Water from Ponds, Lakes, and Rivers
Our surface water supplies are under increasing pressure from a number of pollutants as well as encroaching housing developments. Decades of abuse from all sorts of industry, municipal sewage systems, lax pollution controls, and careless human behavior have dramatically changed the ecosystems of our ponds, lakes, and rivers.
For example, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio caught fire in 1868, 1883, 1887, 1912, 1922, 1936, 1941, 1948, 1952, and 1969. After the 1969 fire, Time magazine did a report on the condition of the river and stated:
- Some River! Chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gases, it oozes rather than flows. "Anyone who falls into the Cuyahoga does not drown," Cleveland's citizens joke grimly. "He decays". The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration dryly notes: "The lower Cuyahoga has no visible signs of life, not even low forms such as leeches and sludge worms that usually thrive on wastes." It is also -- literally -- a fire hazard.
This single event brought a number of other environmental problems to America�s attention and led to the passing of the Clean Water Act in 1972. Since then, stricter controls on the amount of pollutants that can enter our surface water have made a significant impact on the cleanliness and viability of our ponds, lakes, and rivers, but there are still many causes for concern.
Sources of Contamination
These sources and more still pose a significant threat to our nation�s waterways, and while the situation is far better than it used to be, there are many opportunities for improvement.
Hazardous waste sites from mining and a wide variety of other industrial sources are a persistent threat from byproducts that leach into the soil and slowly seep into groundwater.
Landfills are supposed to feature a protective bottom layer to prevent leakage into water sources, but if the layer cracks or wasn�t installed at all, acids from batteries, old paint, household cleaning chemicals, and other pollutants will gradually seep into the soil and contaminate the water.
Road salts that are liberally spread on winter roads enter the soil through melting snow and rainwater. Over time, these chemicals enter lakes and rivers through runoff and alter the chemistry which affects the food web from microorganisms on up.
Storage tanks holding fuel, oil, and all sorts of chemicals corrode and crack as they age which also get into the soil and end up in our water. In the U.S. alone, there are estimated to be at least 10 million underground storage tanks.
Sewage systems become overwhelmed by heavy rains, and older systems have no recourse but to vent raw sewage into rivers and lakes which leads to high concentrations of E. coli and other pathogens.
Sediment in rivers and lakes becomes contaminated with arsenic, pesticides, mercury, metals, and other chemicals. These contaminants then enter the food web as smaller organisms get eaten by other creatures. They remain in the tissues of fish and cause mutations, fish die-offs, and a number of other catastrophic effects.
What can be done?
The solution begins with every single one of us making responsible choices about our daily living. You can:
Contact your politicians to enact legislation for stricter controls on how industries dispose of their waste.
Make wiser choices about the everyday chemicals that you use inside and outside your home.
Dispose of refuse like old paint, cleaning chemicals, electronics, and used oil responsibly. Your county will have information about collection dates for these contaminants.
Raise awareness in yourself, your family, and your community about the threats that remain for our water sources.
These steps and more are an excellent way to lessen the impact of contamination of our surface water, but positive change can only occur if you�re willing to make some changes yourself.