Water Quality

How do contaminants get into our waterways?

Infiltration

• Process by which surface water enters soil
• Influenced by permeability of surface, and porosity of soil

Tributary

• a stream or river flowing into a larger river

Point Source Pollution

• Contaminant can be traced to a specific point
• Gas station
• Factory
• Laudromat

Non-point source pollution

• Contamination from many smaller sources over large land areas
• Farming
• Cars
• Household chemicals

Impacts of Contaminants

Turbidity

• Measure of water clarity
• Influenced by sediment or debris

PH

• how acidic or basic a substance is on a scale of 0-14
• 7 is neutral
• more acidic, lower pH
• more basic, higher pH
• Influenced by chemical contaminants (coal ash video)

Dissolved Oxygen

• Oxygen in the water, helps aquatic organisms breathe
• Higher with fast moving, colder water
• Slow moving, high temperatures lower this value

Phosphates & Nitrates

• Sources - human waste, fertilizers, laundry, industrial runoff
• Causes algal blooms

Algal blooms

• Caused by too many nutrients in water
• Algae grows faster than aquatic animals can eat it
• When it dies off, bacteria that break it down use up all of the oxygen
• DEATH OF AQUATIC LIFE

Bioindicators

• Organisms that are sensitive to pollution

UNIVERSAL SOLVENT

• Can dissolve more substances than any other liquid

SURFACE TENSION

• Water is more attracted to other water molecules than air.
• Forms a "skin" on water surface