WATER POLLUTION AND ITS REMEDY

BY: MY ENVIRONMENT

Water pollution is a major global problem which requires ongoing evaluation and revision of water resource policy at all levels (international down to individual aquifers and wells). It has been suggested that water pollution is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and diseases and that it accounts for the deaths of more than 14,000 people daily. An estimated 580 people in India die of water pollution related illness every day. Around 90% the water in the cities of China is polluted, and as of 2007, half a billion Chinese had no access to safe drinking water. In addition to the acute problems of water pollution in developing countries,developed countries also continue to struggle with pollution problems. For example, in the most recent national report on water quality in the United States, 45 percent of assessed stream miles, 47% of assessed lake acres, and 32 percent of assessed bays and estuarine square miles were classified as polluted. The head of China's national development agency said in 2007 that one quarter the length of China's seven main rivers were so poisoned the water harmed the skin.

Water is typically referred to as polluted when it is impaired by anthropogenic contaminants and either does not support a human use, such as drinking water, or undergoes a marked shift in its ability to support its constituent biotic communities, such as fish. Natural phenomena such as volcanoes, algae blooms, storms, and earthquakes also cause major changes in water quality and the ecological status of water.

sources of water pollution 

Point sources

Point source water pollution refers to contaminants that enter a waterway from a single, identifiable source, such as a pipe or ditch. Examples of sources in this category include discharges from a sewage treatment plant, a factory, or a city storm drain. The U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA) defines point source for regulatory enforcement purposes. The CWA definition of point source was amended in 1987 to include municipal storm sewer systems, as well as industrial storm water, such as from construction sites.

Non point sources

Non point source pollution refers to diffuse contamination that does not originate from a single discrete source. NPS pollution is often the cumulative effect of small amounts of contaminants gathered from a large area. A common example is the leaching out of nitrogen compounds from fertilized agricultural lands. Nutrient runoff in storm water from "sheet flow" over an agricultural field or a forest are also cited as examples of NPS pollution.

Contaminated storm water washed off of parking lots, roads and highways, called urban runoff, is sometimes included under the category of NPS pollution. However, because this runoff is typically channeled into storm drain systems and discharged through pipes to local surface waters, it becomes a point source.

NOW THE QUESTION  IS HOW CAN IT BE CONTROL,LET HERE YOUR VIEW?