Missoula Water Sustainability
Missoula Water Sustainability
Missoula H2O
Rian Bartsch, Kelsey Cowan, Austin Colyer, Brookland Swingley
Intro to Technical Writing
April 21, 2013
Sustaining natural resources is vital to the survival of every species on Earth. Water sustainability, in terms of biology, is the maintenance and conservation of water resources that is necessary for the survival of all living things. Sustaining water is essential to many facets of life - biologically, environmentally, socially and economically.
Residents of Missoula, Montana are fortunate enough to live in an area with a relatively ample supply of water resources. The main source of water for the Missoula area is the Missoula aquifer. An aquifer is an …show more content…
Missoula receives 22% of its water flow from Milltown to Hellgate aquifer according to Missoula County Water Quality District (WQD). Missoula County WQD reported how severely this arsenic contamination affected Missoula’s water quality. An excerpt of the report showed: “The reservoir sediments contained an estimated 2,100 tons of arsenic and released 105 pound of arsenic per day or 19 tons per year into the Missoula aquifer. Approximately 5.5 trillion gallons of arsenic contaminated groundwater flowed downstream into the Missoula aquifer each year.” Actions have been taken to clean up Milltown Dam and currently no domestic wells exceed the arsenic drinking standards. The removal of the Milltown Dam was one of the largest efforts to decontaminate Missoula’s aquifer. Currently the Milltown Dam is not a threat for the Missoula aquifer but the dam could again become a possible threat and is monitored carefully. Contamination of the aquifer was not solely from the Milltown
Dam but exists in many other ways. Not many people think of drinking water or the aquifer when talking of sewer systems or septic tanks. There are two types of septic tanks, holding and leach fields. Both types can be harmful to the aquifer. Sink, shower, toilet, and laundry water are all collected in a septic system. This common household wastewater contains bacteria and viruses, as well as nitrates …show more content…
Missoula Conservation district says that watering lawns on sunny days is not beneficial – when the temperature reaches over 78 degrees the water will not absorb in the ground and will not be useful to the lawn or pasture. The most conservation friendly way to water land is just after dark when the temperature is dropping and the plants are not in direct sunlight. Some people around Missoula have adopted a new landscaping that requires no or less water; this is called drought tolerant landscaping. This landscaping requires 75% less water than normal lawns and contains rock, brick, or wood chips, which require no water at
Missoula H2O
Rian Bartsch, Kelsey Cowan, Austin Colyer, Brookland Swingley
Intro to Technical Writing
April 21, 2013
Sustaining natural resources is vital to the survival of every species on Earth. Water sustainability, in terms of biology, is the maintenance and conservation of water resources that is necessary for the survival of all living things. Sustaining water is essential to many facets of life - biologically, environmentally, socially and economically.
Residents of Missoula, Montana are fortunate enough to live in an area with a relatively ample supply of water resources. The main source of water for the Missoula area is the Missoula aquifer. An aquifer is an …show more content…
Missoula receives 22% of its water flow from Milltown to Hellgate aquifer according to Missoula County Water Quality District (WQD). Missoula County WQD reported how severely this arsenic contamination affected Missoula’s water quality. An excerpt of the report showed: “The reservoir sediments contained an estimated 2,100 tons of arsenic and released 105 pound of arsenic per day or 19 tons per year into the Missoula aquifer. Approximately 5.5 trillion gallons of arsenic contaminated groundwater flowed downstream into the Missoula aquifer each year.” Actions have been taken to clean up Milltown Dam and currently no domestic wells exceed the arsenic drinking standards. The removal of the Milltown Dam was one of the largest efforts to decontaminate Missoula’s aquifer. Currently the Milltown Dam is not a threat for the Missoula aquifer but the dam could again become a possible threat and is monitored carefully. Contamination of the aquifer was not solely from the Milltown
Dam but exists in many other ways. Not many people think of drinking water or the aquifer when talking of sewer systems or septic tanks. There are two types of septic tanks, holding and leach fields. Both types can be harmful to the aquifer. Sink, shower, toilet, and laundry water are all collected in a septic system. This common household wastewater contains bacteria and viruses, as well as nitrates …show more content…
Missoula Conservation district says that watering lawns on sunny days is not beneficial – when the temperature reaches over 78 degrees the water will not absorb in the ground and will not be useful to the lawn or pasture. The most conservation friendly way to water land is just after dark when the temperature is dropping and the plants are not in direct sunlight. Some people around Missoula have adopted a new landscaping that requires no or less water; this is called drought tolerant landscaping. This landscaping requires 75% less water than normal lawns and contains rock, brick, or wood chips, which require no water at