Water Quality What is water quality? It is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of a body of water.

Water Quality Who determines if the water quality for a body of water is “good” or “bad”? Two entities: the state you live in the EPA.

Water Quality In Texas, the governing agency over water quality is called the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Since there are two governing agencies over water quality, the one with the stricter regulations is the one that is used to compare water results to determine if water quality is acceptable or not.

Water Quality To determine the water quality of surface water, there are five main categories that a regulating agency (TCEQ) will look at: Metals Organics Bacteria Dissolved Oxygen Dissolved solids

Metals Metals like chromium, iron, copper and mercury pose a threat to drinking water supplies and human health. They will also contaminate the fish that live in the water. Most metal contamination comes from industrial chemicals and mining.

Organics Benzene Organic pollutants threaten human health because they are toxic and carcinogenic, meaning they cause cancer. Some examples of organic pollutants are benzene, dioxins and PCB’s. Most organic pollutants come from pesticides, the oil and gas industry and industrial chemicals.

Bacteria Harmful bacteria like E. coli and Enterococci pose a health risk to humans who come in to contact with the water. Bacteria pollutants come from untreated sewage, livestock waste and other sources of waste from warm-blooded animals.

Dissolved Oxygen Dissolved oxygen in a body of water is a quick way to determine the health of the aquatic system. Any water system that has a dissolved oxygen concentration less than 5mg/L is put under stress. A low dissolved oxygen concentration is usually an indicator of too many nutrients being introduced into the water. (Eutrophication)

Eutrophication The next step would be to check ammonia, nitrate and phosphate concentrations, which come from commercial fertilizers and municipal waste.

Dissolved Solids High levels of dissolved solids such as chloride and sulfate cause water to be unusable or too costly to treat for drinking water purposes. Dissolved solids will also affect the quality of the habitat for aquatic life. Dissolved solids come from all types of human activities along with some natural sources.

NPDES What keeps big industries from dumping their waste into the water supply? The EPA. The specific branch of the EPA that is in charge of this is called the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System).

Every business that has the potential to discharge pollutants into the water supply is required to obtain an NPDES permit. This permit lists the potential compounds that the business might discharge and sets up a schedule to determine when their wastewater needs to be tested to make sure they are not contaminating the water supply.

Who regulates the agricultural industry? NO ONE!! Direct quotes from EPA: “A strong agricultural industry is essential to the Nation's economic stability, the viability of many rural communities, and the sustainability of a healthful and high quality food supply for the American public.” “For most agricultural producers, a variety of voluntary programs provide the technical and financial assistance to help producers meet technical standards and remain economically viable.”

What does this mean to the environment? Eutrophication One example is the 7000 square mile “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.