Water Pollution: Causes, Effects, and Solutions

Water pollution is one of the most pressing issues facing humanity–and one that affects everyone on Earth. Water surrounds us and makes the world livable. We rely on water for drinking, hygiene, agriculture, and transportation. Known as a “universal solvent,” water can dissolve more substances than any other liquid on earth. Three-quarters of the fluid in humans is made up of water, and it is the primary medium in which biochemical reactions in the human body occur.

The importance of water to humanity cannot be overstated.

But there is an under-acknowledged and under-reported global water crisis today. 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.” That lack of clean, potable water is largely a result of pollution and water degradation that damages our global water supply, including lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans worldwide. The world needs to address this problem with urgency, and it’s necessary to understand some basics about the underlying causes of water pollution.

causes of the pollution of water resources

Aquatic pollution results when harmful substances contaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water, degrading water quality and rendering it toxic to humans or the environment. These substances could be chemicals from agricultural runoff, pathogens in stormwater runoff and sewage, or oil spills from tankers, factories, farms, cars, and trucks.

The pollution is categorized as either “point source” or “non-point source” pollution:

Point source pollution of water resources 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. Point-source aquatic pollution is easier to monitor and regulate than non-point-source aquatic pollution because its origins are easily identifiable, and it is often subject to federal laws and regulations that govern its management.

Non-point source pollution of water resources comes from diffuse sources, such as agricultural runoff, precipitation, drainage, or seepage. When rain or melted snow moves over and through the ground, the water absorbs and assimilates any pollutants it comes into contact with, like pesticides, fertilizers, sediment, and oil, and deposits them into a stream which eventually deposits them into a lake. There are numerous aquatic pollutants in the runoff, so it is difficult to point to a single origin and more complex to manage.

Effects of water pollution

Whether point source or non-point source, the effects of aquatic pollution are dire and ripple out from the locally affected area to large ecosystems and human communities.          

On Human Health

• The Natural Resources Defense Council unambiguously says, “Water pollution kills…” According to a study published by the British medical journal The Lancet and quoted by the NRDC, aquatic pollution was responsible for 1.4 million premature deaths in 2019, 90% of them in low and middle income countries.
• Contaminated water can make you ill. Every year, unsafe water sickens about 1 billion people. Diseases spread by unsafe water include cholera, giardia, and typhoid.
• Even swimming can pose a risk. Every year, 3.5 million Americans contract health issues such as skin rashes, pinkeye, respiratory infections, and hepatitis from sewage-laden coastal waters, according to EPA estimates.

On Ecosystems

• Healthy ecosystems rely on a complex web of animals, plants, bacteria, and fungi—all of which interact, directly or indirectly, with each other, causing system-wide effects. When one part of the system is disrupted, it can destroy the whole ecosystem. For example, when polluted water causes an algal bloom in a lake it stimulates plant and algae growth, which in turn reduces oxygen levels in the water. The lack of oxygen suffocates plants and animals and can create “dead zones,” where waters are essentially devoid of life.
• Chemicals and heavy metals from industrial and municipal wastewater that contaminate waterways are toxic to aquatic life but also make their way up the food chain as a predator eats its prey.
• Though they absorb about a quarter of the carbon pollution created each year by burning fossil fuels, oceans are becoming more acidic. This process makes it harder for shellfish and other species to build shells and may impact the nervous systems of sharks, clownfish, and other marine life.

The Future without change

If we do not take drastic action to change the trajectory of the water degradation and pollution problem, it will radically affect the quality of life on Earth. There will be diminishing sources of potable water, with those in less wealthy countries suffering the most. There will be permanent loss of species and habitats. For those who do survive as water becomes scarcer, there will be an increased prevalence of water-borne diseases.

How Nanobubble Technology Helps Restore Waterbodies Impacted by Water Degradation & Pollution

As dire as the problem is, the development of new technologies provides hope that with concerted effort we can tackle the water degradation and pollution problem. A sustainable solution is nanobubble technology, which has been shown to help restore waterbody health in diverse environments. Not only does this technology provide efficient oxygenation and enhance natural oxidation to combat aquatic pollution problems like algae build-up, muck, and nutrients, but it also does so without chemicals or harmful side effects.

Moleaer’s nanobubble systems also have been proven to significantly increase oxygen and improve water quality in lakes and other water bodies. While conventional aeration technologies achieve less than 3% oxygen transfer efficiency at standard conditions (SOTE) per foot of water, third-party testing confirms that Moleaer’s nanobubble technology achieves >85% SOTE in just 2 feet of water, enabling dissolved oxygen (DO) levels to increase while using far less oxygen than any other aeration technology.

Introducing high concentrations of nanobubbles into water increases the dissolved oxygen levels throughout the water column and into the sediment layer promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria that naturally break down muck and manage nutrients. More beneficial bacteria help immobilize and convert excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus into less harmful forms, which reduces algae proliferation.  

Research studies on this topic:

• Phosphorus Dynamics in Jessie Lake: Mass Flux Across the Sediment-Water Interface in Lake and Reservoir Management Journal, 2009
• Effect of dissolved oxygen on nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes from lake sediments and their thresholds based on incubation using a simple and stable dissolved oxygen control method in Limnology and Oceanography Methods Journal, 2022
• Oxygen and Nutrient Exchanges at the Sediment-Water Interface: a Global Synthesis and Critique of Estuarine and Coastal Data, Estuaries and Coasts Journal, 2018

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The Role of non-Profits in Combatting Water Degradation & Pollution

In addition to technologies, there is the real work of educating the public, the vast majority of whom do not know about the existence of this problem or its severity. Many organizations are working on water-related problems advocating for change with elected officials, working to implement policies that do get enacted and providing resources and education where needed most.

They often fund research projects as well as support lobbying and advocacy programs on the factors that cause water pollution. This is not an exhaustive list but is meant to direct interested people who want to create change to organizations that are working to alleviate the water pollution problem.

• 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 factors that cause water pollution, 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.”
• Charitywater (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.”

Urgency Against the Water Pollution Crisis

Water pollution is an urgent problem facing the global community and we must understand the factors that cause water pollution and degradation. It will take the implementation of effective technological advancements, hard work by dedicated organizations, and strong government policies to make meaningful change. The effort requires global collaboration across diverse local, state, and national governments.

To learn more about how nanobubble technology can help with your water degradation problem, visit our resources page or talk to an expert.