Causes and Effects of Water Pollution

Question: Discuss about theCauses and Effects of Water Pollution. Answer: Introduction Water pollution can be defined as a form of environmental degradation that entails contamination of water bodies through an intentional or unintentional release of untreated pollutants or materials into the water bodies. Approximately two-thirds of the earth's surface is covered with water. In other words, the largest part of the face of the earth is covered with water. The issue of water pollution has recently raised a lot of concerns among the environmentalists, scientists and researchers due to the undesirable effects that have resulted from the pollution. Water pollution has had dire consequences not only on human life but also to the aquatic life and the entire environment (Goel, 2010). The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to discuss causes and effects of water pollution. The paper is organized such that the first part entails a detailed discussion of the causes followed by a transition paragraph, a section of the effects and a conclusion. Goel (2010) has argued that water pollution is entirely a problem triggered by human activities since the problem of water pollution is a recent development in the history of humanity. He also maintains that before the industrial revolution in the19th century cases of water pollution were unheard of. Several causes of water pollution have been documented in the various literature. Causes of water pollution can be categorized into two categories. That is point sources water pollution and non-point sources water pollution (Boyd, 2015). Whilst the former is easier to identify and control, the latter is harder to control and ambiguous to define. Some of the point sources pollution include: wastes from oil wells, products manufacturing factories, sewage system, underground coal mines and power plants. Non-point sources, on the other hand, include; storm water drainage, runoff from fertilizers from farms and deposits from air pollutant into water. Water pollution has to do with quantities. That is, it depends on what quantity of pollutant substances are released into what certain amount of water. For instance, some pollutants such as oil spills may have significant effects in smaller water bodies but less or no effect on the large water bodies. Thus the effects of pollution depend on how concentrated or accumulated the pollutant substances are in the water (Kneese, 2015). Water pollution has numerous effects on people, animals and to the environment at large. Water pollution has direct health impacts in both animal and human health. For example, increased levels of pollutants such as lead, mercury, and arsenic tend to causes diseases to both human beings and animals. Zinc, for instance, is known to cause renal damage to both animals and human beings (Mance, 2012). Water pollution also causes damage to the environment. It leads to alteration of food chain due to bioaccumulation thus affecting the aquatic animals. This has consequences for the entire ecosystem which in turn affects human beings. Similarly, water pollution leads to eutrophication which causes the depletion of oxygen in the water bodies thus affecting the aquatic vegetation and organisms (Goel, 2010). In conclusion, it is undoubted that pollution of water is such a serious issue since it affects the environment and all that is in it. Nonetheless, the future is promising since the matter has been perceived with a lot of weight thus various long-term solutions to water pollution are underway. People must also realize that there must be a shared responsibility by every individual in ensuring that water pollution is minimized. References Boyd, C. E. (2015). Water Pollution. In Water Quality (pp. 313-338). Springer InternationalPublishing. Goel, P. K. (2010). Water pollution: causes, effects and control. New Age International. Kneese, A. V. (2015). Water Pollution: Economics Aspects and Research Needs. Routledge. Mance, G. (2012). Pollution threat of heavy metals in aquatic environments. Springer Science Business Media.