Agricultural water pollution

Agricultural water pollution

In their journal article,” Farms, More Productive Than Ever, Are Poisoning Drinking Water in Rural America” , Jesse Newman and Patrick McGroarty tried to reveal how the farm product like fertilizers are causing water pollution, a menace that is causing a national disaster. The article was published in January 2019 as an evaluation of how seriously the Americans are consuming poison in the form of water in their daily lives.

The article portrays water pollution as the central theme. The Wisconsin residents are at the center of the disaster whereby they are said to be consuming the contaminated water. According to the research by the Environmental Data Agency in 2016, nearly 500 public water systems exceeded the recommended nitrate levels.  One of the residents that have been featured in the story is the 68 years old Chuck Wagner and the 50 years old Lee Kinnard. Mr. Kimnard is said to be one of the farmers whose farm products are contributing to water pollution. He keeps seven thousand Hol also known to be supplying farm manure to the nearest farms. On the other side, Mr. Wagner owns a 123 foot well that after five years was found out to be containing contaminated water.

Newman and Patrick tries to prove how much private farm products cause bacteria and nitrate concentration especially to the wells that are located near farmlands. “The worst-kept secret is how vulnerable private wells are to agricultural run,” Cwiertny. According to the researchers, nutrients such as nitrates are said to cause birth defects, thyroid problems, cancer and a potentially fatal condition in infants.

The publishing of this article was a loud alarm to the United States regarding the issue of water pollution. The Department of the Environment Safety of Wisconsin in America was pushed to ensure proper measures of dealing with the disaster. One of the ways it ensured was coming up with a new regulation to ban the use of some selected fertilizers and manure.

Wisconsin residents like Mr. Kimnard also ensured some countermeasures to protect the underground water. When planting, he also includes some cover crops such as oats and cloves that are believed to soak nutrients and prevent them from mixing with the underground water. He has also drilled pit whereby he filter all the nutrients that flow on water in his farm.

Majority of the homesteads in the United States depend on private wells that are not treated or monitored and this is very risky because the residents are not aware of the quality of the water they are consuming. Agri-chemicals have been the major trending contributing of underground water pollution. In this case the main solution starts with the farmers because they are the one who use these products. While farming, they are supposed to use the right amount of these fertilizers and manure at the right time of the year and with the right method to prevent these chemicals from reaching the water levels.  Another thing is keeping some distance to water bodies especially when applying fertilizers or any other chemical to the soil to avoid agricultural runoff. When used improperly, manure and fertilizers contain nitrogen and phosphorus that pollute water. What we taken in are more important since it contributes to a high percentage of our health status. Consuming contaminated water is one of the major factors that cause some chronic illnesses. In this case the government in collaboration with the health departments should monitor the quality of water its people are taking for them to reduce most of the diseases among them. “`

 

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