Water Sampling Careers

Q: Where would you live to have a career in water testing?
You can generally live anywhere near water or where there is a need for constant water testing regarding pollutant (Ex//near mills, landfills, etc.), So long as it is a place where people will give you grants for your work.

Q: What education is necessary for a career as a lab technician or field water sampler?
At least a bachelor’s degree in hydrology or a related subject, although a master’s degree or PhD is recommended and also required if you want an academic and senior research position.

Q: How many water samples per day would you be expected to process?
N/A

Q: What is the rate of pay for someone who is working in a career in water sampling?
Generally the earnings range from $35,000 to $130,000 a year for most but rate of pay mostly depends on the location, experience, and education of the worker.

Q: What other jobs are available once you have experience with water sampling?
Hydrologists/hydrogeologists, Environmental techs, Water treatment plant operators, Water Treatment Specialist, Field Service Tech, etc.

Q: Would you be interested in a career in water sampling?
I think it would be an interesting career path although I’ve always leaned more towards biology than careers such as ones involving hydrology.

Water Analysis

Q: Are there any obvious trends in the data?
The data is generally the same throughout all the water samples, other than slight variations in PH levels ranging from a level of 6-4. Except for the two samples from below the dam and the lake at Niles house; which are equally alike in Manganese and Arsenic levels, both containing a fair bit more of the two chemical elements than the other samples.

Q: Are there any surprises?
Not really, other than the fact that I thought we’d find a lot more chemicals and pollutants. I also had thought there would have been a bigger difference between the samples considering the distance between each of them, especially between water taken near the dam compared to water taken from Ghost Lake.

Q: What could have been done to improve upon our testing techniques?
I think we could of tried to test the water for mercury as well, seeing as that was the big concern with the mill’s involvement in the water.

Things To Think About

Q: Revisit your first assignment – Change starts with me! Have you done anything yet to change your ecological footprint? If you have, what challenges have you faced in trying to change your impact on the environment? If you haven’t, Why not? Is it because of laziness or are you finding it too difficult?

Yes, I am currently continuing to do the things I promised in my previous post regarding this issue of my ecological footprint. I have been turning on indoor lights only between the times of 6pm-6am when there is little to no sunlight to compensate for electrical lighting. I have also given up the habit of falling asleep to a movie at night, instead leaving the TV turned off and un-plugged. Although I have in fact had some unexpected challenges with this; after having grown accustomed to the sounds and light of the TV I’m finding it much harder to fall asleep at night. In the end, I’ve ended up leaving my radio on all night instead for some kind of sound; although a smaller device and less likely to consume as much electricity as a TV, it still bothers me for it to be left on because of the fact that I’ve grown so dependent on electrical systems.

Lung Diseases Caused By Air Pollution

Asthma
Asthma is a chronic, sometimes debilitating condition that has no known cure. It causes your airways to become constricted and swollen, filling with mucus. Your chest often feels tight causing you to cough or wheeze, and you just can’t seem to catch your breath. In severe cases, asthma attacks can actually be deadly. They kill approximately 5,000 people every year in the United States and 500 in Canada. It is believed that air pollution from cars, factories and power plants can cause asthma. Some elements known to stimulate the disease are as follows:
Ground Level Ozone:produced at ground level when tailpipe pollution from cars and trucks reacts with oxygen and sunlight. Ground level ozone is a big problem in cities with lots of traffic.
Sulfur Dioxide:produced when coal and crude oil are burned. Coal-fired power plants, particularly older plants that burn coal without SO2 pollution controls, are the worst SO2 polluters.
Particulate Matter:dust, soot, fly ash, diesel exhaust particles, wood smoke, and sulfate aerosols; which are suspended in the air as tiny particles.
Nitrogen oxide:A gas emitted from tailpipes and power plants, nitrogen oxide contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone and smog.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
A condition associated with frequent lung inflammation and infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Smoking is the main cause of COPD, but prolonged exposure to heavy air pollution can also cause the disease. Some indoor air pollutants can cause the disease as well such as cooking fire smoke in many developing countries around the world. More than 100,000 people in the United States alone die from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and 9,607 in Canada.

Emphysema
Emphysema is often associated with smoking and causes as much as 80 percent of cases, but air pollution and workplace air contaminants also cause emphysema. Pollutants in the air or smoke accumulate in the lungs and damage the mucus that keeps the lungs clean and healthy, leading to inflammation, infection and blockage.

Lung Cancer
Air pollution is a contributor to lung cancer, particularly in people who grew up in areas with significant air pollution, as pollution exposure during the developing years can have a significant impact on lungs. Accumulation of small particles from the air in the lungs can lead to cancerous growth, and air pollution has been determined to raise the risk of lung cancer as much as second-hand smoke.

The Deepwater Horizon Disaster

1. On what date did the Oil Rig begin leaking into the gulf coast?
The accident that happened aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that lead to the oil spill happened on April 20th 2010.

2. What issues complicated controlling the leaking of oil from the rig?
The blowout preventer (BOP) failed due to gas hydrates forming in the BOP, causing it to malfunction.

On May 7 a 98-ton steel containment dome was placed over the worst of the leaks, the oil originally planned to be funneled by a pipe to the surface, where it would be collected properly. This procedure failed when the dome’s opening was clogged with more gas hydrates.

On May 29, 2010, they pumped over 30,000 barrels of heavy mud into the well, in three attempts at rates of up to 80 barrels a minute, and deploying a wide range of different bridging materials, the operation did not overcome the flow from the well.

On June 16, a second containment system connected directly to the blowout preventer became operational carrying oil and gas to a service vessel where it was burned in a clean-burning system.

3. Is this an example of point source or non-point source pollution?
Point Source

4. What effects has this disaster had on marine life?
Because of the oil spill eight U.S. national parks are threatened as well as more than 400 species that live in the Gulf islands and marshlands, including the endangered Kemp’s Ridley turtle, the Green Turtle, the Loggerhead Turtle, the Hawksbill Turtle, and the Leatherback Turtle. In the national refuges most at risk, about 34,000 birds have been counted covered in oil. As of August 13, 4,678 dead animals had been collected, including 4,080 birds, 525 sea turtles, 72 dolphins and other mammals, and 1 reptile. Also, dolphins have been seen which are lacking food, and “acting drunk” due to the spill. Prey could also be negatively affected as coral reefs become smothered in oil. Such an amount of oil “may alter the chemistry of the sea, with unforeseeable results. The ecosystem could require years or even decades to recover, as previous spills have done. The oil could also harm fish directly, and microbes used to consume the oil would also reduce oxygen levels in the water. Add this to the fact that the crude gushing from the well contains approximately 40% methane, compared to about 5% found in typical oil deposits, and the oil could potentially suffocate marine life and create dead zones where oxygen is depleted.

5. What effects has this disaster had on Human life?
Answer #5

6. How long did the oil leak for? Is it still leaking? What amount of Oil has been released into the ocean?
The crude oil leaked for approximately three months, from April 20 to July 15. It released a total of about 4.9 million barrels of oil into the waters of the gulf.

7. What issues have been illustrated in the aftermath of this disaster?
Answer #7

8. What is the estimated cost in money and in life of this disaster?
The cost is about $59 million dollars and countless damages done to marine life.

Changing My Ecological Footprint

Alright, today in class we where confronted with the assignment of picking something we do during an average day and changing it to lessen our impact on the environment. Originally I had no idea how the heck to change much since I already changed a lot, but then I realized I still have one large electricity-wasting habit I could still change! I’ll start turning off the lights during the day and stop watching a movie to fall asleep, to save the wasted energy of the lights and the TV being left on all night.
That will be how I change my ecological footprint.