Water Pollution
We tend to think of water in terms of a particular purpose: is the quality of the water good enough for the use we want to make of it? Water is fit for our own use but may be unfit for another's. We may, for instance, trust the quality of lake water enough to swim in it, but not enough to drink it. Along the same lines, drinking water can be used for irrigation, but water used for irrigation may not meet drinking water standards. It is the quality of the water, which determines its uses.There are many causes for water pollution but two general categories exist: direct and indirect contaminant sources. Direct sources include sewage outfalls from factories, refineries, waste treatment plants etc. that emit fluids of varying quality directly into urban water supplies. In the United States and other countries, these practices are regulated, although this doesn't mean that pollutants can't be found in these waters. Indirect sources include contaminants that enter the water supply from soils/groundwater systems and from the atmosphere by means of rainwater. Soils and ground waters contain the remains of human agricultural practices (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) and improperly disposed of indust
All of these solutions come with some cost both societal and monetary. Many of the chemicals that enter the water are, even in minute amounts, toxic to human, plant and animal life. These effects are, of course, specific to the various contaminants. Effects on the Wildlife Most toxic chemicals are discharged directly into our waterways as waste, but many also enter the water after everyday use in the home, agriculture and industry. Pesticides, PCBs, and PCPs (polychlorinated phenols) are typical examples. The very qualities, which make them desirable for use - toxicity and persistence, for instance - make them so harmful to the environment. Life within the rivers as well as the fragile environment of the Artic have been endangered by this oil spill. They include poisonous drinking water, poisonous food animals (due to these organisms having bioaccumulated toxins from the environment over their life spans), unbalanced river and lake ecosystems that can no longer support full biological diversity, deforestation from acid rain, and many other effects. They constantly change the chemical composition of our waters.
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