As you may have known other boring brochures provide the information and no opinions or interesting facts, and im not just talking in bold because I like to, this is a very good and expressed pamphlet. One small fact before we start, some obvious sources of pollution can be from pipes from factories or from a nearby trash collector. Now some non-obvious sources can be from evaporation causing acid rain or water pollution going down a small stream.







What Is Water Pollution?







Water pollution can be a nuisance to nature and humans, our water can be contaminated just by a little fertilizer or cleaning fluids, it can get in fish, and when the poisoned fish dies the poison passes on to the predator and it moves up the food chain until it hits us, if we don’t stop this our world will run out of inhabitants. Water pollution can be the contamination of water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans and groundwater caused by human activities or caused also by nature, such as volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunami’s that can be harmful to most or certain organisms.







What are some sources of water pollution?







Well first there are human influenced pollution, fertilizers get squirted out and they form a tiny stream to the nearest river, lake or stream. There are also natural pollutants, animal waste from cows can some times end up in streams thus killing fish also there is a major pollutant, like I mentioned before this is the volcano, it can mix acids and materials and get in organisms life cycle.







What are some of the effects of pollution?







Pollution effects can span far but here are some MAIN effects, animal life can be severely harmed and the pollutions effect on them can ruin their habitat, prey/food, water and itself, animals aren’t the only people on this planet, WE can be effected, we EAT animals so if they are poisoned we get the same poison, also our water (of course) can be effected even though WE did it. Every one has a chain or life support system if it is harmed, it could die.



 



What can WE do to our water after it has been polluted?







There are many methods of cleaning the water, the biggest example is The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, they cleaned it up with LOTS of firemen and LOTS of high pressure water hoses, they made a machine and tried to use the hoses to scoop the oil in it. If you figure out a better way or like this idea PLEASE talk with the owners of that river/ocean shore/lake and ask them if you can take action.



 







What can be done to stop this horrid pollution?



 



A lot of you must be asking this question all the time, well one way of doing this is purifying the water and draining it into the wetlands, other methods of doing this is rerouting ditches and closing nearby garbage dumps close to contaminated water. Also you can talk to the government and ask them to make laws. MY idea (personally) is to make your own filter and send the blueprints to somebody you trust and build it together.







What ARE Nitrates And How Do They End Up In Our Waters?







A nitrate is a natural substance and is in all ecosystems, plants need it but too much of it can be a serious problem to them, nitrates are also in fertilizers. But how does this strange substance end up in our local waters? You know those farmers who use too much fertilizer and all their plants die? Well that is how they enter and then they can be evaporated and spread far and wide causing not only a problem for the farmer but for others.











What Effect Do High Nitrate Levels Have On Humans?



 



Were you wondering what would happen if you drank nitrates? It wont do much but if you put too much in then the results will be fatal on infants under 4 months old, THEY TURN BLUE=http://=http://!! It’s called baby blue syndrome, yes, it’s a syndrome.







What is the considered safe level for nitrates in drinking water?







Were you thinking, “Well what IS the safe level for drinking water?” apparently it is ten milligrams per liter. Amazing isn’t it? I thought so, lets move on…







What should YOU do if there are high nitrate levels in your water supply?







Well it might be dangerous so call your water agency and DO NOT DRINK IT   if you have any bad suspicions about the pesky nitrates in your water systems.







What can be done to stop nitrates from entering our water supply?







Some ways of doing this are to reduce the amount of fertilizers use in that area, also make your tile drainage systems deeper and build fences to fence off livestock from rivers/lakes/oceans.







Questions? Either ask our science teacher Mr. Al Gonzalez or E-mail us at mitchell.morris2@gmail.com



davidj7689@hotmail.com or just comment on our blogz!