Water pollution

Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies for example

lakes,rivers,oceans and groundwater. Water pollution affects plants and organisms

living in these bodies of water and in almost all cases the effect is damaging not only

to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities.

Waterpollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water

bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds. Water pollution is

a major problem in the global context. It has been suggested that it is the leading

worldwide cause of deaths and diseases and that have caused the deaths of more than

14,000 people daily. In the United States, 45 percent ofassessed stream miles, 47

percent of assessed lake acres, and 32 percent of assessed bay and estuarine square

miles were classified as polluted. Also water pollution is divided in two categories that

are the following: Point source pollution that refers to contaminants that enter a

waterway through a discrete conveyance, such as a pipe or ditch. Examples of sources

in this categoryinclude discharges from a sewage treatment plant, a factory, or a

city storm drain. And Non–point source  pollution refers to diffuse contamination that

does not originate from a single discrete source is often the cumulative effect of small

amounts of contaminants gathered from a large area. The water that drain away with

compounds from agricultural land which has been fertilized is anexample.

Causes of water pollution are: Major cause of water pollution that
has caused serious environmental and health problems are the pollutants coming from
chemical and industrial processes. When factories and manufacturers put their
chemicals and livestock wastes directly into streams and rivers, the water becomes
poisonous and oxygen levels are depletedcausing many aquatic organisms to die.
there are also organic and inorganic pollutants. The organic wastes include refuse from
slaughter houses, fish and meat canning factories, and leather tanning companies,
manufacturing plants, pesticides and crude oil companies. Inorganic wastes include
toxic and corrosive substances like acids, heavy metals, mercury, cadmium and lead
which can impair thenormal body processes. Another cause of water pollution is from
pesticides. Farm pesticides poison aquatic plants and animals. Animal manure and
chemical fertilizers, Water is also being polluted by garbage specifically plastics and
other plastic-like substances. One more cause of water pollution is sewage coming from
households. Last among the causes of water pollution are personal care andhousehold
products like Shampoo, lotion, hair dye, bleach, laundry detergent, fabric softener, and
many others contribute to water pollution.

Water polution can be fixed in two common ways the first Remove the pollution

source and the second is to Remove the contaminants in the polluted water by doing

the following . Removing the Source Depends on the source and the type ofpollution

Could be from one of three source types: Point source Nonpoint source and

Transboundary source. Removing the Contaminants is the second way of cleaning up

water pollution. There are five techniques used–Sometimes they are used individually or

in combinations Most involve pumping the water out, treating the water and then

pumping it back to the source. Air Stripping:Thistechnique uses air to remove

contaminants that evaporate easily,the polluted water is pumped into a tank then it is

sprayed over packing material next the water slowly drips through the packing material

and a fan blows over the water to evaporate the chemicals. The chemicals are collected

at the top of the tank and are treated to prevent further pollution. Activated Carbon:

Filtration...