Background
The human right to water was recognized by the United Nations on July 28th, 2010, yet 1.1 billion people still lack access to a safe water source [1]. Pollution is a major problem in many cases. For example, as a result of industrial pollution in China, whole villages have become cancer clusters, due to the incidence of abnormally high levels of cancer [2]. In Hazaribagh, Bangladesh, over 200 tanneries – most of them old and outdated – are clustered on 25 hectares of land, dumping a daily total of 22,000 cubic liters of toxic waste, including the carcinogen hexavalent chromium, into the river that doubles as a main water supply. Residents suffer not only from cancer but also from acid burns, rashes, aches, dizziness, and nausea [3]. From textile dyes to pesticides, industrial waste poisons rivers and lakes, and leaves the people dependent on these bodies of water with no safe options. Industry alone contributes 300 to 400 million tons of polluted waste in world waterways annually [4], and it is one of the largest sources of water pollution. Even worse, as economies grow, so does industry, resulting in rising industrial pollution levels [5]. In this section we will review the role of government in ensuring that industries reduce their pollution output, as well as a compilation of steps that industries themselves can take to comply with the regulations.
Solutions
This plan will apply only to countries economically developed enough to have industry. The cutoff will be determined by the World Bank’s income categories, which in turn are based on cutoffs of gross national income (GNI) per capita, converted to international dollars [6] using the purchasing power of a U.S. dollar in the United States [7]. Once a country’s economy grows to the point where it reaches the middle-income levels or higher, it must implement the plan.
For less economically-developed countries ($1035 or less), the plan does not apply. Mission 2017′s recommendations are for more economically-developed countries, such as lower-middle-income economies ($1036 to $4085), upper-middle-income economies ($4086 to $12615), and high-income economies ($12616 or more).
A full list of countries in each income category can be found here.
1. Setting Up an Environmental Agency
The first step in making any sort of regulation will be to set up an environmental agency that can carry out these regulations. Funding for the agency will come from the government, and will be allocated as part of the budget. Budgeting can follow the model of the EU, which spends 1.7 percent of its annual GDP on environmental protection [9]. Countries must spend a minimum of 1 percent of their GDP on their environmental agency. This money will be used to run the agency and any programs it may administer.
2. International Cooperation
With regards to international levels of pollution, countries need to meet and agree upon specific levels of pollution for all waste, from thermal to chemical pollution, through an international organization. As with industrial pollution, this must take place prior to the development of of any national regulations to ensure that the regulations are in accordance with the international agreement. More information on how these agreements will be reached can be found here.
3. Cap and Trade
As soon as international regulations are developed, environmental agencies at the national level can initiate the process of developing incentives for compliance like a cap and trade program to limit pollution if the country is more developed. Less developed countries may not be ready for the complex permit market that cap and trade calls for, and they may want to have simple effluent limitations (caps per firm on how much they can emit). The details of the program, especially the new caps, will be made available to the public as soon as they are completed. This cap will initially be only slightly lower than the current level of pollution, so five years should be sufficient for firms to prepare for enforcement. The government will then issue permits to factories/corporations, some free and some auctioned. The cap will be lowered periodically for an indefinite amount of time by the country’s environmental agency.
As the cap and trade program will be managed by the environmental agency, the agency’s budget will cover the costs of administration. The revenue brought in by the program should be invested in water pollution reduction research, or used to subsidize infrastructure projects.
To ensure compliance, all firms will be required to have monitoring equipment to record their levels of pollution. The agency will conduct periodic checks on a randomly selected 10 percent of the firms.
More detailed information on the benefits and implementation of cap and trade can be found here.
How to Achieve the New Standards
Besides the conventional industrial water treatment methods, such as settling out particles or skimming off oils, there are more unique, advanced techniques that can become the future of water treatment.
Treating Contaminated Groundwater
Groundwater is extremely difficult to treat, more so than surface water. Groundwater that has been polluted can be decontaminated by the “pump and treat method”, in which groundwater is pumped to the surface and treated, with methods such as air stripping and activated carbon filtering. The total course of treatment usually lasts five to ten years, but can go on for decades. During air stripping, water is sprayed over packing material, and as it trickles down, fans blow upwards to facilitate the evaporation of volatile chemicals such as fuels and solvents.
Activated carbon filters – found in tap water and fish tank filters – are pore-riddled pieces of carbon derived from charcoal; the chemicals stick to the surfaces of the pores, allowing clean water to flow out. These filters are expensive and must be cleaned often [5]. However, new technology to reactivate carbon and recycle the filters is being explored, with cost savings of 20 to 40 percent [6].
Phytoremediation medium term
Phytoremediation relies on the roots of plants and trees to clean water of pesticides, metals, and oils. Similar to wetlands, tree roots (which can reach far down, even into aquifers) take up water with chemicals and either turn the chemicals into gases released through the leaves, or hold onto chemicals until the tree is removed, thereby keeping them out of the soil [5].
Phytoremediation works best in large but shallow areas of relatively low contamination. One example is the Oregon Poplar site in Clackamas, Oregon, planted in a small grassy field contaminated by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) left probably by illegal dumping. In 1998, poplar trees were plants; in four years, the trees were thriving. Tissue samples from the trees proved that the trees were taking up the VOCs, though soil and water samples were inconclusive. In another poplar site, VOCs have been found in leaf tissues and in the gas and water vapor released from the trees, further evidence of the trees removing, breaking down, and re-releasing the once-polluting compounds [7].
Phytoremediation often takes many years, but it relatively inexpensive: cleaning one acre of sandy loam soil at a depth of 50 centimeters with phytoremediation would cost between $60,000 and $100,000, while conventional treatment of the same soil would cost around $400,000 [5].
The Role of Industry
Common belief has always been that money spent on environmental protection by industries was money lost, either in profits or in extra costs to the public. However experts recently have presented the idea that paying attention to pollution reduction improves profits through increased efficiency and gaining more environmentally-conscious clients [11].
The Consumer’s Role
There are more unorthodox ways to reduce pollution. For example, a Chinese nonprofit organization, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, released a report on and contacted the CEOs of 48 international brands linked to polluting Chinese suppliers. Since the organization’s founding in 2006, 50 companies have agreed to work with it on reducing the environmental impact of their suppliers [12].
But action is not limited to large organization; ordinary citizens can also make an impact on pollution prevention. In China, social media has become an outlet for citizens to express their outrage over blatantly ignored regulations and widespread pollution. Citizen outbursts have led to much greater awareness of government inaction, and the pressure on officials is mounting [2].
Bacteria
Some species of bacteria are capable of digesting oil and industrial chemicals, making them natural choices for industrial cleanup. For example, bacteria were used as part of the oil removal after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. For wastewater that contains a variety of chemicals, different bacteria can be used in combination. Another example is an ongoing project to use many species of genetically modified bacteria to clean up chemical-laden wastewater from fracking. This process can eventually be extended to work on other industrial chemicals [13].
Zero Discharge: Reusing Water long term
Another way to ensure that pollution from industrial wastewater does not reach waterways is to never discharge the wastewater to begin with. In the late 1980s, zero discharge, or 100% recycling of wastewater, became a goal in the United States. For example, water is reused in the food and beverage industry, where water is used not only as an ingredient but also for cleaning, boiling, cooling, transportation, and conditioning of raw materials. Distillation, or the process of evaporating and then condensing the now pure water vapor, is currently used, but research has shown that a combination of membrane filtration and UV disinfection may also be successful [14].
Special Focus: Mining
Mining is not only highly water-intensive but also polluting, producing contamination in the form of acid mine drainage, chemical pollution, heavy metal pollution, and sedimentation. However, there is a plethora of wastewater treatment methods: for example, neutralizing the acid mine drainage with a basic chemical, or reducing sedimentation by covering the soil when it rains. More details about methods of treating mine wastewater – coal mining and hydraulic fracturing in particular – can be found on the mining page.
Implementation
These solutions will be paid for by industries; firms will be willing to pay because noncompliance with regulations will result in suspension or revocation of operating licenses.
Unfortunately, implementation is far more than just making new rules. In many countries, economic growth comes first, with environmental awareness trailing far behind. As a case study, China’s enforcement of environmental regulations is hampered by the pressure on local governments to produce revenue. Currently, China is attempting to change this focus with incentives such as a carbon emissions trading market – essentially, cap and trade – to give environmental protection some monetary value. Mission 2017’s cap and trade program will accomplish the same goal. However, this is only part of the solution: according to Ma Jun, one of China’s most well-known environmentalists, public motivation is essential for change to happen. Mission 2017 plans to address this through improved education; part of the plan includes providing water at schools to make schools safer and improve attendance. More information on how education can be improved is found here [16].
Conclusion
The first step to managing pollution is international collaboration, so that neighboring countries can reach an agreement on pollution in shared rivers. Within countries, Mission 2017 recommends that pollution is controlled through regulation, particularly a cap and trade program that will put a limit on the total pollution entering the environment. The program will be created and overseen by the country’s environmental agency. After the cap and trade program is implemented, a variety of steps can be taken to make sure firms stay under their pollution allocations, from reusing water to harnessing bacteria. Some of these, like developing genetically modified bacteria to digest certain pollutants, are solutions in progress that may become more widely used in the future as more advances are made. Fully controlling industrial polluton will take anywhere from 50 to 100 years – the time frame is inexact, but as a reference point, it will take seven years to clean one short river (the Hudson) of one pollutant (polychlorinated biphenyls) [16]. Managing industrial pollution will require participation on the international, national, and industry level, but it can be done.
References
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9. Spent Carbon Reactivation – A “Green” and Economic Process for Product Purification and Regulatory Compliance . (n.d.). Siemens. Retrieved November 27, 2013, from http://www.water.siemens.com/en/products/activated_carbon/Pages/spent-carbon-reactivation.aspx
10. Using Phytoremediation to Clean Up Sites. (n.d.). EPA. Retrieved November 30, 2013, from http://www.epa.gov/superfund/accomp/news/phyto.htm
11. King, A., & Lenox, M. (2002). Exploring the locus of profitable pollution reduction. Management Science, 48(2), pp. 289-299.
12. Hines, A. (2012, April 23). Major Retailers Contribute To Severe Water Pollution In China: Report. The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 27, 2013, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/23/china-water-pollution-fashion-textile-factories_n_1445766.html
13. Hyman, V. (2013, April 30). Purifying bad water with good bacteria. Research at the U of M. Retrieved November 27, 2013, from http://researchumn.com/2013/04/30/purifying-bad-water-with-good-bacteria
14. Water recycling in the food and beverage industry. (n.d.). Water Treatment Solutions. Retrieved November 27, 2013, from http://www.lenntech.com/water_reuse_food_industry.htm
15. Phillips, A. (2013, November 26). Inside China’s Desperate Effort To Control Pollution — Before It’s Too Late. Climate Progress. Retrieved December 2, 2013, from http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/11/26/2981521/china-environment-pollution-government/
16. Hudson River Cleanup. (2013, April 12). EPA. Retrieved November 27, 2013, from http://www.epa.gov/hudson/cleanup.html#quest2
