Water: A Natural History [Paperback]

Alice Outwater (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 1997

An environmental engineer turned ecology writer relates the history of our waterways and her own growing understanding of why our waterways continue to be polluted—and what needs to be done to save this essential natural resourse.Water: A Natural History takes us back to the diaries of the first Western explorers; it moves from the reservoir to the modern toliet, from the grasslands of the Midwest to the Everglades of Florida, throught the guts of a wastewater treatment plant and out to the waterways again. It shows how human-engineered dams, canals and farms replaces nature’s beaver dams, prairie dog tunnels, and buffalo wallows. Step by step, Outwater makes clear what should have always been obvious: while engineering can depollute water, only ecologically interacting systems can create healthy waterways.Important reading for students of environmental studies, the heart of this history is a vision of our land and waterways as they once were, and a plan that can restore them to their former glory: a land of living streams, public lands with hundreds of millions of beaver-built wetlands, prairie dog towns that increase the amount of rainfall that percolates to the groundwater, and forests that feed their fallen trees to the sea.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What happens when you flush your toilet? Environmental engineer and writer Alice Outwater knows, and she guides the reader through the technical ins and outs of such delicate matters as water treatment and sewage handling--subjects she writes about with considerable charm. Here you will learn how "raw sludge brew" is separated, how methane from sewage is converted to a source of power, and how aqueducts past and present really work. Outwater also describes in lay terms the complex ecology of rivers, making a strong case for the preservation of free-flowing streams in the place of dammed waterways. Her book is somewhat more narrowly focused than the title suggests, but it is highly interesting and instructive nonetheless. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

A generation after the Clean Water Act was passed, one third of our waters are still polluted, according to the author, and only 6% of contamination is caused by industry. Environmental engineer Outwater, who managed scum and sludge removal in the Boston Harbor cleanup, reaches back into our history to chart the changes in our waters. Once, a tenth of the total land area was beaver-built wetland; the beaver's decline caused the first major shift in the nation's water cycle. The depressions buffalo made on the ground and the holes dug by prairie dogs collected rain and runoff that seeped down to the water table; our waterways have been transformed by the loss of these keystone species. Outwater looks at grasslands and forests, artificial waterways, agriculture, aqueducts and toilet bowls, sewers and sludge (she gives a guided tour of a waste-treatment plant). She makes a strong case for restoring natural systems to public lands?repopulating beaver, bison and prairie dogs. This book is a valuable addition to environmental literature and to our understanding of water.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (September 27, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465037801
• ISBN-13: 978-0465037803
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 4.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #459,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jam-packed, Non-fat Eco-journey, May 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Water: A Natural History (Paperback)

This is a superlative book; I recommend anyone living in the USA to read it. It is short, but each sentence is informative, there are no wasted words, no fat. It is scientifically and historically acurate to the smallest detail, but never dry. Outwater's writing style is flowing and musical, and each sentence takes you further and deeper into an Alice-in-Wonderland journey of the magic and marvel of each of the ecosytems she describes. She uses water as the vehicle for each journey, from molecules to the ocean. She describes the balances of Nature and how humans have fit in, or destroyed, these balances. I am a longtime outdoorsman, photographer, and conservationist, and had thought I was reasonably observant. But reading this book was like having a film removed from my eyes and being fitted with ultra-acute vision and hightened understanding and appreciation of our history and environment.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clarity about the reason why our water is not yet clear/pure, August 19, 2002

By 

abycats (Manhattan) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Water: A Natural History (Paperback)

Many of the books on the increasingly common water shortages spend a great deal of their time listing mind numbing statistics. This author is authoritative but has the sense to pick a few key reasons why our entire US water infrastructure needs the help of nature. Beavers and prairie dogs may be what we need, at least in this country, to improve the percolating powers of the earth to clean what science alone cannot remove from our water. This is one of the few books in this area that is readable by anyone over mid-teens. I highly recommend this book for a history of why the Clean Water Act is not enough.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Aldo Leopold was alive today he would recommend this book, October 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Water: A Natural History (Paperback)

This wonderful book is not about the molecule or its chemistry. It is the natural history of life's most basic building material as it has been used and abused on the North American continent over the past five hundred years or so. It would be reasonable to call this engaging book a short history of the ecology of America's water only, as vital as it is, water is not alive. The author traces the interactions of living systems with the natural water cycle to support the thesis that nature had water quality and quantity problems well sorted out before we humans came on the scene. She indicates that restoration of natural systems of porus grasslands, free-flowing streams,fresh-water mussels, beaver ponds, and mature woodlands may very well be the "best practise" for water quality management if this country is serious about making every river, lake and stream fishable and swimable. As I read this well crafted history it occurred to me that this book belongs in the same league as "A Sand County Almanac". I am sure Aldo leopold would agree.