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Water Pollution (Solutions (Conserve water by turning off the tap when…
Water Pollution
Solutions
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Use environmentally household products, such as washing powder, household cleaning agents and toiletries.
Keep trash and chemicals out of storm drains, including pet waste. Storm water flows into the sea, carrying pollutants which can lead to beach closures
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Don’t throw litter into rivers, lakes or oceans.
You can help by helping clean up any litter you see on beaches or in rivers and lakes, making sure it is safe to collect the litter and putting it in a nearby dustbin.
Science Facts
Water pollution
Water pollution happens when toxic substances enter water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans and so on, getting dissolved in them, lying suspended in the water or depositing on the bed. This degrades the quality of water.
Not only does this spell disaster for aquatic ecosystems, the pollutants also seep through and reach the groundwater, which might end up in our households as contaminated water we use in our daily activities, including drinking.
Water polutants
“Nonpoint sources" deliver pollutants indirectly through transport or environmental change. However major sources of water pollution can be classified as municipal, industrial, and agricultural.
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Water bodies
Before understanding water pollution as a whole, one must understand what a water body is.
2 types of water bodies
permanent water bodies
A permanent water body is one that only shows slight seasonal variation in water level and one that retains most of its volume throughout the year. Both types of water body support their own aquatic faunal and floral communities.
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perennial water bodies
A perennial water body is one that is mostly dependent on rainfall, or at least has seasonal exposure to another source of water (overtopping of streams and rivers etc.). They are water bodies that do not dry up.
Perennial water bodies tend to have self-sustaining fish populations and may be semi-choked with aquatic weeds.
Effect
Environment
Organic matter and nutrients causes an increase in aerobic algae and depletes oxygen from the water column. This is called eutrophication and causes the suffocation of fish and other aquatic organisms.
Microbial pollutants from sewage often result in infectious diseases that infect aquatic life and terrestrial life through drinking water. This often increases the number of mortalities seen within an environment.
Sulfate particles from acid rain change the pH of water making it more acidic, this damages the health of marine life in the rivers and lakes it contaminates, and often increases the number of mortalities within an environment.
Industrial waste often contains many toxic compounds that damage the health of aquatic animals and those who eat them. Some toxins affect the reproductive success of marine life and can therefore disrupt the community structure of an aquatic environment.
Heavy metals from industrial processes can accumulate in nearby lakes and rivers. These are toxic to marine life such as fish and shellfish, and can affect the rest of the food chain. This means that entire animal communities can be badly affected by this type of pollutant.
There are many different types of water pollution and all have a different adverse effect on the environment.
Suspended particles can often reduce the amount of sunlight penetrating the water, disrupting the growth of photosynthetic plants and microorganisms. This has subsequent effects on the rest of the aquatic community that depend on these organisms to survive.
Socioeconomic Factors
Social Factors
The water pollution is affecting the society; especially fisherman and even real estate. Not only does it affect the environment, many jobs are also in danger.
Clean water can raise the value of a nearby home by up to 25 percent. Waterfront property values can decline because of the unpleasant sight and odor of algal blooms.
Fishing and shellfish industries are hurt by harmful algal blooms that kill fish and contaminate shellfish. Annual losses to these industries from nutrient pollution are estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars.
“It seems that while working on making sure the fish, whales, or other marine animals come back, we need to make sure we are not dumping chemicals into their environment that could affect their reproductive systems and compromise their life cycles.” - John Pappalardo, fisherman and member of the New England Fishery Management Council
John Pappalardo’s life/career is in danger due to the water pollution; his sales might decrease greatly due to the contamination of the fish.
Economic Factors
The tourism industry loses close to $1 billion each year, mostly through losses in fishing and boating activities, as a result of water bodies that have been affected by nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms.
Nitrates and algal blooms in drinking water sources can drastically increase treatment costs. Nitrate-removal systems in Minnesota caused supply costs to rise from 5-10 cents per 1000 gallons to over $4 per 1000 gallons.
It can also cost billions of dollars to clean up polluted water bodies. Every dollar spent on protecting sources of drinking water saves in water treatment costs.
