Water Pollution and Mitigation Plan SCI 275 Final Project

Essay by Kate NigroCollege, UndergraduateA, March 2009

download word file, 5 pages 5.0

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Water pollution is a constant problem that stems from many sources. There are many ways that water can be polluted. While some ways are actually deliberate, some are in no way intended to pollute. Education and awareness are needed to overcome this problem.

The human body is made up of 81% water (Jantheau, 2008). Given this very important fact, it is absolutely necessary that we seek to make our water safe from harmful toxins and look for ways to better the quality of water, whether for drinking or other uses.

There are many specific causes of water pollution. They are actually divided into two categories, Point Source and Non-Point Source. A Point Source example would be if a paper mill were to run straight wastewater into a river without any filtration. A Non-Point Source example would be the run-off from a farmer's crops that have been sprayed by herbicides of insecticides into streams.

Pesticides, Fertilizers, Nutrients, Oils, Gases, Additives, Mining, Chemical Processing, Sewerage, Pharmaceuticals, and Household Cleaning Products are major causes of water pollution. In addition, air pollution is a source of water pollution when the contaminants released into the air become airborne and come into contact with water sources. As previously stated above there are many factors, both living and non-living, which affect water pollution. Livestock and humans are two major contributing factors to water pollution.

As strange as it sounds, livestock play a large role in contributing to water pollution. California officials identify agriculture, including cows, as the major source of nitrate pollution in more than 100,000 square miles of polluted groundwater (Natural Resources Defense Council, 2008). Animal waste contains disease-causing pathogens, such as Salmonella, E. coli, Cryptosporidium, and fecal coliform, which can be 10 to 100 times...