Water pollution and poor water quality of surface waters is something all of us have come to accept as the norm. Rapidly growing populations and the consequent rise in the water demand has created terrific stress on both surface and groundwater systems. Today’s increasing concern is not merely the organic load that gets dumped untreated, or at the most partially treated, into receiving water bodies, but also the discharge of harmful chemicals such as hormone disruptors. What is the status worldwide?
Water pollution caused industrial waste products released into lakes, rivers, and other water bodies, has made marine life no longer hospitable. Humans pollute water with large scale disposal of garbage, flowers, ashes and other household waste. In many rural areas one can still find people bathing and cooking in the same water, making it incredibly filthy. Acid rain further adds to water pollution in the water. In addition to these, thermal pollution and the depletion of dissolved oxygen aggravate the already worsened condition of the water bodies. Water pollution can also indirectly occur as an offshoot of soil pollution – through surface runoff and leaching to groundwater. Noise pollution, soil pollution and light pollution too are the damaging the environment at an alarming rate. Noise pollution include aircraft noise, noise of cars, buses, and trucks, vehicle horns, loudspeakers, and industry noise, as well as high-intensity sonar effects which are extremely harmful for the environment. Water pollution has risen across three continents, placing hundreds of millions of people at risk of contracting life-threatening diseases like cholera and typhoid, United Nations Environment warns today. The worrying rise in the pollution of surface waters in Asia, Africa and Latin America also threatens to damage vital sources of food and harm the continents’ economies, says UN Environment in its latest report, Snapshot of the World’s Water Quality. By making access to quality water even more difficult, water pollution also threatens to breed further inequality, hitting the most vulnerable – women, children and the poor – the hardest. Jacqueline McGlade, Chief Scientist of UN Environment, said, “The increasing amount of wastewater being dumped into our surface waters is deeply troubling. Access to quality water is essential for human health and human development. Both are at risk if we fail to stop the pollution. “Luckily it is possible to begin restoring rivers that have already been heavily polluted and there is clearly still time to prevent even more rivers from becoming contaminated. It is vital the world works together to combat this growing menace.” Population growth, increased economic activity, the expansion and intensification of agriculture, and an increase in the amount of untreated sewage discharged into rivers and lakes are the main reasons behind the troubling rise in surface water pollution in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Pathogen pollution and organic pollution rose in more than 50 per cent of river stretches from 1990-2010 on all three continents, while salinity pollution has risen in nearly one third, the UN report finds.
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It's sad that people are now buying bottled water or those water that are being sold by purified water outlet. Before this is never heard of. You can just get water from the tap for drinking.
That's because the rivers, seas and all water forms are now more or less polluted. Not only because of the wastes thrown by people living near them but because of some manufacturing companies that leaks their manufacturing wastes to those water forms.
Some fishermen would even use chemicals they put into a part of the sea, just to be able to catch more fish.
Sad, that it's some people who have no conscience who are the culprits after all.
Water is the lively hood for so many people, and if not taken care of it can cause a lot of havoc all over the world. There was a time when water pollution was a major problem in so many countries and i think at some point the problem was curbed. But I guess with all the new industries coming up, people do not take the time to look around the environment to establish the best way to deal with the toxins or chemicals that come from their industries and factories. This are the things that get water contaminated and gets people sick. But I think it would be a good thing if the government would look into the problem, and solve it before it explores.