Our Water is Even Dirtier Than Our Air

One of the oldest sayings around is, “what goes up must come down.” Even though scientists and world leaders continue to debate about what to do about the climate change issue, they have agreed that carbon emissions have largely been responsible for the pollution in the air that is fueling the “greenhouse effect.” But the air isn't the only important life sustaining element that is polluted. A statement on the website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) says that, “Today, nonpoint source (“NPS”) pollution remains the nation's largest source of water quality problems. It's the main reason that approximately 40 percent of our surveyed rivers, lakes, and estuaries are not clean enough to meet basic uses such as fishing or swimming.” The fact that nearly half of the nation’s rivers, lakes and streams are too dirty for human use is troubling, indeed, and it is a New Earth issue that we need to think about.

According to EPA, NPS pollution occurs when rainfall, snowmelt, or irrigation runs over land or through the ground, picks up pollutants, and deposits them into rivers, lakes, and coastal waters or introduces them into ground water. A report by David Krantz and Brad Kifferstein of the University of Michigan provides a good summary of the effects of NPS. In their report entitled, “Water Pollution and Society,” Krantz and Kifferstein tell us that “Many causes of pollution including sewage and fertilizers contain nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. In excess levels, nutrients over stimulate the growth of aquatic plants and algae. Excessive growth of these types of organisms consequently clogs our waterways, use up dissolved oxygen as they decompose, and block light to deeper waters. This, in turn, proves very harmful to aquatic organisms as it affects the respiration ability of fish and other invertebrates that live reside in the water.” The report also states that, “Plant productivity and water depth become reduced, and aquatic organisms and their environments become suffocated.”javascript:void(0)

A recent study funded by the New York Academy of Sciences undertook an extensive review of the possible sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (“PAHs”) to the New York/New Jersey Harbor. PAHs are components of petroleum products such as gasoline, coal, and oil and are also produced as by-products of the combustion of fossil fuels and firewood. Efforts to identify the level of PAHs in our water supply is critical because they may cause cancer and other serious health conditions. The study found that storm water runoff was the main pathway for inputs of all PAHs into the harbor, contributing about half the total load. It also showed that “Deposition from the atmosphere directly to the harbor surface was found to be important for the smaller PAH compounds.” Lisa Rodenburg, a co-author of the study, summarized her work by saying, "This is the first time that we have been able to demonstrate just how important storm water runoff is in terms of contributing pollution to the New York/New Jersey Harbor. And since the harbor is pretty typical of urban waterways, our conclusions probably apply to most other cities in the United States and across the globe."

The bottom line here is that the Earth’s hydro cycle is constantly moving pollutants, either in the air or on the ground, into all of the planet’s groundwater, streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. The effect of this is that it our water is even dirtier than our air. No one knows or can even speculate on just how much of this chemical filth can be tolerated but it is certain that the levels of it are increasing.

Obviously, the pollution of our water systems is caused solely by human activity. From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution until the present day, we have been altering the chemical balance of our environment. Most of the recent attention is focused on the pollutants in the air that are causing changes in the ozone layer, as well as thickening the atmosphere enough to impact the amount of sunlight that reaches the surface. Although some attention is being paid to the water supply, it seems that the time has arrived to step up our efforts to reduce and reverse the damage that is being done to it.

In their report, “Water Pollution and Society,” Krantz and Kifferstein say, “Clearly, the problems associated with water pollution have the capabilities to disrupt life on our planet to a great extent. Congress has passed laws to try to combat water pollution thus acknowledging the fact that water pollution is, indeed, a serious issue. But the government alone cannot solve the entire problem. It is ultimately up to us, to be informed, responsible and involved when it comes to the problems we face with our water.” Krantz and Kifferstein also provide some helpful suggestions on how average people can help control the problem. Their advice is that “We must become familiar with our local water resources and learn about ways for disposing harmful household wastes so they don’t end up in sewage treatment plants that can’t handle them or landfills not designed to receive hazardous materials. In our yards, we must determine whether additional nutrients are needed before fertilizers are applied, and look for alternatives where fertilizers might run off into surface waters.”

There is no way to understate how important this issue is. Over 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water and its entire ecosystem is dependent upon it. Everything from people to animals and from plants to fish rely on it to create and sustain life. The continual degradation of its quality is totally the fault of the human species and that is where the responsibility of fixing the problem lies. Until such time that large strides are made in cleaning up our water, this will be a New Earth issue that we need to think very seriously about.