Luis Paredes
Dr. Wallace
ENG 115
Water Quality is very much in the news these days and it is also a growing public concern. Water is one of the most important resources on the planet and affects nearly every aspect of life. The Great Lakes watershed contains a large percentage of the world's fresh surface water. The Lakes support the water needs, and jobs of millions of people and poor water quality is an increasing frustration.
Description:
Lake Huron is the second largest of the Great Lakes and the fifth largest in the world, with the most irregular shape of any of the Great Lakes. Even its largest island, Manitoulin, is wider than the State of Rhode Island, and has five small lakes of its own. The lake is connected with its neighbor, nearly same-sized L. Michigan, only by a narrow straight called the Straights of Mackinac, which is spanned by an 8 km-long bridge, the Mighty Mac. (International Lake Environment Committee)
Water pollution is defined as a change in the chemical, physical and biological health of a waterway due to human activity. Unfortunately, this definition applies to the waters of Lake Huron and has had a negative impact on the people who use and rely on this body of water. (Study mode 04, 2012)
Although there are many causes of Lake Huron’s pollution, most fall under three categories: 1) Point-source pollution; 2) Nonpoint-source pollution; and 3) Air pollution. Point-source pollution refers to mercury, fecal matter, and sewage, from treatment plants or industrial facilities, being dumped into the Lake. Nonpoint-source pollution refers to runoff of polluted water from crops or lawns which contain contaminants. These contaminants may be oil, sand, and salt from roadways, agricultural chemicals, and nutrients and toxic materials from urban or rural areas (The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation, 1998-2012).
There are many different causes for the pollution