- What is water pollution?
- What are the pollutants in water?
- Causes of the contamination of the water
- Consequences of water pollution
- How to avoid water pollution?
- Solutions for water pollution
We explain what water pollution is, what are its pollutants and causes. Consequences and solutions to avoid it.
What is water pollution?
The contamination of the Water or water pollution occurs when natural water bodies (lakes, rivers, seas, etc.) are present in various types of chemical substances other than its original composition, which modify its properties making it unhealthy, harmful to the life, and therefore useless for fishing, farming, recreation and human consumption.
Water is the most abundant liquid substance on the planet and the solvent universal present in most substances and in all living creatures, that without it they could not exist. Life itself originated in the seas of our planet.
However, this has not prevented many human activities from generating a significant impact on the quality of the planet's water, through the disposal of liquid, solid and even gaseous substances in the environment. And although there are also natural processes and human initiatives that seek to counteract water pollution, it is much easier to make it dirty than to make it drinkable.
According to many international organizations, the amount of drinking water available in the world predicts future shortage crises. According to UN3.1% of the people who die annually on the planet do so from the consumption of contaminated water, which is equivalent to 2.2 million people.
What are the pollutants in water?
The main water pollutants are:
- Sewage water. Product of urban consumption (sewage), industrial processes or other daily human uses.
- Garbage and solid waste. As waste materials, metals, plastics, glass, objects that fall from boats, etc.
- Chemical and pesticides. The chemicals used for the agricultural industry, to treat soils or for other specific uses, they are often washed by rain and run off into the seas or groundwater.
- Sediments and minerals. Like volcanic ash, sediments and particles soil or buildings, such as dust, lime, etc.
- Radioactive materials. Resulting from nuclear plants, they are highly toxic elements that are stored in containers of lead and are often thrown into the ocean not having a better place to arrange them.
Causes of the contamination of the water
As has been seen, the main (if not the vast majority) of the causes of water pollution come from the way of life of human beings and, especially, from the way in which we consume water. natural resources and we dispose of the by-products and waste from our activities.
From the Industrial Revolution and the exponential growth of population world during the 19th and 20th centuries, the needs of water, Energy Y raw Materials of humanity has only increased. And the pollution of water, air and land is a direct consequence.
Consequences of water pollution
The main consequences of water pollution can be:
- Biological imbalances. The presence of certain chemicals in the water can cause the abnormal growth of certain microbes or algae, which unbalances the food chain and generates abnormal competencies that, in the long run, cause the death excessive of certain species that are going to decompose by adding organic matter to the water.
- Chemical alterations. Changes in the chemistry of the water can reach lethal extremes, in which the fauna and Flora localities become extinct or migrate to other areas, causing severe ecological damage.
- Climate impact. Changes of temperature, pH and other properties of water as a consequence of added substances or suspended solids affect the behavior of the masses of the liquid, reducing their evaporation and therefore its precipitation and altering the local climate.
- Land and air pollution. Water pollution is not alone into the water, but spreads to land and air, according to water cycle, in a domino effect with unpredictable consequences.
How to avoid water pollution?
To avoid or reduce water pollution, it is enough to become aware of it and to ensure its most economical, efficient and responsible use. This happens by:
- More responsible urban and industrial policies. That oblige the correct disposal of the by-products of the industry and sewage, mitigating the impact that these wastes have on the sea and lakes.
- Consumer awareness campaigns. The waste of drinking water is a daily reality, which ranges from the tap that remains open while we lather our hands, to the drinking water that we waste "cleaning" the sidewalk.
- Recycling culture. The reduction of the solid waste that is going to give, in one way or another, to water or sanitary landfills in contact with groundwater, can occur through the recycling and a more responsible consumption.
Solutions for water pollution
Contaminated water often has a solution. There are purification and cleaning processes such as:
- Methods bacteriological control and biological control of waters.
- Wastewater treatment and reuse before returning it to the sea.
- Filtering mechanisms of various kinds.
- Also fight the air pollution Y Earth.