How Can Wetlands Improve Water Quality

Wetlands are natural occurring ecosystems. Wetlands improve water quality through the filtration of polluted water from point and non-point sources. Point sources of water pollution, industrial wastes and pipes, cause pollution in contingency with non-point sources such as storm-water and agricultural runoff from pesticides, fertilizer, and manure. Water pollution induces water eutrophication through oxygen depletion, temperature increase and imbalanced pH. Eutrophication of bodies of water alters the geographic location in which species can survive. Specific families of plants, insects and animals, called indicator species, only live in or near high quality water, and not in areas with instances of water eutrophication. According to the NOAA, farmland runoff from the Mississippi river basin empties into the Gulf of Mexico, and contains high enough concentrations of fertilizer nutrient ions that massive algal blooms are …show more content…
n.d.). Algal blooms then die when nutrients are depleted and decomposition eradicates oxygen from the water effectively creating a dead zone. The types of wetlands have distinct effects on water quality and evaluating the most beneficial wetland for water quality improvement would prove helpful in efforts to reduce polluted runoff or remove excess nutrients from water. Wetlands are known to dilute polluted water with rain runoff, uptake excess nutrients, and deposit sediments according to Evans et al. (1996). Therefore bogs, soaked meadows, marshes and swamps can improve water quality over other wetland types. Bog waters are evaluated through a process of measuring pH, clarity, nitrogen and phosphorous levels, and dissolved oxygen of the water as well as identifying vegetation and indicator species, according to Joanna Nelson (Nelson 2010). In the Chaya River Basin, a study was conducted