A Serious Threat of Water Pollution

Water is the most vital element among the natural resources and is critical for the survival of all living organisms including human, food production, and economic development (Raymond, 2016). Today there are many cities in the state of South Carolina that are dealing with polluted water. Water pollution is a serious threat to the well-being of the people and the communities they live in. It doesn't matter what size body of water, all bodies can in some shape be polluted. Over the past three years, South Carolina had to endure hurricanes that produced heavy rainfall and flooding. This paper will discuss a pollution issue that happened, what I would envision as a solution, what am I doing to find a solution to the problem, and if there are any obstacles or resistance to resolving the issue.

The Sociology of Disasters describes the phrase natural disaster as whenever you have experienced an earthquake, flood, hurricane or a storm (Bell, 2016). Something that is out of your control. A natural disaster happens when the climate changes. South Carolina had to endure at least three natural disasters or an Acts of God this year alone mostly because of hurricanes that produced a substantial amount of rainfall. This brought about flooding to different parts of the state. The issue that I will be discussing will be in a nearby city of Conway, South Carolina where a sewage plant which handles about 4 million gallons of sewage a day flooded releasing millions of gallons of raw material in the Waccamaw River. The treatment plant was down for 24 hours before they got it up and running. The Paradigm Shift states that we are more aware now of how industrial material can affect the environment (Bell, 2016). Utility officials and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control are not sure on the amount of material that was released without being treated.

The town suffered a great deal when hurricane Florence made landfall on the South Carolina coast leaving behind a substantial amount of rainfall. Flooding was the big problem that the residents had to de
al with. The flooding was so bad that had to be warned not to go into the water because of the bacteria, and industrial pollution. DHEC expected the water to be contaminated, but because of the flooding, they had to wait until the water receded. Once the water receded DHEC would run a test to see exactly how much damage was done, and what was going to be needed to help make the water safe again. Many people have never experienced a day that they couldn't drink water or walk outside your home not knowing what in the water, but when you least expected, it happens.
If I had to envision a solution to the problem, it would first to become a part of an organization such as the Environmental Justice Movement to show that I am concern about pollution in our neighborhoods. Then I would make suggestions on buildings better buildings so that they would be able to withstand flooding. Work with engineers to come up with some ideas on building that could be built above flood level. If global climate change is what's causing these acts of god, to take place, then we need to take positive action now to slow the pace of climate change and reduce further global warming. Changing our lifestyle and our behaviors will help reduce the human impact on the environment (Negin, 2018). By reducing your personal contribution to global warming and set an example for others by using less gasoline, natural gas, oil, and electricity (especially electricity generated from coal-fired power plants) in your daily life (Negin, 2018). Renewables energy is another way I think to help with the solution, because if the climate remains stable then we wouldn't have flooding and hurricanes.

I was not a part of helping with a solution to the issue, but by participatory governance, this would allow everyone to help with a solution because you would have citizens and the government working together to make a difference. We must make ourselves aware of what's going on with the environment and not leave it all to the government.

I feel with everyone working together to help with changing the way we do things, then everyone can come together and help the town of Conway restore itself to what it was before hurricane Florence made it devastating impact.
There was resistance in resolving the issue, A flood mitigation canal plan was presented to lawmakers over 10 years ago but was turned down because of cost. Public records show some officials feared the project would cause severe irreversible harm to wetlands, and they also worried the canal would give residents in low-lying areas a false sense of security (Perry, 2018).

The only obstacles in resolving the issue were because of so much flooding volunteers had to wait a week until the water receded before they could start the cleanup. Different state agencies were able to make sure that the contamination was gone, and it was safe for people to go into the water. Several tests had to be run to make sure that all the water was safe.

In conclusion, we all know how critical water is to each of us. Water pollution is a serious threat to the well-being of people and the communities they live in. If you have never given it some thought, now is a good time to think about how natural disasters affect the water in which we use as a major survival tool. By changing our lifestyles and becoming a part of an ecological society then we will become more concern with our environment. The Waccamaw River in Horry County still have a way to go but they are pulling together and making it happen. The government will continue to do what is needed to make the water is cleaned. This will continue to happen if the global climate change continues. Natural disasters are something that we cannot control but we can work on making our environment better. We must work harder in making our environment a better place to live, but first everyone in our communities must commit themselves to make changes.

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