Clean Water Act
Humans play a major role in water pollution in all types of bodies of water. One of our biggest impacts is the amount of trash/waste we allow to make its way into our water ways. For example, in my hometown, people are very irresponsible about the way they dispose of bigger waste items like tires, sheet metal and various tools and farm equipment. Most residence collect this waste in their yards or surrounding woodland, and when flood season comes, it makes its way into the creek beds and rivers. This may sometimes include stored chemicals and can empty its contents into the water. Another issue is runoff from agricultural farms/ranches. Runoff from fields and pastures that leak into the waterways can contain bacteria from fecal matter that
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The Act allows the EPA to regulate the discharge of pollutants from industrial and municipal treatment plants and sewer systems. They also monitor pre-treated pollutants to ensure that industrial and municipal pollutants do not interfere with local sewer and water treatment plants. The Act ensures the collection of debris that may potentially make its way into major waterways. On a smaller scale, the EPA also monitors animal waste pollutants, oil and hazard spills and monitors discharge into wetlands to ensure the health of the species that live there. In the water pollution lab, one of the water samples that we tested was from a rural setting. The Clean Water Act would help to monitor the herbicide/pesticide levels by testing the runoff from local farmland deposits into the water systems and working with the farmers to reduce the levels in the waterways. If the EPA didn't enforce these rules, the levels of nitrates, metals, herbicides/pesticides and coliform bacteria levels would be left at unsafe levels and could cause serious health problems for anyone who consumed the contaminated waters. Health risks include kidney problems, anemia, reduced liver function and a higher threat of water-borne illness. It could also impact the population of aquatic wildlife, which could set off a chain reaction in the biological food chain. For example, if a body of water has high levels of nitrates, it can kill off the fish population to that body of water. The animals that rely on the fish for a food source will find food to be scarce and find themselves either starving to death or being forced to find a new
The Act allows the EPA to regulate the discharge of pollutants from industrial and municipal treatment plants and sewer systems. They also monitor pre-treated pollutants to ensure that industrial and municipal pollutants do not interfere with local sewer and water treatment plants. The Act ensures the collection of debris that may potentially make its way into major waterways. On a smaller scale, the EPA also monitors animal waste pollutants, oil and hazard spills and monitors discharge into wetlands to ensure the health of the species that live there. In the water pollution lab, one of the water samples that we tested was from a rural setting. The Clean Water Act would help to monitor the herbicide/pesticide levels by testing the runoff from local farmland deposits into the water systems and working with the farmers to reduce the levels in the waterways. If the EPA didn't enforce these rules, the levels of nitrates, metals, herbicides/pesticides and coliform bacteria levels would be left at unsafe levels and could cause serious health problems for anyone who consumed the contaminated waters. Health risks include kidney problems, anemia, reduced liver function and a higher threat of water-borne illness. It could also impact the population of aquatic wildlife, which could set off a chain reaction in the biological food chain. For example, if a body of water has high levels of nitrates, it can kill off the fish population to that body of water. The animals that rely on the fish for a food source will find food to be scarce and find themselves either starving to death or being forced to find a new