Water Pollution

Did you know that the water we use today is the same water the dinosaurs used? We cannot create new water.

For millions of years, the water we have has been used again and again. We have been able to do this because there are natural cycles that clean the water each time we use it.

introduction

Even though ¾ of the earth’s surface is covered with water, the water available for the ordinary use of everyday life is scarce.

This limited reserve of fresh water is now

being polluted in several ways!

any contamination of water with chemicals or other foreign substances that are detrimental to human, plant, or animal health

Definition of Water Pollution is…

How does that look?

It does look detrimental to health…

fertilizers and pesticidessewage food wasteheavy metalschemical wastes

Water pollutants include…

How do these come into the water?

Businesses and cities dump chemicals and waste products into our rivers, lakes and oceans.

People throw trash–furniture, garbage, old tires, cars, old fencing, anything they can think of–into the water.

By accident, people let their cars to leak oil and gas onto the ground. That oil and gas eventually washes into the water.

The acid rain also poisons water.

What problems does this cause?

Garbage completely covers the surface of this river in Jakarta, Indonesia, harming both the water and the organisms that live within it.

Worldwide, nearly 2 billion people drink contaminated water that could be harmful to their health.

And almost 1.9 million children die each year from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe drinking water

It causes Diseases in Humans

“(CNN) -- It's thousands of square miles wide, virtually devoid of oxygen and it has been blamed for an increase in shark attacks: the Gulf of Mexico "Dead Zone" is getting bigger and forcing marine life -- including sharks - into shore.”

It causes “Marine Desert”

Signs warn the public in an area harboring high bacteria near a drain at Will Rogers State Beach, California.

Signs warn the public in an area harboring high bacteria near a drain at Will Rogers

State Beach, California.

A flood of nutrients, such as agricultural fertilizers, boost algae production in the sea. These growths consume huge amounts of oxygen creating a "marine desert" almost devoid of life.

How are “Marine Deserts” formed?

Other water pollutants can also have a serious effect on water sources by depleting oxygen levels, stunting the growth of plants and even suffocating fish - as in the Gulf of Mexico "Dead Zone."

“Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico

1.2 trillion gallons of raw sewage, stormwater, and industrial waste are dumped into U.S. waters annually.

73 different kinds of pesticides have been found in groundwater which is potential drinking water.

In America, one in six children is exposed to mercury levels high enough to put them at risk for short-term memory loss.

Did you know…?

What can we do to stop it?

Here are some suggestions…