Nitrate Contamination Of Groundwater Essay Research Paper

Nitrate Contamination Of Groundwater Essay, Research Paper

Nitrate Contamination of Groundwater Poses a Serious Health Threat

Nitrates contamination of the world’s underground water supply poses as

a potentially serious health hazard to the human inhabitants on earth.

High nitrate levels found in well water has been proven to be the cause for

numerous health conditions across the globe. If we intend to provide for

the future survival of man, and life on planet earth, we must take action

now to assure the quality of one of our most precious resources, our

underground water supply.

Ground water can be defined as the water stored in the open spaces

within underground rocks and unconsolidated material (Monroe and Wicander

420). Ground water is one of the numerous parts that make up the

hydrologic cycle. The primary source of water in underground aquifers is

precipitation that infiltrates the ground and moves through the soil and

pore spaces of rocks (Monroe and Wicander 420). There are also other

sources that add water to the underground aquifer that include: water

infiltrating from lakes and streams, recharge ponds, and wastewater

treatment systems. As groundwater moves through the soil, sediment, and

rocks, many of its impurities are filtered out. Take note, however, that

some, not all, soils and rocks are good filters. Some are better than

others and in some cases, serious pollutants are not removed from the water

before it reaches the underground supply.

Now that we have a good working definition of what groundwater is, and

where it comes from, just how important is it. Groundwater makes up about

22% of the worlds supply of fresh water. Right now, groundwater accounts

for 20% of all the water used annually in the United States. On a national

average, a little more than 65% of the groundwater in the United States

each year goes to irrigation, with industrial use second, and third is

domestic use (Monroe and Wicander 420). Some states are more dependent on

groundwater for drinking than others. Nebraska and the corn belt states

rely on underground water for 85% of their drinking needs, and in Florida

90% of all drinking water comes from underground aquifers (Funk and Wagnall

2). People on the average in the United States require more than 50

gallons of water each day for personal and household uses. These include

drinking, washing, preparing meals and removing waste. A bath in a bathtub

uses approximately 25 gallons of water and a shower uses about l5 gallons

per minute of water flow while the shower runs. Just to sustain human

tissue requires about 2.5 quarts of water per day. Most people drink about

a quart of water per day, getting the rest of the water they need from food

content. Most of the foods we eat are comprised mostly of water: for

example, eggs, are about 74% water, watermelon 92%, and a piece of lean

meat about 70%. Most of the beverages we drink are also mostly comprised

of water, like milk, coffee, tea and soft drinks. And the single largest

consumer of water in the United States, is agriculture. In dry areas,

farmers must irrigate their lands to grow crops. It is estimated that in

the United States, more than 100 billion gallons of fresh water are used

each day for the irrigation of croplands (Funk and Wagnall 2).

Since agriculture is the leading user of our groundwater, perhaps it

is fitting, that it is also the biggest contributor of contaminating

nitrates that work into our water supply each year. Agriculture and

livestock production account for 80% of all nitrogen added to the

environment ( Terry, et al. 1996). Industrial fertilizers make up 53%,

animal manure 27%, atmosphere 14%, and point source 6% (Puckett, 1994).

Just how do these nitrates get from the field into our water supply. There

are two primary reasons that nitrate contaminates reach our underground

water supply and make it unsafe. Number one reason is farmer’s bad habits

of consistently over- fertilizing and applying too much nitrogen to the

soil. In 1995 America’s agricultural producers added 36 billion pounds of

nitrogen into the environment, 23 billion pounds of supplemental industrial

nitrogen, and 13 billion pounds of extra nitrogen in the form of animal

manure. Twenty percent of this nitrogen was not used by the crops it was

intended. This accounts for about 7-8 billion pounds of excess nitrogen

remaining in the environment where much of it has eventually entered the

reservoirs, rivers, and groundwater that supply us with our drinking water

(NAS 1995). The number two reason these contaminants reach our groundwater

supply runs parallel with the first. Over-irrigation causes the leaching of

these nitrates past the plants root zone where they can be taken in by

crops and used effectively. Not all soils are the same and all have

different draina

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