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- Drinking Water
- Water Pollution
- Water Conservation & Restoration
In Brief Articles
- Pollution-Related Beach Closings and Advisories Climb in 2006
News - Pollution-related beach closings and advisories across the country rose last year, according to NRDC's 17th annual beach report.
- Water Quality at U.S. Beaches
Guides - How to find out whether state and local authorities test for beach pollution, and what they do if they find it.
- Beach Pollution
FAQ - Answers to questions including: How widespread is beach pollution? What are the major causes of beach pollution? Can swimming in polluted water make you sick?
- Facts about Pollution from Livestock Farms
Fact Sheet - Facts and figures about pollution from factory farms, which produce staggering amounts of animal wastes that pollute the environment and do serious harm to humans, fish and ecosystems.
- Pollution from Giant Livestock Farms Threatens Public Health
News - Factory farms -- giant livestock farms that house thousands of cows, chickens or pigs -- produce staggering amounts of animal wastes. These wastes are often stored and used in ways that expose people to dangerous bacteria, toxic gases and other hazardous substances, and punish the natural environment.
- Sewage Pollution Threatens Public Health
News - Sewage overflows are creating a public health crisis. Find out how aging sewer systems and Bush Administration rollbacks of environmental law are compounding the problem.
- Cleaning Up the Anacostia River
Fact Sheet - After more than a century of abuse, plans are being made to bring Washington, D.C.'s "Forgotten River" back to life.
- Historic Hudson River Cleanup to Begin After Years of Delay, But Will GE Finish the Job?
History - Under the EPA's unusual agreement with General Electric, the company could escape full responsibility for cleaning up the toxic mess it made in the Hudson River.
- Mimicking Nature to Solve a Water-Pollution Problem
Photo Album - Urban runoff -- dirty rainwater that's swept straight across pavement and other hard surfaces into our waterways -- is a serious threat to our nation's waters. But with "low-impact development," one increasingly popular solution to runoff, communities can reduce water pollution, beautify landscapes, and save money all at once.
- How to Clean Up Our Water
Guides - Sewage overflows and runoff from farms and city streets close thousands of miles of beaches each year and poison our food supply and drinking water. The good news is that there are many things you can do to help. Here are 12 simple actions to help stem the tide of polluted runoff -- and clean up and conserve our waters.
- Advanced Ways to Clean Up Our Water
Guides - Runoff from lawns, sidewalks, roads and driveways is a major contributor to surface water pollution. Advanced ways to help reduce the flow of polluted runoff include installing a water storage cistern, rain garden or vegetated roof.
- Urban Stormwater Solutions
News - Cities, developers, corporations and schools are beginning to find new ways of reducing stormwater pollution, as illustrated in these case studies.
- Urban Stormwater Pollution
Fact Sheet - Our drinking water supplies, shellfishing waters and bathing beaches are fouled by uncontrolled pollution when rainwater and snowmelt wash over city streets, parking lots and suburban lawns. This problem is called urban stormwater pollution. Recent studies have found that urban stormwater rivals (or exceeds) sewage plants and large factories as a source of damaging pollutants.
- Environmentalists and Dow: Chemical Reduction
Interview - Between 1996 and early 1999, NRDC worked on a groundbreaking project with a truly unlikely partner: Dow Chemical. The project tested the idea of pollution prevention -- improving the manufacturing process to stop pollution before it's created -- at one of the largest chemical manufacturing plants in the United States. What was it like for an environmentalist to work with Dow Chemical? NRDC scientist Linda Greer, who headed the project for NRDC, tells all.
- Preventing Industrial Pollution at Its Source
News - An unlikely partnership between environmentalists and Dow Chemical achieves major pollution reductions.
