Effects Of Raw Sewage Discharged Directly Environmental Sciences Essay

Effects Of Raw Sewage Discharged Directly Environmental Sciences Essay Throughout history of existence of man, getting rid of waste man produces has always been problematic. Our Palaeolithic and Neolithic ancestors also had the same problem of waste disposal, those who lived on oysters and other shellfish simply threw the waste out forming the kitchen middens which are now of great interest to the archaeologists (Anderson, 2007). During the medieval times sewage and domestic waste was thrown everywhere and ended up flowing into nearby water bodies. Around 1900s, the system of sewers evolved, cities did not treat sewage during that time (Ward, 2010). They simply collected the raw or untreated sewage (wastewater) using the system and discharged it into a receiving body of water either a river or a marine environment (Anderson, 2007) dictated by the location of the city. However, it soon became apparent that raw sewage discharged in this manner was inadequate for two major reasons being; the adverse ecological impacts on receiving waters and the adverse public health impacts since some of the microorganisms in raw sewage may be pathogenic (Ward, 2010) hence the receiving water bodies cannot be used for water contact sports like swimming and water skiing. Now municipal councils worldwide have gone to a great extent of constructing sewage treatment plants to keep up with pace of increasing human population, which tend to generate more sewage. These modern municipal sewage treatment systems utilize microbial degradation as a principal way to degrade these organic and inorganic material contained in waste water. The ecological impacts of discharging raw sewage into rivers are dictated by the constituents of the waste. Sewage contains vast amounts of organic material, also inorganic materials such as nutrient salts consisting mainly phosphate and nitrate from partial mineralisation of the organic matter and detergents where phosphates are used as dispersion and suspension agents (Nixon, 2009). Run-off from industries and gardens also end up in the sewage. This can probably contain traces of heavy metals such as mercury and uranium(Landman and Ling, 2011). Microorganisms both living and dead also contribute to the amount of organic material present in the sewage, the latter is a pollutant. Discharging raw sewage into rivers therefore introduces these constituents of sewage into the aquatic ecosystem. Organic material will therefore serve as a substrate for the growth of heterotrophic bacteria. The aerobic respiration activities of these microorganisms remove the dissolved oxygen in water, creating an anoxic condition. This condition is lethal to fish and other oxygen requiring living organisms in the river (Landman and Ling, 2011). Biodiversity in the aquatic system is thus hampered due to reduction of other living species population in the river. Also other terrestrial organisms depending on the river water will be affected negatively since the water is no longer in state that is conducive for them to use (Nixon, 2009). Wastes released by the microorganism tend to be toxic to other living organisms. Also animals that drink on the river that contain sewage can end up acquiring the heavy metals that concentrate up the food chain hence endangered species could be wiped o ut as a result of the toxicity of the heavy metals (Ward, 2010). Since pH and temperature have effect on the solutes in the waste water, low or high will lead to cations in water complexing with the phosphate hence precipitates (Nixon, 2009). These precipitates will change the aesthetic appearance of water. Also the precipitates can be bound to aquatic organism such as fish hence blocking their pores on their bodies that are responsible for gaseous exchange. Public health impacts due to raw sewage in rivers are that the river can longer be used as a source of drinking water and for human consumption. The river water thus tend to have a high concentration of nitrates, which are toxic to human especially infants as it can cause a disease known as blue baby syndrome (Anderson, 2007). This disease results due to high affinity of nitrates to haemoglobin hence less oxygen is carried in the blood. Water borne microorganisms such vibrio cholera from human faeces (Moubarrad,. et al 2007) also can be contained in the water hence if water is used for human consumption, this can lead to spread of diseases. Water contact sport also can be performed on such water due to the contamination by organic matter and bad odour as a result of the raw sewage. Even though the water can be rich in plant nutrients, it cannot be used for irrigation purposes in agriculture since heavy metals that are contained in the water can end up finding their way into crops. Heavy metals such as mercury in water can be converted to methylmercury by bacteria (Ward, 2010). Methylmercury is a neurotoxin in human that affect the nervous system and brain functioning hence it can cause permanent development defects in babies (Moubarrad,. et al 2007) . Since the severity of the impact of raw sewage discharged into rivers varies due to the volume of the raw sewage, organic and inorganic material content and the flow rate of water in the river, therefore when rivers are given sufficient time without further pollution, rivers have the natural capability to restore themselves (Ward, 2010). Oxygen can be reintroduced into the water through two activities being; oxygenic photosynthesis by cyanobacteria, algae and aquatic plants and also by the turbulence of the river, which results in the diffusion of oxygen from air. In addition, the organic material component of raw sewage is eventually degraded by the heterotrophic bacteria and when it depletes the population of these bacteria declines (Anderson, 2007). However in the case of lakes, deposition of raw waste triggers a phenomenon known as eutrophication since water in lakes is not flowing. Eutrophication results from nitrates and phosphates contained in raw sewage being turned into cellular mass by microorganisms in presence of light ( HobÆK,. et al 2012). Eventually water is covered with green mats of algae, blocking sunlight and gases to diffuse into the water hence organisms rising in water die due to insufficient oxygen. A high population of microorganisms especially anaerobic ones results and this enhances other predatory microorganisms to reside in the water being attracted by the high populations of their prey. Due to eutrophication, biodiversity will be lost in terms of reduction in populations of organisms residing in water. Lakes compared to rivers are not capable of quick self-restoration since water in them is stagnant therefore diffusion of gases cannot be possibly easy.

A Brief Evaluation of A Law Enforcement Stress Website

Research method has come a long way as technology zooms forward to the cyber-space era.   From the pulp pages of the hard-bound books in the library, comes the digitally encrypted data compressed into what we call cyberspace.With just the click of the mouse button, one can access information readily available through the internet.   Search engines like yahoo and Google made researching faster since it presents  hundreds of related topics of the subject being researched online.There is no need to go to the library just to borrow three books at a time.   The listings searched in the search engine tool are websites developed by programmers and the content can be reliable or not.   The important point of researching online is convenience and wide array of resources will always be made available.A Brief Evaluation of A Law Enforcement Stress WebsiteThere are a lot of websites that can aid researchers about law enforcement stress, but only a few can actually give full details on the subject based from the US government.   Upon searching the topic about law enforcement stress using the Google search engine, one can come across a title from the National Institute of Justice that when you click on it, it opens an Adobe Acrobat file  and shows the full text of a published book written by Peter Finn and Julie Esselman Tomz.It contains fourteen chapters tackling the subject starting from its definition and how was the program formulated, until aiding the researchers  to other resources related to this subject.This book is not only about law enforcement stress for officers, but it is about the program development of stress programs for officers and their families too.   This is a very handy compilation of the program by the US government that is easily accessed through the internet and compiled into a readable .PDF file so the book can be  downloaded  and printed for reference.   It provides illustrations and forms needed for this program in its appe ndices.This is government material that's why  everybody  can access it without the need to go to the local library and saves researchers time and money.   For those who are researching about this topic, this is a one-stop shop where all related information is available, because endnotes are provided aside from the appendices.For those looking for newer updates, they cannot rely on this however, because this provides the 1996 sources and research data.   One has to go to other websites to look for the latest research and evaluation done about this program though.The leads and contact information included in this book can still provide details that can guide the researchers for the latest updates about this program.   This website is a highly recommended legal source of information about the law enforcement stress program.ReferencesFinn, P., Tomz, J. E.   December 1996.   Developing a Law Enforcement Stress ProgramFor Officers and Their Families.   Department of Justi ce.   August 21, 2008. [http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/163175.pdf].  

A Working Community – Ellen Goodman

Goodman quotes from her dictionary that geographically a community is defined as a â€Å"body of people who live in one place† and that in the past we â€Å"were members of precincts or parishes or school districts.†Perhaps if people in the past were asked what â€Å"a community† was to them, this would be the definition they would give. Over the years however, people have been increasingly spending more time in their place of employment rather than in their home.Goodman points out that in today’s societies many of us only use the community in which we live – our home – in order to sleep. Communities are becoming more a group of people who get to know each other and interact regularly. They gather around a concept or common goal or interest. Rather than belonging to a community in which we live, we increasingly create â€Å"a sense of belonging† in the workplace – within the community in which we find ourselves most of the time. 2.   Goodman also points out that not only has our â€Å"sense of community †¦ moved from office house to office building† but that â€Å"the labels we wear connect us with the members† and that â€Å"we assume we have something in common† with them. In modern society this notion of assigning labels to oneself and others is becoming more evident.People do this because they want to feel a sense of belonging, a sense that they have things in common with others. A problem not mentioned in Goodman’s article however, is that not only do we assign labels in the workplace, but we tend to describe most people by assigning labels. These labels most often contain assumptions, which in turn become stereotypes3. According to Goodman, in the same way that we have â€Å"replaced our neighborhoods with the workplace,† we have replaced our â€Å"ethnic identity with professional identity.†She goes on to state that the most obvious â€Å"realignment of community† is in the â€Å"mobile professions.† In today’s society many professionals are required to move from city to city in order to fulfill their work. They are able to â€Å"put roots down in their profession† rather than in their place of residence (residential community). This intensifies the shift from home communities to workplace communities and the sense of identifying oneself in terms of profession rather than self.4. Goodman begins her article by providing a few scenarios of people she knows and how they belong to different communities. Most readers would be able to associate with somebody or some community, so by doing this she is setting the scene for her readers; she is appealing to their sense of belonging from the onset and involving them emotionally from the beginning.In fact, she continues to do this throughout the article, especially by using the first person plural pronoun â€Å"we†. She does however, attempt to rationally appeal to her readers by presenting many scenarios and examples to support her arguments but she provides no real facts or figures in support.Her examples need to be extended to give real examples rather than continually referring to issues in general terms. She makes reference to researchers asking Americans what they like best about work but again only in general terms; she doesn’t provide any real evidence of what Americans say.Ethically, she appears to be knowledgeable and reasonable and she certainly tries to establish common ground with her readers but she falls short in not providing any consideration of opposing views.5.   â€Å"Bi-cultural collision† as discussed by Nhu in â€Å"Becoming American in a Constant Cultural Collision† is similar to a â€Å"loss of community,† in that they both refer to a movement of people – a realignment from one â€Å"sense of belonging† to another.

Neither Out Far Nor in Deep by Robert Frost Essay

Neither Out Far Nor in Deep by Robert Frost Neither Out Far Nor In Deep, by Robert Frost, is a poem in which Frost is stating that when people visit the beach of an ocean, they always stare out towards the waters but never look back towards the land. Even if they cant see anything, it doesnt stop them from staring out at the sea. Frost is actually using this poem to symbolize the fact that people try to turn their backs from and ignore their problems or fears by leaving them for a while; but eventually they have to return and face those problems or fears. The title itself suggests that nothing is ever very far or out of reach whether it is something good or bad, such as fears, worries, or troubles. The title is†¦show more content†¦It isnt so much what there is to look at, than to just gaze. In the next stanza, Frost describes some of the things that are occurring around the people on and near the beach. In lines five and six, Frost is personifying the ship by saying that it keeps raising or building its h ull. Ships are already personified (for the most part) because most often they are given human names and are considered female. In this case, however, Frost is not really regarding the ship as any single gender, mainly to put his point across that both male and female are present at the beach and are looking out at the ocean. By saying as long as it takes to pass, Frost is showing that time really isnt a factor here, and that it really doesnt exist. Frost uses simile in the next line to describe the wet sand. He compares it to glass, for in line eight, a sea gull casts its reflection into the wet sand like glass. By using reflects in this situation, Frost is creating multiple meanings. The people could be reflecting upon themselves. They could be trying to make themselves feel better by reflecting upon the good aspects of their lives. This could also be showing that even if the sea gull doesnt see its reflection, that reflection is still there, and then someone else may even see that reflection. This supports the idea that the people there at the beach are trying to forget about their problems or fears, but those fears and problems can still beShow MoreRelatedThe Road Not Taken and Neither Out Far Nor in Deep by Robert Frost1436 Words   |  6 PagesThe Road Not Taken and Neither Out Far Nor in Deep by Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost is an American poet who is known for his verse concerning nature and New England life. He was born in San Francisco in 1874. When his father died in 1885, his mother moved the family to Lawrence, Massachusetts. Frost attended college sporadically after graduating high school and made a living by working as a bobbin boy in a wool mill, a shoemaker, a country schoolteacher, editor of a rural newspaper, andRead MoreShadows in the Yellow Wood: The Dark Side of Rober Frosts Poetry1508 Words   |  7 PagesShadows in the Yellow Wood: The Dark Side of Robert Frost’s Poetry Robert Frost is one of the most widely-read and recognized poets of the twentieth century, if not all time. If his name is mentioned, it is usually followed by a reference to two roads diverged in a yellow wood and taking the one less traveled by. But lurking in the shadows of the yellow wood of Frost’s poetry are much deeper meanings than are immediately apparent. As the modern poet Billy Collins says in his â€Å"Introduction toRead MoreEssay on Symbols and Symbolism in the Poems of Robert Frost1463 Words   |  6 Pagesin the Poems of Robert Frost    Nature has inspired countless poets from primitive times to the present. They have used it as a metaphor for virtually all human emotions-his stormy brow, her sky blue eyes, as wild as a summer storm. Very few, however, have so masterfully crafted their verse to fully express the range of nature’s power and influence, or suited the tone of a poem to encompass both human nature and ‘true’ nature. This is true in the poetic works of Robert Frost. The aspects ofRead MoreDifference Between Poetry And Prose900 Words   |  4 Pagessome classical poetry, some classical poets experimented with and broke the rules of rhythm and rhyme in favor of artistic meaning. Though many modern poets choose to use rhyme and rhythm in obvious ways, there are many who choose to throw the rules out the window. It is now necessary for students of poetry to not only understand how to differentiate between a poem with rhythm or rhyme and one without, but to also be able to discern when tha t rhyme and rhythm, or lack thereof, provides key insightRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost1591 Words   |  7 Pagesbad decisions can lead to having regrets. â€Å"The Road Not Taken,† by Robert Frost relates to this because in the poem he describes being in the same situation of deciding which â€Å"road† will lead him to being and living a successful life or possibly living in regret. The use of metaphors, archetypes, and imagery were used throughout the poem to give a meaning of making your own decisions and really think about long term goals. Robert uses many metaphors to show how his decision impacted his life andRead MoreUp And Down : Analysis On The Tranquil Scenery Written Out By Frost863 Words   |  4 Pageson â€Å"Neither Out Far nor in Deep† As beings with the capacity to imagine, we often dream of things of which we do not have or places that can not be reached and occasionally, we may be so focused on our goal that we become short-sighted towards the happenings of now. In Robert Frost’s lyrical poem, â€Å"Neither Out Far nor in Deep,† the tranquil scenery written out by Frost is overshadowed by the darker message that is told by the poem’s quite detached lyrical â€Å"I.† Through careful imagery Frost indirectlyRead MoreAnalysis of Acquainted with the Night and Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening1471 Words   |  6 PagesResearch Paper first draft 16th Nov 2011 In a Dark Night, I Find My Answers. The two poems â€Å"Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening† and â€Å"Acquainted with the Night† written by Robert Frost are very similar to each other because of the simplistic form of language used and the uses of metaphors. When we first read the poem, it looks like an ordinary poem but once we go in depth and understand the meaning, it becomes so much more. Both of the poem has a very dark, gloomy and lonely setting with a reallyRead MoreRobert Frost s Life Through Poetry1745 Words   |  7 PagesMarch 23, 2016 Robert Frost Reflects Life Through Poetry It is easy to express your emotions, and feelings through poetry. Which is exactly what Robert Frost has done through his entire career. Each poem Robert Frost has written, has meaning behind it all. He has gone through an extreme amount of events, and tragedies in his life. Frost has been through an unimaginable amount of losses, deaths, and loneliness throughout his years. Throughout his life his poetry has had a huge impact on him, the situationsRead MoreAcquainted With The Night By Robert Frost1436 Words   |  6 Pages â€Å"Acquainted with the Night† is a poem written by Robert Frost, and it was first published in 1928. The poem is about the narrator’s experience on one sad lonely night while having some depression in the rain. The poem only has fourteen lines and has a clear structure; however, the meaning of the poem is deep. Since, the poem is short and clear, readers often are able to connect to the poem. The poem was about the narrator walking down the street of city at a rainy night. He was reflectingRead MoreEssay on Life and Death in Poetry2090 Words   |  9 PagesLife and death are two things that we as humans must all face. The road from one to the other, from life to death, is a long and at times, both joyous and painful one. Robert Frost’s poems are a prime example of these times and trials. The poems I chose for this paper highlight them, and with Frost’s allegory, they present a sort of silver lining to the string of dark and dreary words he’s pieced together for these poems. The depressing tone to the poems â€Å"Acquainted with the Night†, â€Å"Nothing Gold