Cosier, S. (2016, November 17). Could power plant waste help cut water pollution? Science.
Retrieved November 20, 2016, from
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/11/could-power-plant-waste-help-cut-water-pollution
This article talks about how Dan Johnson’s farm, based in Cambellsport, Wisconsin, receives a lot of river water, where it “ trickles through his crop fields, then beneath a small white structure where a pump sucks up small water samples.” The point of this article is to conduct an experiment to see if power plant waste can actually cut down on water pollution. Polluted runoff on Johnson’s farm is high, which is why they are testing this. The results from nearby coal plants found that gypsum helps phosphorous levels remain constant within his soil.
I personally thought that power plant waste was nothing but a toxicant to this world, just like other human produced waste products. After reading this article and trying to piece together the experiment, I was astonished to find that something that pollutes the world can be environmentally beneficial.
Wow! I found it incredibly interesting that a power plant could be beneficial to the farm. Why/how is it beneficial? I’m interested to see this study replicated and see if it has the same effects elsewhere.