{"id":2675,"date":"2021-04-21T09:59:50","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T09:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/?p=2675"},"modified":"2023-10-18T03:58:40","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T03:58:40","slug":"effects-of-water-pollution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/blog\/effects-of-water-pollution\/","title":{"rendered":"Effects of Water Pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"

Effects of Water Pollution?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Water pollution is the\u00a0contamination of water bodies\u00a0(like oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, aquifers, and groundwater) usually caused due to human activities. Water pollution is any change, minor or major in the physical, chemical or biological properties of water that eventually leads to a detrimental consequence of any\u00a0living organism. Drinking water, called Potable Water, is considered safe enough for human and animal consumption.<\/p>\n

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On human health:<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Water pollution kills. In fact, it is causing millions of deaths across the world every year. Contaminated water can also make you ill. Every year, unsafe water sickens about 1 billion people. And low-income communities are disproportionately at risk because their homes are often closest to the most polluting industries.<\/p>\n

Waterborne pathogens, in the form of disease-causing bacteria and viruses from human and animal waste, are a\u00a0major cause of illness from contaminated drinking water. Diseases spread by unsafe water include cholera, giardia, and typhoid. Even in wealthy nations, accidental or illegal releases from sewage treatment facilities, as well as runoff from farms and urban areas, contribute harmful pathogens to waterways.<\/p>\n

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A woman using bottled water to wash her three-week-old son at their home in Flint, Michigan<\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0the plight of residents in Flint, Michigan\u2014where cost-cutting measures and\u00a0aging water infrastructure\u00a0created the recent lead contamination crisis\u2014offers a stark look at how dangerous chemical and other industrial pollutants in our water can be. The problem goes far beyond Flint and involves much more than lead<\/u>, as a wide range of chemical pollutants\u2014from heavy metals such as arsenic<\/u> and\u00a0mercury\u00a0to pesticides<\/u> and\u00a0nitratefertilizers\u2014are getting into our water supplies. Once they\u2019re ingested, these toxins can cause a host of health issues, from cancer to hormone disruption to altered brain function. Children and pregnant women are particularly at risk.<\/u><\/p>\n

Even swimming can pose a risk. Every year, millions of people contract health issues such as skin rashes, pinkeye, respiratory infections, and hepatitis from sewage-laden coastal waters, according to EPA estimates.<\/p>\n

On the environment:<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

In order to thrive, healthy ecosystems rely on a complex web of animals, plants, bacteria, and fungi\u2014all of which interact, directly or indirectly, with each other. Harm to any of these organisms can create a chain effect, imperilling entire aquatic environments.<\/p>\n

When water pollution causes an algal bloom in a lake or marine environment, the proliferation of newly introduced nutrients stimulates plant and algae growth, which in turn reduces oxygen levels in the water. This dearth of oxygen, known as\u00a0eutrophication, suffocates plants and animals and can create \u201cdead zones,\u201d where waters are essentially devoid of life. In certain cases, these\u00a0harmful algal blooms\u00a0can also produce neurotoxins that affect wildlife, from whales to sea turtles.<\/p>\n

Chemicals and heavy metals from industrial and municipal wastewater contaminate waterways as well. These contaminants are toxic to aquatic life\u2014most often reducing an organism\u2019s life span and ability to reproduce\u2014and make their way up the food chain as predator eats prey. That\u2019s how tuna and other big fish\u00a0accumulate high quantities of toxins, such as mercury.<\/p>\n

Marine ecosystems are also threatened by\u00a0marine debris, which can strangle, suffocate, and starve animals. Much of this solid debris, such as plastic bags and soda cans, gets swept into sewers and storm drains and eventually out to sea, turning our oceans into trash soup and sometimes consolidating to form floating\u00a0garbage patches. Discarded fishing gear and other types of debris are responsible for harming\u00a0more than 200 different species\u00a0of marine life.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, ocean acidification is making it tougher for\u00a0shellfish and coral\u00a0to survive. Though they absorb about a quarter of the\u00a0carbon pollution\u00a0created each year by burning fossil fuels, oceans are becoming more acidic. This process makes it harder for shellfish and other species to build shells and\u00a0may impact the nervous systems\u00a0of sharks, clownfish, and other marine life.<\/p>\n

Common Types of Water Contamination:<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Sewage and wastewater:<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Used water is wastewater. It comes from our sinks, showers, and toilets (think sewage) and from commercial, industrial, and agricultural activities (think metals, solvents, and toxic sludge). The term also includes\u00a0stormwater runoff, which occurs when rainfall carries road salts, oil, grease, chemicals, and debris from impermeable surfaces into our waterways<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

More than\u00a080 percent\u00a0of the world\u2019s wastewater\u00a0flows back into the environment without being treated or reused, according to the United Nations; in some least-developed countries, the figure tops 95 percent. In the United States, wastewater treatment facilities process about\u00a034 billion gallons of wastewater per day. These facilities reduce the amount of pollutants such as pathogens, phosphorus, and nitrogen in sewage, as well as heavy metals and toxic chemicals in industrial waste, before discharging the treated waters back into waterways. That\u2019s when all goes well. But according to\u00a0EPA estimates, our nation\u2019s\u00a0aging and easily overwhelmed sewage treatment systems\u00a0also release billions of gallons of untreated wastewater each year.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/u><\/strong>Oil pollution:<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Big spills may dominate headlines, but consumers account for the vast majority of oil pollution in our seas, including oil and gasoline that drips from millions of cars and trucks every day. Moreover, nearly half of the\u00a0estimated 1 million tons of oil\u00a0that makes its way into marine environments each year comes not from tanker spills but from land-based sources such as factories, farms, and cities. At sea, tanker spills account for about 10 percent of the oil in waters around the world, while regular operations of the shipping industry\u2014through both\u00a0legal\u00a0and\u00a0illegal\u00a0discharges\u2014contribute about one-third. Oil is also\u00a0naturally released\u00a0from under the ocean floor through fractures known as seeps.<\/p>\n

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Radioactive substances:<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Radioactive waste\u00a0is any pollution that emits radiation beyond what is naturally released by the environment. It\u2019s generated by uranium mining, nuclear power plants, and the production and testing of military weapons, as well as by universities and hospitals that use radioactive materials for research and medicine. Radioactive waste can persist in the environment for thousands of years, making disposal a major challenge.\u00a0Accidentally released\u00a0or\u00a0improperly disposed of\u00a0contaminants threaten groundwater, surface water, and marine resources.<\/p>\n

Agricultural:<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Not only is the agricultural sector the biggest consumer of global freshwater resources, with farming and livestock production using about\u00a070 percent of the earth\u2019s surface water supplies, but it\u2019s also a serious water polluter. Around the world, agriculture is the\u00a0leading cause\u00a0of water degradation. Agricultural pollution is the\u00a0top source of contamination\u00a0in rivers and streams, the second-biggest source in wetlands, and the third main source in lakes. It\u2019s also a major contributor of contamination to estuaries and groundwater. Every time it rains, fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste from farms and\u00a0livestock operations\u00a0wash nutrients and pathogens\u2014such bacteria and viruses\u2014into our waterways.\u00a0Nutrient pollution, caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in water or air, is the number-one threat to water quality worldwide and can\u00a0cause algal blooms, a toxic soup of blue-green algae that can be harmful to people and wildlife.<\/p>\n

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What Can You Do to Prevent Water Pollution?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With your actions<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s easy to tsk-tsk the oil company with a leaking tanker, but we\u2019re all accountable to some degree for today\u2019s water pollution problem. Fortunately, there are\u00a0some simple ways\u00a0you can prevent water contamination or at least limit your contribution to it:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Reduce your plastic consumptionand reuse or recycle plastic when you can.<\/li>\n
  • Properly dispose ofchemical cleaners, oils, and non-biodegradable items to keep them from ending up down the drain.<\/li>\n
  • Maintain your car so it doesn\u2019t leak oil, antifreeze, or coolant.<\/li>\n
  • Don\u2019t wash your car with open water shower.<\/li>\n
  • Adopt Landscaping that reduces runoff<\/li>\n
  • Avoid applying pesticides and herbicides. Use natural insecticides<\/li>\n
  • Reuse water as much as possible<\/li>\n
  • Conserve rooftop rainwater after due filtration in tanks and wells.<\/li>\n
  • Treat your waste water if you are not connected in sewage grid<\/li>\n
  • Ensure Zero leakage in your taps<\/li>\n
  • Divert surface runoff to dedicated reservoirs for later use<\/li>\n
  • Build small dams, hold water, recharge dug wells and make small Ponds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Water level is going low,\u00a0why are we slow;<\/strong><\/p>\n

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     <\/p>\n

    Vardhman Envirotech,<\/strong><\/p>\n

    India’s Passionate Rainwater Company.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Effects of Water Pollution? Water pollution is the\u00a0contamination of water bodies\u00a0(like oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, aquifers, and groundwater) usually caused due to human activities. Water pollution is any change, minor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2675"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3718,"href":"https:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2675\/revisions\/3718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vardhmanenvirotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}