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Did
you know?
Reverse osmosis is the finest water filtration method known. This process will
allow the removal of particles as small as ions from a solution. It is used
to purify water and remove salts and other impurities in order to improve the
color, taste or properties of the fluid. R.O. uses a membrane that is semi-permeable,
allowing the fluid that is being purified to pass through it, while rejecting
other ions and contaminants from passing.
This technology uses a process
known as crossflow to allow the r.o. membrane to continually clean itself. This
is the reason of why an r.o. element can last many years before clogging or
need replacement. This
water purification process requires a driving force to push the fluid through
the membrane, and the most common force is household water pressure or pressure
from a booster pump. The higher the pressure, the larger the driving force and
efficiency.
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Water
and agriculture...the big connection.
In
the world of water resource management, the industry of agriculture is
always noted for the potential problems such as fecal contamination, which
can lead to microbial contamination of drinking waters. However, a growing
concern is also the use of pestides. Agriculture is a major user of pesticides.
Most crops grown in the U.S. receive some pesticide application. For most
U.S. crops, for example, 85% of all acreage is herbicide-treated, representing
some 220 million acres treated with pesticides. Detailed data on agricultural
pesticide use is available from a variety of sources, including the National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS): Agricultural Chemical Use Database
and the National Center for Food & Agricultural Policy's (NCFAP) National
Pesticide Use Database.
Both
of these sources provide information about pesticide use that can be searched
by active ingredient, crop type, or state. The EPA estimates that 70 percent
of all pesticides used in the U.S. are used in agriculture. On a national
scale, pesticide applications clearly associated with intensive agriculture.
In 1992, the heaviest applications by pounds of pesticides
applied to major agricultural crops occurred
in the north-central Mississippi River Basin and in the southeast.
There
is no doubt that major benefits have resulted from the use of pesticides
in U.S. agriculture. Significant yield increases, economic savings for
growers and consumers, and reduced soil erosion have been attributed to
the widespread use of herbicides as explained in the National Center for
Food and Agricultural Policy's summary The Value of Herbicides in U.S.
Crop Production. Without herbicides, production costs for alternative
weed control could exceed 14 billion annually, more than double what the
nation's growers spend on herbicides applications. For most crops, yields
without herbicide use would be reduced significantly. Substantial reductions
in cropland erosion have been accomplished through the use of conservation
tillage, which usually relies on herbicide applications. Without herbicide
use, reduced tillage would become difficult or impossible, leading to
more than 150 million tons of increased soil erosion annually.
These
benefits have not come without cost. The U.S. Department of Agriculture
has evaluated the potential for runoff and leaching losses of pesticides
from agricultural land as a function of both pesticide application and
land and soil factors. Clearly, dissolved pesticide runoff losses are
a potential risk in the north-central Mississippi River Basin. Leaching
losses from farm fields are potentially high throughout the central U.S.
and in much of the southeast. Water quality data clearly show that pesticides
have reached surface and ground water. U.S. Geological Survey investigations
have revealed widespread contamination of the nation's water resources
by pesticides. Concentrations of herbicides and insecticides in agricultural
streams, and in most rivers in agricultural regions, were highest in those
areas of the nation with the greatest agricultural use. Herbicide concentrations
were greatest in central U.S. streams, where use is most extensive. A
relatively small number of heavily used compounds accounts for most detections.
The
most frequently detected pesticide compounds in agricultural areas were
the major herbicides atrazine metolachlor, cyanazine, and alachlor, ranked
first, second, fourth, and fifth in national herbicide use for agriculture.
In most agricultural areas, the highest levels of pesticides occur as
seasonal pulses-usually during spring and summer-lasting from a few weeks
to several months during and following high-use periods. Total pesticide
concentrations in streams draining urban areas are generally lower than
in agricultural areas, but seasonal pulses last longer and the concentrations
are more dominated by insecticides. Insecticide concentrations were highest
in urban streams. Erosion caused by agriculture is also a major concern
for management of water sources.
Why?
Erosion by both water and wind can be severe when bare soil is exposed
and unprotected by vegetation. This is particularly true on steep slopes
where runoff water can concentrate and flow straight downhill. All land-disturbing
activities can cause erosion problems, including forest management, construction,
urban areas, highways, and surface mining. Agricultural erosion is a major
sediment source because of the large area involved and the repeated land-disturbing
effects of cultivation and grazing.
Researchers
estimate that sediments carried to the oceans by the world's rivers increased
from 10 billion tons per year before the introduction of intensive agriculture
to 25-50 billion tons per year thereafter. Of the 75 billion tons of soil
eroded worldwide each year, about two-thirds are believed to come from
agricultural land. In 1995, 4 billion tons of soil was estimated to be
lost each year from 395 million acres of U.S agricultural land. This translates
into a total economic loss of more than $44 billion each year, of which
$27 billion represents reduction in soil productivity.
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