Untread Sewage Dumping-BB

     Untreated sewage dumping is a global issue that is affecting the world. Untreated sewage is being dumped in areas like India, Africa, parts of Asia and parts of Latin America. These areas cannot afford to treat their sewage. Even though the dumping is only in those areas, it affects the whole world. Once the untreated sewage is in the water, it can spread throughout the world possibly contaminating water everywhere. 
  Untreated sewage dumping causes many water born illnesses affecting health and ruins marine ecosystems. The contaminated water causes cholera, typhoid, and many more fatal diseases. Not only does untreated sewage dumping cause many health problems, it kills the marine ecosystems. Metals like mercury and chromium kill fish.
Untreated sewage dumping is a global issue that can be easily solved.

Solution to Untreated Sewage Dumping Flow Chart

Saving the World from Sewage-JC

Untreated sewage is a major problem threatening health in every part of the world. However, we already know exactly how to prevent it. The problem is not the absence of a way to treat the waste, it is the lack of funds in many countries to carry out the planning, constructing, and up-keeping of the treatment plants and proper lavatories. The only way to completely resolve this devastating issue is by convincing those countries which do possess the resources necessary for these projects that this problem does not only threaten those impoverished countries, but the entire world. The potentially deadly bacteria and viruses entering the waterways will not disappear. They will travel as far as the water takes them, which could be anywhere on the globe. This is a pressing international matter and must be treated as such.

            Although the campaign would have to begin with the advocacy of individual environmental organizations, it should eventually become a mission for the United Nations. To carry this out, environmental organizations would raise awareness using a commercial campaign showing shocking pictures of polluted rivers and poverty stricken areas and appalling statistics. This would result in public outcry and initial donation funds. Representatives from the environmental organizations would then lobby at the UN to make it a United Nations mission. Every able nation in the UN could put money towards the cause. With the use of these funds, engineers and construction workers would be transported to the underprivileged areas to design and construct new sanitation systems. They would also train workers in the area to be able to work at the plants in order to ensure their lasting success. An extra benefit to the project, this would open up some new job opportunities.

            This project would be an immensely demanding commitment, but the benefits would be innumerable. Life in places such as India, Africa, and Latin America would be momentously improved. Waterborne illnesses would be nearly eradicated. The people could bath and drink from there rivers without fearing for their lives. The improved health of the population would offer them opportunities to build up and advance their communities. Marine ecosystems would be saved from devastation. Also, the approaching threat of foreign untreated sewage arriving at our own shores would be stopped in its tracks. This completely preventable problem has the potential to wreak havoc on the ecosystems and human health of the world. Action to avert this must be taken immediately, at all costs.

Sewage: Truth in Pictures-JL

Sewage pipes [Image]. Retrieved April 15, 2012, from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/595000/images/_598453_sewage300.jpg. 

Sewage contaminated water sign [Image]. Retrieved April 15, 2012, from: http://sergededina.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/sewagesurfing.jpg?w=490

Sewage pollution [Image]. Retrieved April 15, 2012, from: http://www.hardrainproject.com/thumbnail.php?im=SP1118097.011.jpg&type=U.

Problems Caused by Untreated Sewage-JC

Untreated sewage causes many serious problems to human health and marine ecosystems. Many human diseases are caused by the bacteria, viruses, and pathogens introduced to water sources because of the presence of untreated sewage. These include cholera, typhoid, dysentery, schistosomiasis, chronic diarrhea, hepatitis A, and intestinal nematode infections. Many of these diseases can be fatal. It is estimated that 1.5 million deaths per year, most of which are of young children, are a result of this contamination. It is also not uncommon for beaches to be temporarily closed because of the surfacing of pharmaceutical objects, such as needles, and personal care objects on the shore. These objects would have easily been sifted out had the water gone through a treatment plant. Untreated sewage does not only pose a threat to human life. Metals, such as mercury, chromium, arsenic, and lead, as well as chlorine compounds, are deadly to aquatic species. Decaying organic material can use up oxygen in the water to the extent where other aquatic life cannot survive. Large amounts of phosphorous or nitrogen can cause eutrophication. Untreated sewage discharge is a lethal, yet preventable, problem.

Works Cited

“How the Sewer System Works.” MWRA Online. (22 February 2012). Retrieved from http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/03sewer/html/sewhow.htm.

“Untreated Sewage.” Top 10 worst pollution problems. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.worstpolluted.org/projects_reports/display/63.

“Wastewater Treatment Water Use.” Water Science for Schools. U.S. Geographical Survey. (9 March 2012). Retrieved from http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wuww.html.

Causes of Untreated Sewage Problems-JC

Untreated sewage is mainly an issue in impoverished areas within Africa, Asia, and Latin America. These areas do not have the funding to construct the large sewage treatment plants that their population needs. The sewage runs right into drains and is released in its raw state right into streams and rivers. These rivers are often the main source of drinking and cleaning water for the people living in the area. Certain regions cannot even afford flushing toilets. Many poor rural areas use pit latrines, which are essentially just holes in the ground. The waste then seeps into the ground, entering the wells relied upon for drinking water, or is washed into waterways by rain. Some areas which have been going through recent upsurges in population or industrialization are also having serious sewage problems. For example, the Indian city of New Delhi produces 3.6 billion tons of sewage daily. However, only half of it is treated at all. The rest flows into the Yamuna, a main source of drinking and bathing water. Although India has over 300 treatment plants, most of them are poorly located or outdated.

The main cause of raw sewage being released into waterways is poverty. These areas do not have the money, knowledge, or resources to construct treatment plants and affective drainage systems. Because of this, the waterways have become toxic, causing many more problems. 

Works Cited

“How the Sewer System Works.” MWRA Online. (22 February 2012). Retrieved from http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/03sewer/html/sewhow.htm.

  “Rivers of Sewage: India's Rivers Are Slowly Dying.” Tree Hugger. (22 June 2007). Retrieved from http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/rivers-of-sewage-indiaatms-rivers-are-slowly-dying.html.

 “Untreated Sewage.” Top 10 worst pollution problems. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.worstpolluted.org/projects_reports/display/63.

“Wastewater Treatment Water Use.” Water Science for Schools. U.S. Geographical Survey. (9 March 2012). Retrieved from http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wuww.html.

Sewage Further Explained-JL

All of the wastewater produced by a city eventually ends up being dumped in a body of water. Before it reaches the water, the wastewater goes through a sewage treatment plant, which removes up to 90% of biodegradable organic wastes. After this, the sewage continues to a sedimentation tank, where any remaining solids and organisms settle as sludge. The sludge is most often dumped in the ocean. This sludge has a very high concentration of toxic substances and microorganisms, which have a large demand for oxygen. It contains large amounts of suspended solids, nitrates and phosphates, and toxic metal compounds. It significantly alters the biological composition of areas of sea floor where it is released.

            When the toxic substances in sewage sludge enter a body of water, they dissolve, become suspended in the water, or get deposited on a shore. Sewage-contaminated water can cause eutrophication, killing many of the organisms living in the water through lack of oxygen. The sludge also contains disease-causing microbes, and some gastrointestinal disorders have been linked to sewage pollution. Shellfish strain water through their gills as they feed. If the water is contaminated by disease-causing bacteria in the sewage sludge, they could be consumed as food by the shellfish. If people eat these shellfish raw or partially cooked, they could become seriously sick. Sewage water is known to carry diseases such as dysentery and cholera.

            There are also many economic disadvantages to sewage dumping. Debris from sewage on beaches results in loss of tourism and requires an additional cost for removal. Also, high income loss can result from the closing of commercial shellfish beds that have been contaminated by sewage.

            A study conducted by the National Undersea Research Program (NURP) examined the effects of sewage dumping on marine organisms’ biodiversity and the transport of contaminants back to humans. They documented the impact of 42 million tons of sewage sludge dumped off of the Mid-Atlantic coast between 1986 and 1992. They found that the sludge significantly affected the metabolism, diet, and composition of the organisms present. They also found that the sludge became mixed with the sediment at the ocean’s bottom and could therefore remain there for a very long time.

            The solution to sewage pollution can be in a treatment plant or in nature. Sewage treatment plants work by relying on bacteria that eats away nitrates, phosphates, and organic matter found in sewage. However these plants can be expensive to build and operate for many governments. A cheaper alternative relies on natural processes to do most of the work. Wetlands contain plants and bacteria that are capable of doing the same thing as the bacteria from the treatment plants. By building and restoring wetlands, it can treat waste water before it reaches other waterways.

 

Annenberg Learner.Retrieved 19 March 2012 from http://www.learner.org/interactives/garbage/sewage.html.

Wall, P. C. Earthalert. Retrieved 19 March 2012 from http://www.earthalert.org/Ocean SewageDumping Runs Afoul.html.  

NOAA Ocean Explorer (20 August 2009). Ocean Dumping. Retrieved 19 March 2012 from http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/deepeast01/background/dumping/dumping.html.

Planetary Notions.Effects of Dumping Sewage Water Directly Into the Sea. Retrieved 19 March 2012from http://gobiidae.com/PN/dumpingsewage.html.

Dams and Reservoirs Harming Fish-BB

Problems Caused by Dams and Reservoirs

• Alter rivers flow, which affects downstream ecosystems and the landscape through which the river flows
• Hold back sediments that would naturally replenish downstream ecosystems
• When rivers are deprived of sediment loads they seek to reccapture it by eroding the downstream river bedd and banks debiltating bridges and other riverbank structures.
• Large dams have led to the extinction of many fish and other aquatic species
• Tend to fragment riverine ecosystem
• Isolate populations of species living up and downstream of the dam
• Cut off migrations and other species movements
• isolate rivers from their floodplain
• Fragmentation of river ecosystem=massive reduction in the number of species in the worlds watersheds
• Inhibit migratory fish movements
• Inundate spawning areas, change historic river flow patterns, and raise water temperatures

Possible Answers

• Fish passes can be made to facilitate passage but its not heavily researched.

Works Cited:

Environmental Impacts of Dams. International Rivers.  Retrieved March 7, 2012, from http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/1545

Rivers No More: The Environmental Effects of Large Dams. International Rivers. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/1636

Reservoirs: Global Issues. Homepage- CIWEM. Retrieved March 7, 012 from http://www.ciwem.org/knowledge-networks/panels/water-resources/reservoirs-global-issues-.aspx

Systems, p., & Turbines., t. j. (n.d.). Dams: Impacts on Salmon and Steelhead. Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Retrieved March 7, 3023, from http://www.nwcouncil.org/hisotry/Dam

Zebra Mussels-JC

I. What is the Zebra Mussel?

a.  The Zebra mussel is a very small mussel, usually less than an inch but up to two inches in length. They have a striped, brownish, D-shaped shell. They grow in attached clusters and usually attach themselves to solid objects, in the same manner as barnacles. They were native to Europe and Asia and did not appear in the United States until the mid 1980’s.

II. How did they come the US?

a. The mussels first appeared in the Great Lakes, where they are still rampant. They were accidentally introduced through the dispersion of ballast water of barges from Asia and Europe. They most likely existed in the water as larvae and matured in the American waters where they were dumped and began to reproduce prolifically.

III.  Problems Caused

a.    In order to feed, zebra mussels suck water into their bodies and filter out microscopic particles of plants, animals, and debris. This extreme amount of intake depletes the water of food that other marine life depend upon, leading to the death of some species. Also, the decrease in particles in the water increases clarity, which can hinder large fish from catching their prey and

b. Zebra Mussels eat all algae except blue-green algae. This results in    a harmful abundance of blue-green algae in areas that are affected.

c. Zebra Mussels attach themselves to other objects, especially other mussels which are then smothered. They also attach themselves to manmade structures such as motors and bulkheads, resulting in a large amount of money being spent to clean up these structures.

Works Cited:

Invasive Species- Zebra Mussels (Dreissena polymorpha). Retrieved March 7, 2012,          from http://dnr.wi.gov/invasives/fact/zebra.htm.

Zebra Mussels: Invaders from Another Land

They came, They saw, They conquered

Sewage-JL

What It Is

Sewage

-       sources: domestic, commercial, industrial, shipping discharges

-       ex. excrement from toilets, wastewater, etc.

-       in developed countries, wastes travel to sewage treatment facilities- partly treated and sometimes untreated sewage is sometimes discharged due to facility malfunctions, inadequate infrastructure, etc.  

-       in developing or not developed countries there are often no sanitation facilities- human wastes go directly into coastal waters

-       in some developed regions raw sewage is poured into harbors, bays, and coastal waters (ex. Halifax Harbor in Nova Scotia)

-       sewage sludge- semisolid byproduct of the sewage treatment process; disposed at sea in some countries

Why It Is an Issue

-       some substances in sewage can harm ecosystems and be a threat to public health

-       sewage carries potentially disease-causing microbes called pathogens- main cause of recreational beach closures

-       study conducted by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)

o   sewage may be “the most serious problem” affecting the marine environment- the least amount of progress has been made in this area

o   80% of sewage entering the ocean from developing countries is raw and untreated

o   ver 50% of sewage entering the Mediterranean Sea is untreated

o   the number of coastal dead zones doubled every decade since 1960- rising levels of nitrogen and phosphorous levels from sewage and runoff

o   growing coastal population means more waste- it is “steadily growing worse”

Sources:

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2006/2006-10-04-01.asp

http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Po-Re/Pollution-of-the-Ocean-by-Sewage-Nutrients-and-Chemicals.html

Research by: JL