Water Pollution

Water Pollution

Mandy Szachnitowski

March 29, 2010

Axia College/SCI-275

Instructor: Victoria Spearman

Water Pollution

Water pollution refers to the changes in physical, natural, and compound surroundings of

water bodies like oceans, lakes, rivers, and groundwater that interrupt the balance of the

ecosystem. These pollutants ultimately affect humans and wildlife, and directly effects marine

life and ocean organisms. Water pollution is an endless problem that stems from many sources.

This tragedy may include a number of factors, whether it is people discarding trash in the water

or on the land near bodies of water, or from oil spillage. At hand there are many ways that

pollution can enter the water. While some ways are purposeful, some are in no way anticipated to

pollute.

There are many identifiable factors that contribute to water pollution, but they can be

broken down into two main categories, point source and nonpoint source. Pollutants that are

caused through environmental changes would be a nonpoint source. An example of this would be

when rainfall picks up pollutants, on land or in the ground, and deposits them into bodies of

water. The pollution that occurs when harmful substances are emitted into a body of water is

point source pollution (Krantz & Kifferstein, n.d.). This would be the category for the pollution

caused by an oil spill. People can take small steps to prevent both categories of pollution and to

make the environment a healthier one.

Nonpoint sources of pollution can be avoidable and everyone can make a difference. The

simple steps everyone can take consist of putting trash in proper containers; lessen the amount

of pesticides and fertilizers we use on lawns and plants, check septic systems annually, and

recycle used motor oil. As seen in Figure 1, many products used can cause pollution runoff.

Figure 1.

Sources of Polluted Runoff

Protecting Our Water and...