Water Pollution Data Collection

Surface Water Pollution 

• Surface water include natural water resources of the Earth:
  • Oceans
  • Rivers
  • Lakes
• When dangerous substances come into contact with this surface water, dissolving or mixing with the water, this is called surface water pollution.

Yamuna River, Northern India

Oxygen Depleting 

• Water have micro-organisms, which include aerobic (need oxygen to survive) and anaerobic organisms.
• When too much biodegradable matter (things that easily decay) are in the water, it increase more micro-organism growth which they will use up more oxygen in the water. This is called oxygen depleting.
• When oxygen depleting (decrease), aerobic organisms start to die, and anaerobic organisms grow more which can be very harmful to people, animals and the environment, because anaerobic microorganisms produce harmful toxins such as ammonia and sulfides.

Nageen Lake in Srinagar, India

GroundWater Pollution 

• Groundwater pollution is caused by pesticides and chemicals that human put into the soils, when the rain come, they washed deep into the ground and get to underground water.
• Human often use groundwater for drinking and build wells to access it. Therefore, groundwater pollution can infect our health and cause problems.

Chemical water Pollution 

• Chemical water pollution occur due to the industrial and agricultural work. Many industries and farmers work with chemicals that end up in water and pollute it.
• These include metals and solvents from industrial work which can pollute the water. As well as Pesticides that are used in farming to control weeds, insects and fungi. These are poisonous to many aquatic life. And humans and other animal maybe poisoned too if they eat the infected fish.
• Other chemical pollutant is petroleum which contaminates water through oil spills when ship breaks. The oil can kill many fish and also will stick to the feathers of seabirds causing them unable to fly.

  

New River, Origin -> near Cerro Prieto, Baja California, Mexico, Mouth -> Salton Sea. Basin -> United State, Mexico

Citation: 

Shliha. “Types of Water Pollution « Water Pollution Guide.” Types of Water Pollution « Water Pollution Guide. Water Pollution Guide, 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

Buoi, Ghanna. “What Are the Various Types of Water Pollution?” What Are the Various Types of Water Pollution? Eschooltoday, 5 Jan. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

Global Citizen Gingerbread Men Upgrade

Reflection: Global Citizenship Workshop

Your own definitely of “Global Citizen”

• Global citizen is people who care and be aware of the environmental issues that are going around in our world, and take actions to help and make a world a better place.

What are your own personal “Helps” and Harms”

Helps 1. Recycle paper, and plastic bags 2. Turn off light, television, laptop 3. Save water by just using the amount of water that is needed

Harms 1. Using a lot of paper 2. Buying water bottles 3. Transportation – using car

How can we connect class contents/discussions/skills/concepts with yesterday’s workshop

• We can connect yesterday’s workshop with the class content “Sustainability”. This means we try to keep, save, preserve things such as the trees, environment, and the earth, by using enough resources, and recycling, we will have a balance environment. As well as taking what we need to live now, without harming the potential for people in the future to meet their needs.

What are some teaspoons of changes that you wish to implement?

• The Teaspoons of changes that I would wish to implement is to stop using a lot of plastic bottles by reduce the amount of plastic water bottles that I buy each day. Instead of buying plastic bottles which I just throw it away after I finish drinking, I can buy a water bottle which can be refill and more durable.  Another change that I wish to implement is to stop using plastic bags. For example, don’t use plastic bags when I buy only few things, I can just put it in my pocket. Or carry a cotton bag when you go to buy things in the market. By doing this, I am sure that I will save a lot of plastic bags.

Water

Key Points

• Most of water on the Earth is salt water, only 3% is fresh water.
• In the water cycle, water is transformed and transferred.
• Human use of water maybe sustainable or unsustainable.

The Earth’s water budget

• About 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water.
• 3% is fresh water
• 97% is ocean water (salt water).
• 69% of water is in the polar ice caps and glaciers and 30% in groundwater.
• Water on the surface of the Earth in lakes, rivers, swamps is only about 0.3% of the total.
• Atmosphere holds only about 0.001% of Earth’s total water.
• Turnover Time is the time it takes for molecule of water to enter and leave part of the system.
  • Ocean takes 37000 years
  • Icecaps takess 16000 years
  • Groundwater takes 300 years
• Water can be seen as a renewable resource or a replenish-able resource depending on where it is.
• Ocean currents and energy distribution
  • Cold ocean currents run from the poles to the equator.
  • Warm ocean currents flow from the equator to the poles.
  • The driving forces behind al these ocean currents are the wind and the Earth’s rotation.

Ocean Currents and Climate

• Water has a higher specific heat capacity than land. (water masses heat up and cool down more slowly than land masses)
• Land close to seas and oceans has a mild climate with calm winters and cool summers.

Water as a Critical Resource

• Facts from the World Water Council: 
  •  1.1 billion people live with clean drinking water.
  • 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation.
  • 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases.
  • 3900 children die every day from waterborne diseases.
  • Daily per capita use of water in residential areas:
    • 350 litres in North America and Japan
    • 200 litres in Europe
    • 20 litres in sub-Saharan Africa (or less)
• Most of water on Earth is saline.
• We can remove the salt from water in desalination plants but it causes a lot of energy and it’s only possible in wealthy countries which are water-stressed and near the sea. (e.g. Israel, Australia, Saudi Arabia)
• Fresh water is limited and the UNK has applied the term “water crisis” to our management of water resources.
• Up 40% of humans today live with some level of water scarcity, and it will increase.
• Humans use fresh water for:
  • Domestic water (water used at home for drinking, washing, cleaning)
  • Irrigation
  • Industry (manufacturing, mining, agriculture)
  • Hydroelectric power generation
  • Transportation (ships on lakes and rivers)
  • as a boundary marker between nation states (rivers and lakes).
• Water scarcity is not just a measure of how much water there is but of how we use it.
• Agriculture uses tens of times more water than humans uses, in irrigation and providing wage for livestock.
• As human population expand, we need water to grow more food. But in some countries, they don’t have enough water to grow food for the people. Example, Egypt imports more than half its food and, in Murray-Darling basin in Australia, there is water scarcity for humans as so much is used  for agriculture.
• Water will become a major issue for nations and international organisations.
• Many major rivers run through several countries.
  • The Danube River basin is shared by 19 countries and 81 million people.
  • The Tigris-Euphrates rivers carry water that is extracted by Iran, Iraq and Syria.
• There have been and will be wars over water as it becomes increasingly needed and scarce.

Sustainability of freshwater resource usage

• Sustainable use of resource mean that the resource is used at the same pace or slower than that at which it’s reformed.
• Sources of fresh water are surface water (river, stream, lake) and underground aquifers.
• Aquifers are filled by infiltration of precipitation. However, this only happens in small areas because of the presence of impermeable soil layers. And water flow in aquifers is extremely slow. Therefore, aquifers are often used unsustainably.

• Global freshwater used is increasing quickly because human population is increasing and the average quality of life is improving. This leads to 2 types of problems: water scarcity and water degradation (degradation means water quality worsen, making it less suitable for use). 
• Problems
  • Low water levels in rives and streams.
  • Slow water flow in the lower courses of rivers results in sedimentation.
  • Underground aquifers are being exhausted. Meaning the aquifers cannot be used anymore which affects agriculture. Buildings can be damaged when the soil is shrinking because the water has been taken away.
  • Irrigation often results in soil degradation, especially in dry areas.
  • Fertilizers and pesticides often pollute streams and rivers.
  • Industries release pollutants to surface water.
  • Industries and electricity plants release warm water to rivers. warm water can contain less dissolved oxygen than cold water. So aquatic organisms that take their oxygen from the water mayn’t get enough oxygen for respiration .
• Solutions
  • Reduce domestic use of fresh water.
  • Wash cars in car washers with a closed water system.
  • Irrigation: selecting drought-resistant crops can reduce the need for irrigation. Using closed pipes instead of open canals can reduce evaporation.
  • Reduce the amount of pesticide and fertiliser used.
  • Use highly selective pesticides instead of genetic pesticides or use biological control measures.
  • Industries can remove pollutants from their wastewater with water treatment plants.
  • Released cooling water instead of releasing the warm cooling water.

Water Facts

Water

• 3.4 Million people die each year from water related disease.
• 780 million people lack access to clean water.
• More than 3.4 million people die each year from water, sanitation, and hygiene-related caused.
• Children died due to the lack of clean water and sanitation.

Children 

• Surveys show that women and children bear the primary responsibility for water collection in the majority of household.
• 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related illness.
• Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death among children under 5 in the world.
• Every minutes at least one child dies from diarrhea.
• Around 1.5 million children under the age of 5 die every year from diarrhea globally.

Disease

• Diarrhea is one of the biggest global issue which caused by the low levels of access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
• In 1980s, a child died approximately every 6 seconds from diarrhea.
• 10% of the global disease could be reduced by improved water supply, sanitation, hygiene, and water resource management.

Economics

• Investment in safe drinking water and sanitation contributes to economic growth.
• For every $1 invested, the World Health Organization estimates returns of $3-$34.
• Nearly 66% of people who lock safe drinking water live on less than $2 a day, while 33% on less than $1 a day.
• People who live in informal settlement (e.g. slums) often pay 5-10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.

Sanitation

• Lacking of sanitation is the world’s leading cause of infection.
• Sanitation and proper hygiene can help to prevent diarrhea which is the second leading cause of death among children.
• By improved sanitation facilities can reduce the cause of diarrhea more than 1/3.
• Washing hands with soap has been found to reduce diarrhea by more than 40%.
• Only 63% of the world’s population has access to improved sanitation.

Women 

• 200 million work hours are consumed by women collecting water for their families which is equivalent to building 28 empire state building each day.
• Million of women and children in the developing world spend loads of hours each day, collecting water from distant, often polluted sources, then carrying filled 40 lbs  jerry cans return to their villages.
• More than 152 million hours of women and girl’s time is costumed for collecting water.

 

Measuring Abiotic Factors

Measuring abiotic components

• Ecosystem can divvied into 3 types:
  • Marine – sea, estuaries, salt marches and mangroves.
  • Freshwater – rivers, lakes, and wetlands
  • Terrestrial – Lan-based
• Each ecosystem has its own specific abiotic factors
• Abiotic factors of marine ecosystem:
  • Salinity
  • pH
  • temperature
  • Dissolved oxygen
  • wave action
• Estuaries are classified as marine ecosystem because they have high salt content compared to fresh water.
• Salt-tolerant animals and plants have their own adaptations to the salt water.
• Only small proportion of freshwater is found in ecosystems.
• Abiotic factors of freshwater ecosystem:
  • Turbidity
  • Temperature
  • Flow velocity
  • Dissolved oxygen
  • pH.
• The majority of the Earth’s freshwater is ice and snow which is not directly available to support life.
• Abiotic factors of terrestrial ecosystem:
  • Temperature
  • Light intensity
  • Wind speed
  • Particle size
  • Slope / aspect
  • Soil Moisture
  • Drainage
  • Mineral content
• Water Supply in terrestrial ecosystem =s can be extremely limited,
• especially in desert areas, and is an important abiotic factor in controlling the distribution of organisms.
• Abiotic factors are examined in conjunction with related biotic components. This allow species distribution data to be linked to the environment.

Evaluating measures for describing abiotic factors

Light 

• Light-meter used to measure light in an ecosystem.
• Held at a standard and fixed height above the ground and read when the value is fixed.
• Could cover and changes in light intensity during the day mean that values must be taken at the same time of day and same atmospheric conditions.
• Direction of the light-meter needs to be standardised.
• Not to shade the light-meter during the reading.

Temperature 

• Ordinary mercury thermometers are too easily broken, and hard to read.
• An electronic thermometer with probes (datalogger) allows temperature to be measured in air, water, and at different depths in soil.
• Temperature needs to be taken at standard depth.
• Problems arise if the thermometer is not buried deeply enough.
• Need to check the depth each time it is used.

pH

• Using pH neater or data logging pH probe to measure.
• Value in freshwater range from slightly basic to slightly acidic.
• Sea water has pH above 7.
• The meter need to be cleaned between each reading.
• Soil pH can be measured using soil test kit.

Wind

• Measure by observing the effects of wing on objects.
• Precise measurement can be made by using digital anemometer. 
• Make sure not to block the wind.

Particle size

• Particle size determines drainage and water-holding capacity.
• Large particles (pebbles) can be measured individually.
• Smaller particles can be measured by using a series of sieves with increasingly fine mesh size. 
• Smallest particles can be separated by sedimentation. 
• Optical techniques can be used to study the smallest particles. 

Slope

• Surface run-off is determined by slope which can be calculated using a clinometer.

Soil moisture

• Weighing samples before and after heating in an oven shows the amount of water evaporated and moisture levels.
• Temperatures must not be too hot, else it would burn off organic content and reduce soil weight which will give inaccurate reading.
• Repeat the reading until no further weight loss is recorded.
• Soil moisture probes can be use to measure.

Mineral content 

• The loss on ignition (LOI) test can determine mineral content.
• Soil samples are heated to high temperature for several hours to allow volatile substances to escape.
• Mass loss is equated to the quantity of minerals present.
• Temperature and duration of heading depend on the mineral composition of the soil.

Flow velocity 

• Surface flow velocity can be measured by timing.
• Using flow-meter for a more accurate measurements.
• Propeller is inserted into water just below the surface.
• As velocity varies with distance from the surface, reading must be taken at the same depth.

Salinity 

• Using electrical conductivity to measure or by the density of the water.
• Most often expressed as parts of salt per thousand parts of water.

Dissolved oxygen 

• Oxygen-sensitive electrodes connected to a meter can be used to measure.
• Avoid contamination from oxygen in the air.
• A more labour-intensive method is Winkler titration – based on the principle that oxygen in the water reacts with iodide ions, and then add acid to release iodine that can be quantitatively measured.

Wave action

• High wave action have high levels of dissolved oxygen due to mixing of air and water int eh turbulence.
• Measure using dynamometer.

Turbidity 

• Cloudy water have high turbidity.
• Clear water have low turbidity.
• It affects the penetration of sunlight into water and so the rates of photosynthesis.
• Measure using Secchi disc
• Problems maybe caused by sun’s glare on the wate or the level of depth that each person interpret.
• To avoid the error is to measures on the sandy side of a boat.

Evaluation of techniques

• Short-term and limited filed sampling reduces the effectiveness of the above techniques because abiotic factors may vary from day to day and season to season.
• Majority of the abiotic factors can be measured using data logging devices.

Water Quote

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. ~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732

Water Resources

Earth’s water budget

• Only 2.5% of Earth’s water supply is fresh water.
• 70% of this is in the form of ice cpas and glaciers
• Around 30% is groundwater
• The rest is made up of lakes, soil water, atmospheric water vapour, rivers and biota.
• Water we have direct access is 0.3% of the total.
• Atmospheric water vapour contain about 0.001%.
• All the water on earth’s surface is called ‘hydrosphere’.
• Different forms of water refill during the hydrological cycle at different rates.
  • Turnover Time: when water molecule enter and leave apart of the system.
    
• Water can be seen as renewable or non-renewable resources depends on where it’s found in the hydrological cycle.
  • Renewable water resources: water than are replenished yearly or more frequently in the Earth’s water turnover processes. (groundwater is non-renewable resource)
• Earth’s water budget have great value in the support of life on Earth.
• Important resource for humans

The sustainability of freshwater resource usage 

Managing supply and demand – sustainable use

• Human require water for home use, agriculture, industry, and hydroelectricity power. And the pressure on this resource is likely to increase. Without sustainable use, humans will be face many problems.
• There are billion of people living without clean drinking water, and 2.6 billion who lack adequate sanitation.
• Water is a limited resources and countries are reaching their resource availability limits.
• Exiting water resources need to be managed and controlled more carefully.
• Water resources can be managed sustainably by..
  • water usage needs to be coordinated within natural processes.
  • ensure non-renewable water resources (e.g. aquifers) is used at a sustainable rate.
  • use only the proper amount of water, do not cause waste, and reuse suppliers (e.g. bath water)
  • Campaigns about awareness of issues and encourage water conservation.
  • making new building more water-efficient (e.g. recycle rainwater)
  • expanding metering to encourage household to use water more efficiently.
• In rural areas, water resources can be managed sustainably by..
  • selecting drought-resistant crops to reduce the need for irrigation.
  • reducing contamination of water supplies through fertiliser and pesticide. (organic fertilisers
  • cause less polluting and biocontrol measures can be used to reduce crop pests.)

Managing supply and demand – unsustainable use

• Demands on the supply of fresh water due to the increase of ..
  • Irrigation
  • Industrialisation
  • Population
  • Global warming disrupt rainfall patterns and water supplies.
  • Unsustainable use of fresh water largely concerns the overuse of aquifers. It cannot be
  • replenished at a rate fast enough make current usage sustainable.

WIS Ecosystems Observation Sheet