Please get out your
thinking map homework
Please read the board
5 Ways to increase water
availability
 Build more dams – trap it upstream
 Use more groundwater
 Transfer water – pipe it long distances
 Desalinate water – take the salt out of sea water
◦ Reverse osmosis
◦ Distillation – boiling, then trapping the fresh steam
 Conserve water
Texas’ Colorado River
Thinking map
5 Ways to increase water
availability (sustainably?????)
 Build more dams – trap it upstream
 Use more groundwater
 Transfer water – pipe it long distances
 Desalinate water – take the salt out of sea water
◦ Reverse osmosis
◦ Distillation – boiling, then trapping the fresh steam
 Conserve water
Dams - How they work
Texas’ ONLY natural lake – Caddo
Lake
Three Gorges Dam
 Yangtze River, China
 One of the world’s
largest power plants
 Displaced 1.3 million
people and flooded
cultural/archeological
sites
 Controls flooding
downstream
Aswan High Dam - Egypt
Dams
Advantages
Disadvantages
Use more groundwater
Use more Groundwater –
Ogallala
 Advantages
 Disadvantages

Well, DUH!!!!
Reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis
Distillation
Desalination in Tejas
 City of Seminole Project
 Cost: $1, 625, 000
 Desalinating brackish
groundwater from
Dockum Aquifer using
wind-power.
California Water Transfer
project
Too much to say! We’ll save it for Friday! 
Two major topics:
 Water SUPPLY
 Water POLLUTANTS
clean water
Pollutant of the Day!
Pathogens
World Health Organization
Statistics:
Concerns:
Improvements:
 2.6 billion people do not have
 84% of the population in
adequately clean water
 rural habitants are 5 times
less likely to use improved
drinking water than those in
urban centers.
developing regions are using
an improved source;
 in 2000, 1 billion more people
used such a source than in
1990.
UN-Water Decade
Programme on
Advocacy and
Communication
 One out of four urban dwellers
does not have access to
improved sanitation facilities.
 90% of all waste water in
developing countries is
discharged untreated, polluting
rivers, lakes and seas.
 Every day, 2 million tons of
sewage and other effluents drain
into the world's waters
Lake Conroe and Lake Houston:
 E. Coli bacteria – double the limit set by state
Other Bacterial pathogens
 Typhoid – diarrhea, severe vomiting, inflamed intestines
 Cholera – diarrhea, severe vomiting
 Dysentery – diarrhea, usually only fatal in infants
Giardia protezoan – diarrhea, cramps,
fatigue
Schistosomiasis – parasitic
worm
Guinea worm – burns as it leaves the human
body
'Fiery serpent' ... A guinea worm emerges from the leg of a south Sudanese girl.
(Reuters: Skye Wheeler, file photo)
How are all of these passed on?
 Overloaded sewage
treatment plants
 Direct dumping of
sewage in communities
 Lack of water treatment
plants
The Life Straw
LifeStraw
Swiss-based Vestergaard
Frandsen for tourists and people
living in developing nations.
There are several models of the
product: LifeStraw Personal
filters a minimum of 700 litres of
water, enough for one person
and one year. LifeStraw Family
filters a minimum of 18,000 litres
of water, providing safe drinking
water for a family for more than
two years. It removes 99.9999%
of waterborne bacteria, 99.99%
of viruses, and 99.9% of
parasites. LifeStraw Personal
kills 99.9999% of waterborne
bacteria and 98.5% of viruses.
Two types of sources
• point sources – specific location that can be identified
• nonpoint sources – spread out, may not be easy to
identify.
Coal-fired power plant
Feedlot: Point or non point?
Clear cut logging operation
Agricultural fields
Outfall effluent from sewage
treatment plant
City streets
Active or abandoned mine
Mine tailings piles/gangue
Golf course
Factory effluent
Petroleum refinery
Suburban lawns
Storm drains
 Carry water from streets
to local bayou/water way
 The drain is just for rain!
Check for understanding!