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Pesticides are widely used by farmers to control plant pests and enhance production, but chemical pesticides can also cause water quality problems. Pesticides may appear in surface water due to: direct application (e.g. aerial spraying or broadcasting over water bodies) runoff during rain storms; aerial drift (from adjacent fields). [3]: p.2–22
The FWPCA also authorized cooperation between federal and state agencies to construct municipal sewage treatment plants. The Water Quality Act of 1965 required states to issue water quality standards for interstate waters, and authorized the newly created Federal Water Pollution Control Administration to set standards where states failed to do ...
After section 208's failure to control NPS water pollution, in 1987 Congress passed the Water Quality Act which included a new section 319 to address the problem of nonpoint sources. [30] This provision, also non-regulatory, authorizes EPA to fund demonstration programs and provide technical assistance to state and local governments.
Beginning in the 20th century, designers of industrial and municipal sewage pollution controls typically utilized engineered systems (e.g. filters, clarifiers, biological reactors) to provide the central components of pollution control systems, and used the term "BMPs" to describe the supporting functions for these systems, such as operator training and equipment maintenance.
[21]: p. 2–9 Nutrient pollution such as nitrates can harm the aquatic environments by degrading water quality by lowering levels of oxygen, which can inturn induce algal blooms and eutrophication. [22] Other agrochemicals such as pesticides and fungicides can enter environments from agricultural lands through runoff and deposition as well.
The Act also requires use of best management practices for a wide range of other water discharges including nonpoint source pollution. [20] Thermal pollution discharges are regulated under section 316(a) of the CWA. [21] NPDES permits include effluent limitations on water temperature to protect the biotic life supported by a water body. A ...
Topsoil runoff from farm, central Iowa (2011). Water pollution in the United States is a growing problem that became critical in the 19th century with the development of mechanized agriculture, mining, and manufacturing industries—although laws and regulations introduced in the late 20th century have improved water quality in many water bodies. [1]
After treatment, the effluent may be returned to surface water or reused as irrigation water (or reclaimed water) if the effluent meets the required effluent standards (e.g. sufficiently low levels of pathogens). Waste stabilization ponds involve natural treatment processes which take time because removal rates are slow.