Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The effect of these feedlots on water purity was brought home in 2009
to residents of Brown County, Wisconsin.
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One cow produces as much
waste as 18 people. The 41,000 dairy cows in the county produce more
than 260 million gallons of manure each year. In measured amount, that
waste acts as a fertilizer, but the cows produce far more manure than
the land can absorb. Because the amounts are excessive, bacteria and
chemicals fl ow into the ground and contaminate residents' tap water. In
the town of Morrison in Brown County, more than 100 wells were pol-
luted by agricultural runoff within a few months. As parasites and bac-
teria seeped into drinking water, residents suffered from diarrhea,
stomach illnesses, and severe ear infections. A resident in a town a few
miles away commented that “sometimes it smells like a barn coming out
of the faucet.” At an elementary school a few miles from a large dairy,
signs above drinking fountains warn that the water may be dangerous
for infants.
Rivers and aquifers are not the only casualty of pollutants. In any
given year, about 25 percent of beaches in the U.S. are under advisories
or are closed at least once because of water pollution.
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Pharmaceutical companies are among the industries that are major
sources of drug pollution. Wastewater treatment plants downstream of
pharmaceutical factories have exceptionally high levels of antibiotic
drugs, opiates, barbiturates, and tranquilizers.
Another pollution source is the storm water that runs off lawns,
streets, and driveways. It contains motor oil, fertilizers, and pesticides
that will eventually end up in the nation's waterways. Impermeable
surfaces like concrete prevent storm waters from soaking into the ground,
which can trap potential pollutants.
Many organizations, federal, state, and private, have examined our
surface waters and groundwater, and their results are consistent and
scary: half of America's rivers and lakes are too polluted to safely swim
in. In 2001 the U.S. Geological Survey examined 139 streams in thirty
states and looked for ninety-fi ve industrial chemicals. At least one was
present in each of the 139 streams, and a mixture of seven or more were
present in half the streams.
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Groundwaters were less contaminated but
also commonly contained multiple pollutants.
In 2002 the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the
Environment published the results of a fi ve-year study of the nation's
streams and groundwaters. It determined that 13 percent of the streams
and 26 percent of the groundwaters were seriously polluted.
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A study published in 2004 reported on the results testing thousands
of rivers, aquifers, wells, fi sh, and sediments across the country over a
