Pollution Happens

What’s in the Water, Anyway?
Better water for us is better for the environment and the living things there.

Hillsborough County has the bay, two large rivers, thousands of lakes, tens of thousands of ponds and waterways to protect. That’s before you consider delivering water to half a million people. Water takes a long, not always smooth course through our natural systems and our lives. It fuels our bodies and the quality of our lives. Water doesn’t change. What does change is the nature of the “stuff” that slips into water natural sources, human activity and from our homes and businesses. Who’s watching our water? Hillsborough County. And, a whole lot of others.

There’s the stuff that makes its way into our natural water bodies, and there’s the stuff that we put in the water just living our lives. Some of us create more pollution, some less and some pollution happens from nature, too. It’s about what gets into the water, but it’s also important to know that whatever it is, it’s just using the water for transportation. Still, we have to know what’s in the water so that we use the right treatment process to get it out.

Two Types of Pollutants

Point Source Pollutants: This refers to contaminants entering the waters through a source that can easily be identified. Our industrial, manufacturing and power plants often create discharge that can slip into the waterways right in front of our eyes.
Non-Point Source Pollutants: Looking for a smooth and easy ride, harmful substances make their way into water from widespread or nonspecific locations. For example, rainfall carries pollutants from parking lots and roads into ditches, which flow into streams, lakes and coastlines. Fertilizers and pesticides take the same route. So does animal waste from our own pets and from wildlife upstream…all of these are non-point source pollutants.

So where does all this stuff come from? In one word: Us.

All of us: Oil, antifreeze, brake fluid and other liquids leak from our cars onto paved surfaces. The rain carries these materials from our driveways, parking lots and roads into the water system. The very strong chemicals that make these products so effective also make them dangerous to the natural environment. Oh, and what about the neighbors who dump paint, solvents and other materials directly into ditches or their own yards? These chemicals surf into gutters or they seep underground where they make their way into our natural systems.
Businesses: A power plant burns fuel on a daily basis––generating the energy that powers our lives. This process emits contaminants into the air so that when it rains, the pollutants ride the rainfall to earth, sometimes getting directly into water bodies, sometimes hitting parking lots and roadways, picking up other “stuff” along the way. Water is a great way for contaminants to travel. If enough of this material hitches a ride on the water, the entire water body can be called “polluted” or the natural chemical balance can tilt—which can affect living things exposed to it.
Farms and Homes: Who doesn’t love a Florida tomato? Or strawberries, peppers, oranges or any of the other things we can thank Florida farmers for? Farmers grow food for us. To do so, they use pesticides and fertilizers. The pesticides and fertilizers contain organic materials and nutrients, like nitrates and phosphates. When it rains, these materials hitch a ride on the flow, which heads into our water bodies. We do the same thing with our green, green lawns: we apply fertilizer and pesticides to our plants and grass and when it rains; the excess materials go with the flow. Once in a water body, excess nutrients can create an environment where algae grows too fast or too abundantly, taking oxygen from the water, and harming aquatic life.

Water is watched—closely

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Agency of the federal government is charged with protecting human health and the environment. They write and enforce regulations based on laws passed by Congress. Some relevant water laws include: the Clean Water Act, Water Quality Act, Numerical Nutrient Criteria and the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP): Supervises the five Florida water management districts to control all freshwater located in the state. They also regulate water pollution and the use of wetlands and shorelines.
Water Management Districts: Regulate water resources based on laws set by the FDEP so that the need for water is balanced with the maintenance and well being of our natural systems.
Utilities: Monitor the quality of our water, treat it and provide it to us. Utilities are regulated to ensure water safety.
Department of Agriculture: Regulates the kind and quantity of pesticides and fertilizers used on farms to reduce pollution from runoff.

Business & Industry
Who	What	Consequence
Businesses on large properties	Clearing land	Soil erosion into nearby waters
Industries of all kinds	Waste and sewage runoff	Introduce organic pollutants into ecosystem
Industrial and power plants	Disposing of waste heat in nearby waters	Thermal pollution, increasing water temperature and killing organisms
Industry, mine and hazardous waste sites	Runoff of toxic or radioactive materials	Water contaminated with toxic elements
Fossil fuel plants	Burning of fossil fuels emits sulfur dioxide into air, creating sulfuric acid, which falls into waters	Lower PH level, which kills aquatic organisms and plants, disrupting entire ecosystem.

Agriculture
Who	What	Consequence
Farms	Chemical fertilizer runoff	Excessive nitrate and phosphate content contaminate water and hurt organisms.
Farms	Herbicide and pesticide runoff	Build-up of toxic substances in waters
Livestock	Livestock organic waste runoff	Increases nitrogen content, damages water quality
Farms	Organic soil runoff	Clouds water, blocks sunlight and kills aquatic life

Homes
Who	What	Consequence
Homes	Sewage, septic tank runoff	Introduce harmful organic pollutants to waters
Homes	Fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide runoff	Introduce toxic, chemical substances into waters
Homes	Improper disposal of chemicals and materials like cleaning supplies and pharmaceuticals	Contaminate water with toxic substances that can kill aquatic plants and organisms
Homes	Car oil and antifreeze runoff	Pollute nearby water with toxic chemicals