Essay on water pollution
undoubtedly that water is the most precious resource that exists on our planet. It covers about 75% of the earth’s surface and with out it our planet will not grow and flourish. Even though most of us know these facts we just neglect that by contaminating our lakes, rivers and oceans. Consequently we are slowly damaging our planet by affecting the drinking water.
Water pollution is an undesirable change in the state of water, contaminated with harmful substances. Any change in the physical, chemical and biological properties of water that has a harmful effect on living things is water pollution.
There are two types of water pollution. Firstly surface waters these are the natural water resources of the Earth. These are found on the exterior of the Earth's crust, oceans, rivers and lakes. Secondly groundwater Water stored underground when weed killers used in people's gardens drain into the ground in aquifers.
Water is necessary to life on earth. All organisms contain it, some drink it, and some live in it. Plants and animals require water that is moderately pure, and they cannot survive if their water is loaded with toxic chemicals or harmful. There are two ways to know if water is polluted. Firstly take samples of the water and measure the concentrations of different chemicals that it contains. If the chemicals are dangerous or the concentrations are too great, we can regard the water as polluted. Measurements like this are known as chemical indicators of water quality. Secondly examining the fish, insects, and other invertebrates that the water will support. If many different types of creatures can live in a river, the quality is likely to be very good; if the river supports no fish life at all, the quality is obviously much poorer. Measurements like this are called biological indicators of water quality.
Municipal, industrial and agricultural are the different categories of the causes of water pollution. Municipal causes are related to waste water from homes and commercial establishments. Sewage, sludge, garbage, and even toxic pollutants are all dumped into the water. No efforts are made to disinfect the sewage or to remove especially harmful pollutants. . Rivers, streams, canals, lakes, and oceans are currently used as receptacles for every imaginable kind of pollution. Lakes are especially polluted because they cannot cleanse themselves as rapidly as rivers or oceans. The second highest cause of water pollution is ship waste. Ships used to take much garbage with them on their ships and dump them.
The other main cause of water pollution is industrial waste. Industries do not be harmed by water pollution but the cause much it. Many companies pour chemicals into the waterways. Some of the businesses that contribute to the water pollution are businesses that repair and maintain motor vehicles, electroplate, and operate printing and coping equipment. Other cause is plastics. The
reason for that is that plastics take four hundred and fifty years to decompose in the water. Also many companies use plastic and people throw it in the waterways. It can cause harm to unsuspecting creatures hundreds of feet from where it was originally dumped. Such waste includes bags, bottles, cups, straws, cup lids, utensils and floats. Farmers often use chemicals to hinder bug infestations or other diseases from damaging or ruining their crops. They may also use chemicals to enhance the growth of their crops. Either way, these chemicals seep into the ground water or run off into lakes, creeks, or rivers, causing water pollution.
The effects of water pollution are varied and depend on what chemicals are dumped and in what locations. The main problem caused by water pollution is that it kills life that inhabits water-based ecosystems. Dead fish, birds, dolphins, and many other animals often wind up on beaches, killed by pollutants in their habitat. The food chain continues to be disrupted at all higher levels when toxins are in the water, the toxins travel from the water the animals drink to humans when the animals’ meat is eaten. Then when water is loaded with toxic chemicals or harmful microorganisms can in some cases killing all members of a species in an affected area. Also Pollutants in the water will alter the overall chemistry of the water, causing changes in acidity, temperature and conductivity. These factors all have an affect on the marine life as we said.
Eventually, humans are affected by this process as well. People can get Infectious diseases such as typhoid and cholera can be contracted from drinking contaminated water. This is called microbial water pollution. The human heart and kidneys can be adversely affected if polluted water is consumed regularly. Other health problems associated with polluted water are poor blood circulation, skin lesions, vomiting, and damage to the nervous system. In fact, the effects of water pollution are said to be the leading cause of death for humans across the globe.
We need to start cleaning up the water or we will be in big trouble. The government needs to get active and so does the public. In some places water pollution is a main concern. The last defense of water pollution is water treatment. There are two main reasons for water treatment. The first one is to protect the public's health. The second one is to protect the water quality. Most of the waste water comes from industries, homes, businesses, storm runoff, ground water, and schools. Also sludge is being treated to remove some of its water. Then it is further processed by stabilizing, dewatering, and disposal.
Many laws have been created to restrict industries from dumping materials into the water. Many non-governmental projects are also being carried out in an effort to clean up the water. Industries are beginning to reduce the amount of chemicals they dump into water, and environmental groups are participating in cleanup projects. The environmental police have taken charge of enforcing water pollution solutions. They have targeted everyone from delivery vehicles to the largest and wealthiest companies in the city. Also we should encourage Organic foods mean that there were no harmful contaminants used in the growing of the food.
Water is a necessity of life and it needs to be conserved and protected. From all of the above pollutants, our water supply is in dangerous. If we value life as we know it, we need to change our way of life and look at water in a different way. Water is a part of nature and nature encompasses everything. Not only the humans but all living organisms belong to and rely on nature. Let us encourage people to save water as well as to try keeping it clean and pure.
