The Threats of water pollution on our

water systems

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Table of Contents

Abstract 3
The Impacts of Water Pollution on Water Systems 3
Current Actions to Reduce the Problem of Water Pollution 4
The Need for Stronger, Enforced Global Actions to Resolve Current 5
problems facing pollution
Conclusion 6

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

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is directly dependent or interacts with natural freshwater sources. However, just because water is
essential to humans that does not 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 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.

The Impacts of Water Pollution on Water 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
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 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 environmentally 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 recieve enough attention.

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 “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.

Current Actions to Reduce 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 provide the movement towards a cleaner earth, and water
supply more merit. It 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 fruitless to an individual trying to protect water systems but smaller daily practices
such as condemning corporations that practice these unsustainable methods with tax increases,

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public scruiteny, and boycotts. As well as supporting those who avoid 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 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.

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

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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 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.

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.

Solution

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 this 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
filter water of chemicals.

Conclusion

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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 growing faster that the environment itself. As legislation is influenced by
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-
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- 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

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