Categories of Water Pollutants

Sources of Water Pollution

Agricultural waste is nonpoint runoff from fertilizers into bodies of water.
Industrial waste is point and it flows directly into streams, rivers, and drains. Domestic waste is point and flows into storm sewers directly into a stream or lake.There are many causes and effects of industrial waste.

The contamination of ground water by industrial waste poses many potential health hazards for the environment. Improper disposal of toxic wastes can allow genotoxic chemicals to flow into ground waters, and these contaminated ground waters may produce toxicity, including mutation and possibly cancer, in individuals exposed to this.

There are many different effects of agricultural. One of them is algae blooms.

Above: A fish that was killed by eutrophication

These are very dangerous and cause dead aquatic ecosystems and unsafe water.
The effects of industrial are toxins ingested by marine life, are absorbed by plants, can kill many marine organisms. Also, they can choke on plastics, flow into groundwater, and aquifers used to drink.

The method of detection for agricultural is eutrophication. For domestic the methods are checking E. coli levels and looking at dirty water obvious to the naked eye. Lastly, the methods for industrial are measuring the levels of certain substances, such as grit, asbestos, phosphates, nitrates, mercury, lead, caustic soda, sulfur, oil, and sulfuric acid. Another is plastic found in water and some organisms die and some thrive.

Above: Detecting eutrophication and E.coli

The causes of agricultural waste are the run-off from fertilizer, manure runoff, and eutrophication. The causes of domestic waste are a Storm sewer directly into lakes and rivers and cleaning supplies and chemicals. Finally, the cause of industrial waste is wastewater is discharged from a plant directly into a body of water

The sources of these pollutants causing industrial and agricultural waste from industrial farms are form the shortage and disposal of animal waste. Industrial livestock farms store manure and other farm wastes in large tanks known as ‘lagoons’, which can hold millions of gallons of manure and wastes.

Above: A pipe pours agricultural waste into a lagoon

Unfortunately, these lagoons tend to leak and during large storms may possibly overflow. When this occurs, the environmental damage is about 160 times more toxic than raw sewage. Also, these lagoons release antibiotic residues and harmful bacteria that can flow into many water supplies.

Above: Industrial waste being dumped

The way of disposal for manure after it’s been stored in lagoons, industrial farms spray the waste onto fields to act as fertilizer. These farms, however, produce much more waste than can be used on the fields, and once the saturation level is reached the waste runs off into nearby water ecosystems.

Above: Run-off from a dairy farm

The causes and effects of agricultural waste is that agricultural activity was identified as a source of pollution for 48% of stream and river water, and for 41% of lake water. Water pollution from industrial farms not only damages the environment and kills a lot of wildlife, but it can also cause people to get sick and die. Since the farms exercise little restraint when it comes to water usage, they tend to waste large amounts of water, even when near by communities are experiencing water shortages. Since small and sustainable farms are more integrated with their surrounding communities, they pay closer attention to the ways they use water and how their practices affect local water supplies.

There are many socioeconomic considerations that many countries have to face during the hardship of water pollution. Some of these considerations are inhabitants of very impoverished countries would walk to their water supply for drinking and bathing. Also, if domestic waste flows into the river or body of water, they could get sick and unhealthy or unhygienic. The inability to afford running water is also a consideration. People also can buy a water purifier, or drink bottled water. Now there is less clean water, the price of water rises, and farmers must rearrange farmland.

Above: A sewer drain with garbage caught in it

The cultural beliefs of this to the U.S. are to fix water pollution. They can do this by purifying water, spreading the message around, and other advanced countries do what the U.S. does. Other countries are too poor or have survival to focus on, such as third world countries. This is becoming a large problem in the world today.

Above: Many people today do not have access to clean water

Many health risks are known from agricultural waste. The use of chemicals in pesticides and fertilizers release many gases, which cause air pollution so humans could quite possibly inhale these gases and die. Many factory farms dramatically reduce the quality of life in rural communities and threaten the health and safety of people living nearby. These facilities generate large amounts of waste, which can flow into the ground water and put residents at risk of exposure to deadly bacteria such as E coli. Also, the runoff from industrial farms can also spread antibiotic-resistant bacteria. For example, some of these antibiotic bacteria are anthrax, leptospirosis, and tetanus.

Above: Pesticides reduce the air quality of rural communities

Industrial waste causes many health risks. Flyash ,formed from the burning of coal, contains highly mobilized carcinogenic dioxins and furans strongly dangerous to humans. Flyash also contains silica dust, which causes lung cancer, silicosis, emphysema, and asthma. Contaminated leachate could be poisoning local drinking water, and also entering the Powell River and the Gulf of Georgia. Finally, there is testimonial evidence of buried transformers in the existing landfill. From this, PCB is a real possibility.
Domestic waste can cause Phaseolus vulgaris and Pisum sativum, which are infections.

An Introduction to Water Pollution

Water pollution has become a large epidemic in the world today. Many people and animals are dying because of this. However, there are ways to notice and prevent water pollution.
First off, there are two classifications of water pollution.

Above:Point and Non-point Pollution

The first one is point, pollutants directly transmitted into water and the second is non-point, pollutants transmitted into water through the environment and environmental changes. This shows how not only can a person pollute water, but many organisms in the environment can as well.

Methods of detecting water pollution are available. For example, there is the pH level of water, the amount of Escherichia coli, and lastly, visual observations.

Above: This is a standard water testing kit

Also, other methods are using living organisms (fish) for detection, changes in behavior and growth of organisms are indicators, and finally, specific properties of organisms give specific types of pollution. This proves how people of the modern day can detect water pollution in multiple ways.

Many different factors can cause water pollution. Also, water pollution can have many terrible effects. The causes are sewage and wastewater, marine dumping, industrial waste, radioactive waste, oil pollution, underground storage leakages, atmospheric deposition, and eutrophication.

Above: Cause and effect of water pollution

Eutrophication is too many nutrients are added to an aquatic ecosystem which causes the over growth of algae. When the algae dies it consumes almost all of the oxygen in the water causing most of the organisms in that ecosystem to die out. All of these different causes are very harmful to humans and the environment. The effects of water pollution are human infectious diseases, nutrient pollution can cause algae overgrowths, groundwater and streams polluted, and the overpopulation of organisms.

Above: diarrhea, and arsenicosis

Some common health risks from water pollution are diseases such as typhoid, intestinal parasites, diarrhea, parasitic diseases (amoebiasis, giardiasis, ascariasis, hookworm). Also, polluted beach water causes rashes, earaches, pink eye, respiratory infections, and hepatitis.

Above: typhoid, fluorosis, hepatitis

Any pollution put into water can cause all of these diseases and can possibly cause many deaths.

There are many different methods to prevent water pollution. First off is to prevent runoff of fertilizers from entering streams and lakes. Next we have to prevent further destruction of wetlands and reestablish them wherever possible. People should also drive less because nitrogen emissions from cars affect nitrogen levels in water. Another method of prevention is to prevent sewage from entering waterways by making sewers with greater capacity. You can also create ponds and preserve undeveloped land to soak up and collect water. Getting rid of straight pipes that flow into streams from plumbing can also prevent it. And finally, stop deforestation and do not litter.

Some measures to take if it is detected are air stripping for one. Using air to remove contaminants that can evaporate easily is also an effective measure to take. Carbon filtration is when chemicals and pollutants stick to carbon granules. Bioremediation is when using organisms to filter out pollutants. Phytoremediation is when plants remove pollutants. And finally, chemical oxidation is when oxidants are put into groundwater and make the pollutants less harmful.

Above: Workers use bioremediation to clean up this oil spill

There are many socioeconomic considerations about water pollution. First is to make things less expensive to prevent than reverse water pollution. Health care costs from disease are also an effective consideration. Community projects to purify water or to reverse effects of pollution (taxes) are a very known one. Lastly, different methods of retrieving water are to buy water bottles for purity. This way you are sure you are drinking water that is free from any pollutants to cause diseases.

Some cultural beliefs about water pollution are eco-friendly cars. For example, a hybrid, electric, or hydrogen cell car is very eco-friendly. Using tap water can conserve fresh water because they do not have to use any more water to package it into a bottle. Fresh water running out can effect sustainable use. That is using natural resources at a rate, which they can be replenished. Another belief is Christians need pure water for baptism and holy water. Finally, Islamic countries use wastewater to irrigate if purified, where in Americas, Africa, and Europe practice is seen as un-ecological.

In water pollution there are many environmental factors. For example, fish are poisoned. Next, eutrophication causes the pollution of fresh water which, people drink. Also, if humans eat or drink the polluted water can be a factor. Finally, the humans can become sick or diseased. In undeveloped countries, many people drink water from polluted rivers and bodies of water, therefore, disease is much greater in those areas.

Works Cited

Grinning Planet. (2009). Water Pollution Effects. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2006/12-05/water-pollution-effects.htm

Grinning Planet. (2008). Water Pollution Solutions. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2008/01-08/water-pollution-solutions-article.htm

Guides Network. (2008). The causes of Water Pollution. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from

http://www.water-pollution.org.uk/causes.html

Helmer, R., & Hespanhol, I. (Eds.). (1997). Water Pollution Control. New York: E & FN Spon.

LCRA. (2010). Water Quality Indicators. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from

http://www.lcra.org/water/quality/crwn/indicators.html

Lenntech. (2009). Water Pollution FAQ Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved March 11, 2010,

from http://www.lenntech.com/water-pollution-faq.htm

SafeWater.org. Reversing Water Pollution. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from

http://www.safewater.org/PDFS/owp/lesson7links/ReversingWaterPollution.pdf

University of Michigan. Water Pollution and Society. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from

http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/waterpollution.htm

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