Wastewater is a global issue for the environment and its inhabitants, being responsible for almost the same levels of emissions as the aviation industry, according to the latest reports from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Today, only one in 10 liters of treated wastewater is reused, while half of it still pollutes the Earth’s waters, including rivers and lakes. This means that human waste, household sewerage, and sometimes toxic and even medical waste are released directly into the planet’s ecosystems. Apparently, the majority of people realize this and are aware of the urgency to change this state of affairs but no significant changes have happened.
Why? Perhaps one of the reasons is that polluted water is extremely difficult and expensive to clean up or maybe installing expensive water treatment systems within industries could reduce profits?
Let’s find out.
Defining water pollution
Water pollution happens when hazardous chemicals and toxins contaminate water sources, seriously lowering water quality which, in turn, harms ecosystems and human health.
Various toxic substances and hazardous compounds from factories, cities and farms lead to the contamination of water bodies since they dissolve much more easily in water than in any other fluid on Earth.
Occasionally, Mother Nature poisons the water too, such as when mercury contaminates oceans, rivers and lakes after filtering out of the Earth’s crust. However, for the most part, human activity is to blame.
According to an analysis based on 625 studies collected from 63 nations, the world’s water quality has deteriorated due to the growth of urban places, and to address the issue researchers suggest more forest cover.
Effects of water pollution on human health
There is a close connection between public health and water purity with one of the main causes of various illnesses such as cholera, dysentery, and hepatitis being contaminated water.
Being exposed to pollutants such as microplastics and specific minerals and metals found in untreated or poorly treated water such as lead, and arsenic causes neurological damage and can increase the chance of developing cancer, according to a study published on ScienceDirect. Furthermore, this exposure to poor-quality water can negatively impact mental health and has been associated with a higher risk of anxiety and depression.
Top six sources of water pollution
1️⃣ Industrial waste
Industries seriously harm the environment by contaminating the land, the air, and the water with heavy metals and waterborne pathogens that multiply and release toxins, impacting our health and ecosystems.
Industrial facilities generate waste in the form of hazardous compounds that can:
- Lead to intoxication, immune system suppression, and fertility problems
- Influence the temperature of freshwater systems, damaging marine life
- Generate ‘dead zones’ in water (areas with insufficient oxygen to support marine life)
What makes matters worse is the lack of waste disposal infrastructure.
2️⃣ Oil pollution
This occurs when gasoline from parking areas and highways, as well as oil from pipelines and fracking operations (a drilling technique that helps to extract oil), enters water bodies through surface run-off.
Oil spills from tankers and drilling rigs can extend over hundreds of kilometers covering sea surfaces, rocks, beaches, or plants with a thin layer of oil and are much more harmful than spillages on land. They have a serious impact on marine life and animals living near the shore since the thin layer of oil that may cover them can eventually kill through suffocation or poisoning.
3️⃣ Plastic pollution
Annually, numerous species of marine life die after consuming plastic or becoming entangled in it.
In addition, each year lakes, rivers, and seas become polluted by 19 to 23 million tons of plastic waste that seep into aquatic environments, according to UNEP.
Research indicates that once plastic enters the ecosystem, it may take anywhere from 100 to 1,000 years for it to break down.
Moreover, the amount of plastic produced and used worldwide is expected to increase from 435 million tons in 2020 to 736 million tons by 2040, a 70% rise, according to the OECD.
Scientists have discovered that if plastic pollution continues and humanity does nothing to address the issue, by 2040, the amount of plastic wasted in waters each year could reach 29 million tons, as reported by National Geographic.
4️⃣ Wastewater
Over 80% of wastewater returns to various ecosystems untreated or unusable.
Pollution occurs on a daily basis, with 14 million cubic meters (14 billion liters) of wastewater that contains human waste with bacteria and pathogens that breed disease being produced by households every day in least developed nations.
The lack of a treatment infrastructure causes this to be discharged directly into the environment, harming the soil, air, and underground water.
On a global scale, in 2022, around 42% of household wastewater did not undergo proper treatment before being discharged which led to 113 billion cubic meters of untreated wastewater being sent back to the environment, according to UN Water.
According to the data provided by the United Nations, out of all world regions Northern America is leading in treating domestic wastewater, followed by Oceania and Europe. The graph below shows the percentage of treated domestic wastewater by region (2022)
Source: OurWorldinData
5️⃣ Pesticide and fertilizer run-off
This is a term that describes unsafe water flowing from farmlands as a result of irrigation, rain, or melted snow. Agricultural run-off may contain pesticides or fertilizers that are applied without caution or irresponsibly by farmers. The results can be devastating with polluted groundwater harming humans, flora and fauna.
6️⃣ Radioactive pollution
Radioactive waste can linger in the environment for thousands of years and cleaning this up is extremely challenging.
For example, in April 2021 Japan dumped radioactively contaminated water into the ocean from the damaged Fukushima nuclear facility. Although the government claimed that because the wastewater had been treated, there were limited potential health concerns and damage to marine life, to ensure that water pollution has no negative consequences on the environment, careful monitoring is still necessary today.
Water pollution facts and statistics
According to Science, in 2020, around 4.4 of the world’s population throughout 135 low- and middle-income nations did not have access to safe drinking water. By 2023, according to UNICEF, the number of people who still lacked access to safely managed water services was 2.2 billion.
In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that around 2 billion people worldwide consume water that is contaminated.
The facts about water pollution revealed by the organization are dramatic:
- Unsafe water that contains hazardous microorganisms can spread diarrhea and diseases such as cholera. Every year, polluted drinking water causes 485,000 diarrhea-related deaths.
- More than 251.4 million people needed schistosomiasis prevention treatment as of 2021.
- In terms of water and sanitation, contaminated drinking water in combination with poor sanitation and hand hygiene leads to 1 million fatalities from diarrhea.
- As UN Water reports, failure to improve water quality and water body control could jeopardize the lives and health of 4.8 billion humans by the end of the decade.
- Around 1.7 billion people worldwide consumed water that was infected by human waste in 2022.
- About 80% of marine pollution comes from land-based sources, including waste from factories, plastic garbage, and agricultural wastewater.
- One of the greatest impacts of water pollution is that every year ocean waste kills almost a million seabirds and marine life.
Why access to drinking water is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
According to UNICEF, in 2022 the number of people who benefitted from access to clean drinking water services reached 5.82 billion which means all of them were able to use drinking water services when needed and without risk of contamination.
However, there are still around 2.2 billion people who do not have access to safely managed water services. Among these:
- 1.5 billion benefit from ‘basic services’ (i.e., they have access to a protected drinking water source within a 30-minute round trip, access to improved individual toilets in their household, and handwashing stations in the house with soap and water).
- 292 million have ‘limited’ water services (i.e., they have access to drinking water sources, but the round trip to this exceeds a 30-minute round trip).
- 296 million make use of unimproved sources (i.e. they consume water from an unprotected water source).
- 115 million obtain their drinking water directly from various surface water sources (i.e., rivers, and lakes).
Those who live in poor, informal, or illegal settlements typically lack proper access to improved sources of drinking water and suffer from poor drinking water quality. However, the issue with unsafe drinking water is seen not only in developing nations – according to CDC estimates, drinking water contaminants cause illness for at least 1.1 million Americans annually.
Drinking water pollution is linked to the disposal of various chemicals, plastics, and pharmaceuticals into fresh, potable water sources which can cause digestive problems and more serious health issues such as cancer.
How to prevent water pollution and protect the drinking water sources
Pollution control, raising awareness and educating the general public on issues related to water and the pollution of water sources is crucial. Various non-profit organizations across the world have suggested multiple measures that could help humanity to stop or at least minimize its impact on the water.
Here are some of the suggested solutions to reduce water pollution by the Solar Impulse Foundation, an environmental non-profit project established in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.
🔹 Wastewater treatment
Since wastewater causes water pollution, it is important that there is a steady increase in the number of households whose wastewater is treated before it is released back into its natural circuit. This treatment of wastewater involves extracting contaminants using physical, chemical, or biological procedures. There are multiple small-scale solutions that can be implemented, but the major problems remain the industrial sector and large cities.
🔹 Eco-friendly agriculture
It is important to employ energy-saving food production and effective irrigation that minimizes the need for water as well as making use of climate-friendly crops.
🔹 Managing storm water
Storm water management is an attempt to limit rainwater or snowmelt runoff onto roadways, lawns, and other areas to prevent contaminants from polluting the water.
🔹 Preventing air pollution
Our oceans absorb 25% of the carbon dioxide that is mostly emitted by human activity. This is why ocean water pollution is directly impacted by air pollution and, as a result, the oceans become more acidic which also endangers coral reefs and marine life.
🔹 Reducing plastic waste
Our waters contain 80% of the plastic that comes from land sources, for example river water pollution occurs from unauthorized landfills and illegal dumping. It is vital to reduce plastic consumption and improve plastic waste disposal and recycling.
🔹 Water conservation
It is essential to ensure that more clean water is available everywhere around the world which entails managing water wisely, treating it with care, and understanding that it is a scarce resource.
🔹 Proper disposal of hazardous waste
It’s important that you learn how to properly dispose of chemicals and hazardous materials such as paint, lawn chemicals, and vehicle fluids in your country or region
🔹 Reducing chemicals for gardening
Sustainable agriculture is key to reducing the water bodies’ pollution from pesticide and fertilizer run-offs. Farmers and smaller gardeners can become more environmentally friendly by growing native flora, seeding cover crops between rows, using no-till and mini-till methods and others.
🔹 Regular maintenance of the wastewater treatment facilities
It’s amazing how much can be achieved by regular maintenance of wastewater treatment equipment. Performing routine checks of septic tanks, households can minimize the risks of leaks and contamination of underground waters.
Final word
Numerous pollutants enter our planet’s waters each day, ranging in size from massive amounts of waste to tiny levels of hazardous chemicals. Moreover, water pollution, drought and rapidly growing populations have exacerbated the freshwater crisis, endangering our wellbeing and the safety of various ecosystems.
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