Water bodies e.g. lake, river, ocean and ground water get contaminated due to discharge of pollutants in the water bodies without any treatment to remove harmful compounds.
Water pollution adversely affects not only aquatic plants and animals but it also affects human beings and ecosystems.
Causes of Water Pollution
Water pollution is caused due to several reasons. Here are the few major causes of water pollution:
Sewage And Waste Water: Sewage, garbage and liquid waste of households, agricultural lands and factories are discharged into lakes and rivers. These wastes contain harmful chemicals and toxins which make the water poisonous for aquatic animals and plants.
Dumping: Dumping of solid wastes and litters in water bodies causes huge problems. Litters include glass, plastic, aluminum, styrofoam etc. Different things take different amount of time to degrade in water. They affect aquatic plants and animals.
Industrial Waste: Industrial waste contains pollutants like asbestos, lead, mercury and petrochemicals which are extremely harmful to both people and environment. Industrial waste is discharged into lakes and rivers by using fresh water making the water contaminated.
Oil Pollution: Sea water gets polluted due to oil spilled from ships and tankers while traveling. The spilled oil does not dissolve in water and forms a thick sludge polluting the water.
Acid Rain: Acid rain is pollution of water caused by air pollution. When the acidic particles caused by air pollution in the atmosphere mix with water vapor, it results in acid rain.
Global Warming: Due to global warming, there is an increase in water temperature. This increase in temperature results in death of aquatic plants and animals. This also results in bleaching of coral reefs in water.
Eutrophication: Eutrophication is an increased level of nutrients in water bodies. This results in bloom of algae in water. It also depletes the oxygen in water, which negatively affects fish and other aquatic animal population.
important ways of treating polluted watersTreating polluted water
It is very important to prevent the polluting of water bodies and remove existing contaminants or reducing the concentration of these contaminants so as to make it fit for desired use. Following are some of the ways of treating polluted water:
Industrial Treatment: The raw sewage is needed to be treated correctly in a water treatment plant before it can be safely released into the environment. To reduce the amount and toxicity of waste, it is passed through a number of chambers and chemical processes in water treatment plant.
Denitrification: Conversion of nitrates in gas is called Denitrification. It is an ecological approach to prevent leaching of nitrates in soil. It stops ground water from getting contaminated.
Ozone Waste Water Treatment: Ozone waste water treatment method is becoming very popular. In this method, the pollutants in water are broken down by an ozone generator. Ozone oxidizes bacteria, molds, organic material and other pollutants in water.
Septic Tanks: Septic tanks are used to treat sewage at the place of location instead of treating it in any plant or sewage system. This system is used at the individual building level.The sewage is separated into solid and liquid components and treated separately.