Causes of water pollution
1) Water pollution may be caused by the intentional or unintentional disposal of hazardous chemicals and materials into a body of water.
2) Rainfall may cause polluted landscapes to disperse their poisonous materials into the water and poison the surrounding water.
3) Water pollution may also be caused by specific points or contributing factors such as large factories, oil refineries, construction sites, chemical waste management facilities, dump sites and other large scale operations that store/produce large amounts of chemical/hazardous waste.
Effects of water pollution
1) Toxic rainfall can occur in areas where water and/or air is polluted with toxic chemicals and materials.
2) Polluted water can lead to sickness, disease, infections, deformities and even death among animals and plant life.
3) Once water becomes polluted it can affect people and animals either directly through consumption or indirectly through food sources, land degradation and the overabundance of plants and algae which can cover the surface of various bodies of water making it undrinkable and affecting the animals that live in that body of water.
Solution:
The most critical step to prevent water pollution is to adopt appropriate waste management policies. Setting up of wastewater treatment plants can resolve this issue and hence we can protect our natural water resources from contamination and embrace an eco-friendly life.
HOW YOU CAN HELPIf you would like to limit the amount of pollution you produce and thus help keep the oceans, rivers and lakes clean there are a number of things you can do.
Replace your air fresheners with eco-friendly candles, incense and/or potpourri Purchase environmentally friendly cleaning products that do not harm the land if they happen to be flushed or emptied into a drain Reduce the amount of power you use and purchase energy saving light bulbs and appliances. This helps reduce the amount of emissions being released by utility companies and your own home products. Conserve your water usage and don’t leave water running when you are not using it Reduce, recycle & reuse materials that you have purchased. Plastics and papers may be sent to the recycling bin while some of your glass materials may be able to be reused or re-purposed Make sure non recyclable waste is contained properly so that it does not spill into the land, street drain sewage drain Purchase local food that has been grown from healthy agricultural farms that don’t use polluting fertilizers and pesticides Purchase eco-friendly lawn fertilizers and pesticides for your own lawn in order to prevent your lawn from becoming toxic and prevent possible hazardass chemicals from entering street drains Recycle old clothing by giving it away to shelters and non for profit re sellers. Not only does it lower the amount of garbage you produce it also allows you go give to a cause and help the community Use a reusable grocery bag rather than the plastic bags offered at grocery stores when shopping for food to minimize your plastic waste Eliminate unnecessary mail and have your bills sent to you by email. This helps protect the trees and reduce the amount of paper you have to dispose of later
