The Pros And Cons Of Water Pollution

Water is everywhere covering over two thirds of the Earth’s surface with only about a third of the surface being covered by land. Even though there is an immense amount of water on the Earth, water pollution has become a major global issue that needs to be dealt with because water is an important resource to both humanity and the natural environment. Water pollution has polluted many bodies of water such as oceans, rivers, lakes, etc., and is extremely harmful to both humans and the environment’s health. When the population of Earth was smaller, no one believed that water pollution would be a major global problem because many people believed that the Earth’s water supply was too big to ever be polluted. But with the ever-increasing population …show more content…
Surface water pollution, the one that affects water resources such as oceans, lakes, and rivers is usually the most obvious type of water pollution that many know, but many forget about groundwater pollution. According to “Water Pollution: An Introduction to Causes, Effects, Solutions” by Chris Woodford, “Groundwater is stored underground in rock structures called aquifers. These aquifers are what supply water for rivers, lakes, and drinking water. Groundwater pollution is as vulnerable to pollution just as much as water surfaces, but are less obvious to the issue.” Another form of pollution is Microbiological water pollution, which is a natural form of water pollution caused by microorganisms such as Bacteria, Viruses, Protozoa etc. These types of microorganisms live in water and have diseases that affect the health of fish, land animals and humans resulting in polluted waters. Also, oxygen depletion can be caused by some of these microorganisms that feed on biodegradable substances. When too much substance such as biodegradable material is added to water, the number of microorganisms grows and they deplete the available oxygen. “When oxygen levels in the water are depleted, good aerobic microorganisms that are harmless die and bad harmful anaerobic microorganisms begin to rise. The anaerobic microorganisms are harmful to both people and the environment, as they produce harmful toxins such as …show more content…
One of the top causes of pollution is industrial waste. Industries like to produce various types of pollutants that are extremely harmful to the health of people and the environment such as asbestos, lead, mercury, nitrates and sulfur. Many of these industrial facilities do not have a proper waste management system so they drain their waste into fresh clean water to carry away the waste from their facility and into other bodies of water causing a contamination in the water. These contaminations can be catastrophic to the creatures of the wildlife such as fishes and birds. This can cause the fishes to suffocate, prevent the birds from flying due to their feathers getting caught in the waste, and prevent sunlight from shining on the photosynthetic aquatic plants. Sewage and waste water is another high cause of water pollution. All the water, liquid waste, feces, and urine must end up somewhere. Every day activities include these things such as cooking, laundry, using the toilet, showering and many other activities that use these things are connected to the cause of this issue. In an article by Adam Vaughan he points out, “In many developed communities, wastewater and soluble waste which is called sewage is treated, cleaned and dumped into the waters. Even though they are treated, they are never the same as fresh water. But In some undeveloped countries, the sewage is not treated as well and quickly dump into