Source Water: Protecting Our Drinking Water Supply - Essay Sample

Introduction

Surface water, for example, streams, waterways, and lakes or groundwater including spring Help aquifer which is a characteristic underground layer, frequently of sand or rock, which contains water. They can fill in as wellsprings of drinking water, alluded to as source water. Source of water gives water to the public for drinking water supplies and private water wells. The public institutions treat most water utilized for public drinking water supplies. Shielding source water from contamination can lessen treatment costs. Ensuring that water wells are safe additionally lessens dangers to general wellbeing from exposures to contaminated water. In 1986 the Safe Drinking Water Act was revised to force states to create Wellhead Protection Programs (WHPP). Through this program, states help networks to shape close by groups that will help with the insurance of open inventory wells in their general vicinity as decide the land zones which give water to public wells (Williams & Works, 2008). Different obligations of the WHPP incorporate recognizing existing and potential sources of pollution and in this way overseeing potential wellsprings of sullying to limit their danger to the drinking water sources. The insurance program assists with the build-up of an alternate course of action to get ready for a crisis well shutting and to get ready for future water supply needs.

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Part 1

The city of Jackson is a modern city with various stops and the end of the week festivals. Major employers in the city include CMS Energy, which gives flammable gas and electrical administrations to quite a bit of Michigan and has its global home office in the city, just as Foote Hospital. Michigan Automotive Compressor, Inc. (MACI) is the biggest maker in the County (Williams & Works, 2008). Jackson is additionally home to one of the world's biggest most extreme security jails, which gives work to numerous Jackson occupants. The City covers around 11.1 square miles and has a complete populace of roughly 36,316.

The city of Jackson has a strong public water supply system (PWSS) that comes from sixteen reliable wells and is consumed by about 54,250 persons (Williams & Works, 2008). A total of 12 wells are situated at Mansion Street well field and produce twenty-four million gallons per day dented by (MGD) (Williams & Works, 2008). The other four well in the City is located at Ella Sharp Park with a capacity of seven MGD. Ella Sharp Park has an additional 1.5 MGD (Williams & Works, 2008). The city has a water emergency plan through its connection with the Summit Township.

The City of Jackson report is comprehensive and compares closely with the classroom learning that points towards the various sources of water in society. The details in the inclusion of MGD measurements in its production scale are however missing in our class discussions. The report rates are high due to its ability to answer all questions nearly at once.

Barium

The source of Barium in groundwater comes from the mineral deposits found in rocks and soil from which the water comes. They may be naturally occurring during the process of rock formation and may thus get into the water during drilling. According to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the underground injection is necessary for the maintenance of sanitized water safe fir public drinking through the Underground Injection Control (UIC). Barium may cause breathing complications for persons who use contaminated water (Williams & Works, 2008). They may also have cases of high blood pressure that is dangerous for life. The Barium is a real concern in the City of Jackson and as such, must be handled seriously.

Fluoride

Fluoride may be introduced in drinking water during the drilling exercise, which means that the machines need not have any health hazards. According to the (SDWA), the best mitigation criteria to this problem is the closure of injection sin the water wells thus reducing the contamination level that is currently quite high. Fluoride is very risky to human health upon consumption. It can lead to thyroid problems whereby it can destroy the thyroid glands that can lead to depletion of calcium in bones. The best way to mitigate this issue is to perform reverse osmosis during water treatment to remove the fluoride elements.

Radium

The radium in water can occur from the naturally occurring radioactive uranium in the decaying rocks in the ground. The continuous drinking of water with radium minerals has the deposits in the bones which in the end deplete the calcium in the bodies leading to such diseases as arthritis. The SDWA can help the case by stopping the drilling of water wells in radioactive areas. They can do this by ordering tests before commencing the drilling exercise (Williams & Works, 2008). The city of Jackson does not have a high level of radium as a concern due to low cases of uranium mining in the area.

Total Trihalomethanes (TTHMs)

This is common in tap waters rather than well waters. The contaminant occurs during the water treatment process using such chemicals as chlorine. The maximum contaminant level for this mineral in water is 80ppb. TTHMs cause various types of cancer, such as skin cancer and bladder cancer. The best way the SDWA proposes for the treatment o this challenge is the filtering of water using carbon filters.

E. Coli

Private and public wells have chances of E. coli. It rises from well water that is contaminated with fecal matter from animals, which could have gone to drink directly into the wells. The ingestion of E. coli parasites leads to cases of diarrhea, cramps and low-grade fever. The best way to overcome this is by boiling water from the well before consumption (Williams & Works, 2008).

Haloacetic Acids (HAAs)

These contaminations arise from the chlorination of the well water used as a means of purifying water. The maximum contaminant level for Haloacetic Acids (HAAs) id 60ppb. According to the WHPP, the best way to remove the Haloacetic Acids is by removing the organic precursors' compounds from water before use. The mineral burn throat and mouth are leading to diarrhea, vomiting and nausea.

Part 2

I was able t find about 12 wells in the database. These wells have detailed information such as the Modflow has a dimension of 38 miles with a grid of 204 columns and 186 rows. The majority of these wells were 1000 feet comprising of three vertical layers(Williams & Works, 2008). The water fields majorly have four bedrock formations and Saginaw formations. Other water wells included Marshall Formations, Michigan formations and Shale. The water field consists of glacier majorly ten feet thick and appears to be laterally discontinuous.

The geological formation in the database indicates the eastern hemisphere having the Coldwater formations with intervals of sandstone, siltstone, limestone and dolomite. Most other wells here are between 20-50 years old. The geological structure of the City of Jackson is that of land and soil rich in minerals going by the types of stones found in the area (Williams & Works, 2008). This makes it rather susceptible to contaminants such as Fluorine, Barium and Radium. There is a need to ensure rat proper, in line with WHPA, there is a need to ensure proper management and water protection systems in place to protect the vast populace.

Part 3

The WHPA in the City of Jacksons is very detailed and expansive. It takes cognizant of the geological structure of the land and the expansive state of water wells the city. The WHPA program takes up to 50% of the local funds in line with the PWSS aligned in the grants (MDEQ). The lands that are used for public utilities as school, agriculture, and the rest are also known to be causes of contamination. The water board management approaches may involve an expansive scope of exercises including office investigations, land-use guidelines, operational strategies, best administration rehearses, open data, and training. The executives' methodologies should serve to create backing and consideration regarding the WHPA for the nearby, area, state, and government administrative exercises. The methodologies should endeavor to limit (kill if conceivable) land-use exercises which represent a critical risk to the PWSS, rouse landowners inside the WHPA to find a way to decrease dangers to the PWSS and give training to inhabitants, organizations, and businesses situated inside the WHPA to stress their job in making wellhead security work (Williams & Works, 2008). The expansive use of land for wells in the City of Jackson under the WHPA may stretch to over 50 miles.

The major challenges that are faced in the management of this expansive land are the stretched and with the pockets of the public institution scattered over the land such as hospitals and schools may make it rather hard for the management to live up to the expectations. Also, the land has a very strong and tough geological formation that requires the eater superintendent to help in designing the type of well that is the best fitting for a particular area Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). Lack of education and improper land adjudication in the area may also prove to be a problem in the future. Improper agricultural practices and mining for minerals may lead to the contamination of water in the area as has been managed by the WHPA (Williams & Works, 2008).

Part 4

• The WHPP has spelled out objectives that they must achieve as discussed:
• They issue local government with a proper framework for the formulation of regulatory policies that manage the use of water and stop contamination
• They protect the city's water supply through such measures as the zoning of water areas to manage and control the water supply.
• They work in unison with the Summit township to ensure that they control the implementation of the management programs as well as creating education in water management programs.
• The WHPP coordinates and manages effective communication between the state agencies to ensure that the public is aware of their roles in water management and sanitation.
• They work very closely with the local government and federal administration to ascertain identification of contamination sites that must not contaminate the groundwater sources
• They ensure the implementation of a public education program that also creates and deep understanding of business and that farmers can understand and appreciate the role of groundwater protection as a means to ascertain the future.
• They keep, maintain, and update the inventory of the wells mapping across the city as a way of ensuring that all well as maintained and are kept in the proper shape.

References

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). An Overview Of Michigan's Wellhead Protection Program. Retrieved from file:///C:/Part4_Overview%20of%20Michigan's%20Welhead%20Protection%20Program%20(1).pdf

Williams & Works. (2008). City of Jackson, Jackson County June 2008. Michigan Rural Water Association. City of Jackson, Michigan. Retrieved from file:///C:/UCity%20of%20Jackson%20Wellhead%20Protection%20Plan%20(1).pdf