When you think of problems in the world today, water pollution isn't one that would normally come up. In fact it is one of the worst problems in the world today. Water pollution, by definition, is the contamination of streams, lakes, underground water, bays, or oceans by any substances harmful to living things. All living things contain it, live in it, and most need it to survive, so water pollution is a big problem, if not the biggest. If severe, the pollution can kill off birds, fish, and any animals that use the water source. In some cases even killing an entire species.
Keeping the pollution to a minimal isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. The major water pollutants are chemical, biological, or physical materials that degrade water quality. Pollutants can be classed in to eight categories, each of which presents its own set of hazards.
Petroleum products are one of the most toxic substances to the ecosystem. Oil and chemicals get better grades
derived from oil get into the water mainly by means of accidental spills from ships, tanker trucks, pipelines, and leaky underground storage tanks. Many petroleum products are poisonous if ingested by animals, and spilled oil damages the feathers of birds or the fur of animals, often causing death.
Pesticides and herbicides are toxins that are used to kill of unwanted animals and plants. These may be collected by rainwater runoff and carried into steams, rivers, lakes, and even into the ocean. More than 14 million Americans drink water contaminated by with pesticides. Nitrates, a pollutant often derived from fertilizer runoff, can cause methemoglobinemia in infants, a potentially lethal form of anemia that is also called blue baby syndrome.
Heavy metals, such as copper, lead, mercury, and selenium are another group of toxins that pollute the water as well as the rest of the environment.
THE main cause of water pollution are fertilizers and nutrient pollution. Some of the pollutants that are most prevalent in the manure, sewage and chemical fertilizers are Nitrates and phosphates. These pollutants run into the streams and rivers causing excessive growth in aquatic plants and algae leading to clogged waterways and dead zones.
Another cause of water pollution happens when oil, gasoline and additives gets spilled due to a leak in a major oil tanker. This usually gets a lot of coverage and press due to it's effects on marine animals, local fisherman and coastal businesses. Oils can also seep into the waterways through the groundwater as a result of a leak or small spill. ain sources of water pollution can be
Agriculture
Industries
Sanitary wastes
Solid wastes
Natural reasons
1. Urbanization: Rapid urbanization in the world during the recent decades has given rise to a number of environmental problems such as water supply, waste water generation and its collection, treatment and disposal. Many towns and cities which came up on the banks of rivers have not given a proper thought to the problems of wastewater, sewerage etc. In urban areas, the wastewater is let out untreated and causes large scale water pollution.
2. Industries: Most of the rivers and other sources of fresh water are polluted by industrial wastes or effluents. All these industrial wastes are toxic to life forms that consume this water. Thermal power plants, engineering industries, paper mills, steel plants, textile industries and sugar industries are the major contributors of wastewater production.
3. Agricultural runoff and improper agricultural practices: Traces of fertilizers and pesticides are wasted into the nearest water bodies at the onset of the monsoons or whenever there are heavy showers. Intensive and ever increasing usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals cause water pollution. Flood-plain cultivation is another significant contributor to water pollution.
4.Religious and social practices: Religious faiths and social practices also add to pollution of river waters. Carcasses of cattle and other animals are disposed in the rivers. Dead bodies are cremated on the river banks. Partially burnt bodies are also flung into the river. These practices pollute the river water and adversely affect the water quality. Mass bathing in the river during religious festival is another environmentally harmful practice.
Plastic bags are also very dangerous and further add to the pollution load to the river water
Water pollution sources can be from various human activities such as wastewater sewage effluents, sanitary sewer overflows (SSO), combined sewer overflows (CSO), agricultural runoffs, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO), street litters, leaking underground storage tanks, most recently in the news, or drugs that were not properly disposed of resulting in varieties of drinking water problems.
Water pollution can also be caused by acid rain.
Lack of awareness of humans is the primary cause of water pollution. Also dumping of garbage, oil spills, dumping of nuclear waste and passing waste in water sources are causes of water pollution. |
