With more than 30 years’ experience in the residential and commercial water treatment space, Mark Nelson is a Class 1 Drinking-Water Operator and a CBWA (Canadian Bottled Water Association) Certified Plant Operator. As founder and president of Nelson Water in Ottawa, Mark focuses on dealing with challenging water treatment system designs for problem water. He also heads the largest water bottling plant in the city of Ottawa with a delivery network throughout the Valley.
Approximately 70% of the surface of the Earth is covered with water, and it’s one of our greatest resources. Without water, life could not exist on this planet, and the health of that water should be a primary concern. Sadly, this is not the case, and we hear a great deal about water pollution and how it can damage the environment. But, what is water pollution? Many people have heard this term, and yet it’s not explained in much detail in a format that a non-scientific person can easily understand. In this article, we will attempt to explain what water pollution is and how it affects us.
The Importance of Water as a Resource
Many of us were first exposed to the idea of water as a resource as young students. We did experiments with water and learned about how we should conserve water whenever possible. This is true; if you really think about it, we rely on water for drinking and many other activities on a daily basis. Imagine a day when you couldn’t shower, make a cup of coffee, wash some clothes, cook a meal, or clean the dishes afterward. But, as important as water is to our domestic activities, it’s also vitally important for other key activities, such as industry and agriculture. Many of our needs are dependent on a clean supply of water, and if we were to closely inspect much of our water supply, we would have a shock at the findings.
The Current State of Our Water Supplies
You don’t have to be a scientist to notice many of the problems that we have with clean water. If you take a stroll along any public waterway today, you’re likely to see items, such as plastic bags, dumped waste and a wide variety of assorted trash on the banks and in the water itself. Our water bodies are contaminated with waste that we can easily see and other contaminants that are less obvious. Many of our water bodies have been transformed into veritable pools of poison, and we collectively refer to this as water pollution.
How Does Water Pollution Occur?
Well, the most obvious sources of water pollution are caused by dumping garbage and trash in our waterways, but that’s the tip of the iceberg. One of the most insidious causes of water pollution is the discharge of pollutants into our waterways from domestic, agricultural, and industrial sources. This can occur directly and indirectly depending on the particular activity, the local geography, and other factors. Sometimes, contaminants are simply pumped into waterways, and in other cases, storms can cause a runoff of contaminants to enter our water supply.
Water is an Extremely Effective Solvent
Many people are unaware that water is solvent, and given enough time, it can dissolve a wide variety of materials. So, when certain contaminants, such as chemicals byproducts, pesticides, herbicides, used pharmaceuticals, and even heavy metals, enter our water, they can be dissolved entirely. These contaminants are still there, but they are altered, and in many cases, they cannot be detected without laboratory testing. As an example: if you were to drink water containing elevated levels of lead you might notice a slightly metallic taste, but otherwise, you wouldn’t notice much of a difference from a regular glass of drinking water. As you can imagine, this is extremely dangerous, and in many cases, you cannot detect water pollution with your own senses.
The 3 Main Sources of Man Made Water Pollution
Broadly speaking, there are two main sources of water pollution; they are Point and Non-point. Point pollutants come from a single source, such as a factory that might be leaking contaminants into a local waterway. Non-point pollutants would come from a variety of sources, such as contaminated runoff gathering pollutants up from different areas and washing into the water after a storm. Let’s look at the three primary sources of Point and Non-point water pollution.
- Industrial Waste
Industrial processes can produce a high quantity of waste that contains toxic pollutants, such as asbestos, nitrates, sulfur, mercury, and lead. Some industries don’t have a proper form of waste management, and the toxic waste is simply pumped into our waterways.
- Fertilizers and Pesticides
Many agricultural businesses now use chemical fertilizers and pesticides to increase their crop yields by protecting them from bacteria and pests. These chemicals may be great for plant growth, but if they are mixed with water, they are harmful to both plants and animals. When it rains the residual chemicals on the plants and ground are washed into our waterways where they pose a health threat to aquatic life.
- Wastewater and Sewage
Every home produces wastewater and sewage that is treated with chemicals and then released into the sea. This water contains harmful chemicals and bacteria that are a serious risk to human health, such as bacteria, microorganisms, and viruses. This is the source for many waterborne diseases around the world and a common examples, including malaria, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and many others.
What are the Effects of Water Pollution?
When water becomes polluted with contaminants, a number of negative effects will occur. At the most basic level, the pollutants will leach into the water and have a negative effect on the aquatic fauna and flora. The waterways will, in many cases, be a source of public water intended for domestic use in our homes and businesses. Although we have water treatment facilities in place to clean our water to a basic level, certain types of contaminants cannot be removed via standard treatment methods. In some cases, this can lead to illnesses and a poorer quality of life. Here in the developed world, we are luckier than other parts of the world where water treatment is far less common. Every day in the developing world, people get sick and even die from waterborne diseases in alarming numbers. It is true that water supplies can be polluted from natural phenomena, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, but it’s primarily human activity that’s polluting our waterways.
If you have concerns about your water quality, now is a great time to chat with a water treatment expert about installing a water filtration system in your home. There are many designs and configurations of systems that can be tailored to the characteristics of your water.