Water covers almost 75% of the earth’s surface and is undoubtedly our most precious natural resource that exists on our planet today. There won’t be any living organism on our planet without water. Water Pollution occurs when a body of water is severely affected due to addition of large amount of materials to the water.[Missouri Botanical Garden]
Pollutions such as sewage and fertilizers contain nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. At high levels, nutrients can over stimulate the growth of aquatic plants and algae. Excessive growth of these types of organisms consequently clogs our waterways, use up dissolved oxygen as they decompose, and block light to deeper waters.[David Krantz] This could be very harmful to aquatic organisms as it affects the respiration ability of fish and other creatures of the sea. Pollution is also caused when silt and other suspended solids, such as soil, washoff plowed fields, construction and logging sites, urban areas, and eroded river banks when it rains.[David Krantz] Pollution in the form of organic material enters waterways in many different forms as sewage, as leaves and grass clippings, or as runoff from livestock feedlots and pastures. When natural bacteria and protozoan in the water break down this organic material, they begin to use up the oxygen dissolved in the water. Many types of fish and bottom-dwelling animals cannot survive when levels of dissolved oxygen drop below two to five parts per million. When this occurs, it kills a lot of aquatic organisms which leads to unbalance in our food chain. Pathogens are another type of pollution that can be very harmful. They can cause many illnesses such as minor respiratory and skin diseases. Pathogens include such organisms as bacteria, viruses, and protozoan. These pollutants enter waterways through untreated sewage, storm drains, septic tanks, runoff from farms, and particularly boats that dump sewage. Though microscopic, these pollutants have a tremendous effect evidenced by their ability to cause sickness.[David Krantz] Air is also one of the main causes of water pollution. Because, when the air is polluted it also affects the water, thus making them correlated.
The major sources of water pollution can be classified as municipal, industrial, and agricultural. Municipal water pollution consists of waste water from homes and commercial establishments.[Ken Rubin] The main goal of treating municipal wastewater was simply to reduce its content of suspended solids, oxygen-demanding materials, dissolved inorganic compounds, and harmful bacteria. The basic methods
I chose to look up the topic of water pollution. I discovered this topic by going through the themes of the sci-fi books we are currently reading. In the book Feed, by M.T. Anderson, one of the themes was environmental impact on humans so I based it off of that. This topic has always been something that I was curious about because I always wondered how water pollution affected fish. Not only does water pollution affect fish, but it also affects a lot of people. The water pollution of the Mississippi halts people from doing recreational activities like water skiing, tubing, and fishing. Before I started researching this topic, I knew that phosphorus runoff from fields affected the waters health. Some questions that I asked myself during my
As swans drift with the current on a secluded lake in upper Canada they think not of the water they are in but of dreams of the past and wants for the future. On the other hand, seals off the coast of Northern California fear for their lives every day of humans exploiting their natural habitat. Many things can endanger water born animals, and most all of these come directly from humans. The pollutants of water come from many sources both close and far away from the water body itself. Wastes of humans are the major cause of pollution in the water, such materials include sewage, chemicals among other notable items. First, the composition water: water is odorless, tasteless and a transparent liquid. Though in large quantities water appears to have a bluish tint, it maintains the transparent tendency when observed in smaller quantities. Water covers approximately seventy percent of the Earth's surface in the solid and liquid form. Pollutants can be carried over a great distance by combining with evaporating moisture, forming clouds and then the wind taking the clouds to the larger body of water. This process is called acid rain and it is a major source of water pollution. Acid rain has been a problem since the Industrial Revolution, and has kept growing ever since. With acid rain moving over to a fresh water body, the plants and animals could experience pollution that they never had to deal with before and they could possibly die for the sudden change without them having time to adapt, if this is possible.
Today pollution is very high in both inland and marine waters. All different types of water pollution are contributing factors in this problem. Here are some things that are associated with pollution: Pathogens: Pathogens are disease causing bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. They usually come from human sewage. As pathogen numbers increase, so does the risk of human health.
'Water pollution is any chemical, physical or biological change in the quality of water that has a harmful effect on any living thing that drinks or uses or lives(in) it. ' (Azeem 1). In Canada, most people live in the southern part along with many agricultural and industrial activities causing the worst cases of water pollution. Water pollution is caused by population growth and industrialization, but can be prevented if proper controls are taken into consideration to help reduce the discharge of waste materials. Water pollution has been a huge disadvantaging concern for humans as well as wildlife for over many decades, but can actually be prevented if attempted. Preventing waste materials from being dumped into lakes and rivers, controlling
Water treatment is considered to be a relevant action to ensure environmental sustainability. With an increase in water pollutants, water treatment plants are forced to develop additional processes in order to adequately purify the polluted water. In a report for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed it was stated that the presence of non-point source pollutants caused “a 35% increase” in cost for the wastewater treatment plant (Rees 2014). As well, a study in
One fourth of the earth consists of land or soil while the other third belongs to the majority water. Land is an important asset of environment which benefits not only for human beings but also for animals and plants. The lack of preservation of the environment will lead to various pollutions, including land pollution. Land pollution can be defined as the deposition of solid or liquid waste materials on land or underground in a manner that can contaminate the soil and groundwater, threaten public health, and cause unsightly conditions and nuisance.
By the oceans being polluted not only are animals affected humans are too. What some people don't know is that they are killing of and disturbing offspring by polluting waters. "Ocean pollution results in smaller catches of fish all over the world, either by killing fish directly, preventing them from breeding, or causing birth abnormalities. Seabirds are unable to breed and whales are poisoned. Pollution also seems to be responsible for a new disease among seals. Without even swallowed, plastic can kill seabirds, turtles, and other creatures by trapping them. People drinking water from polluted seas can become sick. Deadly infectious diseases like cholera and typhoid can break out." There are many different types of sizes of plankton everywhere in our ocean waters.
The depletion of oxygen in water could be fatal to aquatic organisms since oxygen is an important limiting factor to them. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used in farming for plant growth. However, the chemicals that are mixed up with rain water flow into the rivers or seas and indirectly result in water contamination. Water pollution has a great impact on public health because pathogenic organisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites spread through polluted water. When people consume polluted water, these pathogenic organisms can move into the body and cause diseases.
Water pollution is one of the main concerns of the environment. It is known as a change in the chemical or physical condition of the waters. Polluting the waters is causing harmful and tragic diseases that affect many families. It is also a global problem that not only affects people but also animals and plants. Water pollution is a current issue that has serious consequences; it progresses everyday in our lakes, oceans, rivers and other bodies of water.
In order to achieve different levels of contaminant removal, individual waste-water treatment procedures are combined into a variety of systems, classified as primary, secondary, and tertiary waste-water treatment. More rigorous treatment of waste-water includes the removal of specific contaminants as well as the removal and control of nutrients. Natural systems are also used for the treatment of waste-water in land-based applications. Sludge resulting from waste-water treatment operations is treated by various methods in order to reduce its water and organic content and make it suitable for final disposal and reuse.
Water pollution is also a major thing in the world because almost 60% of it is fishes. It occurs due to several factors; the industrial waste dumped into the rivers and other water body’s cause am imbalance in the water leading to its severe contamination and deaths. And the infamous Global warming is the emission of greenhouse gases particularly CO2 is leading to global warming.
Wastewater is the combination of water-carried or liquid wastes starting in the sanitary conveniences of dwellings, industrial or commercial facilities. In addition to this, surface water, groundwater and storm water may also be present. It is any water that has been badly affected in quality by anthropogenic influence. It contains waste from residential, industrial and commercial processes. Municipal water contains industrial wastewater, sewage and gray water. Gray water is the water from sinks and showers. Large industries also produce wastewater.
By terminating or reducing our usage of harsh chemicals provides the best way to to protect our bodies of water from the nasty chemicals. When chemicals seep into a body of water, the side effects could be disastrous and leave many of the organisms within the ecosystem in very harsh conditions. After a rain shower when water is running down the streets or after you give your car a wash your car , the runoff water carries toxic chemicals from your street and yard which ultimately may filtrate into our waterways. Sweeping trash instead of hosing it off of your drive/walkway will decrease the amount of unwanted items making into the water system. When washing your car, use a bucket instead of a hose. Having permeable outdoor surfaces like gravel, as well as gardens, also minimizes runoff but gardens can also have a negative effect. For example elements found in fertilizer such as phosphorus and nitrogen, aid in escalation in algae growth when it is introduced to a body of water, which kills off existing aquatic life in the area. The toxins also affect humans in a way. There is a high chance that if you do not have a drinking well located several hundred feet below the surface then you have been exposed to many toxic substances that have been dumped into the ground and into our waterways for many years. Dumping untreated human waste, different chemicals and other toxic material into the waterways can damage them permanently. “Nearly every municipal water supply also has fluoride (a highly toxic poison) added during water treatment, which is detrimental to your health. Europeans have known for many years that fluoride is toxic and have long since removed it from their water supplies, but it still is used in the United States”(Mercola). Some bodies of water “die” due to the pollutants that they endure. They become unable to support any
Pollution is a massive problem that the earth faces. Pollution is the action or process of making land, water, air, etc…, dirty and not safe or suitable to use. Pollution of air, water, and soil are the most complex issues. Various types of gases and toxins that are released by industries
Water pollutants are of different types such as oxygen demanding wastes, disease causing agents, synthetic organic compounds, plant nutrients, inorganic chemicals and minerals, oils, thermal discharge and radioactive wastes. Of all these water pollutants, heavy metals and synthetic organic compounds cause majority of water pollution. Industries like paper and pulp, tanneries, textiles and coke ovens, pha...