FILTERING WATER OFF THE STREETS
Can water that has been contaminated with oils and dirt be filtered and used for drinking or watering plants?
Konrad Brayer and Alex Goodwin
Mr. Oz’s Physical Science
Sonoran Science Academy Davis Monthan
September 25, 2013
Southern
Arizona is a barren desert, known for its sparse rainfall averages.
Of the meager ten inches of rain Arizonans get a year, nearly half of
it is wasted in urban areas by running down streets into gutters where
it cannot be salvaged. Because water is so valuable, finding a way to
harvest it from the streets, will help civilians all across southern
Arizona have more water for important natural uses like watering plants
and basic consumption.
The
water that runs down streets is very toxic.Asphalt is used as a binder
or seal for roads. It is what gives streets their color, and is
extremely sticky alone. Asphalt contains high amounts of
petroleum,sulfur,arsenic, and mercury. It is the biggest reason water
off the street cannot be filtered and used for anything. (Environmental
Protection Agency Nonpoint Source Control Branch, 2010) The other reason
is that with cars driving on roads, our streets become covered in
leaking oils and gases, as well as exhaust. Plus, our roadways are
littered with trash and wastes.
Water
is actually the cause of most of these toxins even coming out of the
roads. When it rains, water acts as a plunger and sucks up the oils off
the road. The cause, in part, is rain. Instead of changing the source,
which would require every road to be dug up and replaced with a new
substance, humans can easily filter the water AFTER it is collected from
the streets.
Many
attempts have been made to curb the damage done by lost water from
urban runoff. In 1972, the Clean Waters Act was passed, starting a
national campaign to prevent water pollution as urban runoff. As a
result, the Arizona Department for Environmental Quality was formed and
today they oversee the activities from the Clean Waters Act (Waters, et
al., 2011). Along with Cochise and Maricopa, Pima county has
taken initiative and started public anti-water pollution campaigns like Clean Water Starts with Me and other water management movements (Waters, et al., 2011).
Other
than city water management, everyday citizens can help as well. Small
things like over irrigating, not littering, and washing cars at car
washes rather than at home can make a big difference in the cleanliness
of urban runoff. However, while the efforts of citizens and city
governments are beneficial, they come far from solving the problem. The
most effective way to solve the problem is to filter the water is to
filter the urban runoff at the source.
Although
water is being wasted by flowing down the streets, in many other places
water is harvested whenever it rains. These gutters, most commonly
found urban areas and surburban neighborhoods, filter water into
cisterns and water barrels. This water is usable due to the fact that
these “water catchers” have built in filters. A filter is a device that
leaves out impurities and lets only one substance through. Most water
filters are made of a charcoal or sponge-like material called sand
blocks, an extremely rough fabric that only water can penetrate. These
are normal filters, but is unlikely that they will work with streets
containing oily runoff.
Water
is an extremely valuable resource in Tucson. It is vital to the native
plants, animals, and people. Much of this water is wasted in the city in
a process called urban runoff, where water is lost by flowing down
streets. In the areas of streets containing chemicals (Every where in
the city with a paved street) with stronger dirts and oils, it will most
likely require an entirely new type of filter to render this water
usable for watering plants, or even drinking.
CITATIONS
Waters, S. et al. (2011). When it Rains it Runs Off: Runoff and Urbanized Areas in Arizona. Arizona
Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcals.arizona.edu%2Fpubs%2Fwater%2Faz1542.pdf&ei=ADEzUsbiELOl2AW_o4H4Dg&usg=AFQjCNGflIVfuFt7eFI99YTIYGBEiUOgqg&sig2=u7SDZ8ab17UI9M67cZIPGA&bvm=bv.52164340,d.b2I
Arizona
Department of Environmental Quality (2009). Arizona’s 2009 Annual
Nonpoint Source Annual Report: Nonpoint Source Program July 1, 2008 –
June 30, 2009. Phoenix, AZ: State of Arizona. Retrieved from Arizona
Department of Environmental Quality website:
http://www.azdeq.gov/environ/water/watershed/download/NSP_Annual_Report09-PA.pdf
Arizona
Department of Environmental Quality (2009). Fact Sheet: Fish
Consumption Advisories – April 2009. Phoenix, AZ: State of Arizona.
Retrieved from Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
website:http://www.azdeq.gov/environ/water/assessment/download/fish-0409.pdf
City
of Clarksville, IN (2009). What is Stormwater? Clarksville, IN: City of
Clarksville. Retrieved from www.clarksvillesw.com/residents.html
DeFrancesco, Donna and Robyn Baker (2008). Landscape Watering by the Numbers. N.p.: Park & Co.
Environmental
Protection Agency Nonpoint Source Control Branch (2010). USEPA Nonpoint
Source Fact Sheets. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Retrieved from Environmental Protection Agency website:
http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/facts/
