POLLUTANT MOVEMENT THROUGH AIR, LAND, AND WATER

Introduction to WaterLecture 1

Consider

What is a model?

How is an equation like a model?

What did Dora Maar look like?

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Seated Portrait Of Dora Maar, 1939by Pablo Picasso

Portrait of Dora Maar, c.1937by Pablo Picasso

http://www.theage.com.au

Maps as Models

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Vermont, from actual survey [1795]Delineated & Engraved by Amos Doolittle N.H.

Published in Carey's American Atlas, 1795.

Google Earth

N44° 28’ 36.27’’ W73° 11’ 41.20’’

What is a model?

• A tool that describes something that cannot be observed directly (such as an atom) or something that is too complex to comprehend directly (like an ecosystem).

• A simplification of reality.

Types of models• Portrayals of Emotions, Events, Persons, Things

– poems, songs, paintings, dolls, etc

• Portrayal and Analysis of Spatial Patterns– maps, remotely sensed images, etc.

• Analysis of Spatial & Temporal Patterns– Provide insight, predictions, forecasts of future

conditions – enhance understandings of processes that control

dynamic behavior of eco-systems– allow comparison among alternative scenarios

How well do we understand the world from these “models”?

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Area = Length x Width

q = K * dh/dx(Darcy’s Law)

Points

• Equations are models and as such are approximations of “reality”

• The result from an equation is only as good as the error associated with the variables.

• The accuracy of the predication from an equation is dependent on the user’s understanding of the equation.

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How much water is there on earth?

• 326,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons• 326 million trillion gallons• 1,260,000,000,000,000,000,000 liters• Global population (3 Nov 2010): 6,879,116,087 • Liters/person: 183,163,066,891 per person

http://science.howstuffworks.com/question157.htm

http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html

Earth’sWater

Saline(oceans)

97%

Fresh Water (3%) Other (0.9%)

Lakes(87%)

Surface Water (0.3%)Ground

Water(30.1%)

Ice Capsand

Glaciers(68.1%)

Swamps (11%)

Rivers (2%)

Fresh Water (All)

Fresh Water (Available)

Distribution of the Earth’s Water

If ~half of Ground Water is available, then maybe ~0.75% of Earth’s Water is “available”.

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterdistribution.html

World Water Balance (inches per year)

What is an inch of runoff?

Even at this gross level of aggregation, potential water resource problems are evident.

P = RO + Ev RO = ROGW + ROSW

Water Use in the US

(2000)

Is it “small” or “large”?

What is “consumptive

use”?

Fig 1.8 in Ward and Trimble

Water Use Trends by Source

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2004/circ1268/

Water Use Trends by Sector

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2004/circ1268/

Typical Water Use in the Home

How much water do you use?

How much water in 12 oz can of soda?

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How much water in 12 oz can of soda?

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Source   L/can 

Contents of the can 0.355

Direct withdrawlsFabrication 0.2Iron and steel 19.08Thermoelectric 3.42Other 0.45

Indirect withdrawlsIron and steel 6.13Thermoelectic 14.75Agriculture 13.27Mining 2.18Chemicals 1.44Paper 1.32Other 0.9

Sum 63.5Liters16.8gals

       

USGS (1976)

We often ‘use’ water without realizing it

Miller (2004)Fig. 13.6, p. 298

1 automobile

1 kilogramcotton

1 kilogramaluminum

1 kilogramgrain-fed beef

1 kilogramrice

1 kilogramcorn

1 kilogrampaper

1 kilogramsteel

400,000 liters(106,000 gallons)

10,500 liters(2,400 gallons)

9,000 liters(2,800 gallons)

7,000 liters(1,900 gallons)

5,000 liters(1,300 gallons)

1,500 liters(400 gallons)

880 liters(230 gallons)

220 liters(60 gallons)

What happens to the water we return?

Ward and Trimble Table 1.7

We use more water than most

Environment Canada (http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/e_main.html)

We pay lessfor water than

almost anyone else

Environment Canada(http://www.ec.gc.ca/water/e_main.html)

The basic structure of waterThe water molecule is a “dipole”

Water as a Solvent

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S. Berg, Winona College

Where does all the water go?

Miller (2004)Fig. 19.5, p. 482

Discharge of untreatedmunicipal sewage

(nitrates and phosphates)

Nitrogen compoundsproduced by cars

and factories

Discharge of treatedmunicipal sewage

(primary and secondarytreatment:

nitrates and phosphates)

Discharge of detergents

( phosphates)

Natural runoff(nitrates andphosphates

Manure runoffFrom feedlots(nitrates andPhosphates,

ammonia)

Dissolving of nitrogen oxides

(from internal combustionengines and furnaces)

Runoff and erosion(from from cultivation,mining, construction,

and poor land use)

Runoff from streets,lawns, and construction

lots (nitrates andphosphates)

Lake ecosystemnutrient overload

and breakdown of chemical cycling

Stormwater

Biological Condition(Phosphorus)

Biological Condition(Nitrogen)

Impaired Rivers

Burton and Pitt (2002) Stormwater Effects Handbook

Impaired Lakes

Burton and Pitt (2002) Stormwater Effects Handbook

Biological Condition(Taxa)

Why should we care?• Drinking water

• Irrigation

• Contact (swimming, wading)

• Recreation (fishing, boating)

• Waste purification

• Aesthetics

• Ecosystem integrity

Friday, August 6, 2004

“U.S. beach closures hit 14-year high - Unsafe water caused by runoff, lack of funding, report says”

Credit: Center for Watershed Protection