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Of late, world has been facing with many environmental concerns in recent years. In the last
couple years environmental problems have garnered lot of attention and has been the thrust
into the forefront of media coverage. One of the hottest topic of environmental concern with
lot of talks has been the Water Pollution
So what is water pollution?
Water pollution can be defined as the contamination of water supplies and resources by
harmful wastes such as sewage, asbestos, nitrates and phosphorus. Undoubtedly, lot of
damage has been caused to the water supply by these pollutants. These pollutants has
been polluting drinking water and killing fish and marine animals.
So now that we have answered the question of what is water pollution we need to look at
how water pollution happens and what can be done to fix the problem.
What is water pollution? Where does it come from?
In the United States, most of the water pollution is a direct result of industries. Most of the
manufacturing facilities use fresh water to carry away a wide variety of wastes which is then
released into streams, lakes, rivers and oceans. Quite recently, the National Water Quality
Inventory has announced that over 40% of the lakes, rivers and estuaries in the United States
are too polluted to fish in or swim in. Forget about this being a viable drinking water source
for the fact that it is so polluted.
So what is water pollution going to mean for future generations?
If the present situation is not changed there is going to be a hige shortage os viable water
in the near future. The over abundance of fertilizers causes what is called “dead zones” by
making their way into the water supply through the run off. This in turn causes the excess
algae to build up siphoning off the oxygen from the water source. Apart from robbing the
oxygen these algae’s block the sunlight to the lower aquatic plants.
This blockage of sunlight to the lower aquatic plants results in dead plants which leads to
even lower levels of oxygen in the water. And thus these Dead zones cause the death of
many fish and marine life and negatively effects the ecosystem and the delicate balance
of the water systems.
What is water pollution going to cost in terms of fixing the problem? This is one more question
to consider when thinking about water pollution. Giving water pollution problem a fix may
seem like an insurmountable task, but it can actually be done with one small step at a time.
Every individual can play a part to reduce water pollution. It can be easily done by picking up
their own trash and disposing of it properly. Not just that, the other practical things that should
be done is to stop water pollution such as
1) using less, or no, fertilizers and pesticides.
2) using environmentally friendly cleaning and personal products,
3) planting buffer zones of plants around rivers and lakes to act as natural filters,
4) enforcing the tough water purity laws that are already in place.
Most importantly, individuals can also do their part by spreading the word and helping to educate
other people on the dangers on water pollution and how to stem the tide and turn things around.
If everyone does their part it is possible that in the future people will ask what is water pollution,
because there won’t be polluted waters anymore.
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Source by Peter Bankss
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