Environment Foundation for Ecology-Chesapeake Bay Cleanup, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The Chesapeake, Virginia Basin is an area that is of special concern for household pollutants being put into the bay. With this in effect the city has asked people to stop using detergents and so much water because the river will become too contaminated and the water supply is difficult to come by in the area. The Suffolk area has five disposal sites open for the consumers to use instead of ridding wastes in the river area. It is apparent that cooking oil, drain cleaners, detergents, wood and metal cleaners, ant poisons, flea repellants and other hazardous chemicals are presently being dumped into the Chesapeake Bay area and the pollution is up 45% since last year. Also, the consumers are using 67% more water which means there will not be enough drinking water for consumers by year 2014 at this present rate. This paper will examine the pollutants, ways to rid them and how to gain water percentage back and still allow consumers to wash their cars, dispose of pollutants and use water sparingly.

For years the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia area has had effortless worth put into decreasing the detergents and chemicals being discharged into the river and further are attempting to decrease the chance of running out of drinking water because the sumps and pumps and water purification system cannot keep up with the amounts of pollutants being discharged into the river basin. Pollutants contaminate the river to the point where is difficult to filter the chemicals out of the water. They are running out of ways to purify even drinking water. At this rate, next year, the city will have to watch the amount of water they use for living and drinking.

Wouldn’t it make much more sense for the consumers to stop putting all those chemicals in the river? Where are they going to dump them if they stop? Well that is easy because the area has five other places to dispose chemicals and waste but the consumers are lazy and do not want to travel to these sites to dispose of chemicals. They want to use water and chemicals just as other cities do but unfortunately the bay does not support such abuse. It is called abuse because the consumers are made aware of the situation but they continue to non conform. Why are they being so pig headed? It is a convenience thing but they will soon learn that they will have to choose between clean drinking water and dumping pollution conveniently. It is an easy choice to make because humans need water everyday to survive.

Let’s look at the amount of chemicals being dumped daily. Reports show 45% of the chemicals dumped are household chemicals from consumers. If they would use less detergents and chemicals this problem would be solved. They have the option to use more and go to the five dumping sites to dispose of them. They are conveniently located every ten miles of the geographic region of the Chesapeake, VA area. Ten miles is not too long to drive to preserve the waterways of this area and ensure drinking water next year. This is a real life catastrophe just about to happen. They must act quickly. Such chemicals are very dangerous because they contain phosphates which are difficult to centrifuge and filter from the water. How do we eliminate phosphates? Well we cannot but we can filter faster. Why can’t the city afford a better filtering system? Well they have the best filtering (sand) that is available today in this modern world. Through the use of sand filters and chemical inhibitors put in the water they are able to filter enough water for all the consumers to drink regularly with regular dumping of chemicals. Without the aid of the people, the system will fail vehemently. So lets start dumping in the five areas of the area so that we don’t run out of water next year. Lets keep the pumping and sump stations clear of uninhibited chemicals through the use of dumping alternatives to the river. There is not a choice for the people. They have to strictly adhere to the cry of the city for them to comply. There has been an update in the past three months. Since people have been dumping at the alternative centers (five in the city) the decrease of dangerous water pollutants have been decreased by 33%. They still have a way to go however this decrease ensures there will be clean drinking water for the first four months of 2014. If the consumers adhere to the dumping policy they can ensure clean drinking water for 2014 and 2015 with minimal effort.

Conclusion

The 2013 data shows the policy is being adhered to and all are compliant hence there will definitely be enough manpower and filtering power available for clean drinking water to be available through 2014. The chemicals being discharged into the river basin have decreased by 55% in the last three months hence there is an assurance of clean drinking water for all Chesapeake, VA residents.

Works Cited

“Chesapeake Bay Detergent Pollutions.” Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2012. Web.17 Nov 2013.

Clentoni, Bill. “Virgina Beach on Climate Change.” New York Times. New York Times, May 2013. Web. 17May 2013.

Dean, Cornelia. “Saving the Planet from Pollution.” New York Times. New York Times, 10 May 2011. Web. 17 May 2013.