By Nick H, Ashley, and Claudia

Point Non-Point

Point pollution are water pollutants that come out of a pipe into lakes and rivers.

An example is a pipe from a factory leaking chemicals and steaming water into a larger river.

Non-point pollution are water pollutants carried by runoff over land, and into lakes and rivers.

An example is a field of crops that have been sprayed. They have chemicals that can pollute the environment. The chemicals can runoff to rivers.

For example, if a farmer was putting chemicals on the crops and it rained that night. The chemicals would get in the fertilizer. The fertilizer would turn into runoff and pollute the river nearby. You need to be careful how you use your land, because it can harm the water quality.

You can join a community clean up group and go out to rivers in your area and help clean them up so no pollutants get into a bigger body of water, for example: River Rouge. The city protects the river, along with environmental groups that help clean up the river and test the water quality. School groups, like BCS, also help clean and test water quality. You can use natural fertilizers instead of chemical based fertilizers. You can recycle instead of wasting. You can even used recycled motor oil to protect our environment.

In our community, littering, chemicals, pesticides, toxic waste, fertilizer, mud and silt are all water pollutants in our area. For example: Storm drains get flooded with water that may be polluted. That water ends up in a river.

A local agency that we found is SOCWA, or Southeastern Oakland County Water Authority. They help protect the water quality of our drinking water, and our rivers and lakes nearby. We really like this agency because they help us, along with our environment. Here is the link to their website: Click Here