Types of Wastewater

Blackwater toilet water water with toxic chemicals hazardous, kept separate and treated properly Greywater household water dishwashers, sinks, laundry, etc. decomposes faster than blackwater less harmful and can be reused for non-drinking purposes without treatment can be used for irrigation if it doesn’t contain phosphates, bleach, etc. Rain & Storm water surface runoff cannot infiltrate

Potable Water

Water from lakes/rivers are not drinkable unless treated correctly because surface runoff and sewers carry contaminants into the waterways that are connected to those lakes/rivers. It is only drinkable if treated chemically to kill harmful bacteria and pathogens. Surface water in lakes, rivers, swamps and other bodies of water often contain impurities that make it

pH

Potential, or power, of Hydrogen is usually measured on a scale between 0 and 14, though certain (non-common) substances can be less than 0 or greater than 14. It refers to how acidic or basic an aqueous solution is. A pH of 7 is considered to be normal. A pH that is off leads to

Floods/Droughts

Flooding is when there is too much water to even infiltrate in a forest, much less a place where there can be no infiltration. Flooding moves contaminants (salt, oil, etc.) from the surface of the roads into storm drains/rivers. It could also flood the storm drains, so the contaminated water would go into aquifers and

Urban Waste/Landfills

The more people there are, the more: littering air pollution (leading to acid rain) pavement (less natural infiltration and more surface runoff) salt and oil (from roads) there are. All of those are washed to nearby rivers/streams, forming garbage patches to wherever those waterways lead to. Toxins and microplastics leak from landfills and infiltrate into

Acid Rain

Acid rain is rain that has unnaturally high levels of acid (pH lower than 5.6) When acid rain sinks into the ground, it can dissolve toxic metals in the ground, which later goes into the waterways, leading to contamination and poisoning. Acid rain began in the 1950s from Midwest coal plants that exuded sulfur dioxide

Thermal Pollution

Energy sources/factories, such as nuclear power plants, produce a lot of heat, and water is used to cool it down. When the heated water is dumped into lakes/rivers, the temperature of water increases.The rise in temperature can also be caused by the lack of tree shade from logging. Aquatic life is sensitive to changes in

Water Pollution

(Some) Sources of Pollution Point Source = direct/single sourceNon-point Source = indirect/multiple sources Many sources of water pollution belong to either sediment, nutrients, chemicals, or pathogens. Lead found in drinking water from lead piping systems toxic even in small portions Household Chemicals cleaning products bleach pharmaceuticals dissolves in the water, making them extremely hard to

The Water Cycle

Water is evaporated from bodies of water. Some water is from the transpiration of trees. Evaporated water condense into clouds, which float in the sky until they are heavy enough to turn into rain. The clouds precipitate, sending water back down to the surface. Some water infiltrate into the ground, going into underground rivers/lakes called

Sources of Freshwater

Surface Water (0.102mil km3) pools at the surface rivers, lakes, wetlands, etc. Ground Water (10.7mil km3) flows through rocks and soil underground sources of water aquifers accessed through wells/pumps Glaciers/Polar Ice Sheets (24.4mil km3) glaciers are on land, polar ice sheets are domed sheets of ice at the Poles inaccessible when frozen 20% of accessible