ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on surface water—rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands, and coastal waters. Surface water pollutants can harm aquatic life, threaten human health, or result in the loss of recreational or aesthetic potential. pH refers to the acidity or alkalinity of water; when it exceeds regulatory limits it is considered to be a conventional pollutant. When a particular solids constituent can affect the good health of the water user or the environment, it is considered to be a contaminant or pollutant, and these solid contaminants or pollutants are referred to as conventional pollutants. Macroscopic pollutants include large visible items such as floatables, flotsam and jetsam, nurdles, marine debris, and shipwrecks contaminating or polluting surface water bodies, lakes, rivers, streams, oceans. Wetlands are areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support and that, under normal circumstances, do support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.
