Notes Water Pollution Part II
Water Pollution Part II
Amanda Norris
Groundwater Pollution pg. 502:
Describe
: Groundwater is the water we drink. Few countries go to the great expense of locating, tracking, and testing aquifers. Volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) contaminate 90% of the U.S. aquifers, but 2% of samples had unsafe VOC levels. The US found that ⅓of the 26k industrial waste ponds didn't have liners to prevent toxic liquid wastes from seeping into aquifers. The EPA had completed the cleanup of 297k of the 436k underground tanks that were found to be leaking gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, or toxic solvents into groundwater in the US. Groundwater pollution also was by
MTBE or methyl tertiary butyl ether which was a gasoline additive since 1979. There were about 250k leaking contaminants into aquifers by the 1990s. Groundwater can also be contaminated by nitrate ions and it can cause cancer.
Plume
:
A volume of contaminated groundwater that extends downward and outward from a specific source; the shape and movement of the mass of the contaminated water is affected by the local geology, materials present in the plume, and the flow characteristics of the area groundwater.
Why does ground water take longer to cleanse itself of pollutants?
Once a pollutant from a leaking underground storage tank or other source contaminates groundwater, it fills the aquifer’s porous layers of sand, gravel, or bedrock like water saturates a sponge. This makes removal of the contaminant difficult and costly. Once it reaches an aquifer, the slowly flowing groundwater disperses the pollutant in a widening plume of contaminated water. If the plume reaches a well used to extract groundwater, the toxic pollutants can get into drinking water and into water used to irrigate crops. When groundwater becomes contaminated, it cannot cleanse itself or degradable wastes as flowing surface water does. Groundwater flows so slowly, usually less than 0.3 meter per day, that contaminants are not diluted
and
Amanda Norris
Groundwater Pollution pg. 502:
Describe
: Groundwater is the water we drink. Few countries go to the great expense of locating, tracking, and testing aquifers. Volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) contaminate 90% of the U.S. aquifers, but 2% of samples had unsafe VOC levels. The US found that ⅓of the 26k industrial waste ponds didn't have liners to prevent toxic liquid wastes from seeping into aquifers. The EPA had completed the cleanup of 297k of the 436k underground tanks that were found to be leaking gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, or toxic solvents into groundwater in the US. Groundwater pollution also was by
MTBE or methyl tertiary butyl ether which was a gasoline additive since 1979. There were about 250k leaking contaminants into aquifers by the 1990s. Groundwater can also be contaminated by nitrate ions and it can cause cancer.
Plume
:
A volume of contaminated groundwater that extends downward and outward from a specific source; the shape and movement of the mass of the contaminated water is affected by the local geology, materials present in the plume, and the flow characteristics of the area groundwater.
Why does ground water take longer to cleanse itself of pollutants?
Once a pollutant from a leaking underground storage tank or other source contaminates groundwater, it fills the aquifer’s porous layers of sand, gravel, or bedrock like water saturates a sponge. This makes removal of the contaminant difficult and costly. Once it reaches an aquifer, the slowly flowing groundwater disperses the pollutant in a widening plume of contaminated water. If the plume reaches a well used to extract groundwater, the toxic pollutants can get into drinking water and into water used to irrigate crops. When groundwater becomes contaminated, it cannot cleanse itself or degradable wastes as flowing surface water does. Groundwater flows so slowly, usually less than 0.3 meter per day, that contaminants are not diluted
and