Water Quality Essay (Essay Sample)

Water Quality Essay [Name] [Institutional affiliation] [Course name] [Instructor's Name] [Due date] Water Quality Essay From the early days, water quality has always been an essential aspect of our daily lives. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) (2015), the quality of water is usually assessed based on the elements of water quality standards which include: the designated uses allocated to water, for example, drinking and swimming, the criteria protecting living things, for example, fish and people from exposure to contamination levels that may cause adverse effects and the anti-degradation strategies envisioned to avert waters from deteriorating from the existing condition. Usually, States and involved stakeholders ensure the standards are being met by taking biological, chemical, and physical measures of their waters. Our local water agencies should regularly assess water quality to ensure that residents' water is safe for use by regulating the pollutants that may be identified. I live in Riverside city situated in Southern California. Riverside and California at large are encompassed in the Inland region hence the water used by residents is regularly accessed by water suppliers such as Eastern Municipal Water District, Western Municipal Water District, Riverside Public Utilities, and San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District to ensure the citizens consume the highest quality water available. I obtained the Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) 2019 Water Quality Report to support my research regarding water quality in my area. According to the report, tap and bottled drinking water sources include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. In Riverside, the primary sources of water supply are groundwater stowed in Bunker Hill and Riverside groundwater basins, which are considered most susceptible to historical pollution from manufacturing and agricultural processes. The report further states that water dissolves natural minerals and radioactive materials resulting from animal and human activities as it travels from the sources (Riverside Public Utilities Report, 2019). The primary water contaminants include microbial contaminants, for example, bacteria, inorganic contaminants, for example, salts and metals, pesticides and herbicides pollutants from agriculture and stormwater runoff, organic chemical contaminants from industrial activities, and radioactive contaminants from oil and gas production (Sharma & Bhattacharya, 2016). the USEPA and State Water Resource control board usually prescribe regulations to the water suppliers such as the RPU to help limit the amounts of various identified contaminants in water provided to the residents. Water is usually anticipated to encompass several small amounts of contaminants which does not indicate any health risk to the consumer. The report provided by the Riverside Public Utilities stated that the water supplied to the public in the year 2019 had met and surpassed met all state and federal drinking water quality standards thus were safe for use by residents despite the report identifying several contaminants in the water. The pollutants identified in the report include Microbiological, that is, coliform bacteria, Clarity contaminant that is, turbidity, Organic contaminant that is, Trihalomethanes, Inorganic contaminants which include arsenic, fluoride, nitrate and perchlorate, and Radiological contaminants that is, cross alpha, uranium, lead and copper (Riverside Public Utilities Report, 2019). The contaminants' levels are measured as parts per million (PPM) and parts per billion (PPB). According to Grunert et al. (2018), the above contaminants' sources may determine whether the water is a health risk. For instance, coliform, fluoride, and nitrate are naturally present in the environment; turbidity is attributed to soil run off, trihalomethanes are a byproduct of drinking water disinfection, arsenic, and radiological contaminants are attributed by natural deposits erosion while lead and copper are attributed by internal corrosion of home plumbing. In regard, all contaminants identified by RPU are very typical and below the set standards; thus, the water provided in Riverside is of the highest quality. Water quality issues are identified in many states despite the numerous efforts implemented by state authorities and involved stakeholders in ensuring a high degree of water quality. Pye & Patrick (1983) stated that water pollution is usually caused by three different sources: point sources such as factory's water discharge, non-point sources such as agricultural sources, and natural sources. Water pollution results in water bodies' contamination, for example, freshwater lakes, rivers, canals, groundwater, and seas. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) tap water database of 2019, Riverside City had seventeen water contaminants, and only nine among them had exceeded the EWG's Health guidelines. These nine contaminants include arsenic, chromium, dibromochloromethane, nitrate, nitrate& nitrite, radium, radon, trihalomethanes, and uranium. According to Einarson & Mackay (2001), groundwater bodies such as Riversides' commonly experience contamination primarily from a natural, point, and non-point sources. For instance, uranium, radon, radium, chromium, and arsenic are caused by industrial and naturally occurring pollutants. Nitrate& nitrite and nitrate contaminants are caused by agricultural, naturally occurring, and runoff & sprawl pollutants, while dibromochloromethane and trihalomethanes are caused by treatment byproducts pollutants‌ (EWG’s Tap Water Database, 2019). These Riverside's water contaminants occur in small quantities but can likely cause adverse effects if not adequately regulated. Water pollution reduces water quality which damages the environment, people's health systems, and the global economy at large. For instance, water pollution leads to the destruction of biodiversities, such as depletion of aquatic ecosystems, food chain contamination due to the introduction of toxins into consumed foods, lack of potable water, and increased disease exposure. According to the Groundwater Foundation (2019), consumption of contaminated groundwater causes severe health effects since toxins in the groundwater provisions may cause poisoning. In addition, various contaminants in the water may cause long-term cancer effects when consumed. In Riverside, the nine water contaminants stated above all have a potential impact of causing cancer; for instance, the Arsenic contaminant was identified 298 times in Riverside’s tap water by the EWG. According to Rahman et al. (2009), chronic exposure to arsenic via drinking water causes various skin lesions such as melanosis and keratosis. In addition, arsenic causes diabetes, high blood pressure, respiratory diseases, and cancers. Water pollution can be minimized by implementing various management practices. According to the EWG’s Tap Water Database (2019), Riverside residents and other individuals can reduce water pollution by executing the follo...