Rivers, streams, and lakes are wonderful parts of the natural landscape and have both aesthetic and recreational use. But how do we know if these beautiful waterways are actually polluted? Sometimes there may be trash floating in it or the water looks dirty; however, it’s hard to know just from looking at it what pollutants may be present in the water. Check it out here by entering your address or another location to see what types of pollution may be present in the waterways you call home.
In this map of Knoxville waterways below, Red represents a polluted waterway and the Blue highlighted shows the Tennessee River. The system uses data that states provide to the EPA in order to classify each waterway as polluted, unpolluted, or condition unknown.
How It Works:
• SEARCH: Use a smart phone to find out about a lake, river, or stream while standing right at the water’s edge. Or check on any location in the US by entering a zipcode, place name, or location on your computer, smart phone or tablet.
• RETRIEVE: Instantly receive a list of waterways within about five miles of the search location. Each waterway is identified as impaired, good, or condition unknown, along with the year its condition was reported. A map option offers a view of the search area with the waters color-coded by assessment status. Zoom in for more details or pan across the map to check on new areas and new waters.
• DISCOVER: Once you select a specific waterway from the map or the list of waters, the app and website offer more detailed results, including the type of pollution reported and what has been done by EPA and the states to reduce it. Technical users can follow links to detailed online scientific assessment reports.
• LEARN: Read simple, non-technical descriptions of each type of water pollutant. These include what the pollutant is, where it comes from, how it can harm the environment, human health, or valuable economic uses of the waterway, and what you can do to help.
• FIND: Looking for even more? The related links page connects you to popular water information on beaches, drinking water, fish habitat projects, and more!
www.epa.gov/mywaterway