Chapter 20

Water Pollution

Summary
1. Water pollutants include infectious agents from human or animal wastes; oxygen-demanding wastes from
sewage, paper mills, and food processing; inorganic chemicals from surface runoff, industrial effluents, and
household cleaners; organic chemicals from oil, plastics, pesticides, and detergents; sediment from erosion;
and thermal pollution from power plant cooling.

2. Water pollution problems in streams and lakes relate to chemical and biological pollutants, with the greater
problems being cultural eutrophication.

3. Groundwater pollution is caused by leaks from waste ponds and underground storage tanks, chemical dumping
or spilling, surface runoff, and fertilizers. It can be prevented by finding substitutes for toxic chemicals,
installing monitoring wells near landfills and underground tanks, requiring leak detectors on underground
tanks, banning hazardous waste disposal in landfills and injection wells, and storing harmful liquids in
aboveground tanks.

4. Water pollution of oceans relates to nitrogen oxide from industry and cars, heavy metals from effluents, toxic
sediment, sewage, runoff of pesticides, manure, fertilizers, and red tides from excess nitrogen.

5. Reduction or prevention of water pollution can be achieved through reduction of use of toxic pollutants,
banning of ocean dumping of sludge, protection of sensitive areas from oil drilling and oil transport, regulation
of coastal development, and regulation of sewage treatment.

6. The U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 requires that drinking water contain less than the maximum
contaminant levels for any pollutants that may have adverse effects on human health. Restructuring of water
treatment systems, enforcing current regulations, banning the use of lead in new structures, and chemical tests
and biological indicators can be used to make drinking water safer.

Key Questions and Concepts

20-1 What Are the Causes and Effects of Water Pollution?
CORE CASE STUDY: Seattle’s suburbs surround lake Washington, and in the 1950’s treated waste water
from 10 municipalities was being dumped into the body of water. This led to the spread of blue-green algae,
and the subsequent decline of fish species. Public education efforts and citizen pressure led to the diversion of
effluents to Puget Sound and recovery of the lake’s ecosystem.
A. Water is polluted is any physical change in water quality that has a harmful effect on living organisms or
makes the water unfit for human uses.
B. Water pollution can come from a single source or from a variety of dispersed sources. Point sources
discharge pollutants at specific locations through drain pipes, ditches, or sewer lines into bodies of surface
water. Non-point sources are scattered and diffuse and can’t be traced to any single site of discharge.
C. The leading sources of water pollution are agriculture, industries, and mining.
D. Common diseases are transmitted to humans through contaminated drinking water (Table 20-2). The World
Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1.6 million people, most of whom are children, die prematurely
every year from infections diseases spread by contaminated water or lack of water for adequate hygiene.
SCIENCE FOCUS: Scientists monitor water quality by using bacterial counts, chemical analysis, and
indicator organisms.

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20-2 What Are the Major Water Pollution Problems in Streams and Lakes?
A. Streams can recover from moderate levels of degradable water pollutants if the flows are not reduced. A
combination of dilution and biodegradation can allow recovery of stream pollution if they are not
overloaded, or have reduced flow due to damming, agricultural diversion, or drought.
B. Most developed countries have reduced point source pollution, but toxic chemicals and pollution from
non-point sources are still problems.
C. Stream pollution in most developing countries is a serious and growing problem. Half of the world’s 500
major rivers are heavily polluted and most of them run through developing countries where waste
treatment is minimal or nonexistent.
1. More than half of China’s population lives without sewage treatment.
D. Lakes have stratified layers and little flow and so are less effective at diluting pollutants that enter them.
E. Human activities can overload lakes with plant nutrients that reduce dissolved oxygen and kill some
aquatic species. Nutrient enrichment of lakes from runoff is called eutrophication.
CASE STUDY: The Great lakes constitute 95% of North America’s fresh surface water. Less than 1% of the
water entering the lakes flows out, so pollutants can take as long as 100 years to flush. In the 1960’s the lakes
suffered from cultural eutrophication. In 1972 Canada and the US signed the Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement, and the situation has improved. However, the lakes still suffer from ongoing pollution problems,
and lack of funding for cleanup.

20-3 What Are the Major Pollution Problems Affecting Groundwater and Other Drinking Water Sources?
A. Groundwater is vulnerable to contamination because it can’t effectively cleanse itself and dilute or disperse
pollutants. Contaminated water in the aquifer will slowly flow along and create a plume of contaminated
water. It can take hundreds of years to cleanse degradable wastes; nondegradable wastes are there
permanently.
B. The extent of groundwater contamination is generally unknown since there has been little tracking and
testing done on aquifers.
C. Prevention is the most effective and affordable way to protect groundwater from pollutants.
D. Groundwater pollution can include human pollutants and natural pollutants such as Arsenic.
E. The technology exists to purify wastewater to be used as drinking water, but it is expensive and faces
public opposition.
CASE STUDY: Some major cities have avoided the cost of building water treatment facilities by protecting
watersheds. New York City is an example.
F. Fifty-four countries have standards for safe drinking water. The U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974
requires the EPA to establish minimum contaminant levels for pollutants that may adversely affect human
health.
CASE STUDY: The United States has the world’s cleanest drinking water, yet its people consume the most
bottled water of any nation. Use of bottled water is energy intensive and creates a lot of waste. Currently, there
is a growing back-to-the-tap movement.

20-4 What Are the Major Water Pollution Problems Affecting Oceans?
A. Oceans can disperse and break down large quantities of degradable pollutants if they are not overloaded.
B. Pollution of coastal water near heavily populated areas is a serious problem. About 40% of the world’s
population lives on or within 62 miles of the coast, and this puts a tremendous burden on the wetlands,
estuaries, coral reefs and mangrove swamps found along the coast.
C. Runoff of sewage and agricultural waste increases nitrate and phosphate levels and can lead to algal
blooms. These then cause oxygen-depleted zones.
SCIENCE FOCUS: The world’s third largest oxygen depleted zone is at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
This watershed contains almost 2/3 of the United States’ land area. The oxygen depleted zone forms because
of algal blooms associated with the influx of nitrate from agriculture upstream. The solutions involve more
sustainable farming methods and improved flood control.
D. Most ocean pollution comes from human activities on land such as changing and dumping motor oil.
E. Oil pollution can have a number of harmful ecological and economic effects, but most disappear within 3
to 20 years.
CASE STUDY: The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill was the worst in U.S history and caused widespread
ecological damage. Congress has since passed the Oil Pollution Act, banning single hull tankers in U.S. waters
by 2010, but the oil industry has successfully delayed it until 2015.
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30-5 How Can We Best Deal with Water Pollution?
A. Reduce non-point pollution by preventing it from reaching bodies of surface water. Reduce soil erosion
and the amount of fertilizer that runs off.
B. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, the Clean Water Act of 1977 and the 1987 Water Quality
Act are the basis of pollution control of surface waters in the U.S.
CASE STUDY: The Clean Water Act led to improvements that include more community water systems
meeting federal health standards, more streams being fishable and swimmable, a greater portion of the
populations served by sewage treatment plants, and reduced wetland losses. There is still need for
improvement and some scientists call for strengthening the Clean Water Act.
C. Septic tanks and various levels of sewage treatment can reduce point-source water pollution.
D. In urban areas, sewage and runoff flow to wastewater treatment plants, where waters undergo primary (a
physical process) and secondary (a biological process) treatment.
E. Preventing toxic chemicals from reaching sewage treatment plants would eliminate these from sludge and
water that is discharged.
F. Natural and artificial wetlands and other ecological systems can be used to treat sewage.
SCIENCE FOCUS: Some communities and individuals are experimenting with using various organisms to
purify water in holding tanks. Others use natural or artificially-created wetlands to this end.

Teaching Tips:
Large Lecture Courses:

Start the class with five bottles of water from around the world. Have a handful of students taste the bottles and
pick their favorite. One bottle should be filled with tap water. When the students have voted on a favorite, show the
prices of the water on a per liter basis compared to other products such as gasoline. Use the comparison to start
students thinking about the irony of assuming drinking imported water is very safe water versus what is available
from a tap, and as a counterpoint mention statistics on worldwide access to safe drinking water.

Smaller Lecture Classes:

Borrow or buy several camping water filters from the college outdoor center or a local store. Go through how
the filters work and what types of chemicals and size of filtration units are used in each filter. Have students choose
different filters for different places on the planet. For example, have students pick a filter that would be best for
drinking water out of an irrigation ditch in Iowa. This particular filter should handle dissolved ions like nitrate as
well as organic compounds such as pesticides and herbicides. Other examples would be for use while camping in the
Congo (water borne viruses) or near an organic farm (bacterial contamination more likely with organic fertilizers).

Key Terms
cultural eutrophication primary sewage treatment
eutrophication secondary sewage treatment
nonpoint sources septic tank
point sources water pollution

Term Paper Research Topics

1. Water pollution: animal feedlot wastes; electric power plants and thermal pollution; pesticides; deep-well
disposal and groundwater contamination; sanitary landfills and groundwater contamination; hazardous storage
and disposal problems; leaking underground gasoline tanks; salinity problems in irrigated areas.

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2. Water pollution and human health: waterborne disease-causing agents and their control; waterborne disease
problems in developing countries.

3. Case studies in water pollution: the fight to save Lake Erie; Lake Baikal; James River kepone spill;
Chesapeake Bay; ocean dumping in the New York Bight; Exxon Valdez oil spill.

4. How responsible are upstream communities for ensuring that high-quality water is delivered to downstream
communities?

5. Is the public ready for water recycling? What are some examples of this approach in use in the U.S.?

6. Would privatization of water resources lead to improved water quality? Why or why not?

7. National policy: the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974; protection of groundwater; the Clean Water Act;
problems in enforcing water quality standards; the role of the Environmental Protection Agency in water
quality management; the Toxic Substances Control Act; the National Eutrophication Survey; the Coastal
Barrier Resources Act; water-rights battles in the West.

8. International policy: UN Conference on the Law of the Sea.

9. Chesapeake Bay: What is the problem, what are the causes, and what work is underway to fix these problems?

10. Non-point source pollution and the Gulf of Mexico dead zone. What are the problems and causes, and why is
this so difficult to address?

Activities and Projects

1. Invite a local, state, or federal water pollution control official to discuss water pollution control methods,
progress, and problems with your class.

2. Visit a sewage treatment plant with your class. Find out what level of sewage treatment is used in your
community. What is the volume of effluent discharged? If effluent is discharged into a river or stream, is the
water subsequently used for drinking water supply? Are there bodies of water in your locale unfit for fishing or
swimming because of inadequately treated sewage effluent? If so, is anything being done to correct the
problem?

3. Investigate if anyone in your community is looking at alternative sewage treatment solutions. Is anyone
researching more natural systems of waste treatment than sewage treatment plants? Is anyone developing
strategies for recycling of "gray" water?

4. Have your class identify the present or potential sources of contaminants in your community's drinking water
supply. If surface water from a river or lake is used, how and to what degree is it being polluted before it is
withdrawn for your use? If groundwater is used, is the aquifer subject to contamination by leaking sanitary
landfills, improperly functioning septic tanks, unconfined hazardous wastes, or other sources of pollution?
(Ask a public health and/or environmental official to discuss these problems with your class.)

5. Ask your students to explore the principal sources of industrial water pollution in your community. What
specific types of chemicals are removed in the treatment of these industrial wastes? How is this accomplished?

6. Take a class field trip to the nearest lake, river, or stream, preferably with a biologist. Note its smell,
appearance, taste (if safe), flow, and ecological characteristics. How have these changed over the past 20
years? What plants and animals do you find living in or near the water? What are their functions? If possible,
measure oxygen content, temperature, and pH. Use the library to determine what types of fish and other plant
278 Water Pollution
 and aquatic life might exist under these conditions. What shifts would happen if acidity and/or dissolved
oxygen and/or temperature were increased? Decreased? What might happen if acidity decreased and
temperature increased? Try to visit other sites upstream and downstream from your town to compare water
quality. Which sites did you prefer? Why?

7. With your class, visit the nearest reservoir, pond, or lake and try to find evidence of natural eutrophication and
human-induced eutrophication. How deep is the body of water? How do depth and water quality vary
throughout the year? How old is the body of water? What factors appear to limit growth of organisms in the
body of water? What might the normal life span of the body of water be? Its actual life span? If possible, get a
chemist or biologist to help you gather physical data (pH, salinity, turbidity, algae counts, species diversity,
depth of bottom sediments) to establish the stage of succession. Try to find people who have lived near the
body of water for a number of years and ask them to describe changes they have observed.

Attitudes and Values

1. Is clean drinking water a basic human right? Why or why not?

2. Compare and contrast access to clean water in the developed and developing world? How do the problems in
the developing world rank against other important environmental issues?

3. How aggressively should water quality be protected? What is the balance between individual rights and
societal benefits?

4. Is there an ecological obligation to protect water quality? How do natural and biological systems compare
against human needs for water?

5. Who should pay for non-point source pollution? Is it a federal, local, state, or individual issue? From an ethical
standpoint, where does the responsibility for management lie?

News videos

Bottle Backlash; Environmental Science in the Headlines, 2007; DVD; ISBN 0495385433

Additional Video Resources

Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our Wastes (Documentary, 2004)

How waste can pollute our water sources.

The Habitable Planet: A Systems Approach to Environmental Science: Risk, Exposure, and Health and
Water Resources (Documentary series, 2007). The sixth and eighth videos in this series explore water resources,
and water cleanup efforts. .
http://www.learner.org/resources/series209.html

High Schooler's Water Cleaner Fights Pollution from Teflon Plant (Popular Mechanics)
High Schooler devises a plan to clean up her local water way.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4224766.html

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Pointless Pollution: America's Water Crisis (Documentary)
Non-point source pollution.

Swim for the River (Documentary, 2006)

The story of the Hudson, and the battle to save it, are told as Chris Swain swims the entire length of the river.
http://www.swimfortheriver.com/

We all Live Downstream (Documentary, 1991)

A look at pollution in the Mississippi River and the effects on human health.
http://www.videoproject.com/wea-281-v.html

Web Resources
United Nations Water program
Links to statistics and programs around the world.
http://www.unwater.org/flashindex.html

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Report to congress on water quality including links to state-level data.
http://www.epa.gov/305b/

Environment Canada
Report on threats to drinking water sources in Canada.
http://www.nwri.ca/threats/intro-e.html.

U.S. Geological Survey Water Quality Information

Links to data, techniques, and reports.
http://water.usgs.gov/owq/

Suggested Answers to End of Chapter Questions

Review Questions

1. Review the Key Questions and Concepts for this chapter on p. 529. Describe the cleanup of Lake Washington
near Seattle (Core Case Study) and list the three lessons learned from this process.
 The U. S. city of Seattle was founded near Lake Washington. By the mid- 1950s, sewage treatment plants
were dumping huge amounts of treated wastewater into the lake. The high level of nutrients caused a bloom
of cyanobacteria which caused the water to become cloudy and populations of desirable fish declined.
Researchers hypothesized that the cause of the bloom was phosphorus coming from the sewage treatment
plants. They wrote letters and articles to educate the general public about the nature of Lake Washington’s
pollution. Within 3 years, citizen pressure on elected officials led to the development of a scheme to divert
nutrient-rich effluents from Seattle’s sewage treatment plants into the nearby Puget Sound, where tides
would mix and dilute them with ocean water. By 1976, the blue- green algae were virtually gone. The clarity
of the lake water improved dramatically, fish populations in the lake recovered, and recreationists returned
to Lake Washington. Three lessons learned were: adding nutrients can disturb the balance of an ecosystem
and cause harmful effects; that technical solutions can be found for environmental problems and that
citizens matter - public pressure on officials can lead to actions to solve environmental problems.

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2. What is water pollution? Distinguish between point sources and nonpoint sources of water pollution, and give
an example of each. List nine major types of water pollutants and give an example of each. List three diseases
transmitted to humans by polluted water. Describe chemical and biological methods that scientists use to
measure water quality.
 Water pollution is any change in water quality that harms humans or other living organisms or makes water
unsuitable for desired uses. It can come from single (point) sources or from larger and dispersed (nonpoint)
sources.
 Point sources discharge pollutants at specific locations through drain pipes, ditches, or sewer lines into
bodies of surface water. Examples include factories, sewage treatment plants (which remove some, but not
all, pollutants), underground mines, and oil tankers.
 Nonpoint sources are broad, diffuse areas, rather than points, from which pollutants enter bodies of surface
water or air. Examples include runoff of chemicals and sediments from cropland, livestock feedlots, logged
forests, urban streets, parking lots, lawns, and golf courses.
 See Table 20- 1 Major Water Pollutants and Their Sources for the major types of water pollutants and
examples of each.
 See Table 20- 2 Common Diseases Transmitted to Humans through Contaminated Drinking Water
 See SCIENCE FOCUS Testing Water for Pollutants for chemical and biological methods used to measure
water quality.

3. Describe how streams can cleanse themselves and how these cleansing processes can be overwhelmed.
Describe the state of stream pollution in more-developed and less-developed countries.
 Flowing rivers and streams can recover rapidly from moderate levels of degradable, oxygen-demanding
wastes through a combination of dilution and biodegradation of such wastes by bacteria. But this natural
recovery process does not work when streams become overloaded with such pollutants or when drought,
damming, or water diversion reduces their flows. Depending on flow rates and the amount of
biodegradable pollutants, streams recover from injection of oxygen-demanding wastes or heated water if
they are given enough time and are not overloaded.
 Water pollution control laws enacted in the 1970s have resulted in a great increase in the number and
quality of wastewater treatment plants in the United States and most other developed countries. In addition,
such laws require industries to reduce or eliminate their point source discharges of harmful chemicals into
surface waters. This has enabled the United States to hold the line against increased pollution by disease-
causing agents and oxygen-demanding wastes in most of its streams. This is an impressive accomplishment
given the country’s increased economic activity, resource consumption, and population growth since
passage of these laws. In most developing countries, stream pollution from discharges of untreated sewage
and industrial wastes is a serious and growing problem. According to the World Commission on Water in
the 21st Century, half of the world’s 500 rivers are heavily polluted, and most of these polluted rivers run
through developing countries. Most of these countries cannot afford to build waste treatment plants and do
not have, or do not enforce, laws for controlling water pollution.

4. Give two reasons why lakes cannot cleanse themselves as readily as streams can. Distinguish between
eutrophication and cultural eutrophication. List ways to prevent or reduce cultural eutrophication. Describe the
pollution of the Great Lakes and the progress made in reducing it.
 Lakes and reservoirs are generally less effective at diluting pollutants than streams for two reasons. First,
deep lakes and reservoirs often contain stratified layers that undergo little vertical mixing. Second, they
have little or no flow. The flushing and changing of water in lakes and large artificial reservoirs can take
from 1 to 100 years, compared with several days to several weeks for streams.
 Eutrophication is the name given to the natural nutrient enrichment of a shallow lake, estuary, or slow-
moving stream. It is caused mostly by runoff of plant nutrients, such as nitrates and phosphates, from
surrounding land. An oligotrophic lake is low in nutrients and its water is clear. Over time some lakes
become more eutrophic as nutrients are added from natural and human sources in the surrounding
watersheds. Near urban or agricultural areas, human activities can greatly accelerate the input of plant
nutrients to a lake—a process called cultural eutrophication. Mostly nitrate- and phosphate-containing
effluents in runoff from various sources cause this change. These sources include farmland, animal
feedlots, urban areas, chemically fertilized suburban yards, mining sites, and treated and untreated
municipal sewage outlets. Some nitrogen also reaches lakes by deposition from the atmosphere.

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  Cultural eutrophication can be prevented or reduced by (1) using advanced waste treatment to remove
nitrates and phosphates before wastewater enters lakes, banning or limiting the use of phosphates in
household detergents and other cleaning agents and (3) by employing soil conservation and land-use
control to reduce nutrient runoff.
 The Great Lakes of North America are vulnerable to pollution from point and nonpoint sources. By the
1960s, many areas of the Great Lakes were suffering from severe cultural eutrophication, huge fish kills,
and contamination from bacteria and a variety of toxic industrial wastes. Since 1972, Canada and the United
States have joined forces and spent more than $ 20 billion on a Great Lakes pollution control program. This
program has decreased algal blooms, increased dissolved oxygen levels and sport and commercial fishing
catches in Lake Erie, and allowed most swimming beaches to reopen. Despite this important progress,
many problems remain. Dozens of municipal sewage systems combine storm water with wastewater and
allow emergency overflows into the lakes. Sediments in 26 toxic hotspots remain heavily polluted. And
biological pollution in the form of invasions by zebra mussels and more than 180 other alien species
threaten some native species and cause billions of dollars in damages.

5. Explain why groundwater cannot cleanse itself very well. What are the major sources of groundwater
contamination in the United States? Describe the threat from arsenic in groundwater. List ways to prevent or
clean up ground-water contamination. Describe three ways to provide safe drinking water in poor countries.
 When groundwater becomes contaminated, it cannot cleanse itself of degradable wastes as quickly as
flowing surface water does. Groundwater flows so slowly that contaminants are not diluted and dispersed
effectively.
 The United States had leaking gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, or toxic solvents into groundwater.
During this century, scientists expect many of the millions of such tanks, which have been installed around
the world, to become corroded and leaky, possibly contaminating groundwater and becoming a major
global health problem.
 Another problem is toxic arsenic, which contaminates drinking water when a well is drilled into aquifers
where soils and rock are naturally rich in arsenic or when human activities such as mining and ore
processing release arsenic into drinking water supplies.
 Methods for preventing contamination of groundwater includes: find substitutes for toxic chemicals, keep
toxic chemicals out of the environment, install monitoring wells near landfills and underground tanks,
require leak detectors on underground tanks, ban hazardous waste disposal in landfills and injection wells,
and store harmful liquids in aboveground tanks with leak detection and collection systems.
 Methods for clean-up of groundwater includes: pump to surface, clean, and return to aquifer (very
expensive), inject microorganisms to clean up contamination (less expensive but still costly), and pump
nanoparticles of inorganic compounds to remove pollutants (still being developed).
 Three ways to provide safe drinking water are exposing water to UV rays from the sun, using inexpensive
portable water filters, or treating the water with chlorine and iron sulfate.

6. Describe U. S. laws for protecting drinking water quality. Describe the environmental problems caused by the
wide-spread use of bottled water.
 The U. S. Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 requires the EPA to establish national drinking water standards,
called maximum contaminant levels, for any pollutants that may have adverse effects on human health
 Use of bottled water causes environmental problems. Each year, the number of plastic water bottles thrown
away, if lined up end- to- end, could circle the earth’s equator eight times. Toxic gases and liquids are
released during the manufacture of plastic water bottles, and greenhouse gases and other air pollutants are
emitted by the fossil fuels burned to make them and to deliver bottled water to suppliers. Withdrawing
water for bottling is helping to deplete some underground aquifers.

7. How are coastal waters and deeper ocean waters polluted? What causes harmful algal blooms and what are their
negative effects? Describe oxygen depletion in the northern Gulf of Mexico. How serious is oil pollution of the
oceans, what are its effects, and what can be done to reduce such pollution? Describe the 2010 oil well blowout
in the U.S Gulf Coast. Describe the effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaskan waters.
 Residential areas, factories, and farms all contribute to the pollution of coastal waters and bays. According
to a 2006 study by the U. N. Environment Programme, an estimated 80% of marine pollution originates on
land, and that 80– 90% of the municipal sewage from most coastal developing countries and from some

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 coastal developed countries is dumped into oceans untreated. This dumping often overwhelms the ability of
some coastal waters to biodegrade such wastes. Cruise ships also cause pollution. A cruise liner can
generate as much waste as a small city produces. Much of this waste, including perchloroethylene from
dry-cleaning and benzene from paint and solvents, is highly toxic. Cruise ships also generate huge amounts
of plastic gar-age and waste oil. For decades, cruise ships and other ocean vessels, have been dumping their
wastes at sea.
 Runoff of sewage and agricultural wastes into coastal waters introduces large quantities of nitrate (NO3 –)
and phosphate (PO4 3–) plant nutrients, which can cause explosive growths of harmful algae. These harmful
algal blooms are called red, brown, or green toxic tides. They can release waterborne and airborne toxins
that damage fisheries, kill some fish-eating birds, reduce tourism, and poison seafood. Harmful algal
blooms lead to the poisoning of about 60,000 Americans a year who eat shellfish contaminated by the
algae.
 See Science Focus: Oxygen Depletion in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.
 Tanker accidents and blowouts at offshore drilling rigs get considerable publicity, but studies show that the
largest source of ocean oil pollution is urban and industrial runoff from land. Volatile organic
hydrocarbons in oil immediately kill many aquatic organisms. Other chemicals in oil form tar-like globs
that float on the surface and coat the feathers of birds and the fur of marine mammals, causing many of
them to drown or die of exposure from loss of body heat. Heavy oil components that sink to the ocean floor
or wash into estuaries can smother bottom- dwelling organisms such as crabs, oysters, mussels, and clams,
making them unfit for human consumption. Some oil spills have killed coral reefs.
 See Figure 20-17 Methods for preventing and cleaning up excessive pollution of coastal waters.
 The 2010 accident involved a ruptured wellhead that released massive amounts of crude oil that
contaminating ecologically vital coastal marshes, mangroves, sea-grass beds and deep ocean aquatic life. It
also disrupted the livelihoods of people depending on the gulf’s coastal fisheries and caused large economic
losses for the gulf’s tourism business.
 The Exxon oil spill was the largest in U.S. history. The oil from this spill killed about 250,000 seabirds and
large numbers of fish, fish eggs, shellfish, sea otters, killer whales, and harbor seals. The accident also
disrupted the culture and livelihoods of 32,000 coastal residents of Alaska and caused an estimated $15
billion in damages.

8. List ways to reduce water pollution from (a) non-point sources and (b) point sources. Describe the U. S.
experience with reducing point-source water pollution. What is a septic tank and how does it work? Describe
how primary sewage treatment and secondary sewage treatment are used to help purify water. What are the
options for dealing with sewage sludge?
 Nonpoint-source water pollution may be reduced by farmers keeping cropland covered with vegetation,
decreasing the amount of fertilizer that runs off into surface waters and leaches into aquifers by using slow-
release fertilizer, using no fertilizer on steeply sloped land, and planting buffer zones of vegetation between
cultivated fields and nearby surface waters. Laws and regulations have been effective in reducing point
source pollution.
 See CASE STUDY: U.S. Experience with Reducing Point-Source Water Pollution.
 Septic tanks are used in rural and suburban areas with suitable soils. Household sewage and wastewater is
pumped into a settling tank, where grease and oil rise to the top and solids fall to the bottom and are
decomposed by bacteria. The resulting partially treated wastewater is discharged into a large drainage field.
As these wastes drain from the pipes and percolate downward, the soil filters out some potential pollutants
and soil bacteria decompose biodegradable materials.
 Raw sewage reaching a treatment plant typically undergoes one or two levels of wastewater treatment. The
first is primary sewage treatment: a physical process that uses screens and a grit tank to remove large
floating objects and to allow solids such as sand and rock to settle out. Then the waste stream flows into a
primary settling tank where suspended solids settle out as sludge. A second level is secondary sewage
treatment: a biological process in which aerobic bacteria remove as much as 90% of dissolved and
biodegradable, oxygen-demanding organic wastes.
 Sludge can be disposed of in a landfill, in the ocean or applied to cropland, pasture, or rangelands as
fertilizer.

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9. How would Peter Montague improve conventional sewage treatment? What is a composting toilet system?
Describe how we can use wetlands to treat sewage. Describe John Todd’s use of living machines to treat
sewage. List six ways to prevent or reduce water pollution. List five things you can do to reduce water
pollution.
 Environmental scientist Peter Montague calls for redesigning the conventional sewage treatment system.
The idea is to prevent toxic and hazardous chemicals from reaching sewage treatment plants and thus from
getting into sludge and water discharged from such plants. Montague suggests two major ways to do this.
One is to require industries and businesses to remove toxic and hazardous wastes from water sent to
municipal sewage treatment plants. Another is to encourage industries to reduce or eliminate use and waste
of toxic chemicals. Another suggestion is to require or encourage more households, apartment buildings,
and offices to eliminate sewage outputs and reduce water usage by switching to waterless, odorless
composting toilet systems to be installed, maintained, and managed by professionals.
 More than 800 cities and towns around the world and 150 in the United States (including West Palm Beach,
Florida, and Phoenix, Arizona) use natural or artificially created wetlands to treat sewage as a lower cost
alternative to expensive waste treatment plants. For example, Arcata, California—a coastal town of 17,000
people—created some 65 hectares (160 acres) of wetlands between the town and the adjacent Humboldt
Bay. The marshes and ponds, developed on land that was once a dump, act as a natural waste treatment
plant.
 See SCIENCE FOCUS Treating Sewage by Working with Nature for a description of the use of living
machines to treat sewage.
 Methods for preventing and reducing water pollution include:
o Prevent groundwater contamination.
o Reduce nonpoint runoff.
o Reuse treated wastewater for irrigation.
o Find substitutes for toxic pollutants.
o Work with nature to treat sewage.
o Practice the three Rs of resource use (reduce, reuse, recycle).
o Reduce air pollution.
o Reduce poverty.
o Slow population growth.
 Ways that individuals can help prevent and reduce water pollution include:
o Fertilize garden and yard plants with manure or compost instead of commercial inorganic fertilizer.
o Minimize your use of pesticides, especially near bodies of water.
o Prevent yard wastes from entering storm drains.
o Do not use water fresheners in toilets.
o Do not flush unwanted medicines down the toilet.
o Do not pour pesticides, paints, solvents, oil, antifreeze, or other products containing harmful
chemicals down the drain or onto the ground.

10. Describe connections between the clean up of Lake Washington (Core Case Study) and the three principles of
sustainability.
 The story of Lake Washington is an example of people loving a natural resource and abusing it at the same
time. Seattle residents learned that the numbers of people using the lake could overwhelm this natural
system. A technical solution was found for dealing with sewage treatment effluent, but now continually
increasing pressures due to a growing population, are again overwhelming the natural systems of Lake
Washington and Puget Sound. Using the four principles of sustainability can us shift our emphasis from
cleaning up water pollution to reducing and preventing it. We can use solar energy to purify the water we
use. Recycling more water will help us to reduce water waste, and natural nutrient cycles can be used to
treat our waste in wetland- based sewage treatment systems. Preserving biodiversity by avoiding disruption
of aquatic systems and their bordering terrestrial systems, which in turn help to reduce pollution, is a key
factor in maintaining water supplies and water quality. And controlling human population growth and
levels of resource use and waste is fundamental to maintaining water quality.

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Critical Thinking

The following are examples of the material that should be contained in possible student answers to the end of
chapter Critical Thinking questions. They represent only a summary overview and serve to highlight the core
concepts that are addressed in the text. It should be anticipated that the students will provide more in-depth and
detailed responses to the questions depending on an individual instructor’s stated expectations.

1. What were two important roles played by the scientists who studied Lake Washington as discussed in the Core
Case Study that opens this chapter? Explain how the story might have been different if the scientists had not
fulfilled each role?

Scientists were the first to identify the presence of cyanobacteria in the lake and then to link the growth of the
cyanobacteria to sewage treatment plants. The scientists also made the public aware of changes in the lake.
Without this observation of cause and effect and efforts to educate the public, the lake would have continued to
decline.

2. Lake Washington and Puget Sound now face new problems similar to those of the past, as suggested in the Core
Case Study. Describe the nature of those problems and suggest possible solutions.

Both Lake Washington and Puget Sound now face problems of cultural eutrophication. These problems, like the
earlier ones, are caused by excess loading of nitrogen and phosphorus into the lakes. Now the loading is from a
variety of sources including agricultural settings, air pollution, and local fertilizer use so any solutions will
require approaches that include all of these potential causes as well as new scientific studies to identify the most
important problems.

3. A large number of dead fish are found floating in a lake. How would you determine whether they died from
cultural eutrophication or from exposure to toxic chemicals?

Test the water for the presence of dissolved organic matter that may be impacting the BOD of the lake. Test the
dissolved oxygen concentrations in the lake at different locations and at different depths. Perform a full
toxicological analysis of the lake water to determine if any chemical pollutants are present in the lake. Only
then can any determination be made as to the cause of the fish kill.

4. If you were a regulator charged with drawing up plans for controlling water pollution, briefly describe one idea
for controlling water pollution from each of the following sources: (a) an pipe from a factory discharging
effluent into a stream, (b) a parking lot at a shopping mall bordered by a stream, and (c) a farmer’s field on a
slope next to a stream.

(a) I would identify, monitor, and regulate organic and inorganic contaminants in the effluent stream coming out
of the pipe from the factory. Laws would be introduced and enforced to control harmful discharges from such
point sources from industry to prevent it entering and damaging ecosystems.

(b) It is difficult to regulate nonpoint sources of pollution from areas such as parking lots from shopping malls.
However, measures could be taken to help with this problem. Petroleum, oil, rubber particles from tires, and
litter may all be contaminants in the parking lot runoff. The construction of an onsite water treatment facility
that collects and treats all of the runoff before it is discharged into the stream could be a solution. The cost of
the facility would be shared between the mall owners and the companies that occupy the space in the mall. The
surface of the parking lots could be assessed to make sure that it channels the water to a drainage system that
delivers the water to the treatment facility. Rather than infiltrate into the groundwater through cracks in the
surface, the parking lot would need to be checked periodically.

(c) Runoff from farms and agricultural activities is a leading cause of water pollution. Regulations that could be
introduced that would limit the amount of fertilizers and pesticides that are used; not allow cattle to graze on the

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 slope close to the stream; mandate the practice of contour farming, strip cropping, and no-till agriculture on the
slope, and plant a vegetative buffer zone along the bottom of the sloping field near the stream bank.

5. What role does population growth play in the problems of (a) groundwater pollution problems and (b) coastal
water pollution problems?

(a) Groundwater pollution is caused by a variety of different activities, but one of the most important causes is
fertilizer leaching from agricultural field. The use of fertilizers in agriculture is one of the consequences of
increased demand for food to feed a growing population so increased pollution can, in this sense, be linked back
to population issues.

(b) Coastal water pollution is caused also by fertilizer use, so for the same reasons as described above,
population growth can lead to problem with agricultural fertilizer runoff. In addition, growth of populations in
coastal areas, and particularly the development of areas such as mangroves and wetlands, reduces the ability of
these systems to filter out contaminants before they reach the open water.

6. When you flush your toilet, where does the wastewater go? Trace the actual flow of this water in your
community from your toilet through sewers to a wastewater treatment plant and from there to the environment.
Try to visit a local sewage treatment plant to see what it does with your wastewater. Compare the processes it
uses with those shown in Figure 20-20. What happens to the sludge produced by this plant? What
improvements, if any, would you suggest for this plant?

In my rural community everyone has a septic tank system, which is used for the disposal of domestic sewage
and household wastewater. The septic tank is pumped out every few years and the sludge is taken to a sewage
treatment plant for disposal. The septic tank drains into a leach field, which lies underneath the vegetable
garden. We have our own well so the groundwater that is used by our household goes through the leach field
and then percolates back into the ground to recharge the aquifer.

The nearest local sewage treatment facility disposes of the sludge produced by sending it to a landfill. This is
because of the contaminants in the sludge that arise from the toxic materials from the local businesses and
industries that have discharges entering the wastewater stream. I would separate the discharges from the
factories and have that water treated in another facility. This would allow the sludge produced by the
“household” sewage to possibly be used as a soil additive on local farms. It does not make sense that the sewage
that is pumped from septic systems from houses in our area gets mixed in with the contaminated sewage at this
facility. We are not using the sustainable principle of nutrient recycling.

7. In your community, a. What are the principal nonpoint sources of contamination of surface water and
groundwater? b. What is the source of drinking water? c. How is drinking water treated? d. How many times
during each of the past 5 years have levels of tested contaminants violated federal standards? Were violations
reported to the public? e. What problems related to drinking water, if any, have arisen in your community?
What actions, if any, has your local government taken to solve such them? f. Is groundwater contamination a
problem? If so, where, and what has been done about the problem? g. Is there a vulnerable aquifer or critical
recharge zone that needs protection to ensure the quality of groundwater? Is your local government aware of
this? What action (if any) has it taken?

(a) Farmlands and local strip malls along the roads.

(b) Most people have their own wells.

(c) Some houses have water softening systems in the basement.

(d) A few years ago, the water in the nearest town center was found to be contaminated with a microorganism
and the water had to be boiled before use. Some local restaurants had to close for several days until the problem
was dealt with. The public was kept aware of the problem and the situation at all times.

286 Water Pollution

 (e) Yes, the public is strongly urged not to eat fish that is caught in local rivers and lakes due to potentially high
levels of toxic materials such as mercury. Those people who choose to eat fish, such as local trout, have been
told that they should not eat more than one fish per month. It has been broadly communicated that children, the
elderly, and pregnant women should never eat any fish from these local rivers and lakes.

(f) The only groundwater problem that I have heard of in my area was from a leaking underground gas tank at a
local service station. The tank had to be dug up and replaced and the contaminated soil was taken away and
incinerated.

(g) There are signs along the roadside in my area that let people know they are entering a protected watershed
area that is used for supplying drinking water. I have not specifically heard of any problem with the aquifer
recharge area, although whenever any new construction takes place I imagine it is affecting the amount of water
that infiltrates the ground. The signs by the road do make people aware of the importance of the watershed and
how we depend on it for our drinking water. Being educated about the aquifer will hopefully help protect it.

8. List three ways in which you could apply Concept 20-5 to make your lifestyle more environmentally
sustainable.

1. I can use organic rather than industrial fertilizers in my yard.

2. I can support the protection of wetlands as a natural mechanism for sewage treatment.
3. I can work with and/or support organizations committed to reducing poverty and slowing population growth.

9. Congratulations! You are in charge of the world. What are three actions you would take to (a) sharply reduce
point-source water pollution in more-developed countries, (b) sharply reduce nonpoint-source water pollution
throughout the world, (c) sharply reduce groundwater pollution throughout the world, and (d) provide safe
drinking water for the poor and for other people in less-developed countries?

(a) Point-source/developing countries: 1. Build sewage and water treatment plants. 2. Introduce laws to control
water pollution from businesses and industry. 3. Regulate industrial waste discharges.

(b) Nonpoint/worldwide: 1. Restore degraded wetlands. 2. Mandate and support best management practices for
all agricultural operations. 3. Regulate household fertilizer and pesticide use on lawns and gardens.

(c) Groundwater/worldwide: 1. Ban all hazardous waste disposal in landfills. 2. Keep toxic chemicals out of the
environment and use/search for non-toxic alternatives. 3. Use above-ground tanks for storage of hazardous
chemicals and gasoline/oil, which have leak detector and spill collection systems.

(d) Safe drinking water/poor/developing countries: 1. Implement the WHO suggestions for tropical countries-
put water in plastic containers (provided free) and expose them to the sun to kill bacteria. 2. Provide filtering
systems to remove bacteria from drinking water (using the latest micropore and nanotechnology filters). 3.
Supply purifying chemical sachets free of charge as part of an international aid program while water treatment
facilities are being constructed.

10. List two questions that you would like to have answered as a result of reading this chapter.

Student answers will vary and provide a good starting point for class discussion.

Data Analysis

In 2006, scientists assessed the overall condition of the estuaries on the western coasts of the U.S. states of Oregon
and Washington. To do so, they took measurements of various characteristics of the water, including dissolved
oxygen (DO), in selected locations within the estuaries. The concentration of DO for each site was measured in
terms of milligrams (mg) of oxygen per liter (L) of water sampled. The scientists used the following

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DO concentration ranges and quality categories to rate their water samples: water with greater than 5 mg/L of DO
was considered good for supporting aquatic life; water with 2 to 5 mg/L of DO was rated as fair; and water with less
than 2mg/L of DO was rated as poor.

The following graph shows measurements taken in bottom water at 242 locations. Each triangle mark represents one
or more measurements. The x-axis on this graph represents DO concentrations in mg/L. The y-axis represents
percentages of the total area of estuaries studied (estuarine area).

LEARNING ONLINE
To read this graph, pick one of the triangles and observe the values on the x- and y-axes. For example, note that the
circled triangle lines up approximately with the 5-mg/L mark on the x-axis and with a value of about 34% on the y-
axis. This means that waters at this particular measurement station (or stations), along with about 34% of the total
area being studied, are estimated to have a 5% or lower DO concentration.

Use this information, along with the graph to answer the following questions:

1. Half of the estuarine area has waters falling below a certain DO concentration level, and the other half has waters
above that level. What is that level, in mg/L?

2. Give your estimate of the highest DO concentration measured and your estimate of the lowest concentration.

3. Approximately what percentage of the estuarine area studied is considered to have poor DO levels? About what
percentage has fair DO levels, and about what percentage has good DO levels?

Answers:

1. Approximately 6 mg/L
2.
3. Approximately 3% has poor DO levels, 31% has fair levels, and 66% has good levels.

288 Water Pollution