A large portion of the human population and the animal kingdom struggle with water contamination on a regular basis. The cited figures will astound you.
Despite the fact that there is a severe shortage of freshwater resources in many regions of the world, pollution from industry, agriculture, energy production, and other activities has contaminated a sizeable portion of those supplies.
The following list of 15 fascinating facts regarding water contamination.
A number of factors can contaminate water. Through both legal and unauthorized factory emissions, for example, or inefficient water treatment facilities, pollution can reach water directly.
Water supplies can be harmed by spills and leaks from oil pipelines or hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations. Debris can enter rivers due to wind, storms, and littering, especially when it comes to plastic garbage.
The primary cause of U.S. water quality issues is now “nonpoint source pollution,” which occurs when contaminants are spread across or through the ground by rain or melted snow.
This is largely due to decades of legislation and legal action against major polluters. Runoff from houses, farms, and businesses may contain fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides as well as oil, hazardous chemicals, silt, bacteria from animals, pet feces, and other contaminants.
The pipes themselves can get contaminated with drinking water if the water is not adequately treated, as was the case with the lead contamination in Flint, Michigan, and other places.
Arsenic, a different pollutant in drinking water, can arise from both naturally occurring deposits and industrial waste.
Animal poisoning, long-term environmental degradation, and difficulties with human health are all possible effects of water pollution.
Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from industrial and agricultural runoff often feed algae blooms, which in turn generate
Water Pollution Effects
The health and existence of humans, animals, and plants are all negatively impacted by water pollution. Because it harms crops and soil fertility, polluted water is also bad for agriculture. Ocean life suffers as a result of ocean water pollution.
Health Effects of Water Quality:
In India, drinking contaminated water is a key contributor to poor health. Some lethal diseases, such as cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea , tuberculosis, jaundice, etc., are brought on by contaminated water. In India, contaminated water is the primary cause of 80% of gastrointestinal illnesses.
All organic components can be broken down or degraded by microbial and other biological activities. This has an impact on the quality of water (biodegradation).
A biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is present in organic and some inorganic substances because oxygen is required for the process of breakdown.
Effect of Nutrients on Water Quality:
Because of the nutrients it contains, water sustains aquatic life. Here, nitrates and phosphate fertilizers are the main topics of discussion.
Despite being crucial for plant growth, excess nutrients can foster an oversupply of plant life and cause a form of environmental degradation known as “eutrophication.”
High dissolved solids (TDS) have an adverse effect on water quality since water is the best solvent and may dissolve a wide range of things when they come into contact with it.
Regarding its suitability for drinking, irrigation, and industrial purposes, the amount of dissolved solids is a crucial factor. In general, the best waters for drinking are those with total dissolved solids under 500 mg/litre.
Effect of Toxic Pollutants on Water Quality:
The major types of toxic pollutants are heavy metals, insecticides, and other specific xenobiotic pollutants.
Numerous trace elements are necessary for a body of water to support aquatic life and to be suitable for other purposes.
Water Pollution Facts
Even though 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water, fresh water makes up only 2.5% of the planet’s total water.
In the water is where over 70% of industrial trash is discharged.
Domestic sewage is responsible fo4r 80% of the contamination of waterways.
Every year, the oceans get more than 6 billion pounds of rubbish, mostly made of plastic.
The primary cause of a number of illnesses, including typhus and cholera, is contaminated water.
Every year, illnesses brought on by drinking tainted water kill 15 million children under the age of five.
According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, about 2.5 billion people lack access to essential health
Conditions, yet on average 250 million people perish each year from diseases brought on by unclean water.
11 million liters of radioactive water were released into the Pacific Ocean as a result of the nuclear issue brought on by the tsunami in 2011.
Islands with a combined length of 70 kilometers were made from the same tsunami debris.
More than any other continent, Asia has the greatest number of rivers that are tainted with bacteria from human waste.
Nearly two million tons of human trash are dumped into the ocean every day.
The Ganges river in India is regarded as the most contaminated river in the world since it is filled with dirt, trash, corpses of animals, and human beings.
Bangladesh’s underground water is tainted with arsenic, a very toxic, poisonous, and cancer-causing substance.
20% of China’s groundwater used for drinking is tainted with carcinogens.
Water Pollution Solution
While treatment facilities purify our drinking water, rules in many nations prevent industry and agricultural enterprises from discharging pollutants into lakes, streams, and rivers. Other pollution prevention and cleanup strategies are being developed by researchers. For instance, National Geographic grantee Africa Flores has developed an artificial intelligence program to more accurately forecast the timing of algal blooms. Many scientists are investigating methods to lessen and clean up plastic pollution.
