“We are, quite literally, gambling with the future of our planet for the sake of hamburgers” – Peter Singer, Animal Liberation
As a collegiate rower, I spend much of my time on the water. We place our carbon fiber rowing shells into the murky waters of the Colorado River each morning, and embark on a ride that takes us across miles of the water. During those dark, early morning hours, the water is calm and serine. It feels as if we have the entire lake to ourselves each morning, even if only until the sun begins to rise. As the sun begins to rise behind the Longhorn Dam, wind ripples the water, birds begin to flutter about, and the sound of traffic rings through the air. We wrap up our workouts by removing the rowing shell and carrying it up to the boathouse. There, we wash the boats after each practice, being careful to rid the shell of mud and small bits of debris, and put the vessel back into the boathouse for the next morning’s use.
Each morning, the river allows individuals to come together as a team and embark on a time that fulfills both the body and the spirit. If it were not for the expansive waters of the river, rowing would not exist within the heart of the city. It is the river we have to thank for allowing us to use its body. However, gratitude is not the attitude that reflects our treatment of the river.
Those small bits of debris that we wash from our boat each morning are part of a larger scale of garbage that floats along the river. Much of it becomes trapped near our docks, floating or sinking to the shallow bottom, waiting to be removed or to simply be carried away again. While Austin is known as an eco-friendly city, there are still environmental hazards that exist just out of eyeshot.
This past month, a friend and I helped to clean up one of the docks near the boathouse. Closest to shore, we found layers of Styrofoam, in small and large pieces, to be the hardest to remove. Further down, wrappers from candy, chips, and other food containers were found. These wrappers were seemingly untouched; despite having been floating in the water for some time, they appeared just as they had when someone first unwrapped the food for the first time. We were shocked by the amount of plastic and rubber found so close to shore. Yet, the most shocking finding came from a plastic Girl Scout cookie wrapper. Reaching to grab the plastic wrapper stuck to the river sediment, I was startled and disturbed to find that there was something inside of the wrapper. A small fish had managed to make its way into the plastic wrapper, getting trapped at the bottom, unable to back out of the slender container. My friend and I were deeply saddened to see the cruel reality of our community’s careless behavior. As we helped to remove the fish from the bag, we gasped to see that its fin began to move back and forth – it was still alive!!
After spending the morning cleaning around the dock, I began to wonder what other locations along the lake must look like. How much debris had gotten stuck in the small inlets along the river? Was the volume of garbage as high as our docks? What other creatures were harmed by the pervasive remnants in the aquatic ecosystems? In a town like Austin, it is hard to imagine the effects of climate change and pollution impacting the lives and creatures around us. On Lady Bird Lake, kayakers, paddleboarders, and canoers paddle between its shores. On Lake Austin, motorized vehicles are also added to that list. With the gas pollution added to the amount of plastic waste along the shores, I can only imaging that the ecosystem disturbance.
Lake Austin serves as a source of drinking water within the community[1]. After seeing the debris along the lake, it got be thinking: What kind of contaminates are we drinking or having to filter out of our water?
In continuation from my blog in February, I decided to further my tap water quality tests by testing the filtered water in my apartment and my parents’ home. I then compared those results to that of the tap water results last month. Interestingly enough, I did not see much variance from the tap water to the filtered water in Austin. The main difference in the filtered test was an increase in acidity and a decrease in the total chlorine in the water. However, there was more variance between the tap water and the filtered water in Hutto. The filtered test demonstrated a drop in total hardness, total chlorine, alkalinity, and pH. This large difference is likely due to the vast amounts of limestone found in the Hutto area, leading to a higher amount of alkalinity as well as water hardness. To better understand what these differences meant, I needed to explore the implications of the water qualities.
Ground water moves through soil and over rock before entering our waterways and systems. As it does this, it absorbs trace amounts of minerals, two of which are common to many Americans: calcium and
magnesium. These two minerals affect the “hardness” of water. Often, we may notice that our dishes are not as clean as we would like or that our laundry is not as soft as it should be. This is because the minerals of calcium and magnesium interact with soaps and detergents in our everyday lives. Often, households use water “softeners” to remove these minerals. These “softener” system acts as an ion exchange resin and remove the “hard” minerals from water. While this “hard” water may leave us feeling dirty and sticky, there are no health hazards we should worry about[2].
Chlorine is added to drinking water for purification purposes, in attempt to rid the liquid of odor and bacteria. When the chlorine is introduced, it reacts to form hydrochlorous acid and hypochlorites. Chlorine present in the water is helpful to maintain clean water during transport between water facility and households[3]. However studies have shown that high chlorine intake over the course of an individual’s lifetime can lead to bladder cancer. While chlorine leads to purified drinking water, it may not have the best impact upon our health[4].
Alkalinity is a measure of the amount of ions present in water. The presence of such ions helps to maintain a neutralized pH. In natural drinking water, high alkalinity levels are not common. Treatment facilities introduce higher levels of these ions, leading to our consumption of such compounds. These levels help balance the acidity of the water in moderate to high amounts. There is not a health risk due to alkalinity alone; paired with high metal concentrations (high pH) or corrosive water (low pH), can lead to health impacts depending on the situation[5].
My study’s results demonstrated that my family’s three-filtered water system is indeed working. And while little difference exists between Austin tap and filtered water, the filters prove to be doing their jobs. It is refreshing to see just how much filters can help reduce the intake of different ions and chemicals through our water. If not for filters and water treatment facilities, there is no telling exactly what contaminants we would be putting into our bodies.
For the past two months, I tested the water quality of tap water in Austin and Hutto. I want to continue my project by seeing first-hand the measures taken to treat our drinking water at a local water treatment facility. Then, I hope to shift my focus toward understanding the water resources available in Costa Rica. Lastly, I will observe the different waterways in Costa Rica, note the similarities and differences in water resource management and care, and use a similar test kit to test the local drinking water of Costa Rica.
[1] http://www.austintexas.gov/department/water
[2] http://www.watertechonline.com/testing-for-chlorine-in-drinking-water/
[3] http://www.water-research.net/index.php/water-treatment/tools/hard-water-hardness
[4] http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/hardness.pdf
[5] http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-education2/74-alkalinity-water.htm