How Does Water Get Contaminated?

How Does Water Get Contaminated?

Apart from the oxygen and hydrogen which makes up groundwater, dissolved gases from the atmosphere also add up to the constituents of water when rain falls. Natural minerals and gases are also dissolved in groundwater as it flows through layers of soil and rocks.

The natural ability of dissolution that water possesses promotes the workings of sources of water pollution including human activities like:

Sewage Disposal 

Sewage is the waste water from domestic or industrial practices. Such waste water can cause serious pollution in many lakes and rivers.

Agricultural Pollution

Agricultural pollution is due to agricultural practices such as spreading of slurries, ploughing of the land and mainly uses of pesticides and fertilizers. Other than this excessive spill from milk dairies also cause water pollution.

Radioactive Substances

Radioactive waste is another awful source of water pollution. The main cause of such pollution is the use of radioactive elements in nuclear power plants, industrial, medical and other scientific practices. We can generally found such substances in watches, luminous clocks, televisions and also in x-ray machines. If we do not properly disposed of radioactive waste, it can result in serious water pollution incidents.

River dumping

Many people dump industrial waste such as trolleys from supermarkets, garden cuttings and other electronic waste into rivers. Although it is illegal yet people do not deter from doing this. Not only does it cause water pollution, but apart from this, it is also harmful for the wildlife. In this way we also give rise to the danger of floods.

Marine Dumping

A lot of garbage is dumped in the sea every year. Marine pollution is mainly due to the dumping of most toxic waste materials like industrial waste, sewage slush and other radioactive waste. Pollution from marine dumping destroying and deteriorating the habitats of aquatic species.

It is typical of the soil to be able to absorb and filter away the contaminants coming from waste. More is added to soil fertility from waste-turned-manure. But the soil won’t be strong enough to decontaminate itself when excessive waste is added to it especially when its layers are very thin, permeability is very high, or there’s a shallow water table. It is this excessive pollutant that moves into groundwater through rainfall, melted ice, or water from irrigation and cause water contamination.

There are some pollution that though discharged from a specific place can impact oceans and waterways very far away. This type is known as point source pollution. An example is when a wastewater treatment plant, or industry discharge effluent (wastewater) either lawfully or unlawfully directly into a water body. Oil and chemical spills are other examples of this kind of contamination. The regulation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) specifies the quantity of waste that is allowed to be dumped in water by a facility.

Unconcentrated sources may also introduce harmful toxins into water. A good example is storm water or agricultural runoff from land. These carry a lot of dirt, irritants, and microbes. In a case like this, the contamination is described as non-point source pollution. Since the channel via which the water gets contaminated is not a single one and cannot be identified, regulating it becomes difficult.

We have shed light on "how does water get contaminated?” There are different sources of contamination in our different water bodies.  Here we have covered the most common sources of contaminants. Even the chemicals used in the water treatment plants are also toxic and have a very dreadful effect on human life.