Water Quality

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Water Quality
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Water quality problems in developing countries

• Evidence from the WHO
• In 2003, an estimated 1.6 million deaths
  worldwide were caused by unsafe drinking water
  and sanitation
• 90 of these deaths were among children under age
  five
• 1.1 billion people dont have access to improved
  water sources
• 2.4 billion people dont have access to improved
  sanitation
• Source www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/wsh040
  4/en/

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Water quality problems in developing countries

• Biggest water quality problem in developing
  countries is the threat of infectious diarrhea
  caused by water-borne diseases.
• If there was a 50 reduction in the number of
  people lacking access to in-house piped water and
  sewer connections with partial treatment of waste
  waters, the number of illnesses would be reduced
  by an average of 69 in affected regions.
• http//www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene
  /envsan/lookingback/en/

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Water quality problems in the U.S.

• The Cuyahoga River Fire in 1969
• Floating debris and oil caught fire on the
  surface of the Cuyahoga River near downtown
  Cleveland in 1969.
• The Cuyahoga River had also ignited a couple of
  times in earlier years.
• The Cuyahoga River fire brought water-quality
  problems to the attention of the public and
  Congress.
• Photos http//www.cwru.edu/artsci/engl/marling/6
  0s/pages/richoux/Photographs.html

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Water quality problems in the U.S.

• Cryptosporidium contamination in Milwaukee in
  1993
• Cryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite thats
  usually present at low levels in water supplies.
• An outbreak of cryptosporidium contamination in
  1993 in Milwaukee caused diarrhea, fever, and
  other symptoms for over 400,000 residents and
  killed more than 100.
• The contamination was traced to a water treatment
  plant that had inadequately filtered water from
  Lake Michigan.
• It is believed that the original source of the
  contamination was storm runoff from nearby farms.

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Water quality problems in the U.S.

• Narrowing the focus
• Surface water pollution
• Groundwater pollution
• Types of surface water pollution
• Pollution from point sources
• Nonpoint-source pollution
• Regulation depends on designated uses of surface
  water
• Drinking water supply
• Recreational uses (such as swimming)
• Aquatic life support
• Fish consumption
• etc.

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Examples of Water Contaminants

• Contaminants affecting human health
• Organic compounds (such as pesticides and
  gasoline)
• Heavy metals (such as mercury and lead)
• Pathogens (such as cryptosporidium)
• Contaminants affecting aquatic life
• Plant nutrients, including nitrate and phosphorus
  compounds
• Organic wastes, which lead to depletion of
  dissolved oxygen in the water

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Federal Water Quality Legislation

• Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972
• Clean Water Act of 1977
• Water Quality Act of 1987
• The Year of Clean Water 2002-3

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Water Quality Control An Overview

• Control of point-source pollution
• Federal government sets water-quality standards
• States create pollution-control programs to meet
  the standards
• Programs usually require polluters to install
  certain pollution-control technologies
• Subsidies for construction of Publicly Owned
  Treatment Works (POTWs)
• Control of non-point source pollution

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Water Quality Control An Overview

• The effect that a particular effluent has on
  water quality depends on a number of factors such
  as
• biochemical oxygen demand in the effluent
• time of year and water temperature
• location of waste sources
• turbulence of water flow
• volume of water flow
• A perfect water pollution control policy would
  have to take all these factors into account.
  Since this is impractical, actual policies
  involve compromises.

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The Oxygen Sag Curve
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Water Treatment Facilities

• Since 1970 the federal government has spent over
  60 billion to subsidize construction of POTWs,
  and total spending by all levels of government
  has been over 200 billion.
• Evidence suggests that federal funding for POTW
  construction has largely just replaced local
  funding about 67 of construction would have
  taken place anyway.
• Federal subsidies provided perverse incentives at
  first
• Municipalities had an incentive to build POTWs
  that were too large.
• Federal funding didnt help to cover operating
  expenses and maintenance.
• But more responsibility has been shifted to local
  authorities.
• Progress has been significant
• http//www.epa.gov/owm/wquality/

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Control of Other Point Sources

• Basic federal program National Pollutant
  Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
• Administered through a system of permits that set
  effluent limits but these permits are typically
  not tradable.
• Goal is zero discharge but limits are usually
  based largely on what level of control is
  technically feasible.
• Efficiency? Cost-effectiveness?
• EPA Envirofacts
• WDNR - WPDES Permit Program

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Point-Source Control Other Options

• Effluent taxes or fees?
• In theory, this is could be an effective
  approach.
• Effluent taxes have been used in Europe, but the
  taxes are usually set too low to provide strong
  incentives to reduce pollution levels.
• Best example the Netherlands has used effluent
  fees as an effective pollution-control approach.
• Why not use effluent taxes?
• Political objections
• Concerns that taxed firms will face a competitive
  disadvantage
• Effluent taxes require careful monitoring of
  discharges

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Point-Source Control Other Options

• Tradable effluent permits
• EPA Watersheds Trading Frequently Asked
  Questions About Water Quality Trading
• Advantages of effluent permit trading
• Cost-effectiveness
• Problems with effluent permit trading
• Hot spots?

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Control of Pollution from Non-Point Sources

• Major remaining water pollution problem,
  especially in agricultural states like Wisconsin.
• Two important sources
• Agricultural runoff
• Storm runoff

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Control of Pollution from Non-Point Sources

• Control of agricultural runoff the DNR provides
• Technical assistance to farmers
• Subsidies for improvements to prevent runoff
• Performance standards
• Control of storm runoff
• Storm runoff performance standards for industry,
  municipalities, and construction sites
• In Eau Claire, new businesses must pay fees based
  on their likely runoff.