Download Water Pollution

Water
Pollution
Notes
Name:
Period:
Date:
Science ID#:
Topic: Water Pollution
Topics, Concepts, Review
Questions
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
Water
Any chemical, biological,
pollution: or physical change in
water quality that has a
harmful effect on living
organisms or makes
water unsuitable for
desired uses.
Name:
Period:
Date:
Science ID#:
Topic: Water Pollution
Topics, Concepts, Review
Questions
More
people
lead to
more:
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
• Sewage produced
• Fertilizers, herbicides,
pesticides used
• Fossil fuels burned
• Oil leaked, spilled
• Land deforested
• Manufacturing byproducts
Topics, Concepts, Review Questions
Classes of
water
pollutants:
1) Diseasecausing
agents
(pathogens)
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
−Bacteria, viruses,
protozoa, parasitic
worms
−Can enter water
from domestic sewage
and untreated human
& animal wastes
Topics, Concepts, Review
Questions
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
2) Oxygen−Organic
wastes
that
can
demanding
be decomposed by aerobic
wastes
dead leaves or
fish, blood,
bodies, food
(O2-requiring) bacteria
−Large populations of these
bacteria can degrade H2O
quality by depleting the
water of dissolved oxygen,
causing O2-consuming
aquatic life to die
Topics, Concepts, Review
Questions
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
3)Watersoluble
−Acids, salts, and toxic
chemicals metals (mercury and
lead)
−Can make water unfit
to drink, harm fish,
lower crop yields, &
corrode metals
exposed to water
Topics, Concepts, Review
Questions
Methylmercury
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
*Atmospheric mercury
is produced by burning
coal
*Accumulates as it
moves up the food
chain; ie: albacore tuna
*Symptoms: trouble
walking/coordination,
hearing, vision, speaking
Topics, Concepts,
Review Questions
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
Minimata − First identified in Japan, 50’s
Disease − Chisso chemical factory
released methylmercury into
local water, contaminating
fish & shellfish.
− Cat, dog, pig, human deaths
occurred for THREE
decades!
− Bioaccumulation of mercury
in the ocean is a HUGE
environmental problem
Topics, Concepts, Review Questions
4) Inorganic
plant
nutrients
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
− Nitrates & phosphates
that cause excessive
growth of algae & other
aquatic plants which die
and decay, depleting
water of dissolved
oxygen and killing fish
− Drinking water with
high levels of nitrates
lowers the O2-carrying
capacity of the blood
Cultural Eutrophication
• Eutrophication: the natural nutrient
enrichment of a shallow lake, estuary or slow
moving stream, mostly from runoff of plant
nutrients from the surrounding land.
• Cultural eutrophication: human activities
accelerate the input of plant nutrients (mostly
nitrate- and phosphate-containing effluents)
to a lake.
– 85% of large lakes near major population centers
in the U.S. have some degree of cultural
eutrophication.
Topics, Concepts, Review Questions
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
5) Organic
chemicals − Oil, gasoline,
plastics, pesticides,
cleaning solvents,
detergents, etc.
−(Remember that an
organic compound is a
chemical that
contains carbon.)
Topics, Concepts, Review Questions
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
6)Sediment
−Insoluble particles of
or
suspended soil or other solids
(mostly when soil is
matter
eroded from the land)
−Clouds water and
reduces
photosynthesis
−Soil is the #1 water
pollutant
Topics, Concepts, Review
Questions
Lake clogged with dead
trees
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
−Carries pesticides,
bacteria, etc.
−Destroys feeding and
spawning grounds of
fish
−Clogs and fills lakes,
stream channels, and
harbors
Topics, Concepts, Review Questions
7)Watersoluble
radioactive
isotopes
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
-- Can be concentrated
(biologically magnified)
in tissues & organs as
they pass through food
chains and webs
--Radioactive tracers
are used to detect and
treat early-stage
disease (thyroid, breast
cancer)
Topics, Concepts, Review
Questions
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
8)Thermal
−Heat absorbed by water
pollution used to cool industrial &
power plants
−Lowers dissolved O2 levels
making aquatic organisms
(most of which are cold
blooded) vulnerable to
disease, parasites, & toxic
chemicals
−Especially from nuclear
power plants
Abundance of organisms
Upper limit of
tolerance
Few
No
organisms organisms
Population size
Lower limit of
tolerance
No
Few
organisms
organisms
Zone of
intolerance
Low
Zone of
physiological
stress
Optimum range
Zone of
physiological
stress
Temperature
As atmospheric temps rise (due to global warming), ocean temps rise
Zone of
intolerance
High
Topics, Concepts, Review
Questions
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
9) Genetic −When aquatic systems
pollution are disrupted by
deliberate or accidental
introduction of
nonnative species
−Can crowd out native
species, reduce
biodiversity, & cause
economic losses
Case Study: India’s Ganges River:
Religion, Poverty, and Health
• Daily, more than 1
million Hindus in
India bathe, drink
from, or carry out
religious
ceremonies in the
highly polluted
Ganges River.
Figure 21-6
Topics, Concepts, Review
Questions
In the
U.S.,
nonpoint
pollution
from
agriculture:
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
Occurs mostly in the form
of sediment, inorganic
fertilizers, manure, salts
dissolved in irrigation
water, & pesticides
Is responsible for an
estimated 64% of the total
mass of pollutants entering
streams & 57% entering
lakes.
Topics, Concepts, Review Questions
Why is
groundwater
pollution more
serious than
surface water
contamination?
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
Groundwater cannot
cleanse itself of
degradable wastes as
effectively as surface
water systems. It is
slower & colder.
Topics, Concepts, Review Questions
The effects
of oil spills
on ocean
ecosystems
depend upon
certain
factors:
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
−Volatile organic
hydrocarbons in oil kill a
variety of aquatic
organisms, especially in
their larval forms
−Floating oil coats the
feathers of birds
(especially diving birds) and
the fur of marine mammals,
destroying the animals’
natural insulation and
buoyancy
Topics, Concepts,
Review Questions
Information, Vocabulary, Main Points: YOUR NOTES
−Many drown or die of
exposure from loss of body
heat
−Heavy oil components can
smother bottom-dwellers
such as crabs, oysters,
mussels, and clams
−Can kill reef corals
Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons of crude
oil into Gulf of Alaska in 1989, creating one of the
largest environmental disasters in the nation's
history (until BP of 2010, which was 17 times this!)