Clean Water Act 1972 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 19
About This Presentation
Title:

Clean Water Act 1972

Description:

4000x the safe level. Goals ... Use up lots of dissolved oxygen. How ... Found at least one chemical on their list in 80% of streams. An average of 7 chemicals ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:403
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 20
Provided by: kimber8
Category:
Tags: act | clean | use | water

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Clean Water Act 1972


1
Clean Water Act(1972)
  • Surface water pollution control

2
Resulted from the following incidents
  • Cuyahoga River catching fire (several times)
  • Love Canal
  • President Richard Nixon signed the
    Environmental Protection Act (created the EPA)
    into law in January, 1970.  The Clean Water Act
    passed three years later in 1972. 

3
Poor quality of water bodies in general
  • NY- Mahattens East site discharged 300 million
    gallons of raw sewage into the Hudson river PER
    DAY
  • Fox River- Discovery of PCB contamination
  • In Washington D.C., Fecal coliforms (evidence of
    fecal matter) 4000x the safe level

4
Goals
  • 1. It is the national goal that the discharge of
    pollutants into the navigable waters be
    eliminated by 1985.

5
Goals
  • 2. It is the national goal that, wherever
    attainable, an interim goal of water quality
    which provides for the protection and propagation
    of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and provides for
    recreation in and on the water be achieved by
    July 1, 1983.

6
Goals
  • 3. It is the national policy that the discharge
    of toxic pollutants in toxic amounts be
    prohibited.

7
Types of pollutants
  • Biodegradable
  • - sewage
  • - fertilizers, detergents
  • Nonbiodegradable
  • - pesticides
  • - PCBs (polychlorinatedbiphenyls)
  • - mine wastes
  • - road salts
  • - metals
  • - sediments
  • Radioactive- from nuclear powerplants, medical
    and scientific facilities
  • Heat/Thermal- electricity generation

8
How sewage, detergent, and fertilizers pollute
waterways
9
How it happens
  • Pollutants enter water body.
  • Aquatic organisms multiply quickly
  • Use up lots of dissolved oxygen

10
How it happens cont.
  • 4. Some organisms die (trout, salmon) others
    flourish (carp, algae, water worms)
  • 5. Decay microorganisms eat dead stuff. Use the
    rest of the D.O.
  • 6. Anaerobic bacteria take over. Release
    hydrogen sulfide gas. Water body smells like
    rotten eggs.

11
Evidence Polluted water algae, types of fish
12
Did it work?Results
  • Reduced POINT SOURCE pollution.
  • Municipalities no longer dump raw sewage into
    waterways
  • Point source pollution ?

13
This isnt happening
14
This isnt happeningin the US
15
Results- USGS sampling (1999/2000)
  • Tested (139 streams in 30 states) for 95
    different pharmaceuticals and household chemicals
    (steroids, insect repellents, birth control
    drugs, caffeine, antibiotics and fire
    retardants.
  • Found at least one chemical on their list in 80
    of streams
  • An average of 7 chemicals
  • Maximum of 38

16
Did it work?Results- 2000 EPA Report
  • NOT meeting the standards of the Clean Water
    Act
  • 40 of streams
  • 45 of lakes
  • 50 of estuaries

17
Did it work?Results- 2004 EPA Report
  • 25 of rivers and 33 of lakes contain fish
    that are contaminated with mercury, dioxins, and
    PCBs at levels dangerous for human consumption.

18
In our area
19
Testing the stream- parameters
  • Tests done at stream
  • Turbidity (amount of sediment)- turbidity tube
  • Dissolved Oxygen- probe
  • Temperature change- thermometer
  • Tests done in classroom-collect sample
  • Fecal Coliforms
  • Phosphates (detergents, fertilizers)
  • Nitrates (fertilizers, manure)
  • pH
  • BOD
  • Total Solids
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com