The Threats of water pollution on our

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water systems and their effect on

Waterfalls
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Table of Contents

 Abstract 3 Formatted: Indent: Left: 0.5", No bullets or numbering

 The Impacts of Water Pollution on Water Systems 3 Formatted: Indent: Left: 0.5", No bullets or numbering

 Current Actions to Reduce the Problem of Water Pollution 4 Formatted: Indent: Left: 0.5", No bullets or numbering

 The Need for Stronger, Enforced Global Actions to Resolve 5 Formatted: Indent: Left: 0.5", No bullets or numbering

Current problems facing pollution

 Conclusion 6 Formatted: Indent: Left: 0.5", No bullets or numbering

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Abstract

It is no secret that water is essential to human life; it’s a necessity in almost all aspects of our
lives. Today, over 50% of the global population lives in urban areas, with ample access to water
via hundreds of miles of pipeline (Kummu). On top of that, a large part of the world's population
is directly dependent or interacts with natural freshwater sources. However, just because water is
essential to humans it does not conclude that doesn’t mean that we are treating it properly.

A study from the US national library of medicine shows that over 50% of the world's population
lives closer than 3 km to a surface freshwater body, and only 10% of the population lives further
than 10 km away (Kummu). This poses a problem when pollution comes into play, that many
people in that close of proximity causes heavy detriments to the water systems around them.
Especially when situations like that of Kentucky’s Cumberland Falls (seen on cover page) occur
where only 83% of households in the state have some form of trash collection services, meaning
17% do not partake in any form of trash collection. In a smaller state Kentucky still manages to
produce 2.89 million pounds of garbage that isn’t collected daily (17 million total daily)
(Morris). So it’s no wonder why trash and pollution are forming all across the water systems, of
the United States. granted Granted Kentucky is a bit of an extreme due to it being in the top 5
most littered states according to the state litter scoreboard for the past decade.

Trash is also not the only thing polluting water systems today, chemicals and pesticides plague
waters around agricultural areas. A small water system in Mexico is a perfect example of this, a
beautiful waterfall and river system that supplied water to hundreds, ruined by agriculture and
factories chemicals. El Salto Falls was once called the Niagara Falls of Mexico, but now thick
foam from agricultural and industrial waste chokes out the once-great waterfall, and leaves the
system unusable

The impacts Impacts of water Water pollution Pollution on water Water

systems Systems

Trash is also not the only thing polluting water systems today, chemicals and pesticides plague
waters around agricultural areas. A small water system in Mexico is a perfect example of this, a
beautiful waterfall and river system that supplied water to hundreds, ruined by agriculture and
factories chemicals. El Salto Falls was once called the Niagara Falls of Mexico, but now thick
foam from agricultural and industrial waste chokes out the once-great waterfall, and leaves the
system unusable
Pollution in freshwater ecosystems can include pathogens (largely from human and animal
waste), organic matter (including plant nutrients from agricultural run-off such as nitrogen or
phosphorus), chemical pollution and salinity (from irrigation, domestic wastewater, and runoff of

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mines into rivers). Plastic pollution, and emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, also
increasingly put our world’s waterways at risk, but the extent and impacts of their presence in
our freshwater is largely unknown.
Water pollution affects everyone; it causes the death of millions of organisms each year and
disrupts entire ecosystems. Over 55% of over 300 freshwater species have declined because of
water pollution, while 32% of salt water species have followed (Denchak). A more obvious
problem can be seen in oceans and stiller water where trash just builds up, and this causes
problems across all platforms of life whether it’s economic causing water to be un-traversable
making fishing and transportation impossible, or just environmentalenvironmentally ally causing
waters to be uninhabitable. High concentrations of pollution cause death and hundreds of health
problems from poisoning, to blocking breathing passages of aquatic life. Pollution is a growing
problem that doesn’t see recieve enough attention.

“Pollution in Latin American Harbors”

Water pollution is a “silent killer”, and causes direct harm to humans in several ways. The most
important of which is our food and drinking water, not only do we find traces of hard toxins and
metals in our fish and salt deposits, but also in our drinking wells and water distribution sites. A
concerning fact is that 80% of wastewater, i.e. water from industrial waste, is dumped or
untreated into freshwater environments. Unsafe water is killing millions each year and it seems
that no solutions are being taken to fix the problem as each year deaths climb higher and higher.

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Current Actions to Reduce Reduce the Problem of Water Pollution

Water pollution control requires action at all levels of the government and society. A solution to
all the problems is not as simple as it may be for some tasks. Many people may feel as though
individual actions don’t make a difference and the larger problem stems from corporations and
other industries taking advantage of water, and while it does pose a large problem action on all
levels is required. Individual actions mainly provides the movement towards a cleaner earth, and
water supply more merit., andIt starts a chain reaction with more and more people becoming
educated and enthusiastic about saving the water. The ideal way to reduce chemical pollution is
to minimize or avoid the use of chemicals for industrial, agricultural, and domestic purposes.
Adapting practices such as organic farming and integrated pest management could help protect
waterways and are relatively cost effective and unimposing. The main reason practices like the
aforementioned are not in use is because it’s simply easier to use the system already in place, but
this can lead to more problems than it’s worth. Chemical contamination of waterways from
industrial emissions may seem as a lost cause tofruitless to an individual trying to protect water
systems but smaller daily practices such as condemning corporations that practice these
unsustainable methods with tax increases, public scruiteny, and boycotts., Aas well as supporting
those who avoid them harmful practices are ways individuals can be just as integral to the move
towards less pollution.

The average person would likely be shocked to learn just how many toxic chemicals they use
around their home on a daily basis, Chemicals chemicals such as ammonia, bleach, paint and
many other cleaning products belong to a series of compounds known as "Volatile Organic
Compounds", some of the main causes of chemical pollution in water systems. These chemicals
cannot just be cleaned out of the water, and most have to have other elements be used to turn
them into a save less volatile substance, such as iron to arsenic.

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A variety of technical solutions are available to filter out chemical waste from industrial
processes or otherwise render them harmless. Changing the pH of wastewater or adding
chemicals that fluctuate the toxic chemicals so that they settle in sedimentation ponds are
common methods. The same principle can be used at the individual household level such as the
use of iron chips (small pieces of iron) in the filtration of water to pull out chemicals such as
arsenic out of water in Bangladesh. However these practices will only protect us humans from
the already contaminated water, to prevent pollution much larger action will be needed.

The Need for Stronger, Enforced Global Actions to Resolve Current

problems facing pollution

Once water is contaminated, it is difficult, costly, and often impossible to remove the pollutants.
Still today, 80 percent of global wastewater goes untreated, containing everything from human
waste to highly toxic industrial discharges. This is why the elimination of such pollution will
prove to be nearly impossible without large changes in the way we as humans think about
pollution and our laws regarding it.

Some of the biggest offenders in the world such as China, South America, and the United States
will have to introduce brand new legislature to limit the amount of pollutants that are allowed
into the water (none would be preferable but impossible). This is where the problems persist,
large legislature like this is costly, and will cause huge uproars in the economy, causing smaller
companies to fall out of the market due to their inability to change with the larger corporations.

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But global action wouldn’t be impossible, studies show that most of the largest offenders are
already using that water for hydro electric power, a process that provides an excellent
opportunity to clean the water of whatever chemicals they can. Most Hydroelectric plants limit
the water system using damns; these damns can be equipped with micro nets to capture all the
solids found in the water. However to address the chemicals in the water, the plants would have
to be equipped with chemical removing elements, something that would prove impossible in long
term, as you cannot prepare for all harmful chemicals

Lastly education is a form of deterrent from pollution. If we educate the youth on the topic of
pollution and show how much harm can be brought about by it, we may be able to deter people
in the future from polluting as individuals, or even as corporations. The power to change the way
we function as a society lies with the people themselves, so if change is going to come about, we
must inform the population of the problems we will face if change does not occur. This can be
done by ensuring pollution finds itself in all common core science curriculums and by
encouraging support of environmentally safe practices across corporations.

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As for how the solutions help with the problem of pollution, that stems from the actions taken. If
the route of education is taken , the average human will be aware of how influential their actions
are on the environment and thuis they can take action to reduce pollution in local communities,
picking up trash or helping/ volunteering with wildlife reserves. As for physically cleaning the
water of chemicals this process of using elements to separate harmful chemicals is very
important and can eliminate the pollution in its entirety. Implementation however is much more
difficult when it comes to chemical removers as a large quantity of materials will be need to filtr
water of chemicals.

Conclusion

With the growing population only more waste will be created and a daunting task will be upon
the human race. Action is necessary and the later action is taken, the more irreversible damage
will be. Pollutions affects all forms of life, and as the ones causing it action needs to be taken on
our part, especially to send the message that we will not be backing the destruction of our planet
in the hopes that other places around the world will follow suit. Solutions can be taken on the
individual level as well as on the legislative, with educating people about the dangers of
pollution needing to be a top priority. Although a solution is not clear cut several
implementations can be taken to reduce pollution as can be seen across the globe with local
environment work growning faster that the environment itself. As legislation is influenced by

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many fronts hope is that the message conveyed in this paper is enough to demonstrate the need
for change in the way we as humans use water.

Sources

- Hudson, Brian J. "Waterfall: Paperback." Barnes & Noble. Reaktion books.

20 July 2019 <https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/waterfall-brian-j-
hudson/1111378192>.
- Kummu, Matti et al. “How close do we live to water? A global analysis of
population distance to freshwater bodies.” PloS one vol. 6,6 (2011): e20578.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0020578
- Kjellstrom, Tord. "Air and Water Pollution: Burden and Strategies for
Control." Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries. 2nd edition.
01 Jan. 1970. U.S. National Library of Medicine. 20 July 2019
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11769/>.
- Morris, Christopher. "Pollution of Cumberland Falls." Kentucky Waterfalls.
20 July 2019 <http://kywaterfalls.com/dir/index.php/2-uncategorised/178-
pollution-of-cumberland-falls>.
- Denchak, Melissa. “Water Pollution: Everything You Need to Know.”
NRDC, 22 Apr. 2019, www.nrdc.org/stories/water-pollution-everything-you-
need-know.
- All pictures were labeled for use with modifaction