Industrial waste effects on water By Victor Rodriguez.

Industrial waste effects

on water

By Victor Rodriguez

Why do industries have waste

The chemicals used for manufacturing create toxic by-products and are evacuated

These materials are used for manufacturing and waste needs to be evacuated

The process is called scrubbing.

Why do industries release waste onto water sources?

Industries such as coal mining are required by law to process their waste products and properly store or recycle all of their radioactive and heavy metals which are very hard to dispose of, and separate all organic waste and burn it at very high temperatures.

About 90% of industries in the U.S have been caught disposing waste illegally, the reason being is that going through the separation, disposal, recycling and storage process is very costly and many industries find it easier and cheaper to dump all their waste onto water sources.

How industrial waste pollutes our water sources

Many industrial facilities use fresh clean water to carry away waste and dump it onto rivers, lakes and oceans

Many of the chemicals in the waste are harmful to both humans and wildlife. The materials include- asbestos, lead, mercury, nitrates, phosphates, sulfur and oils and many more

How does pollution affect us

Most of these substances are non-biodegradable which are hard to get rid of and some cause harm to marine life. Asbestos can cause illnesses such as three different forms of cancer and mercury can cause illnesses through mercury poisoning

Many industries also create air pollutants such as carbon dioxide (CO2) which are greenhouse gasses and effect the ecosystem

CO2 is the worlds leading cause of global warming

Some of the air pollutants can also be toxic such as carbon monoxide and can cause illnesses

Intel

Intel is responsible for the worlds leading manufacturer of computer chips, sensors and processors.

These products require many different materials to be made. Many of these materials are toxic or create toxic by-products.

Intel has vowed to reduce its carbon footprint by installing solar panels and more efficient machinery.

Intel has accomplished their goals on reducing the number of carbon dioxide released into the air but has produced more waste and is using more water to move the waste.

Although Intel is creating more waste it recycles 80% of its solid waste and returns 85% of the 4 million tons of water used daily back to the Rio Grande.

Intel's water treatment

The following machines are used by Intel to purify waste water

Acid Waste Neutralization (AWN) system

Ultrapure Reclaim Water (URW) system

Hydrofluoric Acid Waste (HFW) treatment system

Ammonia Waste (NH4W) system

Dilute Metal Waste Copper (C4DMW-Cu) system

Slurry Copper Waste (SCW) system

Intel's water rights

Intel will pay 10 million dollars to the state of New Mexico and will transfer a 741 acre piece of land so that will offset the effects of its groundwater pumping to leave more water in the Rio Grande

Is Intel guilty or non guilty

Intel overall does a good job with their water consumption and treatment

Most of the water taken by Intel is used, cleaned then returned to the river

No one has ever found Intel guilty of any violations in the law for water treatment

People of Corrales angry at Intel

The people of Corrales are accusing Intel of getting water from the river that is used for agriculture

There are also many complaints about the wind carrying Intel's emissions through Rio Rancho and Corrales causing illnesses such as rashes and lung disorders

Air pollution affects water

Although Intel does not directly deposit waste in rivers its air pollution does

Air pollution can fall on land as well as water

Air pollution can contaminate water by rain, dust and simply gravity

This is called atmospheric deposition

The fruit avenue plume

The fruit avenue plume is a mass of chlorinated solvent which was used by the cleaning facility, Elite cleaners

The facility released its chemicals into the ground creating the plume for a period of 30 years between 1940-1970

The plume is estimated to be 2/3 of a mile long and many people get drinking water from wells less than 4 miles away