Water Pollution in Canada

The industrialization of Canada is severely affecting the nations lakes, streams, and rivers. If something is not done to improve the situation it is going to have some severe environmental problems in its future. The following essay will be looking at the factors that cause pollution, and the effect that pollution has on the environment of Canada. It will also explore some of the methods used to treat and clean-up wastewater, and oil spills.

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.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand: Organic wastes that decay in a body of water.

decrease the amount of oxygen found in it. The living things in the lake need

oxygen to survive. If the oxygen level is depressed to zero, all fish in the

lake die. Any decomposition that does not contain oxygen starts to generate

noxious gases such as Hydrogen Sulfide. Pulp and paper mills, and municipal

sewage causes BOD. Nutrients: Nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus,

enrich waters and accelerate the aging of lakes and streams. Also, the result

of this is rich plant life which prohibits recreational activities. Plankton

blooms depress oxygen levels (as mentioned before) and therefore, endanger

living organisms. Major sources of nutrients are municipal sewage and

agricultural runoff. Toxic Materials: Can affect the health of aquatic organisms

and their consumers, and the people who drink the contaminated water. The

toxicants include lead, mercury, DDT, PCB, benzopyrene, oil, and dibutyl

phthalate. These chemicals enter the lake through dumping by the factories.

Temperature Changes: Temperature changes from waste heat discharges (like from a

nuclear power plant) can cause pollution. This happens if their elevation

reduces dissolved-oxygen levels, and accelerates eustrophication, which in turn

affects the ecological processes and blocks the migration path of fishes.

Acidification: Acidification (acid rain etc.) Is caused by sulfur and nitrogen

oxide in the rain, which is caused by automobiles and large industries.

Temperature Changes: The...

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... 40,000

gallons) per ton of steel manufactured. A typical metropolitan area discharges a

volume of wastewater equal to about 60 to 80 percent of its total daily

requirements! The rest is being used for washing cars, watering lawns, and for

manufacturing processes such as food canning and bottling.

Infiltration: This occurs when sewer lines are placed below the water table or when rainfall goes

down through the earth to the pipe. We do not like it because it means that the

piping system and the treatment plant have to work extra hard

Storm Water Drainage: This is simply the water from rain, melted snow, etc. draining into

our pipelines and sewers where it goes to a treatment plant to be treated, but

there is nothing wrong with it.

In conclusion, From all the points I have brought up it is easy to see that

the more people there are in the world the more water pollution there is going

to be. That doesn't mean that we have to stop having children, what it means is

that we have to start watching where we drain our polluted water, and start to

use our resources more wisely. We should also be more careful with hazardous

chemicals , and things like oil drilling, etc.