Bad, Bad Water

Irrigation lagoon - Century village.

The water quality in the Century Village lagoon has deteriorated considerably. The lagoon is being overwhelmed by algae.

The flora and fauna in the lagoon are at risk of destruction.

A recent court ruling has implications involving the release of contaminated water into the environment.

There are serious health risks associated with algae laden waters.

Recent events concerning discharges of fertilizer polluted water from Lake Okeechobee should serve as a red flag to others who maintain water reserves in South Florida.

Spraying  algae contaminated water into the air  around human habitation  poses a health risk.

What are the dangers of Harmful Algal Blooms?

·       They spoil water quality when present in large numbers by producing odors or thick scums.

·       They can make drinking water smell and taste bad.

·       They can make recreational areas unpleasant.

·       Dense blooms can block sunlight killing other plants and animals.

·       When algae decompose they may use up oxygen in the water and cause fish kills.

·       Some cyanobacteria can produce toxins that are among the most powerful natural poisons know. These toxins have no know antidotes. The toxins are poisonous to humans and may be deadly to livestock and pets.

·       CyanoHABs can make people, their pets, and other animals sick. Often, the first sign that a HAB exists is a sick dog that has been swimming in a algae-filled pond. Children are at higher risk than adults for illness from CyanoHABs because they weigh less and can get a relatively larger dose of toxins.

What types of illnesses can people and animals get from exposure to HABS?

·       Getting it on the skin may give people a rash, hives, or skin blisters (especially on the lips and under swimsuits).

·       Inhaling water droplets from irrigation or water-related recreational activities can cause runny eyes and nose, a sore throat, asthma-like symptoms, or allergic reactions.

·       Swallowing water that has toxins in it can cause:

·       Acute, severe gastroenteritis (including diarrhea and vomiting).

·       Liver toxicity (i.e., increased serum levels of liver enzymes). Symptoms of liver poisoning may take hours or days to show up in people or animals. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting.

·       Neurotoxicity. These symptoms can appear within minutes after exposure. In dogs, the neurotoxins can cause salivation and other neurological symptoms, including weakness, staggering, difficulty breathing, convulsions, and death. People may have numb lips, tingling fingers and toes, or they may feel dizzy.

·       Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). PSP is caused by consumption of shellfish (e.g., mussels and clams) which bioaccumulate a toxin produced by dinoflagellates (red tide).
        

How could you be exposed to HABs and toxins?

·       Drinking water that comes from a lake or reservoir with a HAB.

·       Drinking untreated water.

·       Engaging in recreational activities in waters with HABs.

·       Inhaling aerosols from water-related activities such as jet skiing or boating.

·       Inhaling aerosols when watering lawns, irrigating golf courses, etc., with pond water.

·       Using cyanobacteria-based dietary supplements that are contaminated with microcystins.

·       Consuming contaminated fish or shellfish (see safety precautions below).

Water in the lagoon is replenished by outflow from a waste water plant situated adjacent to Century Village.

The plant has a capacity of 3,000,00 gallons a day.

750,000 gallons of reclaimed water per day are available to replenish the lagoon. There are 13 waste water processing plants in West Palm Beach. Runoff from irrigation also contributes to pollution levels.

According to the attached document the reclaimed water plant discharging water into the lagoon does not remove fertilizers from the water.

The most likely cause of the algae bloom is a build up of phosphorus and nitrogen in the water. These compounds are common fertilizers used in agriculture and in landscaping.

A common method of removing fertilizers from water is to discharge it into a wetland where plants consume the available nutrients.One problem encountered with this method is that Cattails favor the high nutrient content, they proliferate quickly crowding out other native plants. There is a chemical process to remove phosphates and nitrogen from water.

Federal Court decision

A recent court ruling regarding water quality in Lake Okeechobee has determined that the sugar industry operating in the area is in contravention of the Clean Water Act for releasing fertilizer contaminated waters into the lake. This led to an ecological disaster in The St Lucie River when lake levels became too high and water was released into the river. A huge algae bloom in the river resulted with the accompanying destruction of the environment.

March 28, 2014 Tallahassee, Fla. —

A major decision in federal court today will put an end to government-sanctioned pollution that’s been fouling Lake Okeechobee for more than three decades. The case, first filed in 2002 by Earthjustice, challenged the practice of “backpumping.” For years, South Florida sugar and vegetable growers have used the public’s waters, pumped out of giant Lake Okeechobee, to irrigate their fields. They wash the water over their industrial-sized crops, where it is contaminated with fertilizers and other pollutants. Then, they get taxpayers in the South Florida Water Management District to pay to pump the contaminated water back into Lake Okeechobee, where it pollutes public drinking water supplies. Lake Okeechobee provides drinking water for West Palm Beach, Fort Myers, and the entire Lower East Coast metropolitan area.

Earthjustice contended that the South Florida Water Management District was violating the Clean Water Act by allowing the agricultural companies to send fertilizer-laden water into public water supplies, instead of cleaning it up first. U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas in the Southern District of New York ruled today that the water transfer practice does, indeed, violate the Clean Water Act.

The case ended up in New York because clean-water groups and several states also challenged the practice of allowing dirty water transfers into public water supplies without Clean Water Act protections. All the cases – including Earthjustice’s Florida case –  on behalf of Friends of the Everglades, Florida Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club –  were bundled together.

"It’s well established by now that a city can’t just dump sewage into a river – they’ve got to clean it first,” said Earthjustice attorney David Guest. “The same principal applies here with water pumped from contaminated drainage canals.”

“This victory has been a long time coming,” said Florida Wildlife Federation president Manley Fuller. “Stopping pollution at the source is the key to cleaning up South Florida’s water pollution problems – the toxic green slime in the rivers, the dead wildlife washing up in the shores, the contaminated drinking water -- and this decision will make that happen at long last.”

"Big sugar corporations have been illegally dumping dirty water into Lake Okeechobee for years. They won't be able to do that anymore, thanks to this very important decision by the federal courts," said Sierra Club's Florida Staff Director, Frank Jackalone.

Transfers of contaminated water have triggered numerous toxic algae outbreaks around the United States. The algae growths can make people sick and sometimes kill livestock or pets that drink the water. The drinking water supplies for millions of Americans across the country have been affected, including notable cases in Florida, Colorado, New Hampshire, and California. The dirty water is a health risk for pregnant women, and taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional treatment costs while polluters put more profits in their pockets.

“Instead of tightening protections and cleaning up the pollution, the EPA chose to legalize it,” said Albert Slap, attorney for Friends of the Everglades. “Now the courts have settled it – the South Florida Water Management District has to comply with the Clean Water Act.”

Contact:

David Guest, Earthjustice, (850) 681-0031

The water discharged from the wastewater plant is normally held in reserve for irrigation but a high water condition could lead to polluted water and algae being discharged into the drainage canal situated at the south end of the property, leading to a similar situation as the St Lucie River disaster.

The build up of fertilizers in the lagoon may be a good thing for the lawns and gardens of Century Village , but once the lagoon becomes choked with algae the ecosystem will collapse leaving Century Village with a dirty , unhealthy pond.

The South Forida Water Management District and the Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department are the agencies responsible for the construction and operation of the plant.

It is imperative that action be taken to address this problem.

What action can be taken ?

The removal of nitrogen is effected through the biological oxidation of nitrogen from ammonia to nitrate (nitrification), followed by denitrification, the reduction of nitrate to nitrogen gas. Nitrogen gas is released to the atmosphere and thus removed from the water.

Nitrification itself is a two-step aerobic process, each step facilitated by a different type of bacteria.

Denitrification requires anoxic conditions to encourage the appropriate biological communities to form. It is facilitated by a wide diversity of bacteria. Sand filters, lagooning and reed beds can all be used to reduce nitrogen, but the activated sludge process (if designed well) can do the job the most easily Since denitrification is the reduction of nitrate to dinitrogen gas, an electron donor is needed. This can be, depending on the wastewater, organic matter (from faeces), sulfide, or an added donor like methanol. The sludge in the anoxic tanks (denitrification tanks) must be mixed well (mixture of recirculated mixed liquor, return activated sludge [RAS], and raw influent)

e.g. by using submersible mixers in order to achieve the desired denitrification.

Sometimes the conversion of toxic ammonia to nitrate alone is referred to as tertiary treatment.

The bacteria Brocadia anammoxidans, is being researched for its potential in sewage treatment. It can remove nitrogen from waste water.

Phosphorus removal

Phosphorus can be removed biologically in a process called enhanced biological phosphorus removal. In this process, specific bacteria, called polyphosphate- accumulating organisms (PAOs), are selectively enriched and accumulate large quantities of phosphorus within their cells (up to 20 percent of their mass). When the biomass enriched in these bacteria is separated from the treated water, these biosolids have a high fertilizer value.

Phosphorus removal can also be achieved by chemical precipitation, usually with salts of iron (e.g. ferric chloride), aluminum (e.g. alum), or lime. This may lead to excessive sludge production as hydroxides precipitates and the added chemicals can be expensive. Chemical phosphorus removal requires significantly smaller equipment footprint than biological removal, is easier to operate and is often more reliable than biological phosphorus removal Another method for phosphorus removal is to use granular laterite.

Once removed, phosphorus, in the form of a phosphate-rich sludge, may be stored in a land fill or resold for use in fertilizer.