What are the Causes of Water Pollution?

Water, Water Everywhere?

Water is a basic building block of life on earth. People, animals, plants, and ecosystems depend on it for their existence. Keeping the supply of water in our oceans, rivers, and lakes pristine is a necessity. Yet water contamination and pollution have become a global problem that imperils all life on Earth.

If the problem sounds daunting, that’s because it is. While about 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water, about 97% of that water is found in the ocean. Less than one percent of all the water on Earth is fresh water. That tiny slice provides the drinking supply that keeps us alive, while a combination of fresh and seawater serves all our other human needs, including agriculture, hygiene, sanitation, and recreation.

Worse, the demand for fresh water is increasing, while the supply remains the same or shrinks. According to the United Nations World Water Development Report 2021, “The global use of freshwater has increased six-fold in the past 100 years and has been growing by about 1% per year since the 1960s, with the increase of water consumption posing serious challenges to water quality.”

We are rapidly approaching a state where, as Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner lamented, there is, “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.”

For much of the global population, the problem of aquatic pollution has already reached crisis levels. According to UNESCO, “Globally, 2 billion people (26% of the population) do not have safe drinking water and 3.6 billion (46%) lack access to safely managed sanitation.”

What are the Causes of Water Pollution?

How did this happen? What are the causes of water pollution in the world?

The short answer is, increased global population and human and industrial activity.

The more detailed answer is that aquatic pollution occurs when toxic substances enter a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water, leading to water degradation. Think chemical residues from industrial processes, runoff from agricultural fertilizers, and untreated sewage dumped into water supplies.

Because water can dissolve more substances than any other liquid on earth, it is known as a “universal solvent.” This water quality makes it uniquely vulnerable to pollution because it easily becomes contaminated with the toxic substances flowing into it, like agricultural runoff and sewage. The polluted water then becomes acidified or toxic with harmful algal blooms or excess nutrients. All of these conditions threaten aquatic life and their surrounding ecosystems.

Water pollution is also a serious threat to human health. Every year, unsafe water sickens about 1 billion people from diseases including cholera, skin diseases, cancer, and malaria. These diseases may be severe enough to cause death in some people. According to a study published in The Lancet, water pollution caused 1.8 million deaths in 2015.

Sources of Pollution

Broadly speaking, there are two major types of water pollution.

Point source pollution is contamination that originates from identifiable sources, for example, industrial discharges, sewage treatment plants, and other facilities that pour pollutants onto the land or into a water body. Because its origins are known, point-source pollution is easier to monitor and regulate than nonpoint-source pollution.

Nonpoint source pollution, the leading cause of aquatic pollution in U.S. waterways, comes from diffuse sources, such as agricultural runoff, precipitation, drainage, or seepage. There are numerous pollutants in these streams, so it is difficult to point to a single origin and more complex to manage or regulate them.

Whether point source or nonpoint source, the effects of these types of water pollution are dire and ripple out from the locally affected area to large ecosystems and human communities.

What are the Causes & Effects of Water Pollution?

The causes and effects of water pollution are mostly attributable to these five major sources of water pollution:

Agriculture: Agriculture is the leading source of pollution and water contamination and pollution worldwide. Farming and livestock production use about 70% of the earth's surface water supplies, and these industries are also major polluters. Fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste from farms and livestock operations wash into waterways, causing excessive nutrients, toxic algal blooms and water degradation.

Sewage and Wastewater: Sewage and wastewater from cities and towns are significant sources of water contamination, destroying human and aquatic life. In many parts of the world, raw untreated sewage is dumped into the waterways. Globally, an estimated 80% of industrial and municipal wastewater is discharged into the environment without any prior treatment, with adverse effects on human health and ecosystems.

Industrial Waste: Runoff from industrial processes, including chemicals, heavy metals, and other pollutants, contaminates water supplies. In developing countries, up to 70% of industrial waste is dumped into rivers without treatment. These substances can degrade water and destroy marine ecosystems, aquatic life, and human health.

Ocean Dumping: Ocean dumping, particularly from fishing boats and cargo ships, contributes significantly to marine pollution, and destroys marine life and ecosystems, as does dumping from cruise ships. In fact, “A typical cruise ship in a week produces almost 4 million liters of dirty liquid from sinks, showers, dishwashers and washing machines, almost 800 thousand liters of sewage, more than 8 thousand kilograms of solid and toxic waste from dry cleaners and photoproduction waste, more than 149 thousand liters of oily liquid.”

Plastic Pollution: Plastic debris, such as plastic bottles, straws, and fishing nets, is a major contributor to aquatic pollution. Plastic can take hundreds of years to degrade, and it can be ingested by marine life, leading to their death.

What Can Be Done to Solve These Types of Water Pollution Problem

Cooperation is Key to Combatting & Preventing Water Contamination & Pollution of Water Resources

Nearly every water-related intervention involves some kind of cooperation, whether at the national, international, local government level or among communities and between governments, communities, and corporations.

There are certain actions you can take on your own in your daily life to address the problem of water pollution. However, the scope and severity of the problem call for the efforts of larger groups of people working together to implement nationwide or global changes.

The Role of Non-Profits in Combating Aquatic Pollution

Many of the nonprofits working on water issues fund research projects as well as support lobbying and advocacy programs. They work to educate the public, many of whom have no idea of the seriousness of the problem. This is not an exhaustive list by any means but is meant to direct interested people who want to actively participate in solving the water contamination problem to organizations that are working to do that.

• The U.S. Water Alliance (uswateralliance.org) is an organization dedicated to solving the problem of water scarcity. Its foundational belief is the problems associated with water, including scarcity and water quality, can only be solved by viewing water resources, whether oceans, freshwater, stormwater, or wastewater as one single system to be jointly managed by all stakeholders working together.
• Water (water.org) was founded by actor Matt Damon and a partner to bring safe, clean water and sanitation to communities around the world. The model is to provide people in need with the money they need to access clean and safe water, enabling them, for example, to build a well. Their claim: “Together with our 148 partners around the world, we’ve helped mobilize more than $4.8 billion in capital to support small loans that bring access to safe water and sanitation to millions of people in need.”
• Charity Water (charitywater.org) was founded in 2006 on the belief that everyone deserves access to clean water and the opportunities it brings. Since then, with the help of more than 1 million supporters worldwide, it says it has provided over 14.7 million people with clean, safe drinking water.
• Oceana (oceana.org) Founded by actor Ted Danson in 2001, Oceana is dedicated solely to ocean conservation. The organization advocates “for science-based policies that stop overfishing, protect habitat, increase transparency, protect our climate, curb plastic pollution, and increase biodiversity.”

Government Policies to Combat Pollution of Water Resources

We can all reduce our use of chemical pesticides and purchase of plastic bottles. However, individual actions alone will not solve the enormous problem of water pollution.

The pollution of water resources is a global problem that demands global solutions. Local and national governments must join together to find ways to solve the problem and sources of pollution.

Implement Novel Technologies to Combat Water Quality Challenges & Reduce Water Usage in Industries

As dire as the problem is, the development of new technologies provides hope that with a concerted effort, we can combat water contamination and pollution. 

Moleaer’s nanobubble technology has proven to be extremely effective at improving water quality, combatting algae and nutrients, and helping industries reduce water usage or use water more efficiently. Not only does this technology provide efficient oxygenation and natural oxidation to combat types of aquatic pollution problems like algae build-up, muck, and nutrients, but it also does so without chemicals or toxins. 
                    
Moleaer’s nanobubble solutions are used in lakes and ponds, wastewater treatment, irrigation systems, aquaculture and many other industries to provide chemical-free water treatment that helps reduce water pollution and combat poor water quality in our waterways.

Conclusion: Turning the Tide on Water Pollution

Water pollution is an urgent and complex challenge that threatens the health of our planet and all its inhabitants. Despite the daunting scope of the problem, it is crucial to remember that meaningful progress can be made through collective action and innovative solutions. Understanding the causes of water pollution, from agricultural runoff and industrial waste to plastic debris and ocean dumping, empowers us to address these issues more effectively.

By working together and supporting innovative technologies and policies, we can create a future where clean, safe water is available for all.