Environmental Science Geology 1401410 Instructor: Dr' Thieme

1
Environmental ScienceGeology 1401-410Instructor
Dr. Thieme

• 13th Lecture Water Quality, Drainage Networks,
  Base Level, and Discharge

2
Two Types Of Pollution
3
Point Source Pollution

• Pollutant source more easily identified (point to
  source)
• Industrial Discharge Sewage
• Treatment plant
• Exposed leaking sewer pipe
• Regulated by EPD through the NPDES permitting
  process

4
Non-point Source Pollution

• Not easily identifiable sources
• Erosion/Sediment
• Fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides
• Animal wastes
• Leaking septic systems
• Runoff from roads and parking lots
• Illicit Spills and illegal dumping
• The 1 cause of water quality problems in Georgia

5
Chemical Monitoring

• Testing for pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature,
  turbidity, conductivity, phosphates, nitrates,
  and alkalinity

6
DISSOLVED OXYGEN

• Needed for respiration
• Plant metabolism and turbulent mixing (ex.
  waterfalls) add oxygen to water
• Inversely related to temperature
• Temp increase, DO decrease
• DO levels may decrease due to warm temperatures
  and slow moving, deep water
• Ideal reading above 5 ppm

7
pH
0
2-lemons

• A measure of hydrogen ions (H) aquatic
  organisms are sensitive to pH fluctuations
• 0-14 scale pure water has equal amount of H and
  OH- ions and has a pH of 7
• Expected range in Georgia 6-8
• Some South Georgia waters may have pH as low as
  3.5

3-soft drinks
Acidic
4-tomatoes
7-distilled water
8-egg whites
9.5-hand soap
Basic
11-ammonia
14
8
TEMPERATURE

• Affects feeding, respiration, and aquatic
  metabolism
• Measured in degrees Celsius
• 1 C change in 24 hours can kill sensitive
  organisms

9
TURBIDITY

• Turbidity levels measure all particles suspended
  in the water column, including small, colloidal
  sized particles, like clay
• Too much can clog fish gills, suffocate prime
  fish habitat, affect photosynthesis, add
  bacteria, nutrients, and metals to the water

10
NITROGEN

• Nutrient found in the water from fertilizers or
  animal waste
• Background levels are below 1ppm

11
PHOSPHORUS

• Another type of nutrient found in the water
• Readings above 0.1ppm indicate a potential human
  source
• soaps
• fertilizer
• sewage
• Algal blooms can be a result of too much total
  phosphorous
• 0.03ppm stimulates plant growth
• Limiting factor

12
ALKALINITY

• Measurement of waters ability to neutralize
  acids
• The higher the alkalinity, the better the
  capacity to buffer pH fluctuation in water
• Too much fluctuation in water indicates an
  industrial problem

13
Conductivity

• Measure of the ability of water to pass an
  electrical current
• Detects the presence of dissolved solids
• Inorganics have a higher conductivity. Organics
  have a lower conductivity.
• Healthy streams in Georgia have a range of 50 to
  500 Fs/cm. Most streams have a range of 50 to
  1,500 Fs/cm

14
Water Quality Results
15
Biological Monitoring

• Assess the waters quality by taking count of
  stream life
• Stream life means Macroinvertebrates

16
Three Categories Based On Pollution Sensitivity
Moderately Sensitive
Sensitive
Tolerant
17
Biological Pollution
Escheria coli, an intestinal bacteria
Schistosomiasis, a waterborne parasite
18
Red Tide
caused by marine algae, particularly Pfiesteria
piscicida depletes oxygen in estuaries and
bays kills fish algal blooms are more frequent
in water polluted by sewage effluent
Pfiesteria piscicida
19
Drainage Basin

• the fundamental landscape unit for collection and
  distribution of water and sediment.
• separated from the adjacent basin by a divide.

20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
Stream Order
23
(No Transcript)
24
Gradient - the vertical drop over a certain
horizontal distance rise over run
25

• Base Level is the lower limit to which to which a
  river
• can downcut its channel.

26
Discharge (Q) is the amount of water passing a
given cross-section of a river in a given unit of
time.