a well-known fact that the existence of water is critical to life on Earth. The world has been set up in a way that makes mankind heavily dependent on water for cultivation, sanitation, transportation, and most importantly, survival. However, over the last two centuries, while revolutionary technologies and discoveries have raised the overall standard of living, water quality has deteriorated significantly. The United Nations (UN) estimate that the amount of waste-water produced annually is six times more than the water that exists in all the rivers of the world combined (UNWWAP, 2003). Unregulated discharge of organic chemicals from ranging from fertilizers and pharmaceuticals to personal health-care products have played a huge role in the current situation regarding water quality. If this downward trend continues, the immediate and distant future of the human race will be in jeopardy. Clean drinking water will become an expensive commodity, skin-related diseases will grow exponentially, and the destruction of aquatic life will trigger an unstable transformation in the food chain. While technological innovations have tried to address this problem, the lack of repercussions for pursuing personal interests for everyone ranging from farmers to a skin-care product-users has allowed the situation to worsen. The only permanent solution to this problem is to strictly regulate the contents of the products that eventually find their way back into the water stream, as well as