Chatthoochee River Research Paper

The Chattahoochee River, Georgia’s most heavily-used water source, is home to a variety of fish and a supplier of over 70% of the drinking water in metro Atlanta; it was also ranked number three on America’s ‘most endangered’ list. Each day, more than 250 million gallons of sewage waste water is dumped in to river, so news that the river is constantly contaminated with E. coli is no surprise. Even with the vast amount of contamination, Georgia allows the dumping of waste to continue; they give out permits to dump in the waters. Without proper laws and regulations, the continued dumping of waste on the Chattahoochee River will eventually cause it to become too contaminated for human use and wildlife survival. The Chattahoochee River begins in the northeast of Georgia and continues down 524 miles to Apalachicola Bay, Florida. The river houses approximately 24 species of freshwater aquatic turtles, 37 species of salamanders and sirens, and 30 species of frogs and toads. Among the wildlife are 9 state threatened/endangered plant species. The river is used for multiple purposes, including supplying 70% of the drinking water for metro Atlanta, equivalent to about 300 million gallons of water, in a day; and power generation for Georgia Power Company, Southern Nuclear, and …show more content…
The river is a multiple purpose body of water that supplies 70% of the drinking water in the Metro Atlanta area. Would you want to drink from the same river that has over 250 million gallons of sewage waste dumped into it every day? Without proper laws and regulations, the continued dumping of waste on the Chattahoochee River will eventually cause it to become too contaminated for human use and wildlife survival. In order to stop the contamination of the river, Georgia needs to develop a new method of dumping toxic waste and sewage