Chicago Water Quality Report

Chicago Water Quality Report

1. Where does the city of Chicago source its water?

Chicago sources its water from Lake Michigan, one of the largest lakes in the United States. The purification of the water thereafter takes place in two main water treatment plants, namely, the Jardine Water Purification Plant serving in the Northern area and Swayer water Purification Plant in the Southern parts of the city and its suburbs (Water Quality Report, 2016 pg.2).

2. List at least four elements that are tested for in water

• Inorganic contaminants
• State-regulated contaminants
• Unregulated contaminants
• Microbial contaminants

3. In this report, which elements are detected? State the units used to measure these contaminants.

In this report, the most prevalent contaminants are inorganic, microbial, radioactive, and organic contaminants. These are usually measured in milligrams per liter (mg/L), micrograms per liter, Nephelometric Turbidity Unit, and Picocuries per liter.

4. State the names and formulas for at least three ions tested for in water?

The testing process goes as far as testing for ions such as barium (Ba 2+), Copper (Cu 2+), and Lead (Pb 2+) (Water Quality Report, 2016 pg.3).

5. State at least two sources of contaminants

• In most cases, contaminants may originate from agriculture. A good example includes pesticides or herbicides used in farming activities.
• Water contaminants may also come from sewage treatment plants. Here, a series of bacteria and viruses are deposited into water, thereby causing contamination.

6. Describe two activities in your community that affects water quality?

Certain human activities affect the quality of water in my community, for example, irrigation. Typically, the increase in population increases the demand for food. With a lack of rainfall or little rain, people have turned to irrigation as a way of producing food for the huge population. However, irrigation poses a problem to water quality by causing leaching and sometimes a run-off. This, in turn, makes the farmers use too much fertilizer to get high yields. Another human activity is poor disposal of waste products whereby people tend to throw waste directly to the river. This interferes with the quality of water

7. What solutions do you propose to reduce the levels of water pollution?

Reducing the level of water pollution will take the initiative of the entire community. For instance, people should avoid cutting down trees and use an alternative form of fuel such as natural gas and oil. Also, they should plant more trees to replace the once that have already been cut. While irrigation as a farming method is effective, it would be better if people found an alternative to this method or if it would be done in a way that the water does not spill off, causing a run-off. In this regard, it would be very easy to control the level of water contamination.