Final answer:
The subject involves the environmental impacts of a chicken farm's waste runoff causing eutrophication in a lake, creating a dead zone. This illustrates the broader issues of water pollution sources, including point sources like CFOs, and the steps that can be taken to mitigate these effects.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question you've asked pertains to the environmental impacts of pollution from a chicken farm. Runoff from this farm carries waste into a lake, causing eutrophication, which leads to excessive algae growth and low oxygen levels that harm aquatic life. This process can create large dead zones, areas where the water quality is so poor that most life cannot survive. The algae and microorganisms' explosive growth comes from the nutrients found in pollutants such as nitrates and phosphates, commonly present in animal waste and fertilizers.
A variety of sources contribute to water pollution, including industrial plants, urban runoff, and large-scale farms known as concentrated feeding operations (CFOs). These can be classified as point sources of pollution, which are identifiable, localized inputs of contaminants. The problem of pollution is exacerbated by heavy rainfall, which can overwhelm sewage systems, leading to direct discharges of untreated waste into waterways. This contamination affects not just ecosystems but also human health, as pollutants can enter the food chain and drinking water supplies.
Efforts to control this type of pollution include reducing the use of fertilizers, improving waste management practices at large animal farms, enhancing the treatment of wastewater, and preserving wetlands which act as natural filters for runoff.