Water Quality

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BIO-220

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Biology

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Feb 20, 2024

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1 Water Quality Brandon C. Clabo Bio-220 4/3/2022 Professor Ott

Water Quality The town that I live in is on a plateau between a couple of different mountains in western North Carolina. With this there are many streams, creeks, and rivers that run to lakes at the bottom of the mountains. There are lakes higher up on the mountain but since the are spring feed lakes there is less chance for pollution. With many tourists coming to visit the pollution can get a bit out of hand. There is a Plateau pick up that happens about 4 times, once before the high season starts, 2 during, and one at the end before the cold weather gets here. The plateau pick up is a group of people from different businesses around town clean up the litter on the side of the road, so it does not become pollution in the water ways. Quality Report The water quality report shows there are many different water system names. What is not surprising is the fact that, out of the 17 Water Systems, only one is surface water but is the largest population served. That water system is the one directly connected to the town. The remainder of sources is ground water, with one being groundwater but under the influence of surface water, (EPA 2022). “Only community water systems that serve the same people year-round provide CCRs. If you receive water from a non-community system external icon, for example, a hospital that has its own water system or a system that provides water in a place like a gas station or campground, you may need to contact a building manager for drinking water quality information” (CDC, 2020). Pollution Sources Thanks to the plateau pick up the water ways and lakes have a lot less pollutants in them. The one of most common trash found during the pickup is fast food items and household garbage. The most common litter worldwide is cigarette butts. “Cigarette butts are a pervasive, long-lasting, and a toxic form of marine debris. They primarily reach our waterways through improper disposal on beaches, rivers, and anywhere on land, transported to our coasts by runoff

and stormwater. Most cigarette filters are made out of cellulose acetate, a plastic-like material that’s easy to manufacture, but not easy to degrade. The fibers in cigarette filters behave just like plastics in our oceans, the UV rays from our sun may break the fibers down into smaller pieces, but they don’t disappear” (US Department of Commerce, 2018). Not only does the pollutants effect the marine life, but effects people as well. A lot of countries rely on fishing as their main food source and if the water is heavy with pollution, then the fish are not safe to eat. Even in lakes in the States we have fish that people eat and one of the more popular, at least in the South, is catfish. Catfish is a bottom feeder and will eat pretty much anything, it is like the goat of the water. If a catfish eats something, like a cigarette butt, then the pollution is in them and could tant the meat and would not know until time to eat. Water Management Practices. There are many ways that people can manage water runoff and help prevent polluting the water ways. One that was taught on my old farm was to never leave cattle to graze in one part of the field too much. Other famers would just call it cattle rotation. The rotation would help prevent the cattle roughing up the ground and eating all the grass that helps absorb the water. Another practice is conservation tillage. “Conservation tillage is the practice of leaving harvested plant materials on the soil to reduce runoff and soil erosion” (Water quality, 2022). This basically is after you have harvested corn you leave the stalks on the ground and allow them to act as the erosion barriers. Finally, the most common way for farms to help with pollution is Crop Nutrient Management. “Crop nutrient management is managing all nutrient inputs helps ensure that nutrients are available to meet crop needs while reducing nutrient runoff”, (Water Quality, 2022). According to the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, “Outdoor water use can account for between 5 and 30 percent of a facility's total water use. Better landscaping and pool maintenance practices and more efficient irrigation equipment can provide opportunities for

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significant water savings in commercial settings” (EPA, 2022). As expected, the kitchen in a restaurant uses the most amount of water in most commercial settings. According to a report by the EPA, restaurants use more than double against, hospitals, schools, and hotels. Conclusion In conclusion, we have learned that there are many different ways that pollution can get into our waterways. However, just as many ways as the pollution gets in the water, there are just as many ways to help prevent pollution from getting to that point. Non-point pollution can be the easiest to help fight by building up vegetation along waterways to help catch the run-off from farmlands and simply not throwing a cigarette butt on the ground but in proper disposal.

References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, October 9). Consumer confidence reports . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/understanding_ccr.html#:~:text=Consu mer%20Confidence%20Reports%20(CCRs)%2C,a%20CCR%20to%20its%20customers. Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Water Quality . EPA. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://ordspub.epa.gov/ords/safewater/f?p=136%3A103%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). EPA. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/watersense/best-management-practices US Department of Commerce, N. O. and A. A. (2018, October 22). What is the most commonly found ocean litter? Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/most- common-ocean-litter.html Water quality . Best Management Practices. (n.d.). Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://extension.usu.edu/waterquality/protectyourwater/howtoprotectwaterquality/bmps/ index

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