MEE 221 Lesson No.

1 August 25, 2018

Water Quality

Water is one of our planet's most important natural resources in fact it's a resource we
literally can't live without.

How much do we really know about water?

There's as much water on the earth now as there was when the earth was formed.

97% is saltwater in the oceans and unusable for our daily needs
2% is frozen in ice caps and glaciers
just 1% of the planet's entire water supply our rivers lakes and groundwater to meet
everyone's water needs

Many of those rivers lakes and groundwater sources are impaired and endangered by
pollutants. Pollutants in our waterways are threatening our health and the health of the
environment. How are these pollutants getting into our waterways and what can we do
about it?

Solving the water quality puzzle is an enormous challenge simply because there are so
many factors to consider:

The ways we use water

The practices that threaten it
The different pollutants in the water
The sources of those pollutants
Hydrology (water cycle) and ways we've interfered with it

These factors never combine in exactly the same way. Every community's water
quality problems are unique and depend entirely on which factors are in play. Simply
understanding the role each factor plays isn't enough to solve problems. You have to

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understand their relationship to one another, the way they're at work within your
community.

1. Water Use
It's a resource that can't be replaced which is why it is so important that we protect it.

A. Drinking water

We don't just need water to survive, we need clean water.

Drinking water accounts for a tiny percentage of our overall water usage, less
than 1% but it's one of the most important of all the uses

B. Household - laundry, cleaning, gardens and lawns

C. Industry

Water is used in many manufacturing processes (ingredient in food

production, coolant for producing steel and power, driving force in
hydroelectric generation, etc.)

D. Agriculture - one of waters biggest jobs is helping to feed the world. Without
it farmers couldn't grow crops or produce livestock.

E. Transportation and shipping

Water is often used to transport goods to market.

Waterways are integral to national and worldwide shipping.

F. Recreation - one of its most popular uses is for recreation, whether it's
swimming, water skiing, fishing, the waters got to be clean

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 G. Habitat for wildlife - rivers lakes and oceans support entire diverse and fragile
ecosystems. Ecosystems that can be shattered by even the smallest changes in
water’s quality.

2. Practices

The individual actions we take and decisions we make affect water quality.

We all live down stream of someone else and there's someone else that lives
downstream of us that needs to utilize that water so it's important to be careful at how
you use the watershed in the land in that area and what you might be introducing into
that water body.

One person's decision to properly dispose of paint keeps that paint out of a stream.
One developer's decision to control erosion keep sediment out of a river. Multiply
those individual decisions across an entire community and you can see the impact
proper practices can have.

3. Pollutants

Some water pollutants are easy to see (garbage) but the most serious pollution
problems aren't as obvious:

Sediment - Soil carried to water by erosion

Nutrients - Nitrogen and Phosphorus
Toxic Chemicals - Industrial and household toxic chemicals
Pathogens - waterborne microorganisms that can cause diseases (bacteria, viruses,
parasites)

4. Sources of Pollutants

Almost anyplace anyone or anything is a potential source of pollutants. Two main

categories: point sources and non-point sources.

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5. The hydrologic cycle or the water cycle

During any or all of those steps in the cycle water can come into contact with
pollutants

Modifications we've made over time to the land's natural hydrology, these changes
give pollutants a straight shot into water hydrology. Modifications essentially short
circuit or sidestep nature's intended plumbing system that includes wetlands,
vegetation, and soil. These natural filters slow down water's movement allowing more
time for pollutants to filter out of the water. Urban areas with acres of concrete, steel,
and asphalt (run-off driven hydrology) when falls on a roof, on an asphalt parking lot,
on a concrete road, it can't absorb instead water runs over these solid surfaces picking
up pollutants like sediment and oil. The runoff moves back to waterways or flows
down stormwater drains which dump directly into streams and rivers.

Basic Parameters of Water

The basic chemical and biochemical processes that affect water quality are the result
of nature. Ex. Long before humans settled along the banks of rivers, sediment laden
floods carried metals and minerals that contributed to poor quality of water.
Groundwater in certain regions contained dissolved minerals that rendered it unfit for
human consumption. These natural processes greatly affected water quality around
the world long before the negative influences of humans.

1. Temperature

Many physical, biological, and chemical characteristics of surface water are

dependent on temperature.

Excessive temperature changes can accelerate chemical processes and be

detrimental to aquatic plants and wildlife.

Increased heat in water can reduce its ability to hold dissolved oxygen while
sudden temperature “shocks” (caused by heated industrial water released into a
lake or stream) can be deadly to many aquatic species.

2. Dissolved Oxygen

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 O2 comprises about 21% of the atmosphere but only a fraction of 1% of water.

DO is comprised of microscopic bubbles of oxygen gas in water and is critical for

the support of aquatic plants and wildlife.

Produced by diffusion from the atmosphere, aeration of water as it passes over

falls and rapids, and as a by-product of photosynthesis.

Affected by temperature, salinity, atmospheric pressure, oxygen demand from

aquatic plants and animals.

Measured is measured in parts per million (ppm), milligrams per liter (mg/L), or
percent saturation.

When DO concentrations drop below 5 mg/L, sensitive organisms such as

coldwater fish can become stressed, especially if these conditions prevail for long
periods of time. Many visible living organisms cannot survive in waters with DO
levels of less than 1 mg/L for more than a few hours.

Elevated levels of DO also make drinking water taste better but can be corrosive
to metal water pipes.

3. pH

One of several primary indicators of water quality.

A pH of 7.0 represents exact neutrality of water at 8oC where H+ and OH- are in
equilibrium.

pH values range from 0 to 14 and can range into negative numbers and above 14
in extreme situations. Water with pH of 4 is 10X more acidic than water with a
pH of 5.

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 Measured by using pH paper (color change), pH pen (electrode that measures the
electrical potential of H+ ions), and pH meter (measures voltage and contains a
reference electrode that provides a constant electric potential). pH meters includes
a temperature compensation device since pH is temperature dependent.

Raw water found in rivers and lakes generally has a pH between 4 and 9, while
pure distilled water is at 7. Fish have a narrow range of pH preference that varies
by species. pH levels outside this narrow range can cause severe health problems
for a species. Water outside the normal pH range for a particular species of fish
can cause physical damage to skin, gills, and eyes, and in severe cases, can be
fatal.

4. Turbidity

The relative measure of clarity and is the result of suspended matter in water that
reduces the transmission of light

Can be caused by silt, very small organic particles, salt, plankton, or decaying
vegetation

“cloudy” appearance of water

Measured in units called NTUs or Nephelometric Turbidity Units. Nephelometer

(electronically measures light scatter in water) or a Secchi disk provides accurate
measurement of turbidity.

Water with turbidity levels > 5 NTU is not safe for recreational use or human
consumption. Levels < 25 NTU cannot sustain aquatic life. As of Jan. 1, 2002,
US EPA has set a turbidity standard for drinking water of not more than 1 NTU
and not exceeding 0.3 NTU in 95% of the daily samples taken in any month.

Turbidity can create water quality problems because toxic chemicals can attach to
suspended particles.
Drinking water treatment can be hindered if turbid surface water sources are used.

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 Treatment for turbidity can remove some chemicals and waterborne diseases that
bond to fine suspended matter.

5. Hardness

The amount of dissolved calcium, magnesium, and iron present in water.

Hard water - described as an inability to create soap suds or lather when washing

Not a contaminant but rather a characteristic of water that varies greatly around
the world

Hard water often creates a buildup of scale on hot water heaters, showers, and
porcelain surfaces

Scale is caused by Ca and Mg which form a solid precipitate

This buildup of minerals can clog hot water pipes, water heaters, and boilers

Excessive hardness can be removed through softening processes (filtering

through layers of salt)

Surface water is softer than groundwater because it has less contact with soil
minerals

The degree of hardness can be described in milligrams per liter of CaCO3

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