Ecology and our project



Our project will show problems of water pollution. You can read about ecological situation in Russia, Kurgan region, about water monitoring which our group has done and about diseases, which appear because of �dirty� drinking water.

Ecological situation in Russia

There are many environmental problems with water in Russia. Russia is rather rich in water resources, but now in our country we have the shortage of fresh water of high-quality due to the increase of population, agricultural intensification, industrial development and the expansion of the new cities in the 20th century. For comparison, the average Russian spends about 278 liters per day. However, in Moscow city, daily water use is about 400 liters per person. The water supply problems in Russia could be summarized as follows: shortage of water resources in certain, usually mostly highly populated and highly industrial or agricultural regions; negative consequences of the active use of river flow for irrigation purposes; negative consequences of the water reservoirs, dams, water power plants and redistribution of river flows; pollution of surface and ground water with various industrial, agricultural, household wastes and oil;

Ecological situation in Kurgan

Kurgan is our town. It is related to Tobol river basin. There are 6 wide rivers 200 km long, 105 rivers of 10-200 km long and more than 800 streams, tiny brooks (their length is less then 10 km) in Kurgan region. The hydrological regime of these rivers is identical with the floods in spring and the high water level in autumn. The great percentage of water in the rivers is the result of snow thawing. The river net is not developed evenly. In fact, all rivers flow in the western and north-western part of Kurgan region. In the south-east the density of the river net is not high, moreover in the east there is no rivers at all. There are about 300 lakes in the region, 70% of them are sweet, and the others are salted. In the south-east there are more lakes than anywhere. Most of lakes are shallow, their area could be from 1-10 square km. Usually the river�s flow is formed by 1 km� of its own water, 2, 7 km� comes from the neighbor regions. As a result, in Kurgan region the water level is the lowest in comparing with the other regions in Ural. In Kurgan one person is expected to use 0, 7 thousand m� of water, for 1 km� there is 10, 9 thousand of meters�. In comparing with the nearest regions - Chelyabinsk: 1, 6 m� per person; Ekaterinburg: 5, 6 m� per person. Surface and underground waters are the main resources for drinking and industry. Total water consuming in 1994 in Kurgan region was 135 million meters� of water, which was less then in 1993(186 million m� of water). This amount consists of 91, 5 million meters� of surface waters and 43, 5 million meters� of underground waters. The main consumers of water in Kurgan are municipal services and industry. In 1994 it was consumed about 81% of surface waters and 19% of underground waters. Generally, it is lack of water in the region for industrial and municipal needs. Furthermore, the problem is not only in the amount of water but in its quality. Sometimes such water can not be used for drinking. It is obvious; the quality of water has a great influence on the health of people. In Amur, Kurgan, Kemerov, Novgorod regions the chemical pollution of water causes the diseases of central nervous system, nephritis, hepatitis, toxicosis of pregnancy, high level of mortinatality and inherent aperiodicities. Bacterial and viral pollution of the Russian rivers, which is higher of possible in several times, create a danger of epidemic of intestinal infections. One of the reasons of this trouble with the drinking water is defective hygienic efficiency of the water recycling system. In 1991 23, 7% of drinking water did not meet the chemical and bacterial requirements of all-Russian Standard. According to the all-Russian Standards the limit of concentration should include such percentage of chemical admixture that does not have any bad influence on health of people, does not change the smell, taste and colour of water (especially, drinking water). Besides, it should not maintain pathogenic bacteria, coal oils, etc. Drinking water is indebted to be refined in waterworks. All this system is under control of the state health service. One of the most important resources of water is underground waters. The water reserve in Russia is sufficient. The reserve could be used for irrigation of fields. Another important resource of clean water is desalination of sea-water.

Monitoring of water

One of the main ecological problems is water pollution, it connects with condition of people�s health, ecological products. Drinking water is the greatest factor of person�s health. The reasons of water pollution are numerous. The most dangerous of them are salts of heavy metals, which can cause many diseases. Drinking water of Kurgan region doesn�t answer the medical demands of our Health Security Department of Kurgan region. The main demands are safety, suitable for economical needs. Investigations, show that we have a high level of diseases. The quality of drinking water influences the health of population. We have a high level of diseases of central nervous system, tocsikos pregnantness, increasing deaths of birthchildren. One of the reason is the hygiene of water systems.

Diseases because of dirty water

Dental caries is an infectious disease which damages the structures of teeth .

Tooth decay or cavities are consequences of caries. If left untreated, the disease can lead to pain, tooth loss, infection, and, in severe cases, death of the tooth. There is a long history of dental caries, with evidence showing the disease was present in the Bronze, Iron, and Medieval ages but also prior to the neolithic period. The largest increases in the prevalence of caries have been associated with diet changes. Today, it remains one of the most common diseases throughout the world.

Gastritis is inflammation of the gastric mucosa of the stomach. Depending on the cause, gastritis may persist acutely or chronically and may coincide with more serious conditions such as atrophy of the stomach.

Ischaemic or ischemic heart disease (IHD), or myocardial ischemia, is a disease characterized by reduced blood supply to the heart muscle, usually due to coronary artery disease (atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries). Its risk increases with age, smoking, hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol levels), diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) and is more common in men and those who have close relatives with ischaemic heart disease.
Symptoms of stable ischaemic heart disease include angina (characteristic chest pain on exertion) and decreased exercise tolerance. Unstable IHD presents itself as chest pain or other symptoms at rest, or rapidly worsening angina. Diagnosis of IHD is with an electrocardiogram, blood tests (cardiac markers), cardiac stress testing or a coronary angiogram. Depending on the symptoms and risk, treatment may be with medication, percutaneous coronary intervention (angioplasty) or coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG).
It is the most common cause of death in most Western countries, and a major cause of hospital admissions. There is limited evidence for population screening, but prevention (with a healthy diet and sometimes medication for diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure) is used both to prevent IHD and to decrease the risk of complications.

A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease is an ulcer (defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm) of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. As much as 80% of ulcers are associated with Helicobacter pylori, a spiral-shaped bacterium that lives in the acidic environment of the stomach, however only 20% of those cases go to a doctor. Ulcers can also be caused or worsened by drugs such as Aspirin and other NSAIDs. Contrary to general belief, more peptic ulcers arise in the duodenum (first part of the small intestine, just after the stomach) than in the stomach. About 4% of stomach ulcers are caused by a malignant tumor, so multiple biopsies are needed to make sure. Duodenal ulcers are generally benign.

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