Composting
Composting is the main solution for eutrophication. Composting is actually a substitute for fertilizers. You can do this on your own just by burying orange peels in your backyard. When food is buried, the nutrients help plants grow. These nutrients do not contain the phosphorus and nitrates that cause algae to bloom, so when there is run-off, it does not harm the quality of water. Composting can be a solution for agriculturers as well. If more of them use composting as fertilizer for their farms, there will be no harmful run-off into water.
The same goes for big manufacturers. Waste gives off nitrates and phosphates just as easily as fertilizers do. When manufacterers release waste into the ground, run-off from these wastes hits the water and pollutants are released into the air as well. If limits are placed onto the amount of waste that a company can release then the pollution of the air, water, and ground will be greatly reduced, as will the eutrophication caused by run-off. If they cap the amount of waste they discharge then there will also be less pollutants in the air that will be able to rain down into water sources and pollute them.
The key to solving the problem of eutrophication is an increase in composting and a decrease in pollution. By doing these, less nitrates and phosphates will be able to enter our waters, giving underwater organisms a healthier environment.
The same goes for big manufacturers. Waste gives off nitrates and phosphates just as easily as fertilizers do. When manufacterers release waste into the ground, run-off from these wastes hits the water and pollutants are released into the air as well. If limits are placed onto the amount of waste that a company can release then the pollution of the air, water, and ground will be greatly reduced, as will the eutrophication caused by run-off. If they cap the amount of waste they discharge then there will also be less pollutants in the air that will be able to rain down into water sources and pollute them.
The key to solving the problem of eutrophication is an increase in composting and a decrease in pollution. By doing these, less nitrates and phosphates will be able to enter our waters, giving underwater organisms a healthier environment.
Other Possible Solutions:
- Actions to restore wetlands and riparian buffer zones between farms and surface waters
- Reduce livestock densities
- Improve efficiencies of fertilizer applications
- Treat urban run-off from streets and storm drains
- Reduce nitrate emissions from vehicles and power plants
- Increase the efficiency of removal of nitrates and phosphates from municipal waste waters