Water pollution is a global problem, affecting every continent and occurring in every type of ecosystem. It can be caused by industrial, agricultural and sewage systems, as well as by natural processes.
Water pollution does not respect political boundaries (or rivers), and can be managed at the international, national and local level. Water pollution occurs when harmful substances—often chemicals or microorganisms that contaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water, degrading water quality and rendering it toxic to humans or the environment. Water pollution can come from a number of different sources. If the pollution comes from a single source, such as an oil spill, it is called point-source pollution. If the pollution comes from many sources, it is called nonpoint-source pollution. Most types of pollution affect the immediate area surrounding the source. Sometimes the pollution may affect the environment hundreds of miles away from the source, such as nuclear waste, this is called transboundary pollution.
Water pollution is estimated to cause over 4 billion lost human lives per year. The global costs of water pollution exceed more than $1 trillion per year, making it the most costly environmental health hazard.Globally more than 2.5 billion people lack adequate drinking water, and another 1.8 billion lack adequate sanitation. More than 40% of the world’s population lives in water-stressed areas. The majority of this population lives in developing countries. In developing countries, water pollution is almost wholly due to point source pollution. The majority of the global burden of disease, injury, and premature mortality is estimated to be due to diseases caused by contaminated drinking water, sanitation, and unsafe sewage. Such major pollution events account for about 40 percent of the world’s total estimated disease burden.
It is well known that there are a number of ways in which water pollution can occur.
TYPES OF WATER POLLUTION
- Industrial water pollution results when materials that are harmful to humans or the environment are dumped into water. Often industry will be negligent in ensuring that harmful wastes are managed safely.
- Agricultural pollution derives from the discharge of chemicals to increase crop yields, or pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers to grow food.
- Wastewater pollution results from the discharge of human waste, sewage and industrial wastewater.
- Nonpoint or diffuse pollution is pollution that occurs when substances diffuse into the water from a variety of sources.
- Point source pollution is the damaging flow of a substance that originates from a single location that can be easily identified, contained or cleaned up.
EFFECTS OF WATER POLLUTION
- Virtually all types of water pollution are harmful to the health of humans and animals. Water pollution may not damage our health immediately but can be harmful after long term exposure.
- Heavy metals from industrial processes are toxic to marine life such as fish and subsequently to the humans who eat them.They can cause immune suppression, reproductive failure or acute poisoning.
- Microbial water pollution is a major problem in the developing world, with diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever being the primary cause of infant mortality.
These are just few effects of water pollution. If you wanna know more do research and know about it.
There are many ways to prevent water pollution and to avoid contaminating the water. Yes, there are various treatment plans to treat polluted water. For example, Sewage treatment plans, denitrification etc. The one thing we can do with the waste water is, Kitchen water can be directed to garden to save water as well as pollution. The things I said today are limited but there are many meaning in it. Hope you know more about it.
Read more;
EDUINDEX NEWS 
Thank you
LikeLiked by 1 person