Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. Its molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state, water vapor or steam.[1] It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance can be assessed. The most common standards used to assess water quality relate to drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water of sufficiently high quality that it can be consumed or used without risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually consumed or used in food, safety of human contact and for the health of ecosystems An ecosystem consists of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving, physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water, and sunlight. It is all the organisms in a given area, along with the nonliving factors with which they interact; a biological community and its.

Contents

Standards

In the setting of standards, agencies make political and technical/scientific decisions about how the water will be used.[2] In the case of natural water bodies, they also make some reasonable estimate of pristine conditions. Different uses raise different concerns and therefore different standards are considered. Natural water bodies will vary in response to environmental conditions. Environmental scientists Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems. Environmental science provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems work to understand how these systems function which in turn helps to identify the sources and fates of contaminants. Environmental lawyers Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of statutes, common law, treaties, conventions, regulations and policies which, very broadly, operate to regulate the interaction of humanity and the rest of the biophysical or natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing or minimizing the impacts of human activity, both on the natural and policy makers work to define legislation that ensure that water is maintained at an appropriate quality for its identified use.

The vast majority of surface water Surface water is water collecting on the ground or in a stream, river, lake, wetland, or ocean; it is related to water collecting as groundwater or atmospheric water on the planet is neither potable Drinking water or potable water is water of sufficiently high quality that it can be consumed or used without risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually consumed or used in food nor toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a substance is able to damage an exposed organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell or an organ (organotoxicity), such as the liver (hepatotoxicity). By extension, the word may be. This remains true even if sea water in the oceans (which is too salty to drink) is not counted. Another general perception of water quality is that of a simple property that tells whether water is polluted Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat, or light. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or energies, or not. In fact, water quality is a very complex subject, in part because water is a complex medium intrinsically tied to the ecology Ecology is the scientific study of the distributions, abundance and relations of organisms and their interactions with the environment. Ecology includes the study of plant and animal populations, plant and animal communities and ecosystems. Ecosystems describe the web or network of relations among organisms at different scales of organization of the Earth. Industrial pollution is a major cause of water pollution Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, as well as runoff from agricultural areas, urban stormwater runoff and discharge of treated and untreated sewage Sewage is water-carried wastes, in either solution or suspension, that is intended to flow away from a community. Also known as wastewater flows, sewage is the used water supply of the community. It is more than 99.9% pure water and is characterized by its volume or rate of flow, its physical condition, its chemical constituents, and the (especially in developing countries Developing country is a term generally used to describe a nation with a low level of material well being. There is no single internationally-recognized definition of developed country, and the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries, with some developing countries having high average standards of living).

Categories

The parameters for water quality are determined by the intended use. Work in the area of water quality tends to be focused on water that is treated for human consumption or in the environment.

Human consumption

Contaminants that may be in untreated water include microorganisms A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is microscopic (too small to be seen by the naked human eye). The study of microorganisms is called microbiology, a subject that began with Anton van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of microorganisms in 1675, using a microscope of his own design such as viruses and bacteria; inorganic contaminants such as salts In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that can result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions (negative ions) so that the product is electrically neutral (without a net charge). These component ions can be inorganic such as chloride (Cl−), as well as organic such as and metals A metal is a chemical element that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat and forms cations and ionic bonds with non-metals. In chemistry, a metal is an element, compound, or alloy characterized by high electrical conductivity. In a metal, atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions (cations). Those ions are surrounded by; pesticides A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest. A pesticide may be a chemical substance, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest. Pests include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, molluscs, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms), and herbicides An herbicide is a substance used to kill unwanted plants. Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often synthetic "imitations" of plant hormones. Herbicides used to clear waste ground, industrial sites, railways and; organic chemical Organic chemistry is a discipline within chemistry that involves the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives. These compounds may contain any number of other elements, including hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, the halogens as well as contaminants from industrial processes and petroleum Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, toxic, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, and other organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling. It is refined and separated, most easily by use; and radioactive Radioactive decay is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting ionizing particles or radiation. The emission is spontaneous in that the nucleus decays without collision with another particle. This decay, or loss of energy, results in an atom of one type, called the parent nuclide, transforming to an atom of a contaminants. Water quality depends on the local geology and ecosystem, as well as human uses such as sewage dispersion, industrial pollution, use of water bodies as a heat sink A heat sink is a term for a component or assembly that transfers heat generated within a solid material to a fluid medium, such as air or a liquid. Examples of heat sinks are the heat exchangers used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems and the radiator in a car. Heat sinks also help to cool electronic and optoelectronic devices, such as, and overuse (which may lower the level of the water).

In the United States, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged to protect human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress. The EPA was proposed by President Richard Nixon and began operation on December 2, 1970, when its establishment was passed (EPA) limits the amounts of certain contaminants in tap water Tap water is part of indoor plumbing, which became available in the developed world in the late 19th century and common in the mid-20th century.[dubious – discuss] provided by public water systems. The Safe Drinking Water Act The Safe Drinking Water Act is the principal federal law in the United States that ensures safe drinking water for the public. Pursuant to the act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set standards for drinking water quality and oversee all states, localities, and water suppliers who implement these standards authorizes EPA to issue two types of standards: primary standards regulate substances that potentially affect human health, and secondary standards prescribe aesthetic qualities, those that affect taste, odor, or appearance. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments, responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter (FDA) regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water Bottled water is drinking water packaged in plastic or glass containers. The dominant form is water packaged in new Polyethylene terephthalate bottles and sold retail. Another method of packaging is in larger high-density polyethylene plastic bottles, or polycarbonate plastic bottles, often used with water coolers that must provide the same protection for public health. Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of these contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk.

Some people use water purification Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, materials, and biological contaminants from raw water. The goal is to produce water fit for a specific purpose. Most water is purified for human consumption but water purification may also be designed for a variety of other purposes, including meeting the requirements of medical, technology to remove contaminants from the municipal water supply they get in their homes, or from local pumps or bodies of water. For people who get water from a local stream, lake, or aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology. Related terms include aquitard, which is a bed of low permeability along an aquifer, and (well), their drinking water is not filtered by the local government.

Environmental water quality

Water runoff See also: Environmental monitoring Environmental monitoring describes the processes and activities that need to take place to characterise and monitor the quality of the environment. Environmental monitoring is used in the preparation of environmental impact assessments, as well as in many circumstances in which human activities carry a risk of harmful effects on the natural See also: Freshwater environmental quality parameters Freshwater environmental quality parameters are the natural and man-made chemical, biological and microbiological characteristics of rivers, lakes and ground-waters, the ways they are measured and the ways that they change. The values or concentrations attributed to such parameters can be used to describe the pollution status of an environment,

Environmental water quality, also called ambient water quality, relates to water bodies such as lakes, rivers, and oceans. Water quality standards vary significantly due to different environmental conditions, ecosystems, and intended human uses. Toxic substances and high populations of certain microorganisms can present a health hazard for non-drinking purposes such as irrigation, swimming, fishing, rafting, boating, and industrial uses. These conditions may also affect wildlife which use the water for drinking or as a habitat. Modern water quality laws general specify protection of fisheries and recreational use and require as a minimum,retention of current quality standards.

There is some desire among the public to return water bodies to pristine, or pre-industrial conditions. Most current environmental laws focus of the designation of uses. In some countries these allow for some water contamination Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies as long as the particular type of contamination is not harmful to the designated uses. Given the landscape changes in the watersheds of many freshwater bodies, returning to pristine conditions would be a significant challenge. In these cases, environmental scientists focus on achieving goals for maintaining healthy eco-systems and may concentrate of the protection of populations of endangered species and protecting human health.

Measurement

See also: water chemistry analysis

The complexity of water quality as a subject is reflected in the many types of measurements of water quality indicators. Some of the simple measurements listed below can be made on-site — temperature, pH In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. It approximates but is not equal to p[H], the negative logarithm of the molar concentration of dissolved hydronium ions (H3O+); a low pH indicates a high concentration of hydronium ions, while a high pH indicates a low concentration. Crudely, this negative of the logarithm, dissolved oxygen Oxygen saturation or Dissolved oxygen is a relative measure of the amount of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium. It can be measured with a dissolved oxygen probe such as an oxygen sensor or an optode in liquid media, usually water, conductivity, Oxygen Reduction potential (ORP) Reduction potential is the tendency of a chemical species to acquire electrons and thereby be reduced. Each species has its own intrinsic reduction potential; the more positive the potential, the greater the species' affinity for electrons and tendency to be reduced— in direct contact with the water source in question. More complex measurements that must be made in a lab setting require a water sample to be collected, preserved, and analyzed at another location. Making these complex measurements can be expensive. Because direct measurements of water quality can be expensive, ongoing monitoring programs are typically conducted by government agencies. However, there are local volunteer programs and resources available for some general assessment. Tools available to the general public are on-site test kits commonly used for home fish tanks and biological assessments.

Testing in response to natural disasters and other emergencies

Inevitably after events such as earthquakes and Tsunamis, there is an immediate response by the aid agencies as relief operations get underway to try and restore basic infrastructure and provide the basic fundamental items that are necessary for survival and subsequent recovery. Access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation is a priority at times like this. The threat of disease increases hugely due to the large numbers of people living close together, often in squalid conditions, and without proper sanitation.

After a natural disaster, as far as water quality testing is concerned there are widespread views on the best course of action to take and a variety of methods can be employed. The key basic water quality parameters that need to be addressed in an emergency are bacteriological indicators of fecal contamination, Free Chlorine Residual, pH, turbidity and possibly Conductivity/TDS. There are a number of portable water test kits on the market widely used by aid and relief agencies for carrying out such testing.

The following is a list of indicators often measured by situational category:

Drinking water

Environmental

Chemical assessment

Physical assessment

Biological assessment

Biological monitoring metrics have been developed in many places, and one widely used measure is the presence and abundance of members of the insect orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera. (Common names are, respectively, Mayfly, Stonefly and Caddisfly.) EPT indexes will naturally vary from region to region, but generally, within a region, the greater the number of taxa from these orders, the better the water quality. EPA and other organizations in the United States offer guidance on developing a monitoring program and identifying members of these and other aquatic insect orders.[3][4]

Individuals interested in monitoring water quality who cannot afford or manage lab scale analysis can also use biological indicators to get a general reading of water quality. One example is the IOWATER volunteer water monitoring program, which includes a benthic macroinvertebrate indicator key.[5]

See also: Biological integrity and Index of biological integrity

Standards and reports

Canada

In Canada, Manitoulin Streams Improvement Association has become a leading model for water quality and fisheries rehabilitation. The association partners with landowners, farmers, fishermen and the general public to improve water quality and the fisheries resource on Manitoulin Island and the Great Lakes. They do this by:

Since 2000, Manitoulin Streams has rehabilitated 23 major sites on 4 waterways. They have had a Class Environmental Assessment conducted on 184 waterways on Manitoulin Island. The report identified 10 priority waterways that needed to be rehabilitated. Manitoulin Streams has conducted work on 4 of the ten and has plans to work on a 5th, the Mindemoya River in the Summer of 2010.[6]

European Union

Further information: Water supply and sanitation in the European Union

The water policy of the European Union is primarily codified in three directives:

United Kingdom

In England and Wales acceptable levels for drinking water supply are listed in the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000.

South Africa

Further information: Water supply and sanitation in South Africa

Water quality guidelines for South Africa are grouped according to potential user types (e.g. domestic, industrial) in the 1996 Water Quality Guidelines.[7] Drinking water quality is subject to the South African National Standard (SANS) 241 Drinking Water Specification.[8]

United States

In the United States, Water Quality Standards are created by state agencies for different types of water bodies and water body locations per desired uses.[9] The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires each governing jurisdiction (states, territories, and covered tribal entities) to submit a set of biennial reports on the quality of water in their area. These reports are known as the 303(d), 305(b) and 314 reports, named for their respective CWA provisions, and are submitted to, and approved by, EPA.[10] These reports are completed by the governing jurisdiction, typically a Department of Environmental Quality or , and are available on the web. In coming years it is expected that the governing jurisdictions will submit all three reports as a single document, called the "Integrated Report." The 305(b) report (National Water Quality Inventory Report to Congress) is a general report on water quality, providing overall information about the number of miles of streams and rivers and their aggregate condition.[11] The 314 report has provided similar information for lakes.[12] The CWA requires states to adopt water quality standards for each of the possible designated uses that they assign to their waters. Should evidence suggest or document that a stream, river or lake has failed to meet the water quality criteria for one or more of its designated uses, it is placed on the 303(d) list of impaired waters. Once a state has placed a water body on the 303(d) list, it must develop a management plan establishing Total Maximum Daily Loads for the pollutant(s) impairing the use of the water. These TMDLs establish the reductions needed to fully support the designated uses.[13]

International standards

Water quality regulated by ISO is covered in the section of ICS 13.060,[14] ranging from water sampling, drinking water, industrial class water, sewage water, and examination of water for chemical, physical or biological properties. ICS 91.140.60 covers the standards of water supply systems.[15]

See also

Environment portal
Water portal

References

  1. ^ Diersing, Nancy (May 2009). "Water Quality: Frequently Asked Questions". PDA. NOAA. http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/pdfs/wqfaq.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
  2. ^ United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Washington, DC. "Water Quality Standards Review and Revision." 2006.
  3. ^ For an overview of the U.S. federal biomonitoring publications, see U.S. EPA, "Whole Effluent Toxicity."
  4. ^ U.S. EPA. Washington, DC."Methods for Measuring the Acute Toxicity of Effluents and Receiving Waters to Freshwater and Marine Organisms." Document No. EPA-821-R-02-012. October 2002.
  5. ^ IOWATER (Iowa Department of Natural Resources). Iowa City, IA. "Benthic Macroinvertebrate Key."
  6. ^ Manitoulin Streams
  7. ^ 1996 Water Quality Guidelines
  8. ^ Hodgson K, Manus L. A drinking water quality framework for South Africa. Water SA. 2006;32(5):673-678 [1].
  9. ^ Clean Water Act, Section 303, 33 U.S.C. § 1313.
  10. ^ Clean Water Act, Section 303(d), 33 U.S.C. § 1313; Section 305(b), 33 U.S.C. § 1315(b); Section 314, 33 U.S.C. § 1324.
  11. ^ National Water Quality Inventory Report to Congress
  12. ^ Note: Congress has not provided funds for implementation of the Section 314 Clean Lakes Program since 1994. See EPA's Clean Lakes Program.
  13. ^ More information about water quality in the United States is on the EPA's "Surf Your Watershed" website.
  14. ^ International Organization for Standardization. "13.060: Water quality". http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_ics_browse.htm?ICS1=13&ICS2=060. Retrieved 29 February 2008.
  15. ^ ISO. "91.140.60: Water supply systems". http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_ics_browse?ICS1=91&ICS2=140&ICS3=60&&published=on. Retrieved 29 February 2008.

External links

International organizations

United States

Canada

Europe

Other organizations

Pollution
Air pollution Acid rain · Air Quality Index · Atmospheric dispersion modeling · Chlorofluorocarbon · Global dimming · Global distillation · Global warming · Indoor air quality · Ozone depletion · Particulate · Smog
Water pollution Eutrophication · Hypoxia · Environmental monitoring · Freshwater environmental quality parameters · Marine pollution · Marine debris · Ocean acidification · Oil spill · Pharmaceuticals and personal care products · Ship pollution · Surface runoff · Thermal pollution · Urban runoff · Wastewater · Waterborne diseases · Water quality · Water stagnation
Soil contamination Bioremediation · Electrical resistance heating · Herbicide · Pesticide · Soil Guideline Values (SGVs)
Radioactive contamination Actinides in the environment · Environmental radioactivity · Fission product · Nuclear fallout · Plutonium in the environment · Radiation poisoning · Radium in the environment · Uranium in the environment
Other types of pollution Invasive species · Light pollution · Noise pollution · Radio spectrum pollution · Visual pollution
Inter-government treaties Montreal Protocol · Kyoto Protocol · CLRTAP · OSPAR · Stockholm Convention
Major organizations DEFRA · Environment Agency (England and Wales) · Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Scotland) · U.S. EPA · EEA · Greenpeace

[[Category:Water pollution

Categories: Water | Environmental science | Environmental soil science | Hydrology | Environmental engineering | Aquatic ecology | Water management

 

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