WATER POLLUTION AND ITS REMEDY

Hello, hiveans,

I will be talking today on the topic of water pollution and its remedy.

First, water is one of the renewable resources essential for sustaining all forms of life, food production, economic development, and general well-being. It is truly a unique gift to mankind from nature.

pixabay

Water is also one of the most manageable natural resources as it is capable of diversion, transport, storage and recycling. a. all these properties impacts wateritssa gr t utility for human beings.

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, in such a manner that negatively affects legitimate users.

Water pollution reduces the ability of the water to provide the ecosystem services that it would otherwise provide.

SOURCE OF WATER POLLUTION

1. POINT SOURCE: Point sources of pollution are those which have a direct identifiable source. Examples include a pipe attack on a factory, an oil spill from a tanker, and effluent coming out from the industry. It includes both municipal and industrial, storm sewer discharge.

pixabay

1. NON-POINT SOURCE: These pollutants are those which arrive from different sources of origin and several ways by which contaminants enter into groundwater or surface water and arrive in the environment from different none identifiable sources. Examples are runoff from agricultural fields, urban waste etc.

pixabay

WATER POLLUTANTS INCLUDE

1. ORGANIC WATER POLLUTANT: They comprise insecticides and herbicides, organohalides and other forms of chemicals, and bacteria from sewage and livestock farming.food processing wastes, pathogens, volatile organic compounds etc.

2. INORGANIC WATER POLLUTANT: They may arise from heavy metals from acid mine drainage, silt from surface runoff, logging, splash and burning practices landfilling, fertilizer from agricultural run-off which include nitrate and phosphate etc,

pixabay

OTHER SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION

1. URBANIZATION: Urbanization generally leads to higher phosphorus concentration in urban catchments.

Increasing imperviousness, increased runoff from urbanized surfaces and increased municipal and industrial discharges all result in increased loading of nutrients to urban streams. this makes urbanisation second to agriculture as the major cause of stream impairment.

pixabay

1. AGRO CHEMICAL WASTE: In the agricultural sector, water and electricity for irrigation are subsidised for political reasons. This leads to wasteful flood irrigation rather than the adoption of more optimal practices such as sprinkler and drip irrigation. Cropping patterns and farming practices also do not necessarily encourage the judicious use of water.

There are losses of water due to breaches and seepage resulting in water logging and salinity.

pixabay

Agrochemical wastes include fertiliser, and pesticides which may be herbicides and insecticides widely used in crop fields to enhance productivity, improper disposal of pesticides from farmland and agricultural activities contribute a lot to pollutants to water bodies and soils.

Some of the pesticides are DDT, Aldrin, Dieldrin, Malathion, Hexachloro Benzene etc. pesticide reaches water bodies through runoff, from agricultural fields, drifting from sprays, Washing, down of precipitation and direct dusting.

1. THE DISRUPTION OF SEDIMENT:
   Construction of dams for hydroelectric power or water reservoir can reduce the sediment flow affecting adversely the formation of beaches, increasing coastal erosion and reducing the flow of nutrients from rivers into the sea.
   Increased sediment flows can also create a problem, during construction work, soil, rock and other fine powder sometimes enter nearby rivers in large quantities, causing water to become turbid.

pixabay

EFFECT OF WATER POLLUTION

1. Polluted water has effects on both human and aquatic life.

Some of the chemicals affecting human health are the presence of such as fluoride, Arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, petrochemical, chlorinated solvent, pesticide and nitrates. Some of these cause disease to human health.

EFFECT OF WATER POLLUTION ON PLANTS.

1. effect of acid deposition: many of the gases from acid, aerosol and other acidic substances released into the atmosphere, from the industrial or domestic sources of combustion from fossil fuels, finally fall to the ground and reach the water bodies along with running off rainwater.

2. Nutrient deficiency in the aquatic ecosystem: the population of decomposing microorganisms like bacteria and fungi decline in acidified water which in turn reduces the rate of decomposition of organic matter affecting nutrient cycling.

3. Effect of oil spillage: oil pollution due to spillage of oil tankers and storage container prevent the oxygenation of water and deplete the oxygen content of the water body by reducing light transmission and inhibiting the growth of plankton and photosynthesis in macrophages.

SOME CONTROL MEASURES.

1. In most partssssssss of the country, wastewater from domestic sources is hardly treated due to inadequate sanitation facilities.

2. Improper use of fertiliser, herbicides, and pesticides in farming should be stopped and organic methods of farming adopted.

1. Religious practices that pollute river water by dumping colourful paints of idols containing harmful synthetic chemicals should be stopped.

2. Rainwater harvesting should be practised to prevent the depletion of the water table.

3. Making people aware of the problem is the step to preventing water pollution.

Thanks for reading.