Informative Research Product Organizer Final
Research Topic: Water Pollution
Focusing Statement:
The ways in which water pollution affects the environment and humans.
Essential Background Information for Introduction:
Water Pollution is the introduction of chemical, physical, or biological material into water that
degrades the quality of the water and affects the organisms that live in it or drink it.
Potential Hook/Grabber (Story, anecdote, quote about your issue):
“In very poor countries, industry is not the cause of water pollution. Rather the problem is that
the population has out grown the water supply. The only available for drinking is often polluted
with sewage and agricultural runoff, leading to sickness and even death from water borne
diseases.”
Topic 1: Point Pollution
Explanation Point pollution comes
from a single source.
Evidence/Quotes One example of point pollution is the BP oil spill that
took place in the gulf of Mexico.
Evidence/Quotes: This hold true for an event took place on Pigeon river
in North Carolina where a local paper mill discharged their wastes into
the river after several years of this the locals noticed a pattern of cancer
Explanation Point pollution is easy to after the topic was researched water tests revealed that the water tested
regulate but hard to clean up.
positive for dioxin which is a cancer causing chemical after this was
determined it took lots of time and money to get the company to stop
their discharge into the creek. This is just one example of point pollution
that has been difficult to enforce clean up. (Harvey)
Explanation There are several
Evidence /Quotes: “ 23 million septic-tank systems, 190,000 storage
different types of point pollution
lagoons for polluted waste, 9,000 municipal landfills, About 2 million
septic tanks, storage lagoons, landfills,
underground storage tanks containing pollutants such as gasoline,
underground storage tanks, wastewater
Thousands of public and industrial wastewater treatment plants”( Arms)
treatment plants.
Topic 2: Nonpoint Pollution
Explanation
Comes from many different
sources.
Evidence/Quotes: An example of non point pollution is oil
that drips from several cars.
Explanation
Nonpoint pollution is more
dangerous then Point Pollution.
Evidence/Quotes: Nonpoint pollution accounts for 96
percent of the polluted bodies of water in the U.S(Arms)
Evidence /Quotes: Sources of Nonpoint pollution include
“Highway construction and maintenance: eroding soil and
toxic chemicals, Storm-water runoff from city and suburban
Explanations There are many
streets: oil, gasoline, dog feces, litter, pesticides from the
different sources of nonpoint
112 million hectares of crop land treated with these
pollution homes, lawns, farms, and
substances each year, 50 million tons of fertilizer applied to
highways along with many others.
crops and lawns, 10 million tons of dry salt applied to
highways for snow and ice control”( Arms)
Topic 3: Pathogens can commonly enter the water cycle through water pollution having many
effects on humans.
Evidence/Quotes: “Pathogens can enter water supplies in
Explanation Pathogens are disease
untreated wastewater or animal feces. Cholera, hepatitis and
causing organisms that can cause
typhoid are among the many diseases that people can catch
Cholera, hepatitis, and typhoid.
by drinking water that is polluted with pathogens”( Arms).
Explanation Some of the main
symptoms are gastroenteritis,
Evidence/Quotes: A recent example of this is the listeria out
dysentery, and vomiting. More
break in cantaloupes where 29 people across the U.S. have
serious pathogens, however, can
died listeria is one of many pathogens(Jalonick)
lead to neurologic infections,
cancer and even death.
Explanation Pathogens are disease Evidence /Quotes: Pathogens are disease causing organisms
causing bacteria
such as bacteria, viruses, and parasitic worms(epa)
Topic 4: Water Pollution can cause the artificial eutrophication of ponds and lakes.
Eutrophication- is the process that increases the amounts of nutrients, especially nitrogen and
phosphorus, in a marine or aquatic system.
Explanation The process of eutrophication is accelerated through contamination from sewage
and fertilizer runoff containing nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen.
Evidence/Quotes: “The natural process of eutrophication can be accelerated when inorganic
plant nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen get into the water from sewage and fertilizer
runoff”(arms).
Explanation Phosphorus causes the excessive growth of algae when the algae die and decompose
they use up the oxygen in the water too fast to be replaced therefore fish and other species living
in the water die off by suffocation.
Evidence/Quotes: “Phosphorus, a plant nutrient contained in detergents, as well as animal wastes
and fertilizers, causes the excessive growth of algae. The algae can form large mats, called algal
blooms, which float on the water. As the algae die and decompose, large amounts of dissolved
oxygen are used. Fish suffocate in the oxygen depleted water”(Harvey).
Explanation Some states have banned phosphate detergents to try to stop this problem while
others have limited the amount of use.
Evidence /Quotes: “In an effort to alleviate the problem, some states have banned phosphate
detergents, which contain phosphorus. Others have limited the amounts of phosphates in
detergents(arms)
Topic 5: Water Pollution Cleanup
Explanation The clean water act
was passed in 1972.
Explanation In 1980 the
Comprehensive Environmental
Response Compensation and
Liability act was passed.
Explanation The Marine
Protection, Research, and
Santuarys act was passed in 1972
Evidence/Quotes: The purpose of this act was to restore and
maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of
the nations waters(Arms)
Evidence/Quotes: This acts makes owners, operators, and
customers of hazardous waste sites responsible for their
cleanup. It has reduced the pollution of water by toxic
substances leached from hazardous waste dumps(epa)
Evidence /Quotes: This act empowered the environmental
Protection agency to control the dumping of sewage wastes
and toxic chemicals in the ocean(epa)
Works Cited
Arms, Karen. "Chapter 5 Our Water Resources." Holt Environmental Science. Austin, [Tex.:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1996. 121-43. Print.
Harvey, Julie K. "Pollution Sources." waterencyclopedia. N.p., 2011. Web. 17
Oct. 2011. <http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Po-Re/
Pollution-Sources-Point-and-Nonpoint.html>.
Jalonick, Mary Clare. "Listeria in cantalope." http://www.huffingtonpost.com.
N.p., 2011. Web. 3 Nov. 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/07/
listeria-in-cantaloupe-deaths_n_1000920.html>.
"Pathogens." epa.gov. N.p., 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. <http://water.epa.gov/
drink/contaminants/basicinformation/pathogens.cfm>.
"Water Pollution." Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. SDST library, 2011. Web.
13 Oct. 2011. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/
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