When harmful pollutants pollute a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water, the water quality deteriorates and the water becomes toxic to humans or the environment.
Water is very susceptible to pollution. Water has the ability to dissolve more compounds than any other liquid. It’s also why water may be so easily contaminated. Water contamination occurs when toxic compounds from farms, towns, and factories dissolve and mix with it.
Water Pollution Types
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Groundwater
Groundwater is formed when rain falls and seeps deep into the earth, filling the fractures, crevices, and porous areas of an aquifer (essentially an underground reservoir of water). Nearly 40% of Americans get their drinking water from groundwater that is piped to the surface. It is the only source of freshwater for some people in remote areas. When contaminants such as pesticides and fertilisers, as well as waste from landfills and septic systems, contaminate groundwater, it becomes dangerous for human consumption.
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Surface water
Surface water, which covers over 70% of the planet, is what fills our oceans, lakes, rivers, and other blue spots on the globe map. More than 60% of the water distributed to American houses comes from freshwater sources (i.e., sources other than the ocean). However, a large portion of that water is in jeopardy. According to the EPA’s most current national water quality surveys, over half of our rivers and streams, as well as more than a third of our lakes, are filthy and unsafe for swimming, fishing, or drinking. Nutrient pollution, which includes nitrates and phosphates, is the most common type of contamination in these freshwater sources. While plants and animals require these minerals to grow, they have become a severe pollutant due to agricultural waste and fertilizer runoff. The hazardous load is further influenced by municipal and industrial waste discharges. There’s also all the garbage dumped into waterways by corporations and individuals.
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Ocean water
Eighty percent of ocean pollution (also known as marine pollution) originates on land, whether close to the coast or further inland. Chemicals, nutrients, and heavy metals are brought into our bays and estuaries by streams and rivers from farms, industry, and towns, where they flow out to sea. Meanwhile, marine garbage carried by the wind, particularly plastic, is swept into storm drains and sewers. Large and little oil spills and leaks harm our seas, which are continually absorbing carbon pollution from the atmosphere.
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Point source
Point source pollution occurs when contamination emanates from a single source. Contamination from leaking septic systems, chemical and oil spills, and illegal dumping are examples of wastewater (also known as effluent) released lawfully or illegally by a manufacturing, oil refinery, or wastewater treatment plant. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates point source pollution by defining restrictions on what can be released directly into a body of water by a facility. While point source pollution originates in a single location, it has the potential to pollute miles of streams and the ocean.
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Nonpoint source
Pollution from diffuse sources is known as nonpoint source pollution. Agricultural or stormwater runoff, as well as debris blown into streams from land, are examples. Nonpoint source pollution is the most common cause of water contamination in US waters, yet it’s difficult to control because there’s no single, identifiable source.
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Transboundary
Water contamination cannot be limited by a line on a map, it goes without saying. Contaminated water from one country spills into the waters of another, causing transboundary pollution. Contamination can occur as a result of a natural disaster, such as an oil spill, or as a result of industrial, agricultural, or municipal discharge moving downstream.
The Most Common Types of Water Contamination
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Agricultural
The agricultural industry is not only the world’s largest consumer of freshwater resources, with farming and animal production absorbing over 70% of the planet’s surface water supplies, but it is also a major polluter. Agriculture is the biggest cause of water pollution all over the world. It also contributes significantly to the contamination of estuaries and groundwater. Fertilizers, insecticides, and animal manure from farms and livestock operations wash nutrients and pathogens—such as germs and viruses—into our rivers every time it rains. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus in water and air are the leading causes of algal blooms, a poisonous soup of blue-green algae that can be damaging to people and wildlife.
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Wastewater and sewage
Wastewater is used water. It comes from commercial, industrial, and agricultural activity, as well as our sinks, showers, and toilets (think sewage) (think metals, solvents, and toxic sludge). Stormwater runoff is when rain transports road salts, oil, grease, chemicals, and debris from impermeable surfaces into our rivers.
According to the United Nations, more than 80% of the world’s wastewater is discharged into the environment without being treated or reused, with the proportion reaching 95% in some developing nations. In the United States, wastewater treatment plants treat around 34 billion gallons of wastewater per day. Before discharging the treated waters back into rivers, these facilities lower the amount of contaminants such as pathogens, phosphorus, and nitrogen in sewage, as well as heavy metals and harmful chemicals in industrial waste. When everything goes well, that is. However, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that our country’s old and easily overwhelmed sewage treatment systems release more than 850 billion gallons of untreated wastewater each year.
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Pollution from oil
Although large spills make the news, customers are responsible for the great majority of oil pollution in our oceans, including oil and gasoline that leaks from millions of automobiles and trucks every day. Furthermore, nearly half of the estimated 1 million tonnes of oil that enters marine habitats each year comes from land-based sources such as factories, farms, and towns, rather than from tanker disasters. Tanker spills account for roughly 10% of the oil in the world’s waterways, while the maritime industry’s routine operations—both legal and criminal discharges—contribute about one-third. Oil is also naturally released from beneath the ocean’s surface through seeps.
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Radioactive materials
Any pollutant that emits radiation in excess of what the environment normally produces is classified as radioactive waste. Uranium mining, nuclear power plants, military weapon production and testing, as well as colleges and hospitals that use radioactive materials for study and medicine, all produce it. Radioactive waste can last thousands of years in the environment, making disposal difficult. Consider the cleaning of 56 million gallons of radioactive waste at the decommissioned Hanford nuclear weapons production site in Washington, which is anticipated to cost more than $100 billion and take until 2060. Contaminants that have been released accidentally or inadequately disposed of pose a threat to groundwater, surface water, and marine resources.
Conclusion
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, which is usually caused by human activities and has a negative impact on their uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs, and groundwater. Contamination happens when toxins are put into these bodies of water. Sewage discharges, industrial activities, agricultural activities, and urban runoff, including rainwater, are all sources of water contamination. People who drink, bathe, wash, or irrigate with dirty water are at risk of contracting water-borne diseases. Water pollution diminishes a body of water’s ability to deliver ecosystem services (such drinking water) that it might otherwise give.