Water Pollution is a hot topic in present time! And that’s why we are going to write an essay on Water Pollution so that you can get a better idea about it. In this essay, we have included the topics, such as, what is water pollution? What are it’s causes? What are the impacts of water pollution on the society? And finally what are the treatments and measures that we can take to control water pollution? This essay would help you to prepare a speech or simply to write an essay for your school assignment!
Also check- Essay on plastic pollution / Essay on save water save earth
Contents
Introduction:
Our earth is the only planet where life exists! And you know why? Because we have water. So it would be right to say that we have really very fortunate to have water and it’s undoubtedly the most precious thing on the entire water. You would know that 75% of our earth’s surface is covered with water then why do we say that we are facing water scarcity? Well, the reason is not all the water can be consumed by humans. Think of like this, if we have a jar of water then only one spoon of it is drinkable! That is surprising but true.
And we are even messing with that too, water wastage and water pollution are two big reasons why we are having the scarcity of water. With each passing day our we are polluting the pure water by any means and it’s not getting control! So water pollution is indeed an issue that needs our attention!
What is water pollution?
Water pollution refers to the contamination of water with harmful chemicals and substance which reduce its quality and makes it unsafe for drinking! Generally, water pollution is caused by human activities and growing industrialization seems to be the main cause of it.
The problem of water pollution is becoming very serious that it may threaten the very existence of our life if don’t take necessary measures.
What causes water pollution?
Water pollution is caused by many things, some of them are listed below!
Industrial waste
As we have said earlier industrial waste is one of the main causes of water pollution. That’s because many industries release huge amount of waste in several water bodies which makes the water toxic and unsafe for human consumption! Industrial waste contain pollutants such as lead, mercury, sulfur, nitrates and other harmful chemicals. Not only the pollutants but the industrial waste also cause eutrophication which can cause temperature cause in the water body which also results in harmful effects for the water body and aquatic environment!
Sewage and wastewater treatment
Another reason for water pollution is sewage and wastewater treatment. Sewage water contains harmful pathogens and bacteria which has very harmful effects on our health. Pathogens are the results of sewage water too which is the main water pollutant. Microorganisms are also live in the water body because of the sewage water we throw into the water bodies. Eliminating sewage water into the sea or any water body would just cause several diseases for water organisms and humans as well!
Marine dumping
Marine dumping is the worst kind of activity that is practiced by some countries. Here people collect the garbage produce by common households and dump it into the sea. The garbage contains everything from paper to plastic. And decomposition of the garbage could take from 2 weeks to 200 years! And for that time period, when it’s not decomposed, the garbage will remain in the sea and fluctuate the ideal living conditions for marine animals!
Mining activities
Mining is an important practice of extracting coals and minerals, which is practiced by almost every country! The thing with mining activities is when they extract the ores and raw minerals, they are very toxic! And lots of water is used in this process. And all the waste things are also eliminated in water bodies. That waste is full of harmful metals that are toxic and harmful for our environment.
Oil leakage
Oil leakages happen all the time and it doesn’t take a genius mind to understand that how harmful oil is for water bodies. The oil leakage can happen when oil is transported from one country to another or it could happen when an oil pipe is deteriorated. Chances of oil being exposed to the sea environment can also happen due to ships.
Acid Rain
Although acid rain is the product of air pollution, that is, when harmful pollutants in the air are mixed with atmospheric water vapors which condensed and precipitate as acid rain. This acid rain causes direct harm to the water bodies and end up polluting them. Acid rains are very harmful as they contain chemicals and pollutants which can also cause problems for water bodies and their organisms.
Pesticides
Pesticides and chemical fertilizers are also known to be a major cause for water bodies. As you know in agricultural areas, farmers use pesticides and chemical fertilizers for their crops to protect their crops from pests and make sure they get a good crop outcome. But these chemicals end up being toxic and harmful when they are mixed with water.
Radioactive waste
Nuclear energy has also become popular among the several countries as a source of energy and produce weapons. But producing nuclear energy can cause severe effects for water bodies. As you know Uranium is the key element when it comes to producing nuclear energy but it is also very toxic in nature. And in the process of making nuclear energy, some waste remains which severely affects the water and our overall environment!
Other causes of water pollution include animal waste, landfilling, urban development, leakage from sewer lines and of course the global warming! So basically lots of human activities are causing water pollution which makes it very alarming.
These are the main causes of water pollution but do you know what would be their effects? And how they harm human health and the environment? Let’s find.
Impacts of water pollution
On human health:- the water pollution is a product of human activities and the most affected ones are also humans. There is no doubt that human life depends on water and water pollution is affecting the water quality which ultimately affects human health. There are 1.8 million deaths reported in the year 2015 due to water pollution. And due to consumption of contaminated water over a billion people fell ill per year.
We have discussed how contaminated water bears pathogens which causes severe diseases to humans and makes marine organisms career of it! Cholera is a common disease caused by water pollution. Diarrhea and Giardia is also caused by consuming unsafe water.
The problem of water pollution is so severe that when the developed countries are also struggling with water resources! And providing safe water to their population.
On Environment:-
again water is necessary for our environment and ecosystem because just like humans, almost every organisms whether it’s plant or animal depend on water. Acid rains affect the health of water bodies and flora and fauna. Algal bloom is also caused by water pollution, and it spreads so fast that it limits the reach of oxygen to the water organisms. And that suffocates the animals and plants of the water which results in the death of several organisms. Over 200 marine species are harmed due to the water pollution.
The impacts of water pollution on the earth is pretty serious and the situation is alarming. And it keeps getting worse if we don’t take necessary measures to at least control it! Let’s take a look and find out which should be the measures to prevent water pollution!
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How to control water pollution?
There are a few measures which we can take to at least control the water pollution and these measures are the need of the hour!
Treatment of industrial waste:-
It should be necessary to treat the industrial waste before dumping it to the water bodies. The same principle applies to sewer waste, radioactive waste, etc. Mining activities should be reduced or at least they should take necessary measures.
The cities which are located on the banks of rivers should follow strict rules when it comes to keeping it clean and prevent it from polluting from human activities. Other than this plastic consumption should be reduced too.
So this was our water pollution essay, hope you liked it and found it helpful.
