The causes of water pollution

Everyone needs water, we all use water taken directly from natural sources like rivers or indirectly through water installations which in end up using water from existing natural sources.  As we evolved we started to destroy the sources of water by polluting them, ever wondered what will happen when all sources of water will be polluted? Well considering that we need water to survive I am tempted to say that human beings will extinguish. And not only us but also every single creature or plant on Earth.

Knowing the causes of water pollution will help you to avoid contaminating the water.

But first what is water pollution? Well it can be described as the contamination of water sources, for example rivers, oceans. This occurs when pollutants are directly or indirectly dumped into the water without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds.

Did I mentioned that on an average 250 million people worldwide die because of diseases related to water pollution?

One big step for every one of us can take to prevent water pollution is to minimize water contamination at every possible level. This way we can save clean water for the future generations.

Next I described three of the most important water pollution causes.

Sewage and wastewater

Everyday we perform tasks which make use of existing water, tasks like cooking, doing laundry, washing our cars. This waste of water and soluble waster (called sewage) is treated, cleaned and dumped into the sea or river. Even if its treated it will never be same as fresh water. In other less developed countries this sewage is not treated but dumped directly in to the sea. What we can do is every time we use water to use it wisely and to minimize the usage.

Oils

Oils which we drop into the sea form a tick layer on the water surface because these do not dissolve in the water. The layer can stop marine plants from receiving enough light for photosynthesis. Of course that this is also harmful for fish and marine birds.

Atmospheric

Atmospheric deposition is the pollution of water caused by air pollution. Each time the air is polluted by our cars we drive or by industrial machines the chemical elements are mixed with water particles in the air and form a toxic substance. This falls as acid rain to the ground and gets in to the natural water sources.

Now that you know about the most important causes of water pollution and their effect you do not have any excuse to not take measures to reduce pollution and protect the future of your children.

Which are the natural sources of water?

Have you ever wondered which are the natural sources of water? Here is the answer. Natural sources of water are oceans, rivers and lakes. Here are a few pieces of information you should really know about each of them:

Oceans

Oceans can be described as being a vast body of salt water, oceans cover about 70% of the earth's surface.

One way to obtain drinking water from salt water
is distillation, this is one of the oldest treatment and still popular today.

This source of natural water also provides us other resources like: food (sea food and fish), oil, salt, minerals, metals and of course means of transport.
Also it is well known that oceans influence climate.

Rivers

Rivers are natural streams of water flowing flowing towards an ocean, a sea,  a lake or another river. 

There are about 165 major rivers in the whole world, first ones are the Amazon, the Nile and the Yangtze. Other than these major rivers there are thousands of smaller which also act as a source of natural water for billions of people.

Lakes

One can define a lake as a large area of water which is surrounded by land. Of course there might be a river which can serve as feed or drain for the lake.

Lakes supply drinking water, generate electricity, can be used to irrigate fields and of course it can serve as recreational areas.

You should know that drinking water from a lake is not healthy and you should disinfect the water before drinking it. By drinking from this source of water you risk getting waterborne diseases. A natural way of purify lake water for drinking is boiling it.