Drinking 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.

In the fourth chapter, “Fouling Our Own Nests,” of Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What to do About It, Robert Glennon discusses the dangers of water contamination that plague many parts of the United States. His main claim that water pollution requires the help of the entire population stems from an unmentioned warrant: contaminating the national water supply with chemicals from individual communities and industries is detrimental to American society. In order to strengthen his argument, Glennon showcases the impacts of local contamination issues on larger populations and utilizes quantitatively intimidating statistics to solidify his position and inspire his readers to fight for better water regulation.

Access to clean, safe, and affordable water is a fundamental human right essential for a healthy population, environment, and economy. Many communities, particularly those of low-income and communities of color are under-served. Unlike other groups, these communities lack access to safe, affordable water for drinking, subsistence, cultural, and/or recreational uses. California’s 5 years of consecutive drought have exacerbated these conditions in impoverished areas. Disadvantaged communities tend to be disproportionately impacted by disasters, both natural and human caused, due to a general lack of diversified resources. Impoverished areas tend to be reliant on a sole source of water, be geographically distant from large water projects, and

“Any measure of a successful society — low mortality, economic diversity, productivity, and public safety — is in some way related to access to safe water. Every day, safe water is available for eating and cooking, bathing, clothes washing, and a myriad of other purposes”(MMW, 2017). In America where water is at just about every turn of a facet, we don’t always think about how fortunate we are to have amazing access to water. Subsequently, we are much less likely to think about what’s in our water. The Milwaukee area has a few different concerns pertaining to the water quality which effects Milwaukee area residents, lakes and rivers. Milwaukee water quality influences a large population of people since the City of Milwaukee-owned public utility

For nearly my whole life, my family and I have lived beachside near the popular tourist attraction Ron Jon’s in Cocoa Beach, Florida. With that being said, since the beach lures in many tourists, these tourists dispose of their trash irresponsibly and in many scenarios the trash ends up in the ocean polluting the water. Furthermore, water pollution is significant to acknowledge because due to the pollution, there are typically negative consequences that follow interfering with the surrounding marine life or the environment in general. For instance, sometimes runoffs occur that later contaminate the water fabricating toxic fungal blooms within the body of water. When this happens, it has been believed that cancer levels rise in the area from this occurrence worsening the health of humans nearby in the surrounding community. Also, sometimes when pollutants enter bodies of water the overall temperature rises. This raise in temperature easily creates ecological dead zones where fish are forced to evacuate the area in search of cooler waters where they can survive and thrive properly. Therefore, different modes of media that aid the process in explaining water pollution and its effects include environmental documentaries, more specifically one titled “Troubled Water” by Paul Manly, educational song covers, which include “Clean It Up” to the tune of the song “Lips are Movin” by Meghan Trainor, and news articles, like the New York Times piece titled ““A Sea of Health and

While steps have been taken by the government to help bring standards to water treatment and wastewater treatment plants some of the contaminants seep into the water supply after it has been filtered. The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued standards for drinking water with policies like the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, but the standards are not foolproof and some municipalities are not in compliance with the standards. Another problem is the cost of setting up better filtration systems to catch some of the contaminants that are not being filtered at the present time.

When a person is asked what water is, the first things that they say are; water is drinkable, used for showers, simple, washing, etc.. But people don’t really know how complex and important water is for our kind. Water is one of the most precious things we humans have, but we don’t realize it and we damage it without caring for the consequences. Water and water pollution are two things that we should all have in mind. Even though we see water as just a liquid, but there’s more to it than its form or state.

Experiments were done on the water quality and the contamination of groundwater. First, I observed the effects that different pollutants had on groundwater. I predicted that the experiments with the oil and vinegar would create the most contaminations to the water. When the laundry detergent were mixed with the groundwater, it created a light green color with a pleasant smell. The second water treatment experiment were about filtering techniques to remove contaminants from water. I predicted to drain the water by removing all the contaminants

All around the world, countries are fighting to keep their drinking water clean. Whether it’s streams, rivers, or lakes, countries have taken great measures to maintain high quality drinking water for both human consumption and animal consumption. Countries must first understand the sources of the polltion, then determine the best methods to eliminate the pollution. Clean drinking water is a valuable resource and a the key to human survival. Plants and animals also depend on water for their growth, so all water must be kept clean. The major contributors to water pollution can be classified in three categories, industrial, agricultural and municipal.

The contamination of water and drinking supplies with high concentrations of nutrients from animal waste has fatal effects on different organisms. “Elevated nitrates in drinking water...hinders the ability of the...blood to carry oxygen” (Hribar 4), which can cause serious health conditions such as birth defects, miscarriages, and can even lead to death in seniors and infants. Although nitrates may have the greatest consequences on younger and older individuals, adults that consume tainted water develop increased risks of “cancer and non-cancer diseases...diabetes...and neurodevelopmental defects” (Halden and Schwab 16). Contaminated drinking water poses a serious threat to human health, and can affect people’s happiness and quality of life.

“Without water, life would not exist.” This is a quote taken from Water.org. However, it needs a little clarification, Without clean water, life will not exist for long. There are many countries today that do not have access to clean water. This necessity we the people of the United States of America take for granted is not a normal occurrence in every country. With this paper we will look at five different countries with the most polluted water in the world. We will see what is being done to help reduce the water pollution and how the water pollution is effecting the economy is these countries.

Water pollution from combined sewer overflow (CSO) into rivers and other waterways has become an increasing problem in the United States. An estimated 850 billion gallons of untreated storm and sewage water are released into our waterways each year. Given that our grey water infrastructures are unable to handle the volume of water entering their systems, a sustainable, eco-friendly solution is needed. A constructed wetland is a type of green infrastructure that can help to solve this problem of CSO. The cost of constructing this green infrastructure is less than that of traditional grey infrastructure. Advantages of the constructed wetland goes beyond improved water quality, to include lower operational costs, an added recreational area, increased habitat which could lead to greater diversity of wildlife. Educating local officials and community members about the benefits and sustainability of the green infrastructure will be vital in initiating the process of creating a wetland.

Most people in the U.S. have access to water which is tap water, they rather spend money on water they feel is replenished. Most people don’t drink tap water because the smell of it or the way it taste at times, and others buy it for health reasons they may have. Pollution is one of the biggest problems in the

Many Americans have thought of places without access to clean water as third world countries, not places right here at home like Flint, Michigan with their lead infested waters. In contrary to popular belief, Flint is just one of thousands of contaminated water sites that happen right here in America and is America’s first look into the issue. This crisis was first brought to my attention when I have visited China and had a tasted of this problem, in the summer before my sophomore year of high school. In the larger cities, they have very unsafe drinking water, the tour guide (a Beijing native) does not trust the system and advises everyone to not drink water that restaurants provides you or even from water bottles because of how horrible the Chinese sewage system is. The tour guide actually provided us with a filter to filter our water. However the water in villages, such as my mom’s hometown, has to face an even devastating problem they have to face where they did not even have proper plumbing in order to conserve their water. The only source of their drinking water comes from a single well, drilled in the center of the village. If this well was to be contaminated then the people who can afford it, would have only bottled water to survive on and some who cannot will have no water until the next rainfall. In a privileged country, Americans hear about all of these stories of how people struggle but to really see it in person, it is very different and that is why this water

FAO (1992) noted that the adulteration of water supplies from both natural and anthropogenic sources has impacted on the health and economic status of populations. Human activities contribute to pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides and herbicides into aquatic ecosystems. These anthropogenic activities continuously increase the amounts in the environment. According to Malik et al. (2010), heavy metal pollution is burgeoning at an frightening rate and has become an important worldwide problem Increase in population, urbanization, industrialization and agricultural practices as well as lack of environmental regulations have further aggravated the situation (Gupta et al., 2009).