Frontline: Poisoned Waters

As a high school biology / ecology teacher, I consider this one of the most important programs that PBS has ever produced! Every living, breathing human being in America should see this! It takes the work of Rachel Carson one step further! I cannot emphasize enough how much this program "hits home" - water quality is rapidly becoming one of the real "hot-button" issues in ecology. In the 1960's, Rachel Carson took America by the bootstraps and shook her awake. This program will take America by the bootstraps and rattle her teeth out! You simply MUST see this!This program has my absolute highest recommendation!!!

Great video about why over 60% of the United States' rivers, lakes and estuaries, are polluted and unsafe to swim in. The video covers point and non-point source pollution, the Clean Water Act and how big agriculture is exempt from most of the Clean Water Act rules and passes the costs on to the American public.

a great way to be really depressed about how trashed the water is, a great view of the impact of factory farms on the chesapeake

very informative

This documentary is an excellent view of two major watersheds in the US. Puget Sound is a commonly overlooked water system in dire straights. Chesapeake Bay is a more known area, but still in major distress. Great for environmental discussions surrounding water pollution and nonpoint sources. No one wants to accept blame for this pollution but we are all to blame. It's amazingly sad and gut-wrenching to see the Chesapeake Bay barren on the bottom - no sign of life, and its effects on the entire bay. Or the effects of agriculture and its sources of phosphorous and nitrogen, as the new growth of algae strangles the water of oxygen. Agriculture helped build our country, but is also part of our water's demise. The studies are real and current time, the interviews are serious, and the stories are thought provoking. An incredible movie that can't leave anyone questioning our water - and why is it we buy bottled water that is recycled waste water upstream? Nestle is the winner of that disgusting corporation encompassed in greed (Bottlemania - book). Definitely worth every minute of viewing time.

This investigates two deteriorating waterways: the Chesapeake on the East Coast and Puget Sound on the West. This documentary was two hours long; it takes a dedicated viewer to watch the whole thing.Waters all over the world now have dead zones where nothing can live. Killer whale babies are dying because of pollutants. Chicken dookey is poisoning the water. Fish and frogs are hermaphroditic. All the highways and streets aren't allowing water to soak into the ground the way Mother Nature intended. It was difficult to hear all of this. It can make one lose hope.The work does try to bring up two points, but just barely. First, this will eventually affect humans. The same pollutants killing sea life can kill human babies. Second, things can be done. Areas with mixed businesses, residences, and public transportation make the need for cars less pressing.To an extent, this documentary lets the interior of the US off the hook. However, something tells me green activits could have pointed to many ways in which Lake Michigan or the Mississippi River is messed up too.Some say the truth shall set you free, but it sure is hard to stomach.