Managing Non-Point Source Pollution from Agriculture in Water and Wastewater Engineering
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This report discusses managing non-point source pollution from agriculture in water and wastewater engineering. It covers non-point and point source pollution, best management practices, and more.
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Running Head: GEOGRAPHY 0 Geography Water and Wastewater engineering (Student details :) 7/20/2019
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Geography 1 Contents Managing non- point source pollution from agriculture............................................................2 Introduction................................................................................................................................2 Water and Wastewater Engineering...........................................................................................2 Non-point and Point source Pollution....................................................................................3 Non-point source pollution management from agriculture........................................................4 Best management practices........................................................................................................5 Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5 References..................................................................................................................................7
Geography 2 Managing non- point source pollution from agriculture Introduction This report is focused on a particular research topic related to water and wastewater engineering. To do so, ‘managing non-point source pollution from agriculture’ will be discussed with the help of this discussion. In this context, this research report will assess key documents including codes, guidance documents, published journal articles, and legislation documents so that detailed research on wastewater engineering can be conducted. In general, nonpoint source pollution(NPS) is thepollutionis generated by snowmelt or rainfall moving over as well as through the ground. When the runoff moves, it usually picks up and then carries away human-madeand naturalpollutants, while depositing them into rivers, wetlands, lakes, coastal waters and groundwater(Craig & Roberts, 2015). In this way, this report is going to discuss how non-point source pollution from agriculture can be managed and reduced effectively.In this way, a summary of the key findings will be provided in the later section of the report. Water and Wastewater Engineering As we know that almost entire activities of modern societies depend upon the supply of an adequate amount of safe and clean water. Here, a large amount of water is usually consumed for the daily life of the society while also for industrial, commercial and agricultural activities (Canter, 2018).It has been observed that in many situations, consumption of water refers to the degradation of water quality. In this context, the post being utilized for some specific purpose, the water gets contaminated with compounds like proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, metals, microorganisms, and nutrients. In this way, this water is called wastewater because it is not clean enough for drinking and other necessary use and hence it has to be wasted. As the quality and quantity of wastewaters from community areas generally surpass the assimilative capacity of reception natural waters, thus treatment, as well as a collection of wastewaters, is needed to keep the water sources clean enough. In this context, natural waters’ water quality standards are established and hence wastewater management is carried out for achieving such water quality standards. In this way, for sustaining natural waters as safe as possible wastewater management is critically required(United Nations, 2018).
Geography 3 Apart from this, wastewater management is directly related to water pollution issue which has been raised since the beginning of erection of the human societies or high population density. Water pollution control necessitates better wastewater engineering techniques in various areas. For instance, the collection, as well as treatment schemes of wastewater, is required for effective wastewater management. Here, wastewater can be defined as industrial wastewater, municipal wastewater, rainfall wastewater and wastewater generated from snowmelt(YEN & Gracia, 2018). Non-point and Point source Pollution In this context, NPS pollution is typically caused whenever there is rainfall or snowmelt, running over as well as through the ground, carries natural and human-made pollutants by picking, depositing them up into different waters resources(Kleinman et al., 2015). In addition to that, point sources of pollution often release pollutants through discrete conveyances,likeadischargepipe.PSisregulatedfromstateandfederalagencies worldwide.Apart from this, the major point source dischargers include factories and sewage treatment plants that release cured wastewater(Kilkis, 2016). On the other hand, NPS is a combination of several pollutants belongs to a huge area rather thanthroughspecificrecognizablesourceslikedischargepipes(Esposto, 2009).Additionally, runoffis typically connected with NPS, as water is collapsed into rivers or streams post accumulatingpollutantsby sources such as parking lots, gardens, or construction sites. In addition to that, the federal Clean Water Act needs states for identifying a total maximum daily load (referred as TMDL) for every pollutant which is the collective amount of pollution throughout point and non-point sources which the state considers a water body should admit without surpassing the water quality standards(Sustainable develoment Goals, 2018).
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Geography 4 Source:(Nebrini, 2013) Non-point source pollution management from agriculture In this context, agriculture is trending as an increasingly complex industry, which can be used for managing NPS at large extent. Thus, agriculture field is currently is mainly exempt from regulation under the Clean Water Act. It means that the rest methods of NPS pollution control are a must(Canter, 2018). For instance, in the year 2014 U.S. Department of Agriculture Organic Survey found that 51,000 acres of land were converted to organic production ever since 2008. In other words, when organic production is not considered as NPS pollution control, it does replicate individual as well as community values and issues for environmental quality. Irrespective of such positive advances, rest techniques to NPS pollution control are necessary. Here, the USEPA found agricultural NPSP being the main source of the lake and stream contamination averting accomplishment of the water quality goals found within the Clean Water Act (Strehmel et al., 2016). It has been observed that NPS fields of focus are motivated through specific land uses. As it is declared in Under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, territories, states, and tribes must find categories of resources of NPS pollution being part of an assessment report needed in order to obtain a grant(Craig & Roberts, 2015).Apart from this, the United States owns
Geography 5 above 330 million acres of row cropagricultural land which generate a huge supply of food as well as other eatable products. Therefore, American agriculture is considered for its high quality, productivity, and efficiency while delivering quality products toglobal consumers. However, if these are improperly managed, then it may affect local as well as far-fieldwater quality(Craig & Roberts, 2015). TheNWQAdepictsthat agricultural NPS pollution is the topmost source of water quality effects over surveyed streams and rivers, the 3rdbiggest resource for global lakes,and the 2nd biggest source of damages to wetlands. Besides, agriculture NPS pollution is the main contributor to the contamination of measured ground and estuaries water(Babin et al., 2016). On the other hand, agricultural activities which cause NPS pollution generally occur in the absenteeism of a preservation plan. In this way, it can be said that impacts can be produced throughactivitieslikepoorlymanagedorlocatedanimalfeedingmanureand operations,overgrazingtoooftenorsometimesattheincorrecttimealongwithan improperapplicationfertilizer(DeFries & Nagendra, 2017). Best management practices Many policy instruments are suggesting that well-known ideologies for decreasing pollution, like polluter, pay, are difficult to apply within the practice of agricultural NPS. This is because it is identifying that actual polluters are neither easy nor cheap. By using particular areas as sinks for water pollutants running off agricultural fields NPS can be reduced at a large level(Austin & Yu, 2016).Such sinks should be able of interrupting the water pollutants in either groundwater flows or surface water runoffs. Apart from this, they must support effective procedures to remove water pollutants. In this way, from applyingnonpoint source pollutant attenuation mechanisms, this NPS can be managed effectively. Some best management practices for agriculture NPS are as follows: Sediment Trapping Plant Uptake: (Seasonal Dynamics and Temporal Dynamics) Microbial Processes Adsorption(Brunner & Rechberger, 2015).
Geography 6 Conclusion In whole, this report has successfully found the significance of wastewater engineering in the context of managing non-point source pollution from agriculture in this modern era. It has been observed that constructed wetlands, as well as sustainable development, are strongly inter-related from the global sustainable future viewpoint. While discussing agriculture NPS, the report has discussed the major differences amid point source as well as non-point source pollution in the context of wastewater management. Apart from this, this report has found that wastewater has become essential from various perspectives and sustainability is one of them. In a nutshell, the report has covered several wastewater management practices in order to minimize the NPS from agriculture. In this way, with the help of several important academic documents, this discussion has identified various important ways to reduce NPS from agriculture within the modern age.
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Geography 7 References Babin, N., Mullendore, N.D. & Prokopy, L., 2016. Using social criteria to select watersheds for non-point source agricultural pollution abatement projects.Land Use POlicy, 55, pp.327- 33. Brunner, P.H. & Rechberger, H., 2015. Waste to energy–key element for sustainable waste management.Waste Management, 37, pp.3-12. Canter, L.W., 2018.Environmental impact of agricultural production activities. USA: CRC Press. Craig, R. & Roberts, A., 2015. When will governments regulate nonpoint source pollution: a comparative perspective.BC Envtl.Aff.L.REv., 42(1). DeFries, R. & Nagendra, H., 2017. Ecosystem management as a wicked problem.Science, 356(6335), pp.265-70. Esposto, S., 2009. Sustainability applied to the design of water treatment plants in Iraq. Sustainability Science, 4(2), pp.293-300. Kilkis, S., 2016. Sustainable development of energy, water and environment systems index for Southeast European cities.Journal of cleaner production, 130, pp.222-34. Kleinman, P. et al., 2015. Implementing agricultural phosphorus science and management to combat eutrophication.Ambio, 44(2), pp.297-310. Nebrini, P., 2013.Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Habitat in Prisons. Geneva: International Committee of the Red Cross. Strehmel, A., Schmalz, b. & Fohrer, N., 2016. Evaluation of land use, land management and soil conservation strategies to reduce non-point source pollution loads in the three gorges region, China.Environmental management, 58(5), pp.906-21. Sustainable develoment Goals, 2018.Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all. [Online] Available at:https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/ [Accessed 14 December 2018].
Geography 8 United Nations, 2018.Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. [Online] Available at: http://gh.one.un.org/content/unct/ghana/en/home/global-agenda-in-ghana/sustainable- development-goals/SDG-6-clean-water-and-sanitation.html[Accessed 10 January 2019]. YEN & Gracia, Z., 2018.Water Borne diseases: types and causes. [Online] Available at: https://yen.com.gh/116168-water-borne-diseases-types-causes.html#116168[Accessed 14 December 2018].