water pollution – Aquarius-Systems

Glyphosate Risks in Water Hyacinth Control Highlight Concerns

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 20:37:41 +0000

Water hyacinth, one of the most invasive aquatic plants, poses serious threats to waterbodies across India, including Pashan Lake in Pune and Powai Lake in Mumbai. As municipal authorities struggle to manage these infestations, the use of herbicides such as glyphosate is being considered as a cheaper and quicker solution. However, applying glyphosate to control water hyacinth can have long-term harmful effects on aquatic ecosystems. Glyphosate breaks down into aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), which remains toxic and continues to affect aquatic life. It reduces oxygen levels by promoting the decay of dead plant matter, leading to the death of fish and other aquatic species. Additionally, glyphosate can disrupt the food chain by harming beneficial algae and microorganisms that support aquatic biodiversity.

The risks of using glyphosate go beyond immediate environmental concerns. Studies suggest that its residues in waterbodies can accumulate over time, affecting not just fish but also amphibians and other organisms. In sensitive habitats, such as those with crocodiles or endemic species, these chemicals may alter reproductive cycles and hinder growth, leading to population declines. Furthermore, introducing glyphosate without addressing pollution sources, such as sewage inflow, only provides a temporary fix. Experts emphasize the need for thorough environmental assessments and long-term monitoring before opting for chemical interventions. Sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives, such as biological control using weevils or mechanical removal, offer safer solutions to protect India’s vulnerable aquatic ecosystems.

Water Hyacinth Shows Promise in Removing Toxic Chromium-6

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 21:42:46 +0000

Heavy metal poisoning is a growing concern in many parts of the country. A new method for removing chromium-6, a highly toxic heavy metal, from waste water has been developed by a group of scientists from India and Ethiopia. They claim it to be low-cost and safe.

The new method uses water hyacinth, a weed known for its ability to spread rapidly over water bodies. It is used for cleansing polluted water bodies owing to its remarkable capacity of absorbing pollutants.

In the new study, hyacinth was made into a powder and then mixed with water containing chromium-6. The powder was allowed to settle down and after two minutes the liquid above the powder was removed and analyzed for chromium-6. It was found that chromium-6 levels decreased significantly in water.

Herbicide Ban Targets Water Hyacinth in Vietnam Waterways

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 21:55:51 +0000

Authorities in the Medong delta province of Hau Giang have banned local authorities from spraying herbicide to the water hyacinth. This fast growing plant has slowly been taking over and blocking waterway traffic on rivers and canals in the area.

Many people breed water hyacinth locally to use for making exportable products such as baskets and furniture. These breeders must also contribute to clearing the weed from the water and remove dredged roots from water by destroying them or throwing them on soil rather than back into the water where they will continue to propagate.

Authorities have been spraying 2-4D to kill the water hyacinth and warned people to stop using the water for 10 days. However many households along the rivers and canals have no other source of clean water and the contaminated water must be used for their daily activities.

Oysters may be the Answer to Stop Eroding Shorelines

Wed, 16 Feb 2022 21:28:50 +0000

More than 85% of the world’s oyster reefs have been lost since the 1900s, through over-harvesting of the species, increased coastal development, destruction of wetlands and increased water pollution.

Oysters could one day be the answer to the complex question of how to protect California’s disappearing coastline.

While a project to restore oyster populations is still in its early stages, restoration efforts by Orange County Coastkeeper have attracted tens of thousands of native oysters to a habitat that also helps stabilize shorelines while improving water quality.

Stormwater Pollution is Killing Coho Before Spawning

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 16:35:52 +0000

The sweet seep of autumn rain is bringing coho salmon back home to their natal streams all over the Puget Sound basin in Washington State— where too often they encounter a bitter truth: pollution in a shocking 40 percent of their home range so bad it can inflict a swift death.

The culprit is stormwater, and it is causing death rates so high, some populations of wild coho are at risk of local extinction, researchers found.

Researchers at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle worked with collaborators, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, local tribes and the Wild Fish Conservancy, to survey 51 sites from 2000 to 2011 in streams all over the Puget Sound basin. They used the survey data with a new computer model to map predicted coho death rates. The results show that in an estimated 40 percent of their range in the Puget Sound Basin, 10 to 40 percent of coho salmon die before they can even spawn because of pollution.

Instead of Curbing Pollution State Lawmakers Consider Chemical Treatment

Tue, 04 Jan 2022 21:48:52 +0000

To clean up the pollution in Jordan Lake, North Carolina lawmakers have tried arguing. They’ve tried SolarBees. They’ve even tried ignoring the problem. All those tactics have failed. Now state officials are examining a potential chemical treatment for the lake — yet another experiment on a vital drinking water source for more than 350,000 people.

The lawmakers and lobbyists behind the chemical scheme are not publicly known. However, one of the state’s most powerful lobbyists, Harold Brubaker, who served 35 years in the House, including two terms as Speaker, represents SePro, a “life sciences” company that sells chemicals to kill aquatic plants in lakes and reservoirs.

SePro’s corporate headquarters are in Carmel, Ind., but it has a research and technology campus in Whitakers, N.C., and a distribution center in Rocky Mount. A review of this year’s registered lobbyists and their clients showed that SePro was the only company that specifically offered this service. Brubaker has represented them since 2016, according to state board of elections records.

Read More https://ncnewsline.com/briefs/instead-curbing-pollution-state-lawmakers-consider-funding-chemical-treatment-jordan-lake/#sthash.M7rsCxsF.dpbs

Buffalo River Restoration Shows New Life After Decades of Pollution

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 21:26:19 +0000

Overwhelmed by decades of pollution, by the late 60’s, the Buffalo River’s condition was disgraceful. Both Lyndon Johnson and Robert Kennedy visited the New York river to inspect the carnage, and the death knell for this once proud waterway was sounding.

Jill Jedlicka is Executive Director Of Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. The river hit rock bottom in around 1969 when it was functionally declared biologically dead by the federal government. Nothing could survive in the river, there was no oxygen in the water, not even Sludge Worms were living in the bottom of the river, it would change color, it would occasionally catch fire.

What was once a civic embarrassment is now a symbol of renewal. Over the past decade, a torrent of organizations has worked hard to restore the river. One of the most visible signs of life are the aquatic vegetation recently planted along the shore. From an environmental standpoint the re-establishment of sub aquatic vegetation and emergent vegetation is an indicator for the health of the river.

Copper Sulfate Algae Treatment Leads to Fish Kill in Colorado Reservoir

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 19:30:44 +0000

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is investigating Johnstown officials after their attempt to treat an algae outbreak left nearly 1,000 fish dead.

The Greeley Tribune reports that Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill says a worker put a copper sulfate into the town’s reservoir this summer to treat the algae. She says chemical ended up suffocating 972 fish.

The National Pesticide Information Center says copper sulfate can cause sudden plant death, causing fish to suffocate because of depleted oxygen and clogged gills.

Raccoon River Pollution Threatens Drinking Water With Nitrates and Toxic Algae

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 15:11:56 +0000

A national environmental organization labeled the Raccoon River one of the country’s most endangered because of toxic algae and nitrates. Des Moines Water Works called it a “catastrophe,” as the Raccoon is the major source for drinking water for a half-million Iowans.

Des Moines Water Works, after dumping as much as $250,000 a year into buying water from the increasingly polluted Saylorville Lake, is now considering a $50 million treatment plant expansion. But who will pay for it?

The report that labeled the Raccoon River endangered blamed the problem on the farm chemicals and livestock manure that are running from those emerald fields into our increasingly sickly green rivers and streams. However a lawsuit to share the cost with upstream polluters failed along with a separate case against the state of Iowa alleging the state was violating the public trust by failing to protect the Raccoon River from pollution.

Read More https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2021/07/12/green-water-is-costing-iowans-millions-of-greenbacks/

Wastewater Treatment Does Not Remove All Chemicals From Water

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 15:04:10 +0000

All the things that go down the drain and end up at the waste water treatment plant are not removed there. Some of the industrial byproducts that end up in sewers, the agricultural chemicals that runoff farmland, and pharmaceuticals that pass through our bodies all can end up in our streams and lakes.

Water treatment plants do a good job of killing the viruses and bacteria that cause waterborne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and dysentery. But dealing with chemicals seems more complicated for regulators. Only recently PFAS was discovered in drinking water, but it had been there for decades. More than likely there are other chemicals not yet detected.

Scientists don’t have the research facilities and money necessary to study what the complex mixtures of chemicals do to human health.