Water contamination was a topic covered throughout the semester in CEE 320. In recent times, the city of Flint, Michigan has faced problems with contaminants in the local water supply. The city of Flint decided to cut ties from Detroit, the former supplier of its fresh water, after it was announced that Detroit was raising their prices (Habicht and Kilty, 2016). Flint created a plan to use water from Lake Huron as its main source of water: however, this plan could not be implemented for another year and a half due to construction. The temporary solution was to take water directly from the Flint River to distribute throughout the city while the lake plan got underway (Sanburn, Gregory, and Sifferlin, 2016). The water from the Flint River was
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In online lesson 9.1 covered this semester, general knowledge of the different sources of freshwater was gained. There are many concerns with the quality of river water to be used in drinking water. Some of these concerns include chemical spills, agricultural runoff, fecal contamination, and seasonable variability in water quality. Chloride levels are higher in Michigan rivers due to the salting of roads in the winter. The Cl- ions from the salt become concentrated in runoff which ultimately ends up in nearby rivers. Lakes and reservoirs are another major sources of fresh water. Concerns surrounding using lakes as a source of freshwater include cyanobacterial blooms, chemical spills, agricultural runoff, and point sources of pollution. Lakes tend to be better sources of freshwater opposed to rivers because the volume of water is generally much greater than a river, meaning pollutants are heavily diluted to smaller concentrations per volume unit of water. This means different treatment methods can be used, which can save money. Had the source selected in Flint been Lake Huron from the beginning, the concentration of chloride ions would have been significantly lower because the concentration is diluted in a greater volume of water. This is also why Detroit’s water had a lower corrosive effect; Detroit-sourced water from a great lake in which the concentration of chloride was much lower than that of a river or stream. Had a different source of water been used, the corrosion in the piping would not have been as severe. This online lesson was significant because it outlined all of the concerns with picking a source for drinking water. The course content from this lesson helped show exactly why using fresh water directly from a river is generally not a great idea unless it is properly
In online lesson 9.1 covered this semester, general knowledge of the different sources of freshwater was gained. There are many concerns with the quality of river water to be used in drinking water. Some of these concerns include chemical spills, agricultural runoff, fecal contamination, and seasonable variability in water quality. Chloride levels are higher in Michigan rivers due to the salting of roads in the winter. The Cl- ions from the salt become concentrated in runoff which ultimately ends up in nearby rivers. Lakes and reservoirs are another major sources of fresh water. Concerns surrounding using lakes as a source of freshwater include cyanobacterial blooms, chemical spills, agricultural runoff, and point sources of pollution. Lakes tend to be better sources of freshwater opposed to rivers because the volume of water is generally much greater than a river, meaning pollutants are heavily diluted to smaller concentrations per volume unit of water. This means different treatment methods can be used, which can save money. Had the source selected in Flint been Lake Huron from the beginning, the concentration of chloride ions would have been significantly lower because the concentration is diluted in a greater volume of water. This is also why Detroit’s water had a lower corrosive effect; Detroit-sourced water from a great lake in which the concentration of chloride was much lower than that of a river or stream. Had a different source of water been used, the corrosion in the piping would not have been as severe. This online lesson was significant because it outlined all of the concerns with picking a source for drinking water. The course content from this lesson helped show exactly why using fresh water directly from a river is generally not a great idea unless it is properly