WSS and WMA Drippy

Acid rain is a water quality improvement success story! Acid rain was a serious problem in the northeastern United States, but regulations have been successful in reducing the problem. Acid rain is not pure acid falling from the sky, but rather it is rainfall or atmospheric moisture that has been mixed with elements and gases that have caused the moisture to become more acidic than normal. Pure...

There is a growing concern about the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in water bodies and in drinking water. Pharmaceuticals get into the water supply via human excretion and when drugs get flushed down the toilet. You might think wastewater treatment plants would take care of the situation, but many pharmaceuticals pass through water treatment.

Nutrients, such as nitrogen and  phosphorus, are essential for plant and animal growth and nourishment, but the overabundance of certain nutrients in water can cause a number of adverse health and ecological effects. The most abundant form of nitrogen on the planet is nitrogen gas in the air that we breathe, about 78 % of air is composed of nitrogen gas. However, plants and animals require “fixed”...

There's no end to the effects that urbanization can have on water bodies. Millions of people; landscape manipulation; waste material; dumping of chemicals and fertilizers; withdrawing water for peoples' uses. As you expect, urbanization rarely improves water quality, but in order to prevent problems, one needs to understand how urbanization affects local waters.

Nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, are essential for plant and animal growth and nourishment, but the overabundance of certain nutrients in water can cause a number of adverse health and ecological effects.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is a measure of how much oxygen is dissolved in the water - the amount of oxygen available to living aquatic organisms. The amount of dissolved oxygen in a stream or lake can tell us a lot about its water quality.

Water and electricity don't mix, right? Well actually,  pure water is an excellent insulator and does not conduct electricity. The thing is, you won't find any pure water in nature, so don't mix electricity and water. Our Water Science School page will give you all the details.

Lucky for us all, our drinking water is almost always clear (very low turbidity). Other water, such as the creek behind your house after a rainstorm, is likely to be highly turbid—brown with floating sediment. Turbidity is the clarity of water and it is an important factor in water quality.

In scientific terms, water hardness is generally the amount of dissolved calcium and magnesium in water. But in layman's terms, you may notice water hardness when your hands still feel slimy after washing with soap and water, or when your drinking glasses at home become less than crystal clear. Learn a lot more about water hardness on the Water Science School site.

In your everyday life you are probably not involved much with saline water. You are concerned with freshwater to serve your life's every need. But, most of Earth's water is saline, or salty water. Just look at the oceans and remember that oceans comprise about 97% of all water on, in, and above the Earth.

Water in nature is never really totally clear, especially in surface water, such as rivers and lakes. Water has color and some extent of dissolved and suspended material, usually dirt particles (suspended sediment). Suspended sediment is an important factor in determining the quality of water.

Much of the electricity used in the United States and worldwide comes from thermoelectric power plants. This type of production includes fuels such as coal, oil, gas-fired, nuclear, and other lesser-used methods, such as geothermal and burning waste material. Production of electrical power results in one of the largest uses of water in the United States and worldwide. Water for thermoelectric...