Essay about Causes and Effects of Water Pollution

Water is probably the most important resource we as people have. Humans can survive without food for several weeks, but without water we would die in less than a week. On a slightly less dramatic note, millions of liters of water are needed every day worldwide for washing, irrigating crops, and cooling industrial processes, not to mention leisure industries such as swimming pools and water-sports centers. Despite our dependence on water, we use it as a dumping ground for all sorts of waste, and do very little to protect the water supplies we have.

Water pollution impacts how humans and other living organisms live their life. Most common way humans are effected by water pollution is through diseases while drinking the water. Scientists have found over “five hundred different types of diseases” that can affect humans. (Book). These diseases get into the water streams by human and animal wastes. The diseases in the water can often lead to death for humans. Recent research has shown that that each year

Water is essential for life as we know it on earth. It is used by plants

Pollution threatens our marine resources as well. Pollutants are released into the ocean as a

Water is one of the most important elements on Earth and also for our body. We need water to work and function properly and well. Without enough supply of water, our body will grind to a halt and collapse.

Water is considered as an essential for human existence. We all can survive without food for some day but no one can live without water at least two days. Human body consists of 70% percent of water and our globe is covered by 69.9% percent of water. But unfortunately the useable fresh water is just 2.5% out of it. Water is a social good, water is an economic good, water has ecological value and water has religious, moral and cultural value.

Water pollution has been a major issue around the country time and time again. It has been seen in the Cuyahoga River, Washington, D.C., during oil spills, and most recently, in the city of Flint, Michigan. The Flint water crisis became a serious domestic issue in early 2015; it involved exceedingly high levels of lead in Flint’s water supply which lead to significant health problems and the exposure of fraudulent government officials. This crisis did not have to be as severe as it was, but unfortunately, it was this serious due to the incompetence and greediness of the officials. They picked saving money over the residents’ health and best interests. They even hid crucial information from Flint residents that led to multiple deaths that could have been prevented.

As a result of past human irresponsibility with waste, the waters of China have become heavily polluted and toxic. Despite the additional regulations and enforcement that would be necessary to clean up the waters and the costs that come with them, the government must devote the human resources necessary to clean and facilitate the waters in order for the continued prosperity of China. The imperativity of China’s condition is explicitly put into proportion by Jenifer and Jerry Mcbeath when they assert that “water degradation… has reached crisis proportions” and “China’s water supply is 25% below the global average”. These poor conditions are a result of a multitude of regulation deficiencies, for example, those of factories, agriculture, and littering. Numerous industry manufacturing centers have been established on the coasts of rivers and waterways so that their waste may have easy disposal access, and the greatest amount of plastics runoff into the ocean is China’s. (Mcbeath and Mcbeath; “First… Waste”) If these issues are not regulated appropriately, the pollution will continue to increase and become further detrimental to all life in China. Already, countless areas of the ocean, rivers, and waterways are unusable or polluted as a result of the past abuses and lacking regulations. (Tibi; Moxley) In order for the waters to be restored, an organized system must be enforced for China to continue functioning.

Factories were created to have a bigger work force in one place rather than use the Putting out system. Originally located next to streams, factories started using coal to power the factories instead of water power as it would produce more products faster. Coal was used because of its reliability to power the factories. The overuse of coal caused widespread pollution across countries. As the industrial revolution progressed, other methods to power machines were introduced. Some countries decided to stick with coal powered as they did not want to spend money on the new methods to power the machines. As a result, the pollution increased and countries started to suffer from the bad air quality. China’s factories did not switch to cleaner methods and the pollution increased all over china.

Heavy pollution can be found all across China, though it is more concentrated in the east than anywhere else. But where does all of this pollution come from? Many people would assume that it is generated only urban or industrial areas(This is also true for air pollution); however, farmers play a big role in polluting the water. With a fast-growing population and economy farmers are required to produce more crops every year. This has led them into using organochlorine pesticides which was heavily used in the 1950s to the 1970s to control agricultural and get rid of mosquitoes. According to Farmers continue to use harmful chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls which is used for lubrication on farming equipment such as tractors, air compressors, pumps, and other agricultural machinery however it was later found to be harmful to the environment and cause cancer to animals (ATSDR). The list continues on with polybrominated diphenyl ethers which is a flame retardant, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins which is used as a herbicide, and ammonium perfluorooctanoate which is a pesticide. With all of these chemicals in the water it puts China at one of the highest polluted countries on earth. Due to the high amount of pollution in the water it makes China's water resources very limited as it has been quoted that only 20-25% of China's water is actually consumable or usable for agriculture/industrial use. In fact in 2005 research shows that out of the 515 rivers surveyed 60 were

Water is the most abundant resource that the Earth needs to sustain itself and all the life with it. Based on prior knowledge, about 70 percent of our body is made up from water; and ideally, we are supposed to drink half a gallon of water per day. So, why is water so important and why do we need to sustain it? It is pretty simple, without water, we die. Nearly every species on Earth requires water to live, so a balance needs to be met by humans in order for other species to thrive and for all to live in harmony with clean water. People are generally educated to an extent on the effects of not drinking enough water and/or not drinking clean water. If we do not consume water every single day, our bodies go into dehydration which can lead to serious consequences if not addressed properly or on time; and drinking dirty water can also cause unwanted medical issues as well. We have a basic understanding of what happens to us when we do not have adequate water, but water is used for many other things on Earth, vital to not only us, but the planet itself and other organisms it houses.

Discuss a local water issue that you learned about in this class. What are the causes and what are some potential solutions? Incorporate information from the course field trips, speakers, and readings in your response. (500 words)

Our water is the most important natural resource for life. And yet we take it for granted.

Pollutants are impacting aquatic organisms distributed by daily human activities and natural occurrences. An extensive amount of pollutants such as pesticides, heavy metals, and hydrocarbons can result in direct significant damage, e.g. death. However lower levels of these harmful substances can be stored in an organism and increase as it continues and follows up the food chain, a process called biomagnification or bioaccumulation, having the greatest effect on the top predator of that food chain. A common result of the pollutants can lead to stress, changing of the immune system, inhibit lysozyme activity, damage gills, metabolism, and growth. Other factors include an excessive amount of nutrients in the environment. Nitrogen can make its way into aquatic ecosystems when there is an increase in nitrous oxide in the air, allowing eutrophication. Algae and bacteria feed off the nitrogen, so a high number of these organisms appear and use oxygen around them as the feed, causing hypoxic zones, or dead zones. Acidification, an increase in the ecosystem’s pH acidity from acid rain, which occurs from an increase in CO2 from air pollution. Aquatic organisms have a range of tolerance, and water with high acidic pH will lead the organism out of the range of tolerance, resulting in stress of the organism, and eventually death. Further studies are being pursuited to see larger impacts of globalized pollution on aquatic species and their ecosystems.

Water is a natural resource where serious complications about its quantity and quality have risen throughout both developing and developed countries around the world (Anuar, 2012). The World Health Organization released statements regarding the ingestion of unsafe water, indicating over 1 billion people worldwide are at risk of ingesting harmful bacteria, parasites, and viruses (Ashbolt, 2004). The water quality failing to meet certain health and safety criteria ultimately results in countries and specific populations at risk suffering from water-related illnesses. The countries and the corresponding Indigenous populations suffering from giardia infections and diarrhea related to their consumption of contaminated water are highlighted.