Water Quality

So. Many. Angles.

Water's a funny thing. It's everywhere, yet it's incredibly precious and we continue to poison it. Choose an angle and go down the rabbit hole.

Watch:

Water Quality (7:35 min) - (https://youtu.be/Blfm9RZZ8U4)

Read:

Frumkin Chapter 16 Water and Health, starts on page 413 – Gives the big picture

Why does it matter? (What are the health impacts?)

Water & Cholera

Learn about John Snow and Cholera in Episode 4: The poop show. This Podcast Will Kill You. February 10, 2018.

After the fall: Gastrointestinal Illness

So gross. So cool. So important.

Read:

Potera, C. (2015). After the fall: gastrointestinal illness following downpours. Environmental Health Perspectives, 123 (9), https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.123-A243
Check out the status of Portland's Big Pipe - are we overflowing?

Link via NIEHS

1980's Viewmaster Nostalgia

Remember Viewmasters? Well, their production created water toxicity at their site in Beaverton. Retired SPH professor Bill Lambert was involved in the discovery.

Read:

“Feasibility investigation of worker exposure to trichloroethylene at the view-master factory in Beaverton, Oregon. Oregon Department of Human Services. (2004).

Source: Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO), which links to National Technical Reports Library

How is it measured?

Source: http://californiawaternewsdaily.com/industry/two-siskiyou-county-water-treatment-operators-lose-licenses-for-falsifying-public-water-test-results/

Visualizing Water Quality

Interactive map showing California water testing results. https://ca.water.usgs.gov/projects/gama/water-quality-results/

Willamette River Water Quality

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced the release of its Willamette River Basin Water Toxics Summary for 2020. In 2016, the agency conducted water quality, sediment and tissue sampling in 16 rivers and creeks across the Willamette River Basin. It did not find evidence of toxics that pose an immediate risk to human health or the environment.

DEQ PDF

Why measuring water quality matters

First Avenue South in Normandy Park, Washington;
CREDIT: KUOW PHOTO / JOHN RYAN

Tire outputs are killing Coho salmon

Great story on NPR (Dec 2020) about how tires can degrade and impact salmon populations.

Arsenic in Drinking Water

Learn more about arsenic from Dartmouth University "Arsenic and You" and from our SEPA colleagues at "All about Arsenic"

Source: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/arsenicandyou/arsenic-water-testing/

Credit: Rafiqur Rahman/Reuters/Newscom

Exposure to arsenic in drinking water has been associated with a decrease in response to the diphtheria vaccine in Bangladeshi children.

Read:

Erickson, B.E. (2019). Linking pollution and infectious disease. Chemical and Engineering News, American Chemical Society, March 18, 2019 (via American Chemical Society)

Source: Compound Chem (June 30, 2016). Get the whole story here.

Intersection with Climate Change

Oceans are predicted to get warmer and more acidic. We are already seeing that impact in Oregon waterways. The acidification really hurts shellfish. Seeing as Oregon is a major producer of oysters and mussels, what will this mean for Oregon?

Fortunately, we have some solutions through technology:

Mr. Rogers "Look for the Helpers" Reading:

Williams, G. (2018). Alan Barton fights to save the shellfish. 1859 Oregon Magazine, March 15, 2018. Link to article.

State lines by watershed

What if state lines were determined by the watershed?

Learn more from HPPR

Book Club Favorites

Fagin, D. (2013). Toms River: A story of science and salvation. New York: Bantam Books.

eBook via World Catalog | He won a Pulitzer

So good! Bingeworthy. Lisa highly recommends.