As we saw yesterday all along the Indian River Lagoon, many were out helping clean it up from visible pollution. I felt it was a great time to explain to our Kidz what water pollution is and the many types of it.
What is water pollution?
Water pollution is is when waste, chemicals, or other particles cause a body of water (i.e. rivers, oceans, lakes) to become harmful to the fish and animals that need the water to survive. Water pollution can disrupt and negatively impact nature's water cycle as well.
There are many types of pollution water can face. Here are some:
- Sewage (aka microbial pollution)
- Pesticides and fertilizers (aka nutrient pollution)
- Water waste and chemicals from factories (aka ground water pollution)
- Construction site debris (aka suspended matter pollution)
- Litter and garbage (aka surface water pollution)
- Oil spills (aka chemical pollution)
Locally, the largest types we see here are litter and garbage (as we saw here yesterday) and nutrient pollution (fertilizers and pesticides). This passed year, lots of Florida's cities and counties passed fertilizer bans during the rainy season or summer months. This was a great move on behalf of the many counties and cities since we all know how often we're mowing during that time of year. Unfortunately, the agriculture industries still use harmful chemicals AND the rainy season is typically the time of year we see discharges. All of those chemicals eventually make it into our watershed (see previous blog) and are flushed into our estuary and rivers. the effects of this type of pollution is detrimental to the health of the lagoon and has some areas near by completely lifeless.
Its important we adhere to the county and city regulations and continue to look out for our rivers and estuary. Kidz, if you see a neighbor fertilizing, remind them of the dangers they are posing to the local waterways and especially the fish.
Its also important to dispose of trash properly AND if you see trash laying nearby take two seconds to pick it up and either throwing it in the trash or recycle it. A lot of times that piece of trash ends up in the waterways. How long does some trash last in our waters?
DDT: (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) was developed as the first of the modern synthetic insecticides in the 1940s. It was initially used with great effect to combat malaria, typhus, and the other insect-borne human diseases among both military and civilian populations and for insect control in crop and livestock production, institutions, homes, and gardens. DDT's quick success as a pesticide and broad use in the United States and other countries led to the development of resistance by many insect pest species.
Its also important to dispose of trash properly AND if you see trash laying nearby take two seconds to pick it up and either throwing it in the trash or recycle it. A lot of times that piece of trash ends up in the waterways. How long does some trash last in our waters?
See why now its important to not allow trash into our oceans, rivers, streams or lagoons.
I wanted to leave you all with some interesting facts regarding water pollution.
I wanted to leave you all with some interesting facts regarding water pollution.
- Pollution in the water can reach a point where there isn't enough oxygen in the water for the fish to breathe. The fish can actually suffocate!
- Sometimes pollution affects the entire food chain. Small fishes absorb pollutants, such as chemicals, into their bodies. Then bigger fishes eat the smaller fishes and get the pollutants too. Birds or other animals may eat the bigger fishes and be harmed by the pollutants. One example of this was the use of the insecticide (bug killer) DDT. When birds of prey ate fishes that were infected with it, they would lay eggs with thin shells. The population of birds of prey began to drop until DDT was banished.
- Sewage can also cause major problems in rivers. Bacteria in the water will use oxygen to break down the sewage. If there is too much sewage, the bacteria could use up so much oxygen that there won't be enough left for the fish.
- Water pollution from major events like acid rain or oil spills can completely destroy marine habitats.
- Soap from washing your car can run down the street drain and cause water pollution.
- Only around 1% of the Earth's water is fresh water. The rest is salty and we can't drink it.
- Around 40% of the rivers and lakes in the United States are too polluted for fishing or swimming.
- The Mississippi River carries around 1.5 million tons of pollution into the Gulf of Mexico each year.
DISCHARGES: In its simplest concept discharge means outflow; therefore, the use of this term is not restricted as to course or location, and it can be applied to describe the flow of water from a pipe or from a drainage basin. If the discharge occurs in some course or channel, it is correct to speak of the discharge of a canal or of a river. It is also correct to speak of the discharge of a canal or stream into a lake, a stream, or an ocean.
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