ESSAY OUTLINE
TOPIC: “GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION”
Thesis statement: Groundwater contamination, the process by which pollutants and harmful chemicals are released into groundwater, is an issue that is widely prevalent in society today. The harmful effects are indisputable, and, if left uncontrolled, might lead to even bigger problems. Thus, it is important to learn about groundwater contamination, particularly, its sources, impacts, and regulations that can be carried out to protect groundwater.
Outline:
Section I: There are a lot of sources contributing to groundwater contamination, the most prominent ones being septic waste, landfills, and chemical spills.
Part A: Septic waste
In the United States alone, one-fourth of all homes depend on septic systems for their human waste disposal. As human waste contains bacteria, viruses, nitrates, and chemicals, septic systems that are improperly designed become a major source for groundwater contamination.
Part B: Landfills
Throughout the country, thousands of industrial and municipal landfills are home for solid waste disposals. Once in the landfill, chemicals often leech into ground water, through processes like precipitation and surface runoff.
Part C: Chemical spills
Many homes and businesses often have tanks that are used to store petroleum products, chemical substances, and fuel oil. When these storage tanks experience a leak, its contents can travel through the soil and reach ground water, contaminating it.
Section II: Aside from potential health problems, the effects of ground water contamination include poor drinking quality and high cleanup costs, to name a few.
Part A: Health problems
Ground water is often contaminated by thousands of microorganisms and synthetic chemicals and drinking this ground water might lead to serious illnesses such as hepatitis, cholera, and “blue baby syndrome”. Furthermore, benzene and lead, chemicals found in contaminated ground water, might also lead to learning disabilities in children. When you discuss the chemicals in your essay, make sure you link the specific chemical or micro-organism to a specific health impact. Note also that lead is not so much found in the groundwater, but the water distribution pipes that take the water to peoples houses. When discussing a contaminant, discuss what it is, where it came from, how it affects human health.
Part B: Poor drinking quality
Since contaminated ground water contains a lot of harmful chemicals and substances, in most instances, the water supply must be abandoned as a source of drinking water since the water is of poor quality. This leads to the challenge of finding alternatives – at some point do we run out of options for good water?
Part C: High cleanup costs
As ground water moves slowly, it often takes long periods of time to detect any kind of contamination. Because of this, it is often really difficult to clean up the contaminated water supply, and, if cleaned, the cost ranges from thousands to millions of dollars, which is expensive. Also in some instances there are no clean up options but also no water options so expensive treatment technologies need to be installed on water systems. As noted above, each contaminant may include a different treatment technology.
Section III: Though the effects and prevalence of contaminated ground water are undeniable, there are regulations that seek to reduce the risks of ground water being contaminated.
Part A: Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
The Safe Drinking Water Act is a program which seeks to protect ground water by regulating the use of underground injection wells for waste disposal. Moreover, this program also ensures that drinking water supplied by the public water systems is of minimum health standard requirements.
Part B: Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act is another program which regulates ground water that shows a connection with surface water. Through this program, standards are set to allow for the limitation of pollutant discharges to surface water. Another important type of regulation is drinking water standards that set limits to contaminants in drinking water to protect human health. These are important because they alert people to a problem.
Topic – Does the Topic relate to Environment and Business? – 2/2
Good topic – relevant and important
Thesis Statement – The What/How/Why of Your Argument – 2/2
Good what how why for your essay
Outline – How do you propose to support your argument? – 6/8
Good outline. I like the way you have structured the proposed essay. It looks like your sources in the regulation section are US. This is ok but make this clear in your essay you are focusing on US and not Canada. Look for drinking water regulations as well.
Spelling/Grammar – 3/3
Good
Total – 13/15
Additional Comments and Suggested Areas for Improvement
No additional comments at this point. Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll look forward to reading your final essay.