Introduction
Water pollution means when contaminants and dust particles, mix in the pure water and make it unusable. This may occur in river water, sea water and other water bodies that are usable by humans and other living beings. When this is untreated, it may cause many diseases and affects the entire biosphere. These pollutants also affect the fish that are living in the water bodies, plants and humans, who will be consuming this contaminated water.
Causes of Water Pollution
Some of the causes of water pollution are Chemicals, micro-organisms and temperature changes that are caused due to human influence.
- Pathogens: Pathogens or micro-organisms are of two types. Harmful and Harmless. This is found in all the water bodies. However, the amount present decides the contaminant rate. When it reaches a high level, it may lead to spreading of diseases.
- Chemical Pollutants: Chemical pollutants may be caused due to detergents, petroleum products, chlorination of water, chemical waste, fertilizers, drainage from industries like motor, insecticides, etc.
- Macroscopic Pollution: When there are large items like plastics, garbage, etc., found in water and causes bad smell, then it is considered to be pollutants.
- Thermal Pollution: This is caused due to the increase or decrease in the water temperature due to human influence. This results in the change of properties of water. This also decreased the oxygen level in the water and kills biodiversity like fish and plants found in the water.
Effects of Water Pollution
There are many adverse effects of water pollution. They are as follows:
- Makes the water unusable
- Kills the fish and plants living in water
- Creates an unpleasent smell
- Spreading of diseases, to everyone consuming the water
Measurements for Treating the Water
There are many boards for analyzing the cause of pollution and how far the water bodies are polluted. In order to check the quality of water, the first step that has to be done is ‘Sampling’. In this process, water samples are collected from selected locations. Then there are 3 types of testing that has to be done. They are as follows:
- Physical Testing: This includes testing the water temperature testing, solid concentrations, etc.
- Chemical Testing: This includes testing for organic and inorganic substances in the water. The quantity of chemical contents like Lead, Zinc, Cadmium, etc. will be tested using this methodology
- Biological Testing: This testing includes the use of plants, animals and micro-organism indicators in order to monitor the aquatic system
Steps to Control Pollution
We have to follows this steps in order to control water getting polluted.
- Introducing sewage treatments
- Industrial waste water should be treated
- Agricultural waste water should be treated
Conclusion
Only if the waste water is treated properly and released into other water bodies, the water pollution can be brought under control. If not, soon we will face a situation, where we are not able to control any natural water resources.