What is Water Pollution?
Water pollution can be defined as the
contamination of water bodies. Water
pollution is caused when water bodies such as
rivers, lakes, oceans,groundwater and aquifers
get contaminated with industrial and
agricultural effluents.
When water gets polluted, it adversely affects all
lifeforms that directly or indirectly depend on this
source. The effects of water contamination can
be felt for years to come.
What are the sources of
water pollution?
The most significant sources of water pollution
are:
Sewage (Waste Water):The sewage water
carries pathogens, a typical water
pollutant, other harmful bacterias, and
chemicals that can cause serious health
problems and thereby diseases.
Agricultural Pollution: Chemical fertilizers
and pesticides are used by farmers to
protect crops from insects and bacterias.
However, when these chemicals are mixed
up with water, they produce harmful
pollutants for plants and animals.
" Oil Pollution: Oil spill poses a huge threat to
marine life when a large amount of oil
spills into the sea and does not dissolve in
water. It causes problems for local marine
wildlife, including fish, birds, and sea otters.
" Industrial Waste: Industries produce a
tremendous amount of waste, which
contains toxic chemicals and pollutants,
causing air pollution and damage to our
environment and us.
" The burning of fossil fuels: Fossil fuels like
coaland oil, when burnt, produce a
substantial amount of ash in the
atmosphere. The particles which contain
toxic chemicals when mixed with water
Vapour result in acid rain.
"River dumping and Marine Dumping: The
garbage produced by households in the
form of paper,plastic, food, aluminium,
rubber,glass, is collected and dumped into
the rivers and seas, they not only cause
water pollution but also harm aquatic
animals.
Effects Of Water Pollution
The effect of water pollution depends upon the
type of pollutants and their concentration. Also,
the location of water bodies is an important
factor to determine the levels of pollution.
" Water bodies in the vicinity of urban areas
are extremely polluted. This is the result of
dumping garbage and toxic chemicals by
industrial and commercial establishments.
" Water pollution drastically affects aquatic
life. It affects their metabolism, and
behaviour, and causes illness and eventual
death. Dioxin is a chemicalthat causes a
lot of problems from reproduction to
uncontrolled cell growth or cancer. This
chemical is bioaccumulated in fish,
chicken and meat. Chemicals such as this
travelup the food chain before entering
the human body.
" The effect of water pollution can have a
huge impact on the food chain. It disrupts
the food chain. Cadmium and lead are
some toxic substances, these pollutants
upon entering the food chain through
animals (fish when consumed by animals,
humans) can continue to disrupt at higher
levels.
" Humans are affected by pollution and can
contract diseases such as hepatitis
through faecal matter in water sources.
Poor drinking water treatment and unfit
water can always cause an outbreak of
infectious diseases such as cholera, etc.
" The ecosystem can be critically affected,
modified and destructured because of
water pollution.
Control Measures of Water
Pollution
Water pollution, to a larger extent, can be
controlled by a variety of methods. Rather than
releasing sewage waste into water bodies, it is
better to treat them before discharge. Practising
this can reduce the initial toxicity and the
remainingsubstances can be degraded and
rendered harmless by the water body itself. If the
secondary treatment of water has been carried
out, then this can bereused in sanitary systems
and agricultural fields.
Avery special plant, the Water Hyacinth can
absorb dissolved toxic chemicals such as
cadmium and other such elements. Establishing
these in regions prone to such kinds of pollutants
willreduce the adverse effects to a large extent.
