Water Pollution
What is Water Pollution?
70% of the Earth is made up of water. However, nearly every body of water is already contaminated with toxic waste and chemicals. Water pollution occurs when water pollutants are discharged into lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, and groundwater without enough treatment to remove the destructive substances from them. Water pollution is dangerous to plants and organisms whose habitats lie in these areas. Since all organisms are connected in some way or another, the pollution eventually harms the entire community as opposed to individual species and populations.
What Causes Water Pollution?
Like any other pollution, water pollution mostly occurs because of human activites such as: sewage, marine dumping, industrial waste, radioactive waste, oil pollution, underground storage leakages, and atmospheric deposition.
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Water Pollution Facts
- - Pollution is one of the biggest global killers, affecting over 100 million people. That's comparable to global diseases like malaria and HIV
- - Over 1 billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water. 5,000 people die each day due to dirty drinking water
- - 40% of China's surface water is considered polluted
- - Over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every year
- - 14 billion pounds of garbage are dumped into the ocean every year. Most of it's plastic
| Water Pollutant | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Sewage And Waste Water | Sewage usually refers to feces, urine, and laundry waste. Since the world holds a large human population, sewage is a major problem for water bodies. In developed countries, problems occur when people flush chemicals and pharmaceuticals down the toilet, which leads to problems for people that live in undeveloped countires. Also, sewage often carries harmful viruses and bacteria from ill people, causing further health problems. |
| Marine Dumping | Marine dumping is the act of littering into bodies of water. The problems arise when marine organisms attempt to consume these non-biodegradable objects. However, the amount of time an item takes to degrade in water varies. For instance, cardboard takes 2 weeks to degrade, but, plastic packaging takes around 400 years. In fact glass takes so long to degrade, that scientists cannot even estimate the period of time. |
| Industrial Waste | Industries that we see today are huge water pollutants because they produce substances that are extremely dangerous to the environment because many industrial facilities use the flow of freshwater to carry away waste from the power plant into water bodies. Water pollutants include lead, oils, sulphur and others that in turn not only harm water bodies but also contribute to land and air pollution. |
| Radioactive Waste | Also known as nuclear waste, this water pollutant originates from industrial, medical and scientific procedures that use radioactive materials. These operations include those conducted by nuclear power stations, mining and refining of uranium and thorium and through the nuclear fuel cycle. Nuclear waste has a very negative impact on marine habitats. |
| Oil Pollution | This is probably the most well-known water pollutant since oceans are polluted by oil on a daily basis. These sources include oil spills, routine shipping, run-offs and dumping. An interesting fact is that oil spills make up around 12% of the oil that is discharged into the ocean. The remaining comes from shipping travel, drains and dumping. Oil, insoluble in water, forms a thick sludge which suffocates fish and even gets stuck in marine birds' feathers. This prevents them from flying and blocks sunlight required for photosynthesis in aquatic plants. |
| Underground Storage Leakages | These pipes or tanks underwater store substances such as petroleum, which are harmful to the surrounding environment if it mistakenly becomes contaminated. Steel pipes can corrode and hence cause leakages, affecting soil and groundwater around it. |
| Atmospheric Deposition | Everything is somehow connected in the world. Similarly, atmospheric deposition refers to water pollution caused by air pollution. When water particles mix with others, it forms weak acid. As it rains, the water becomes polluted with these acidic gases, which in turn, destroys marine habitats and harms aquatic life. |
| Global Warming | Global warming leads to the water temperate to rise. This increase results in deaths of various aquatic organisms and destroys marine habitats. For instance, it causes coral bleaching of reefs. |
