Water Pollution: Types, Causes and Control Measures

This paper examines the types of water pollution, the causes behind water pollution and recommends ways to control and alleviate water pollution.

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College Reading and Writing Skills
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INTRODUCTION:
Water pollution refers to a physical, biological and chemical change in the water that has
a detrimental effect on any living being that consumes it, or dwells in it or uses it for a plethora
of purposes. When human beings and animals drink water that is impure and polluted in nature,
it can cause serious deterioration to one’s health. Thus, this paper will try to examine the types of
water pollution, the causes behind water pollution and recommend ways to control and alleviate
water pollution.
Types of Water Pollution:
There are five types of water pollution. They include Surface water pollution,
Groundwater pollution, Point-Source Pollution, Nonpoint-source pollution and Transboundary
pollution (Foley, 2015). Surface water pollution refers to the pollution of streams, rivers, lakes
and other aquatic bodies. This water becomes polluted when rainwater runoffs bring pollutants
into the water. The pollutants that are carried by runoffs include salts and toxic chemicals. They
might also affect groundwater deposits. When fertilizers and nutrients causes water pollution it is
called nutrient pollution and this in turn leads to an overproduction of algae and other plants,
which cover the surface and prevent sunlight from reaching the plants that are underwater. This
in turn leads to less oxygen production, which has a detrimental effect on fishes and other
aquatic life (Foley, 2015).
Groundwater pollution is caused when products such as oil, gasoline, road salts, and
chemicals seep into the groundwater, which leads it to be unfit and unsafe for consumption
Harmful resources from the land surface can seep into the soil and pollute groundwater. For

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example, fertilizers and pesticides seep into the groundwater over a period of time and negatively
affects it (Foley 2015).
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines Point Source pollution as “any
single identifiable source of pollution from which pollutants are discharged such as a pipe, ditch,
ship or factory smokestack” (Wilson, 2015, p. 89). Examples include Sewage treatment plants
and factories. Factories discharge effluents into the water and sewage treatment plans treat
human waste and discharge the effluent that has been treated to a river or a stream.
Nonpoint pollution results from precipitation, land runoff, seepage, drainage and
hydrologic modification. Nonpoint source pollution is caused by melting of snow and rainfall.
Nonpoint pollution can include fertilizers, herbicides and herbicides from farms and agricultural
plots of land, oil and toxic chemicals resulting from urban runoff, sediments from construction
sites, salt from farming practices and bacteria from septic systems and hydro modification and
atmospheric deposition (Wilson 2015).
Transboundary pollution refers to the pollution that takes place in one country but that,
which has the ability to cause damage to the environment of another country by crossing borders
through air and water.
Causes of Water Pollution:
There are five main causes of water pollution. They include agents that cause diseases
such as viruses, protozoa, bacteria and worms that are parasitic in nature that breed in untreated
waste and sewage systems. The second cause of water pollution includes chemical wastes.
Industrial sites and factories produce industrial wastes or chemical wastes, which produces toxic

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elements. The chemicals are subsequently exposed to rainwater that leads them to be washed into
the soil or directly into lakes, rivers and streams. This is one of the primary factors leading to
industrial water pollution. The third cause of water pollution include water-soluble pollutants
that are inorganic in nature such as, salts, acids and metals that are toxic in nature. Huge
quantities of inorganic water-soluble pollutants cause water unsafe to drink and cause the death
of aquatic life. The fourth category of water pollutants include water – soluble radioactive
compounds that causes defects in birth, cancer and are thus extremely dangerous. The fifth major
cause of water pollution is suspended elements such as oil, pesticides and plastics, which causes
harm to human beings as well as to animals and plants (Halder & Islam, 2015).
It is not easy to eliminate the problem of water pollution but proper Education, Laws and
Economics can combat water pollution. Education plays a very important role in alleviating
water pollution, especially environmental education. The primary objective of environmental
education is to equip people with values, knowledge and skills that promote the conservation of
the environment and protection of the environment (Halder & Islam, 2015). Environmental
education helps a person to realize the interrelatedness among human beings, their culture and
his biophysical environment. It is aimed at creating a world that is aware and concerned about
the environment and its problems and has the knowledge, motivation, attitude, commitment and
the requisite skills to work individually as well as collectively to address and combat this
problem of water pollution.
Laws have been passed to regulate and prohibit water pollution. The Water (Prevention
and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974 set up Pollution Control Boards at the state and central
levels and gave them the requisite power to prevent and control water pollution (Marie &
Albarghouthi, 2017). Apart from the Water Act of 1974, there are Also other laws that aims at

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curbing water pollution. These include Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006,
public nuisance in The Indian Penal Code 1860 and the licensing process under the Factories
Act, 1948 (Wilson, 2015).
Nutrient pollution has far-reaching effect on the US economy impacting recreational
businesses, commercial fishing, tourism and a plethora of other sectors that depend on clean
water. Thus, the government should invest in nitrate removal systems and spend money to
prevent and alleviate water pollution.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, one can say that water pollution has a detrimental effect on all living
beings and the natural world. There are five major causes of water pollution that needs to be
checked immediately in order to prevent and alleviate water pollution for the betterment of the
world. One can prevent water pollution by a combination of education, law and economics and
this can be done individually, as well as collectively.

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