What is water pollution? Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater caused by human activities, which can be harmful to organisms and plants that live in these water bodies. What causes water pollution? There are several causes of water pollution, whether it be a human, nature, or industrial causes. One of the first causes, is the human carelessness of where human wastes go, or more simply, littering. In fact,most humans don't even know what the effects of littering has on our environment. Littering can be as simple throwing a gum wrapper on the ground; this can be blown away by high winds and end up at our beaches or even worse, our oceans. Trash can also be carried by our sewage system which happens when litter and chemicals flow down street gutters and into our sewage system. It's true that our local water treatment center does it's best to filter out most of the gunk, but many small solid materials or mixed material doesn't get checked out. This brings us to another case and point on the issue of sewage. Sewage is anything that consists of waste water, washing water, sanitary and detergent wastes, and/or decomposing wastes. Although you may think detergents that we use for our dishes or car washes may be safe for the environment, using too much of it can be harmful for the environment. The detergents often go down the drain and into our sewage systems. The phosphates in the detergent don't dissolve and eventually the waste water is poured back into our oceans. There are some effects of too much phosphates in our oceanic ecosystem:
How does water pollution affect us? Water pollution is a very dangerous health hazard to every living organism. It is especially dangerous to under water organisms. Many careless human activities are the main things that cause water pollution. An example of this is known as oil spills. Although oil spills mainly affect underwater life, it can also affect life above water. A process known as evaporation causes the dangerous pollutants to leak into the atmosphere thus making it harmful to breath in these pollutants. The organisms that are affected most by water pollution are of course the ones that live beneath the water. Many causes of water pollution deplete the oxygen in the water. Because of the oxygen decreasing in the water, many organisms aren't able to survive. This is a serious problem because of the negative affects it has on the various food chains. For example, if a certain pollutant kills off one species in a food chain, it will throw the balance of the food chain off. There are many negative effects water pollution has on earth, which is why we must commit to stopping this problem.
What can we do to stop water pollution? You can first not use a lot of water. You may think you are not using a lot of water, but leaving the sink on while brushing your teeth, or washing your face can use up a lot of water. Also, don't litter; even a small piece of trash such as a wrapper or soda can, which can damage our ecosystem getting caught up or drifting to our oceans, which causes marine life to suffer. The environment (outside) isn't the only place you shouldn't leave trash, you also have to be careful of what you dispose down your sink or toilet. The only thing that should be going down your sink or toilet is water, unless you are using some sort of drain cleaner, in which you should use sparingly and carefully. The same should go for your toilet. Only water, fecal matter, and a cleaner (not a lot) should go down your toilet. Objects such as food or other non-toilet products should stay above and out of the toilet. Another great way to stop water pollution is stuff that you have to stop doing, but things you can start doing, such as using environmentally friendly products, which will slow global warming down. If global warming is slowed down, then the earth wouldn't get so overheated, which will stop absorbing water.
How does oil and detergent affect water pollution? Oil is a major cause of water pollution. Many people believe that oil is a simple problem that can be solved with the help of detergent, when in actuality it makes the problem worse. When oil spills into the ocean it creates a thick layer surrounding the ocean from receiving any oxygen. With the depletion of oxygen, less marine life creatures are able to breathe, therefore them not being able to survive. When detergent is added it disperses the oil, which can suffocate organisms, such as coral. Also when detergent is added into the water, the phosphates from it cause algae blooms. When algae blooms occur, the oxygen in the water is depleted, and again, less organisms can survive. So how does oil from sea liners or tankers accidental spillage affect the ocean?
Credit: Scottsdale Community College in Arizona
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