Water pollution continues to be a major issue in most countries. Groundwater contamination is a serious problem, as well as tainted drinking water. Untreated wastewater can often pollute rivers and bathing beaches when it rains or after heavy precipitation. The contamination of water is caused by people who don’t dispose of their waste properly, or people who dump waste directly into rivers or on land near water sources.
The waters of the River Ganges flow clear and clean through the Indian city of Rishikesh at the gateway to the Himalayas. In these mountains, nobody would guess that this water will be transformed into one of the most heavily polluted rivers in the world. Faecal bacteria levels up to 31 million per 100 millilitres make this river synonymous with water pollution, a worldwide problem affecting one in every three people on the planet, according to reports from Sankat Mochan Foundation, an organisation struggling to restore it to its former glory. In this blog will discussed about effects of water pollution.
What is water pollution?
Water pollution refers to contamination of water bodies such as a river or lake by the discharge of industrial waste or sewage. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that polluted water is water whose composition has been changed to the extent that it is unusable. In other words, it is toxic water that cannot be drunk or used for essential purposes like agriculture, and which also causes diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid and poliomyelitis that kill more than 500,000 people worldwide every year.
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, such as lakes, rivers and oceans. The main water pollutants include bacteria, viruses, parasites, fertilizers, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, nitrates, phosphates, plastics and fecal waste. These substances do not always change the color of the water meaning that they are often invisible pollutants and can only be measured in small amounts of water or aquatic organisms.
Sources of water pollution
Poor water quality is often caused by human activity. Pollution can occur when water is improperly treated, buried or dumped into landfills, as well as when it is used to cool power plants. Additives such as chlorine are also used to treat tap water, which may lead to toxic chemicals being introduced in your drinks and food.
1. Global warming
As global temperatures increase due to CO2 emissions, the ocean heats up, reducing its oxygen content. This change affects marine life directly by reducing the amount of nutrients in the water, but also indirectly. For example, warm water coral reefs are threatened by an increasing incidence of coral bleaching.
2. Deforestation
Deforestation is an environmental problem. Felling forests can exhaust water resources, generate organic residue which becomes a breeding ground for harmful bacteria, create massive erosion and upheaval which has a direct impact on local animal habitats and ecosystems
3. Agriculture, industry, and livestock farming
Chemical dumping from these sectors is one of the main causes of the eutrophication of water. This has negative health effects on people who fish and farm in river lakes. The loss in productivity by chemical leaching into rivers and lakes, often causing biological death. It can also have adverse effects on animal life.
4. Dumping of rubbish and faecal water
The United Nations says that more than 80% of the world’s sewage finds its way into seas and rivers untreated. This can lead to water-borne diseases and other serious health risks.
5. Spills of fuel
The transportation and storage of oil and its derivatives is subject to leakage that pollutes our water resources. Oil spills are responsible for killing hundreds of birds and marine mammals who die when they surface in toxic marshes.
How can you keep your Hair Safe?
Hard water causes hair problems like dryness, dullness, and brittleness. The best way to deal with it is to use a water softener that helps make hair softer. The traditional methods don’t make hard water soft effectively, which is why you need to install a water softener. The water softener from KENT uses an ion exchange process to make water soft by exchanging ions of calcium and magnesium with sodium. Visit our website to find out more about the range of KENT Water Softeners.
