How Green is the Green Terror:The Water Edition

Created and Investigated by: Steven Lowenthal

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Step One: Water source

• The first step is to see where the water comes from.

• The colleges water is supplied from the City of Westminster.

• The source is Surface Water and it serves 25,890 people.

Step 2: Water Health

• The next step was to test the water to check for basic health.

• I used 3 common chemical tests for aquarium water.

• These were a good choice because the tests have to detect small traces of chemicals otherwise people wouldn’t buy them.

Bad Chemical Test Kit Equals

The Kits

The ResultsAmmonia Test:

Ammonia Level= 0.00 ppm.

This is good because ammonia is toxic.

Results Cont.pH Test:

Test result- pH >7.6

This water is very basic but it could just mean that the water is hard and does not pose any health effects, but it does clog pipes.

Results Cont.Nitrate test:

Test Result= 20-40 mg/L

This is VERY BAD! High Nitrate levels can result in methemoglobinea and death.

• The city of Westminster received this in 2005.

• MCL, Average - In NOV-2005, Contaminant: Nitrate. Follow-up actions: St Violation/Reminder Notice (DEC-01-2005), St Compliance achieved (DEC-02-2005), St Public Notif received (DEC-02-2005).

• This was the SECOND time (the first in 2003) that the city was found violating Nitrate levels.

• Apparently the city has failed to or has poorly treated this.

Another thing that is not water friendly.

• “ALWI selected, drilled, tested and permitted a new supply well for golf course irrigation for the on-campus golf course of McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. Because of the hydrogeological setting of the well and a proximal irrigation pond, monitoring and planning for the possible occurrence of a sinkhole during drilling and testing required special planning and approval of a work plan by the Carroll County Bureau of Water Resources Management. No sinkhole occurred and the project was successful.”(Advanced Land and Water Inc., 2008)

Some Green things the college is doing.

• This is all from the Green Terra Committees work.– Englar Dining Hall will forgo using trays on Earth

Day, April 22. Research shows that when trays are removed from dining locations, less food is wasted, less energy is consumed, and less water and detergents are used.

– Earth-friendly chemicals are being used to maintain the athletic fields and golf course.

– The College has installed devices to save on soap and paper towels in several washrooms, with more to be installed in the coming months. The new hands-free automatic towel dispensers are set to give one towel at a time. The soap dispensers provide a foam instead of a concentrated soap, which saves on soap output and deposits less soap in the sewer system.

Neutral discovery.• After investigation, found out the

following.– Average water usage per person a

year- 29,200-36,500 gallons.– McDaniel- 41 million gallons used a

year, divide by the 1,306 on campus residents= 31,393 gallons per person a year.

– Conclusion= McDaniel falls within the average water usage of average Americans.

Concluding• The college is doing some

things to help reduce water pollution and waste. It also uses average amounts of water.

• But it is doing something's that are not so good such as creating possible sinkhole areas.

• Also the Nitrate levels are not safe from the water supplied.

Sources• Special thanks to George Brenton.

• Water Q&A: Water use at home. (Internet). 2008. United States Geological Survey. (Updated 2008, cited December 1, 2008), Available from: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/qahome.html

• Google.com for all pictures.

• Clients. McDaniel College. (Internet). 2008. Advanced Land and Water Inc. (Updated 2008, cited November 15, 2008). Available from: http://www.alwi.com/case.study_mcdaniel.college.php

• Westminster, Maryland. (Internet). 2008. City-Data.com. (Updated 2008, cited November 17, 2008). Available from: http://www.city-data.com/city/Westminster-Maryland.html

• Environmental Stability. (Internet). 2008. McDaniel College. (Updated 2008, cited November 17, 2008). Available from: http://www.mcdaniel.edu/8564.htm