How we Can Decrease Water Pollution?

Water pollution is an issue covering the United States that is not taken seriously. Being that water is scarce, only three percent of our country's water is freshwater, which has to be divided by hundreds of thousands of people. Even though water is a renewable resource, pollution makes the water toxic causing it to be useless. Contaminated water will not only harm us, it will damage our environment and multiple other resources we depend on to survive. Humans are the top cause of water pollution and we need to take action to decrease water pollution before it is too late.

Water pollution is when water ways (rivers, lakes, streams, etc.) absorb toxic chemicals and industrial waste. Businesses and cities dispose of their chemicals and waste into water ways which is a main cause of water pollution. These waters don't obtain treatment which allows pollutants to get into the water which then makes the water toxic. Over half of our water in the world is polluted. It is negatively affecting the biotic and abiotic factors in the environment. If contaminated water isn't treated it can hold diseases that are from human and animal waste. Some diseases that people can receive from contaminated water is Cholera, Giardia and others. Then, if the water is consumed by humans it can cause sickness and even death there was over a million deaths from water pollution in 2015, that people have no idea about and that is scary. Water pollution does not only cause diseases but can cause cancer as well and can mess up the brain function if it is bad enough. Water pollution is not something to take lightly and really needs to be addressed more seriously.

Living and Nonliving Factors of Water Pollution.

Not only does water pollution affect living entities but nonliving entities as well. Water pollution can be an immense problem to the ecosystem and can cause species and ecosystems to become endangered. Aquatic animals suffer greatly because they cannot remove themselves from the toxins. Water pollution can cause an algal boom that can produce a various amount of toxins that can harm the sea creatures. This can cause the creatures difficulty to reproduce and even expect low life expectancy. Even if new nutrients appear in the water, it can cause an alga to over grow at a rapid rate which will reduce the oxygen levels in the water that will lead to suffocation of the animals and plants in the area, making it a dead zone. So, what does that have to do with us? If the aquatic animal is not able to reproduce it faults the entire food chain. That animal will then be cut from diets of both mammals and humans. Humans consume fish that are in these water ways so by not eating the contaminated food, we lose a source of protein. Littering is also a factor in water pollution. Throwing away aluminum cans or plastic into water it can injure and even starve animals that live there. Plastics can get caught onto animals or animals can mistake it for food and seriously harm the innocent creature. Recycling can eliminate this problem tremendously.

Non-living things affected negatively by water pollution are the temperature and oxygen content. Sewage affects the oxygen content and causes oxygen levels to decrease which not only hurts us, but animals and plants as well. Temperature is affected when cooling water enters a body of water, it then acts as a heating pollutant which is not healthy and harmful for ecosystems. Soil is another non-living thing that is harmed by water pollution, because groundwater that is contaminated also contaminates the soil it flows through. The soil can lose its nutrients and that will cause plants to not be able to get the nutrients they need, and they will either die or plants will not grow there anymore. Plants are an important aspect to the ecosystem for the animals that only eat plants. If the soil is contaminated and plants cannot grow there then the animals lose that source of food. So overall if the non-living things are contaminated by water pollution it is also hurting the living things as well.

Human Impact on Water Pollution.

Humans are the main cause of water pollution. We need to be more cautious of our actions and where we dispose our waste. Many chemicals and toxins in the water originate from farmers, factories, vehicles, and large industrial cities. When farmers use harmful fertilizers, the fertilizer enters the groundwater and continue on to larger bodies of water. This contaminates the water and anything that uses it. Factory waste also contributes to the problem because of the toxins they put out when operating. Also, oil leaks manage to get into bodies of water as well. Humans are only poisoning themselves because the water they contaminate is not only just in the water ways but also the water they drink on a daily basis. Humans are affecting water pollution negatively and are the main reason water pollution is even a thing.

Plan and Solutions to Water pollution.

Solutions for water pollution can be fairly simple and can help our country and the world astronomically. This issue can be fixed by not littering on land nor water and recycling plastics. Farmers or anyone landscaping should be using non-harmful pesticides and fertilizers. By doing this it will eliminate contaminated water from the water ways. In the Article Soy Hulls: A Water Pollution Solution, it states that sugar cane and corn are two things that can make a foundation to absorb heavy metals from the waters to help have less contamination in them (Marshall, 2007). Another solution to remove water pollution is if the federal government funded programs for people to clean water ways and provide larger cities with more drainage that rejects trash. If the government were to also terminate harmful chemicals from shelves and replace them with environment friendly substitutes. Schools and businesses need to focus on educating their students and employees more on water pollution. They need to enforce recycling, riding bikes instead of taking cars, carpooling, using paper instead of plastic. Minor things will help the environment and water pollution if we all contribute.

Conclusion:

Overall water pollution is a bigger issue in the world enviromentally than anythig else and it should be taken more serously than it is. Without clean water nothing can survive including the people so cleaning the water ways and having cleaner drinking water for the people is something that should be a main priorty to the governement. Water pollution is something that is never discussed between individuals and often people are not educated on how serious the issue is. If individuals knew how much water that is not avliable and how contaiminated it is then people would take better care of the water ways and do what they could to help out. The ultimate outcome of this issue is just to see the government and people trying tol help the water polution and seeing them at leats try to clean up some of the pollution.

References

1. Denchak, M. (2018, May 14). Water Pollution: Everything you Need to Know. Retrieved December 3, 2018, from https://www. Nrdc.org/ Finch, N. R. (2016).
2. Nutrient Water Quality Trading: A Market-Based Solution to Water Pollution in the Natural State. Arkansas Law Review, 69(3), 839-870. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
3. Marshall, W. E. (2007). Agricultural Research. Soy Hull: A Water Pollution Solution,55(2), 23- 23. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
4. Pelletrier, O. (2012, December 14). Biotic and Abiotic Factors: Biofilm Illustrations. Retrieved December 3, 2018, from https://www.prezi.com/

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