Quality and Availability of Water

for Human Use

(Week 5)

Ruth Grace A. Comodero

CABATUAN NCHS
What
makes
us
unique
and
gives
life to
Earth?
Supply of Water Resources
All Water On Earth

• 5 gallons or 18.93 Liters

of water
All Fresh Water
berg and Polar cap store most of the fresh w
Earth
All Groundwater
Surface Water
Volume of water stored in the water
cycle's reservoirs
Reservoir Volume of Percent
water of total
(106 km³)
Ocean 1370 97.25
Ice caps & glaciers 29 2.05
Groundwater 9.5 0.68
Lakes 0.125 0.01
Soil Moisture 0.065 0.005
Atmosphere 0.013 0.001
Streams & rivers 0.0017 0.0001
Biosphere 0.0006 0.00004
Water Resources
• Over the last century
– Human population has increased 3x
– Global water withdrawal has increased 7x
– Per capita water withdrawal has increased 4x
– About one-sixth of the world’s people don’t
have easy access to safe water
– Most water resources are owned by
governments and are managed as publicly
owned resources
Causes of Too Little Water

 Dry climate

 Drought

 Desiccation
Acute shortage

 Water stress Adequate supply

Shortage
Metropolitan regions with
population greater than 1 million
Scarcity of fresh water
Problems related to Water crisis
Threats to fresh water resources
Human water needs
• A person needs about 1 gallon water/day for
hydration
• In the US each person uses about 188
gallons/day
• An additional 657 gallons/person/day are used
for irrigation, industrial use.
• If world’s water supply were 100 liters, the
usable supply would be about 0.5 tsp
What is water pollution?
WHO:
• 3.4 million
premature deaths
each year from
waterborne diseases
• 1.9 million from
diarrhea
• U.S. 1.5 million
illnesses
What is water pollution?

Any chemical, biological,

or physical change in
water quality that has a
harmful effect on living
organisms or makes
water unsuitable for
desired usage.
 Indicators of Water Quality
1. Dissolved Oxygen is the amount of diatomic
oxygen O2 dissolved in water.

2. Biological Oxygen Demand refers to the

amount of oxygen that microorganisms in water
need to survive.
 Indicators of Water Quality
3. Total Suspended Solids indicates the turbidity of
water. Suspended sediments are soils and silts
from land erosion can disrupt photosynthesis,
destroy spawning grounds, clog rivers and
streams.
4.Total Dissolved Solids is the measure of the
amount of dissolved contaminants in the water.
The common sources of these contaminants are :
Organic Chemicals: oil, gasoline, plastics,
detergents often from surface runoff, industries
and cleaners.
Indicators of Water Quality
Plant Nutrients: water soluble nitrates,
ammonia and phosphates often from
sewage, agriculture and urban fertilizers.
Inorganic Chemicals and minerals:
Acids, salts, and toxic chemicals such as
lead, mercury often from runoff,
industries and household cleaners
Indicators of Water Quality
5. Coliform Bacteria: are microorganisms which
come from animal dung or human feces.

Bacterial Counts:
None per 100 ml for drinking
>200 per 100 ml for swimming
Major Sources of Water Pollution
Agriculture: by far the
leader
• Sediment, fertilizers,
bacteria from livestock,
food processing, salt from
soil irrigation
Industrial: factories and
powerplants
Mining: surface mining
toxics, acids, sediment
Freshwater Stream Pollution
Flowing streams can recover from
moderate level of degradable
water pollution if their flows
are not reduced.
• Natural biodegradation
process
• Does not work if
overloaded or stream flow
reduced
• Does not work against non
biodegradable pollutants
Groundwater Pollution Prevention

 Monitor aquifers
 Find less hazardous substitutes
 Leak detection systems

 Strictly regulating hazardous waste disposal

 Store hazardous materials above

ground
Ocean Pollution
Oceans can disperse and
break down large quantities
of degradable pollution if
they are not overloaded.
• Pollution worst near heavily
populated coastal zones
• Wetlands, estuaries, coral
reefs, mangrove swamps
• 40% of world’s population
live within 62 miles of coast
Ocean Pollution
• Large amounts of untreated
raw sewage (viruses, bacteria)
• Leaking septic tanks
• Runoff
• Algae blooms from
nutrients
• Dead zones NO DO
• Airborne toxins
• Oil spills
Preventing
and reducing
the flow of
pollution
from land
and from
streams
emptying
into the
ocean is key
to protecting
oceans
Oil Spills
 Sources: offshore wells, tankers, pipelines and
storage tanks
 Effects: death of organisms, loss of animal
insulation and buoyancy, smothering
 Significant economic impacts
 Mechanical cleanup methods: skimmers and
blotters
 Chemical cleanup methods: coagulants and
dispersing agents
Oil Spills
Clean Water Act
• Sets standards for key pollutants
• Requires permits for discharge
• Requires sewage treatment
• Require permits for wetland
destruction
• Does not deal with nonpoint
sources well
• Goal All Waterways fishable
and swimmable
Drinking Water Quality

 Purification of urban drinking water

 Protection from terrorism
 Purification of rural drinking water
 Safe Drinking Water Act
 Maximum contaminant levels (MCLs)
 Bottled water
 Purification of urban drinking
water
Surface Water: (like
Delaware River)
• Removed to reservoir to
improve clarity
• Pumped to a treatment
plant to meet drinking
water standards
Groundwater: often does
not need much treatment
Purification of rural drinking
water There can be simple
ways to purify
water:
• Exposing to heat and
UV rays
• Fine cloths to filter
water
• Add small amounts of
chlorine
Safe Drinking Water Act
• 54 countries have
drinking water laws
SDWA passed 1974
requires EPA to set
drinking water
standards
(MCLs) Maximum
Contaminating Levels
Safe Drinking Water Act
• Privately owned
wells exempt from
SDWA
SDWA requires public
notification of failing
to meet standards
and fine.
MCLs often stated in
parts per million or
parts per billion
Bottled Water 1.4 million metric tons
of bottle thrown away
each year
Toxic fumes released
during bottling
Bottles made from oil
based plastics
Water does not need to
meet SDWA
IF WE DO NOT SAVE WATER…
References
1:www.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_pollution
2: Gannon, RW; Osmond, DL; Humenik, FJ; Gale, JA;
Spooner, J Agricultural Water Quality WATER
RESOUR BULL, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 437-450, 1996
3: U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
WASHINGTON, DC (USA), 1996, 253 pp
4: MacKenzie, SH The Ecosystem ISLAND PRESS, CA
(USA), 1996, 240
5: WATER POLLUTION AND SOCIETY ByDavid
Krantz and Brad Kifferstein
6. G. Tyler Miller’s Living in the Environment
14thth Edition
THANK YOU VERY
MUCH!!!