When a town grows into a city, or when many towns and cities are built along the same river, the #ecosystem is overwhelmed by the large amount of #wastes. So #sewage treatment becomes absolutely necessary. Modern sewage technology shows an understanding and application of part of the #aquatic ecosystem. Sewage treatment plants for instance, utilize the same microorganisms that serve as decomposers in natural bodies of water. But as #urban growth and #population have continued to increase, it has become apparent that sewage treatment technology is only partly in tune with the ecosystem. However, the nitrates, phosphates and other nutrients released from the organic matter by the #microorganisms in the sewage treatment plants are passed on through the ecosystem where they stimulate the growth of #algae. Thus, the end result is #eutrophication. Algae overgrowth has been a major factor, for instance, in the break down of the ecosystem in some of North America’s lakes such as the #Lake Erie. Both the combination of ecological disruption and poisoning by #industrial waste has been more than the ecosystem can absorb. Chemical fertilizers are also another source of excessive nutrient in surface waters which are often washed out of the soil by rain. They eventually drain into streams and rivers, where they nourish the algae as effectively as they would have nourished the farms with crops in them. Fertilizer drainage has caused deterioration of the Sea of Galilee which is also known as #Lake Kinneret, the lake which is fed by the #River Jordan furnishes one third of Isreal’s water supply. Nitrates from an agricultural area along the Jordan have been flowing into the lake and destroying its power of self purification.
Detergent phosphates are another major source of excess nutrients in #water bodies. Phosphates add cleaning power to #detergents, but as they pass through the sewage system, they breakdown to phosphorus which is an important factor in the eutrophication process. 50 to 20 percent of the phosphorus flowing into rivers and lakes in the United States each year comes from the breakdown of detergent phosphates while 100 percent of the same phosphates flow into #rivers and lakes in the rural areas of developing countries especially in #Africa, as indigenes of such areas carry out their domestic washing by the riverside and streams. Europe is also beset with this problem. #Lake Constance on the border of Germany, Austria and Switzerland has had for example 2500 percent increase in phosphorus content since 1920, and about two thirds of its oxygen is depleted. Nevertheless, it has not been proven that limiting detergent phosphate, as some communities have done, will solve the problem. Phosphorus also comes from other sources, and other elements like carbon and nitrogen for example, are also controlling factors in #eutrophication.
Detergent phosphates are another major source of excess nutrients in #water bodies. Phosphates add cleaning power to #detergents, but as they pass through the sewage system, they breakdown to phosphorus which is an important factor in the eutrophication process. 50 to 20 percent of the phosphorus flowing into rivers and lakes in the United States each year comes from the breakdown of detergent phosphates while 100 percent of the same phosphates flow into #rivers and lakes in the rural areas of developing countries especially in #Africa, as indigenes of such areas carry out their domestic washing by the riverside and streams. Europe is also beset with this problem. #Lake Constance on the border of Germany, Austria and Switzerland has had for example 2500 percent increase in phosphorus content since 1920, and about two thirds of its oxygen is depleted. Nevertheless, it has not been proven that limiting detergent phosphate, as some communities have done, will solve the problem. Phosphorus also comes from other sources, and other elements like carbon and nitrogen for example, are also controlling factors in #eutrophication.
Comments
Post a Comment