Water Pollution Sources: Blog entry

As this blog dives deeper in the dangers of water pollution, it seems that water pollution becomes even more detailed. It’s not just the leftover soda cans you see in the ocean at the beach. Water pollution takes many forms, with each, its own repercussions, methods of detection, and much much more…


Classifications of Water Pollution Sources

Each classification of waste in water has specific health risks that go with them.
Industrial waste is anything that factories contribute to pollution. Factories use waterways to transport their waste away from the site. This act can cause many illnesses. Mesothelioma is caused from asbestos being dumped in the water and then being consumed by people. Two other pollutants such as Lead and Mercury can cause disease as well. Mercury and Lead will lead to poisoning and can have deadly effects. Factories must do something to change their ways.
Domestic waste is also harmful to humans; domestic waste is anything that can be caused by regular people. Domestic waste is considered to be cleaning products and other household chemicals. When the chemicals are mixed in the water supply, the products will create a volatile combination. Some of their effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea, damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system, nose and throat discomfort, headache, allergic skin reaction, dyspnea, declines in serum cholinesterase levels, nausea, emesis, epistaxis, fatigue, dizziness. Everyone needs to pay attention to what they are doing.
Agricultural waste is anything that is caused by people in that profession. One major pollutant with agricultural waste is pesticide. Pesticides often flow into water from runoff caused by the farmers. That is not the only way pesticides can leak into the body. Pesticides can be absorbed through the skin, and by ingestion. Exposure to pesticides leads to many bad side effects. These side effects can lead to cancers, genetic damage, and fertility issues. Even though most farmers are taking preventive measures, some are still causing harm.


Methods of Detection; Cause & Effect

These types of water pollution are dangerous, and can be found in various laces. But how can one detect these different pollutions? The most obvious way is to look at the water source. ‘Dirty water’ is a common method of detecting pollution in the water. This water could be filled with any type of pollutant and could be dangerous to your health. Even if it isn’t limpid, that doesn’t mean it’s only chemicals that pollute it. It could also be dirt or other natural occurrences. That still doesn’t mean you should drink it before cleaning it.
Although this is a common method, there are many other ways to test if water is polluted. Pollutants in water are commonly measured and reported as parts per million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb). Scientists have developed many different technologies and chemicals to find the pollution in the water. Specialized analytical equipment allows technicians to monitor pollutants. In the field, pH meters are used to measure acidity or bring samples back to the lab to test. They import the data they own on the water into the computer, and the computer then determines if the water has any impurities.
Living organisms are also used to detect water pollution. If these organisms should show any odd behavior or characteristics, it’s a good sign that something is wrong with the water. Also if some species are reproducing less and dieing out, it is also a good chance that pollution has affected their environment so much that it is beyond their tolerance zone.
Other than those traditional methods, today’s scientists and engineers have created new technology to find water pollution. Scientists have developed a robotic fish that ‘swims’ in the waters. It detects pollution and then seeks out the source. It will then transmit the data using Wi-Fi technology and the problem can be fixed. Another new technology is the modified tadpoles. These tadpoles will light up to different concentrations of water, showing if there is pollution or not. One last new project are the Microsystems. These are small robots that flow in the water and can detect harmful chemicals, bacteria and other pollutions and relay the information back to headquarters. Unfortunately, it takes a large amount of resources and energy to keep the Microsystems working and in sync. This may be solved in the future. All of these projects are in production and might be released worldwide in a matter of months or years.
One project that is near completion is the wiring of an Irish river known as the River Lee. The DEPLOY project is fundamentally one of the greatest river protection projects to this date. Throughout the large river that support many species of salmon, trout and crayfish, scientist have placed wired boxes that regulate chemicals and the cleanliness of the water. Placed at equal distances from each other, these boxes have saved the river from pollution many times over. Above is a picture of one of the boxes at the water source.
The detection of pollutants in water is critical to the cleanliness of the water and further prevention. If we can find the source, we can combat the cause.



Repercussions of each

The repercussions of water pollution are numerous and felt throughout the food chain.
To start, Agricultural pollution is the leading source of impairment to rivers and lakes. The most widespread source of pollution in the agricultural spectrum is soil that is washed off of fields. This occurs when rainwater carries sediment and deposits them in nearby bodies of water. This clouds the water, reduces the amount of sunlight that reaches photosynthesizing plants, and kills them. Also, the sediment clogs the gills of fish and smoother their larvae. In addition, fertilizers, pesticides and heavy metals are contained in this runoff that originate in chemical fertilizers, manure and sludge. This causes algal blooms and depletes oxygen, killing aquatic life.
Furthermore, water pollution can also be felt in every home. Drinking water can contain contaminants that harm human health, and change the color and odor of water. These heavy metals accumulate in groundwater and enter the drinking supply. The effects of these materials include slow development, birth defects, and cancer. Microbial pollutants can cause disease such as cholera, typhoid fever and Cryptosporidiosis.
Finally, Industrial waste has a traumatic effect on the environment. Many factories use fresh water to carry waste away from these sites. Included in these wastes are pollutants that include asbestos, lead, mercury, nitrates, phosphates, sulfur, oils and petrochemicals. Asbestos is a health hazard and a carcinogen. When inhaled, this material causes asbestosis, mesothelioma, lung cancer, intestinal cancer and liver cancer. Lead harms the health of most animals and inhibits the actions of bodily enzymes. Mercury is a hard material to remove from an ecosystem after it is exposed because it is biodegradable and causes poisoning. Nitrates and phosphates cause eutrophication, which is very problematic to marine environments. Oils and petrochemicals form a thick layer on the water surface, killing plants, marine birds and fish.


Proactive measures of each
The pollution of the Earth is a serious matter. Human civilization would be nothing without the resources we gained from the Earth. To stop the pollution now taking place there are several different options. For runoff, which is now causing massive algae blooms in Lake Erie, trees can be planted between the farmers’ fields, which would help intercept and absorb the runoff. Also buffer zones and fields could be used to stop the runoff from getting to streams, rivers, or lakes. Another form of pollution is industrial pollution. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency have designed a factory that would take waste from vessels in the Port of Limón and Moin and recycle the waste. The two methods used would be DCR asphalt technology and Cement-Lock to create asphalt and cement while cleaning the Ocean. Some domestic pollution is chemically infected water. To prevent this you can keep chemicals away from drains. Also when you get rid of chemicals, or oil does it in a responsible manner. To learn how, check with your local authority. Also, when you use pesticides do it as far away from drains as possible and use it as lightly as possible.


Health Risks

Agricultural waste pollution is one of the leading causes of pollution in the modern United States. On its own, pollution from agricultural waste accounts for 48% of pollution in running water, such as rivers and streams. Of the pollution on today’s lake water 41% of it is attributed to waste from agricultural sites. Even though this form of pollution can harm humans, it is more closely related to environmental problems. Many environmental problems come from farmland runoff that contains fertilizer and nitrates. When these pollutants hit the open oceans, or any other standing bodies of water, they create an unnaturally high amount of nutrients in the area. In the worlds standing water the unnaturally high amounts on nutrients in the water could cause higher a number of the water plants and algae of the area. This increase of algae and plants, due to the water being artificially nutrient boosted, is known as eutrophication. This, in turn, stretches the ecosystem to the limit of its carrying capacity. The sudden increase throws the entire ecosystem and the surrounding areas out of whack.
Domestic waste pollution is anything that runs down your drains. Basically this means sewage. By weight this accounts for only a small fraction of sewage but it is a large amount by volume. According to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI, during 2004 there were 850 billion gallons of untreated sewage that ran throughout our waterways. As one would expect sewers over flow during many storm systems, this then drops the sewage into nearby rivers and streams without being treated. Some of the more serious parts of this pollution source are numerous form of detergents that run down our drains from cleaning and sanitizing our houses. One major issue related to domestic pollution is biochemical oxygen demand or BOD. The BOD is the volume required for a certain amount natural material to rot in sewage. This then translates into the fact that the BOD is higher when there is more natural material. A high BOD is better for the environment and when raw sewage is dumped into our waterways the BOD is lowered, lessening the quality of the water.
Industrial waste is a large contributor to water pollution. Industrial plants and factories use nearby sources of fresh water to carry their waste away from the site. Inland streams all around world all end up in the same place, the oceans. As the streams make their way toward the oceans they carry the pollutants from the factories and any other sources they come into contact with. Of the copious pollutants dumped into water by power plants some of the most hazardous would include asbestos, lead, and mercury. Asbestos is an extremely hazardous carcinogenic that is responsible for causing Mesothelioma and many deadly forms of cancer. Lead and mercury are metallic elements that are hazardous to both human health and the environment. Both of these elements are non-biodegradable and so make it very difficult to clean up an area that has been affected by them.


Preventive Measures or Strategies of each
When it comes to pollution, prevention of this occurrence is the best way to deal with this problem. For each of the different sources of pollution (Agricultural, Domestic and Industrial) some different and similar methods of preventing pollution have been created.
For Agricultural pollution, many farmers can implement processes and different management strategies that will reduce runoff of harmful chemicals and nutrients. Also, organic farmers that do not use plant-helping pollutants, such as nitrogen, will also use methods such as ladybugs to eat pests instead of pesticides. The methods of organic farmers are some of the best ways to combat agricultural pollution.
Domestic waste comes from the general populations such as homeowners. The chemicals the population uses to clean and upkeep their homes, such as cleaning fluids, are entered into the water system. Many cleaning products, air fresheners, and other household products come in organic, non-harmful forms that work very well and if used in place of harmful products can make a difference. Also reduction of use of harmful products can help reduce domestic water pollution. Reducing amounts of domestic pollution comes down to the cooperating of the general population of the globe.
Industrial pollution is from manufacturers and their poor processes of creating goods, packaging them. Processing can cause many different harmful effects to the water. Many wastes are produced in manufacturing and they are not always disposed of properly. Often, they are put in the ocean, rivers and lakes. Manufacturers need to start disposing of wastes properly. Also, manufacturing and processing generally uses chemical that shouldn’t be in water. Exchanging of these chemicals for organic alternatives could help dissolve this problem. Many improvements to industrial processes but eliminating wastes can help. Properly doing most industrial processes can help reduce waste a lot.


As detailed as Water pollution can get, there is one main point that all types, causes, and repercussions create. The murder of the biosphere, by destroying what life on Planet Earth needs most. Water.