Effects Of Fertilizers On Water Quality

Fertilizers contribute to the variety, abundance, and low cost of food stuffs available to the public. However, fertilizer misuse can lower air, soil, and water quality. Regulators are scrutinizing fertilizers now more than ever because of their impact on the environment. This book provides an analysis of perchlorate in highly dissolved solid matrices and health issues of trace metals in fertilizers. This book focuses on nutrient impacts to water and the environment. Contributors include state and federal regulators, industry professionals, environmental consultants, and those in academia.

Excerpt from Fertilizer Use and Water Quality This publication evaluates the role of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers in water pollution and summarizes the research on the complex relations between nutrient inputs and outputs. Available data do not often permit making valid estimates of nutrient transfer from fertilizers to ground and surface waters. A reliable basis for evaluating the effects of fertilizers on water quality requires quantitative measurements of water inputs and behavior in agricultural watershed studies that encompass appropriate ranges in climatic and management conditions. When virgin soils in the United States were first cultivated, many were rich in organic matter and plant nutrients. These soils provided far more nitrogen than the crops could use, and losses by leaching to water bodies or by denitrification to the atmosphere were large. As a result of cultivation, these natural supplies gradually diminished. By 1969, the use of almost 7 million tons of fertilizer nitrogen a year, as well as improved land use and management practices, was still not enough to compensate for the large yearly drop in the capacity of the soil to supply nitrogen. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Agricultural operations can contribute to water quality deterioration through the release of several materials into water: sediments, pesticides, animal manures, fertilizers and other sources of inorganic and organic matter. This ''guidelines'' document on control and management of agricultural water pollution has the objectives of delineating the nature and consequences of agricultural impacts on water quality, and of providing a framework for practical measures to be undertaken by relevant professionals and decision-makers to control water pollution.

Agricultural operations can contribute to water quality deterioration through the release of several materials into water: sediments, pesticides, animal manure, fertilizers and other sources of inorganic and organic matter. This guidelines document on control and management of agricultural water pollution aims to delineate the nature and consequences of agricultural impacts on water quality, and to provide a framework for practical measures to be undertaken by relevant professionals and decision-makers to control water pollution. Contents Chapter 1: Introduction to Agricultural Water Pollution; Water quality as a global issue, Non-point source pollution defined, Classes of non-point sources, Scope of the problem, Agricultural impacts on water quality, Types of impacts, Irrigation impacts on surface water quality, Public health impacts, Data on agricultural water pollution in developing countries, Types of decisions in agriculture for non-point source pollution control, The data problem; Chapter 2: Pollution by Sediments; Sediment as a physical pollutant, Sediment as a chemical pollutant, Key processes: precipitation and runoff, Key concepts, Sediment delivery ratio, Sediment enrichment ratio, Measurement and prediction of sediment loss, Prediction models, Sediment yield, Scale problems, Recommendations; Chapter 3: Fertilizers as Water Pollutants; Eutrophication of surface water, Role of agriculture in eutrophication, Organic fertilizers, Environmental chemistry, The point versus non-point source dilemma, Management of water quality impacts from fertilizers, Mineral fertilizers, Organic fertilizers, Sludge management, Economics of control of fertilizer runoff, Aquaculture, Problems of restoration of eutrophic lakes; Chapter 4: Pesticides as Water pollutants; Historical development of pesticides, North-south dilemma over pesticide economics, Fate and effects of pesticides, Factors affecting pesticide toxicity in aquatic systems, Human health effects of pesticides, Ecological effects of pesticides, Natural factors that degrade pesticides, Pesticide monitoring in surface water, Pesticide management and control, The european experience, Pesticide registration, The danish example, Pesticides and water quality in the developing countries; Chapter 5: Summary and Recommendations; Necessity to internalize costs at the farm level, Integrated national water quality management, Assessment methodology, Environmental capacity, The data problem in water quality, Water quality indices for application to agricultural water quality issues, Economic analysis of cost of water pollution attributed to agriculture, Information technology and decision making, Use of water quality objectives, FAO and the POPs agenda, Pesticides in developing countries.

A comprehensive, self-sufficient and up-to-date text providing complete information on various aspects of groundwater assessment, development and management. It gives a balanced presentation of theory and field practice using a multidisciplinary approach to aid in solving problems from a variety of data bases. The coverage in this book includes: Aquifer tests and evaluation of aquifer properties Stream gauging and measurement of discharge and stage of wells Ground water exploration Geomorphic and geologic control on ground water Estimation of individual components of ground water recharge, discharge and ground water balance Ground water development and management. The book contains a large number of figures, examples of complex interpretative techniques and methodologies, case histories, and problems along with answers. With its integrated, multidisciplinary approach, the book would serve as a valuable reference book to hydrogeologists, geologists, geophysicists, hydrologists, hydrometerologists, and irrigation, agricultural and drilling engineers, as well as those concerned with planning and decision making. Researchers and students would also find this an indispensable text.