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WATER CONTAMINATION IN THE GULF OF IZMIR |
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There is a substance in the Earth that all living organisms must have within their body. This substance is so important to the environment itself that 71% of whole planet is made of it. This material is, of course, water. Additionally, 50-65% of an average adult's body consists of water and water is essential for our body since it is part of almost every metabolic reaction (hydrolysis, dehydration etc.) that is happening right now in our bodies. It is such a dilemma that we, humans, don?t protect the water that more or less gives us life, but rather contaminate what we already have in our world.
Water pollution is a rapidly increasing environmental issue in our world inasmuch as industry and technology that comes with toxic wastes has been growing. This problem is especially crucial for Turkey since it is a peninsula with borders to three big seas: the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west. Turkey?s total area is 780,000 km2, of which, 14,300 km2 is water. According to Turkish Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSİ), the annual surface water of Turkey is about 234 billion m3. Numerous studies have shown that Turkey?s total annual groundwater resource is approximately 12.3 billion m3. The total useable annual surface and groundwater potential of Turkey is 110.3 billion m3. This total amount of water includes 95 billion m3 from internal rivers, 3 billion m3 from external rivers and 12.3 billion m3 from groundwater resources. One of the most polluted places in Turkey by means of sea water used to be the Gulf of Izmir. Izmir is a city that is at the west of Turkey and has borders with the Aegean Sea. Izmir Bay is basically a gulf at the Aegean Sea with its inlet between the peninsula of Karaburun and Forca. The reason why the Gulf of Izmir used to be so contaminated isn?t complicated. In fact, the answer is quiet easy and saddening at the same time. The cause of this is the fact that until 2000 all the wastes (organic, household etc.) were thrown into the Gulf of Izmir unconditionally. There is also the fact that Izmir?s sewer system wasn?t very well designed but the main reason was the increasing number of wastes in the sea. The water itself has shown signs of major contamination at the beginning of 1970. However, no one in the country cared for this issue by then. As the water became more polluted even the color of it has changed and people stopped going into the sea at the Gulf of Izmir. The biodiversity of the sea also decreased tremendously as you could literally sea lots of dead fish on the surface of the water. Those were, without a question, dark days. On the other hand, I am relieved to inform you all that this problem was finally given attention and is, right now, in the process of solving. At the beginning of 2001, Izmir Municipality and the institute of H?fz?s?hha began analyzing the water of the Gulf of Izmir and came up with a huge project called the Grand Canal Project. This project?s goal was to restore the Gulf of Izmir?s water qualities and turn it into a gulf where citizens can go swimming without having any questions on their minds. In light of this goal, Izmir Municipality has built the enormous Southwestern, Ciğli and Urla Wastewater Treatment Plants where the water that used to be just thrown into the sea can become harmless and then returned to the sea. The Izmir Municipality has stated that in 1997, inside the sample of 100 milliliters of water from the gulf was 3 million Escherichia Colis and during the past two years, inside the sample of 100 milliliter of water from the gulf was no Escherichia Colis at all. Also, it is stated that no solid toxins are found in the water of the Gulf of Izmir anymore. Now, there are 11 stations near the gulf where samples of water are analyzed everywhere to keep track of the developments in the water. Today, the Gulf of Izmir?s water qualifies as a ?swimming water? by EU standards. However, it is not safe to say that the Gulf of Izmir is totally cleaned from the toxins and contamination. In 2013, an incident occurred at the cost of Izmir. The sewers that were said to be upgraded with the Grand Canal Project released sewage to the water making it brownish hue and smelly. Also, according to a report done by the Marine Science and Technology Institute in Izmir, it was revealed that there were high rates of heavy metals inside most of the fish that were examined. Despite the fact that the rates of these metals have been decreasing for the past 14 years, they aren?t totally gone. In other words, the Gulf of Izmir is very close to being at its past state of cleanness and beauty. I believe in the day I can finish this report by saying that we have accomplished in restoring the Gulf of Izmir back to its original state. RESOURCES http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F1-4020-5175-1_7 http://www.turmepa.org.tr/icerik.aspx?id=249 http://www.tusiad.org:7979/FileArchive/su_yonetimi.pdf http://www.deu.edu.tr/userweb/erdem.sayin/dosyalar/csr971.pdf http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/25221219 http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/22617820.asp
http://www.izmir.bel.tr/Projeler/2/159/ara/tr |
   
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27 Comments
This must be very difficult for the living animalss out there :/ I hope you can raise awarness about this topic in your area and get back the beauty of the gulf
Posted 30-11-2014 22:56
Btw the pictures talk alot!!
Posted 30-11-2014 22:07
That's well thought. I am really impressed by these facts
Posted 30-11-2014 22:06
According to research contamination of water sources is top of the list in America,both fresh and drinking water for household use. It is a also of top concern because not only is it largely and widely the biggest portion of the world's percentage but also cos its difficult and costly to clean .Very good report Utku and keep on raising awareness on this topic>
Posted 30-11-2014 22:02
Well written & meaningful pics supplied.
You may raise this issue of Gulf of Izmir's water contamination with the authorities so that it is made cleaner & fishes may survive.
Posted 30-11-2014 17:06
I think you should say "71% of the planet's surface is covered by water" instead of "71% of whole planet is made of it (water)"...
Posted 30-11-2014 10:10
Speechless :/
Posted 30-11-2014 08:05
Speechless :/
Posted 30-11-2014 08:05
the pictures are shocking, my sister went once to izmir, she said it is beautiful but she prefers Adana
Posted 30-11-2014 03:49
Muhammed - I really hope so too.
Arushi - Yes, you are right. That is a photo of recent cleaning done by the municipality under the "Grand Canal Project". About the pictures: I have been trying to put descriptions under the pictures, but it seems I still can't do it :(
Wulan - The fact is that the Gulf of Izmir's water qualifies as "swimming water" by European Union Standards. However, a report showed signs of heavy metal in the fishes' body. But, the samples(i mean the fishes) were collected deep in the water. That's why, it doesn't have much effect on the matter. In other words, you can swim in the water, but as a whole the gulf isn't totally clean.
Michael - Thank you for the head's up. I corrected it.
Sergio - Honestly, I don't know the details to that much further. What I can tell you is the fact that there has been many newly built Wastewater Plants as well as a new huge sewer system. However, I have no knowledge about the methods used in these systems. Sorry :(
Posted 30-11-2014 03:31
nice effort
Posted 30-11-2014 01:13
nice effort
Posted 30-11-2014 01:13
nice effort
Posted 30-11-2014 01:12
Interesting article. You know, i'm from Indonesia, and we also have the same problem with you in the coast of Ancol, which is the place where commercial beach takes place in the capital city, Jakarta, it is also close to Tanjung Priok which is the place for loading-unloading cargo for ships an soon to be an intergrated international port. Ancol coast has been heavily damaged, mostly by people throwing rubbish into the ocean. Well you showed me some hope by seeing your gulf of Izmir is restoring. I hope i can hear from you again when it is restored in an appropriate condition.
Posted 30-11-2014 00:05
Thanks for updating us with water status-past and present of Gulf of Izmir. very nicely written report-Utku. Hope you submitted this as one of the essays or reports as it is of winning quality. Glad to know that now the water quality is much improved with all the measures put in place. It would have been really good if you had written subtitles/captions for your pics like -water now , water xyz years ago. In the first pic , the ship is trying to eject impurities out of water-right?
Posted 29-11-2014 23:45
Good article. How could the gulf quilified as swimming water as it is contaminated by waste? Is the gulf also contaminated by heavy metal?
Posted 29-11-2014 22:44
an article worth sharing (Y)
Posted 29-11-2014 17:36
thanks for sharing. impressive pictures
Posted 29-11-2014 16:35
Keep it up!
Posted 29-11-2014 15:03
good article:)
Posted 29-11-2014 15:02
Impressive!
Posted 29-11-2014 13:36
how can I post an article like this?
Posted 29-11-2014 12:07
well-information:)
Posted 29-11-2014 12:07
"Grand Canal Project" did/doing a great job.
This shows what change can be brought though organized efforts & positivebmindset.
Thanks for sharing. :)
Posted 29-11-2014 09:11
I absolutely love the fact that you stated 'all living organisms' should have this substance every living thing indeed need water to survive. I found it interesting that you reiterated the fact that "Water also makes about 70% of the human body and is essential for our body since it is part of almost every metabolic reaction (hydrolysis, dehydration etc.)..." (para. 1).
Great Job Utku Karadeniz!
Posted 29-11-2014 08:58
great !!
Posted 29-11-2014 08:51
Impressive pictures Utku. Could you tell us more about what remediaton techniques have you been implementing in the gulf of Izmir?
Posted 29-11-2014 07:26