1. Water Pollution In New Jersey
By Sean Reifinger

2. Background on Water Pollution
Water pollution: Any physical, biological, or chemical change in water quality that adversely affects organisms or makes water unsuitable for desired use.
Point source: pollution from a specific location (drain pipes, ditches, etc.)
Non point source: Pollution with no specific location of origin (farm fields, lawns, etc.)
Atmospheric deposition: contaminants carried by air currents and precipitated onto surface
Types of Water Pollution:
- Infectious Agents
- Oxygen-Demanding Wastes
- Plant Nutrients & Cultural Eutrophication
-Toxic Inorganic Materials
Heavy Metals
Nonmetallic Salts
Acids and Bases
-Organic Chemicals
-Sediments
-Thermal Pollution

3. The Effects On Oceans/Estuaries from Water Pollution in New Jersey
Pollutants such as total suspended solids, organic matter, nitrogen, ammonia, pathogens from waste water, and dissolved oxygen levels - big problem in Newark Bay ~1990’s (Crawford 1995)
Newark Bay area (~1900’s) - low levels of dissolved O2 from sewage (Crawford 1994)
Burning fossil fuels releases nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, causing acid precipitation. Making large bodies of water more acidic(Ayars 2007)
Mullica River Basin (In NJ Pinelands)- agricultural and urban land uses directly correlate with nitrogen concentrations (Giri 2016)

4. Ecological Changes of The Newark Bay Estuary
Hazard Ratio(Concentration/ER-M)
The Effects On Oceans/Estuaries from Water Pollution in New Jersey (continued)
Depth Expressed As Decade of Deposition

5. The Effects On Oceans/Estuaries from Water Pollution in New Jersey (continued)

6. The effects on Fresh water from water pollution in New Jersey
The Passaic River(Major fresh water tributary to Newark Bay) had coal tar residues and looked filthy from coal burning. This made the water unsuitable to drink. (Crawford 1994)
Leachate (logs and mulch) has potential to become –acidic -toxic to aquatic life – demanding more O2 from water. This is true but in very high concentrations (Kannepalli 2016)

7. The effects on Fresh water from water pollution in New Jersey (continued)

8. The effects on nearby ecosystems from water pollution in New Jersey
Low levels of dissolved O2 affects fish and benthic invertebrate communities - decreases health of the organisms -stops growth - decreases survival rates - increases competition (Stacey 1990)
migration species avoid areas with DO concentrations lower than 3 mg/liter (Crawford 1994)
Agriculture helps generate a lot of sediments that end up going downstream and causing eutrophication (Giri 2016)

9. The effects on nearby ecosystems from water pollution in New Jersey (continued)
A form of pollution can be parasites. Because of contaminated water, the Mud snail are dying from cysts in New Jersey and in some neighboring states (Chodkowski 2016)
Mean number of cysts
Collection sites

10. The effects on human health from water pollution in New Jersey
Mothers who are living in a water district with contaminated water during pregnancy is connected to an increase in low birth rate of % (Currie 2013)
Series of tests were done to drinking water in Northern NJ - found relation between contaminants and birth defects ( ) - They were TTHM and carbon tetrachloride (Bove 1995)
TTHM were associated with small for gestational age, central nervous system defects, neural tube defects, oral clefts, and major cardiac defects.
Carbon Tetrachloride were associated with low birth weight, central nervous system defects, neural tube defects, and oral clefts.

11. The effects on human health from water pollution in New Jersey (continued)
A study showed that most people trust New jersey’s drinking water because of the lack of knowledge from the different chemicals in our water (Johnson 2008)

12. Conclusions
Water can be polluted by many sources. It can be polluted by an increase in nutrients , parasites, or just by sewage that absorbs oxygen.
This brings up concern about our current drinking water in New Jersey and the health of its citizens
Studying individual contaminants and their effects on biota are necessary to fully understand contaminant effects on ecosystems near bodies of water (Crawford 1995).
The public need to be more educated on contaminants and the contents of their drinking water.

13. Sources
Ayars J, Gao Y Atmospheric nitrogen deposition to the Mullica river-great bay estuary. Marine Environmental Research 64: DOI:  /j.marenvres
Crawford DW, Bonnevie NL, Wenning RJ Historical changes in the ecological health of the Newark Bay estuary, New Jersey. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 29: DOI:  / (94)  
Crawford DW, Bonnevie NL, Wenning RJ Sources of pollution and sediment contamination in Newark Bay, New Jersey. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 30: DOI:  /eesa
Giri S, Qiu ZY, Prato T, Luo BL An integrated approach for targeting critical source areas to control nonpoint source pollution in watersheds. Water Resources Management 30: DOI: /s z 
Currie J, Zivin JG, Meckel K, Neidell M, Schlenker W Something in the water: contaminated drinking water and infant health. Canadian Journal of Economics 46: DOI:  /caje.12039 
Johnson BB Public views on drinking water standards as risk indicators. Risk analysis 28: DOI:  /j x 
Bove FJ, Fulcomer MC, Klotz JB, Esmart J, Dufficy EM, Savrin JE Public drinking-water contamination and birth outcomes. American journal of Epidemiology 141:  
Chodkowski N, Williams JD, Burke RL Field surveys and experimental transmission of Pleurogonius Malaclemys (Digenea: Pronocephalidae), an intestinal parasite of the diamondback terrapin malaclemys terrapin. Journal of Parasitology 102: DOI:  /14-624
Kannepalli S, Strom PF, Krogmann U, Subroy V, Gimenez D, Miskewitz R Characterization of wood mulch and leachate/runoff from three wood recycling facilities. Journal of Environmental Management 182: DOI:  /j.jenvman