Water pollution on the planet. Human pollution of rivers

The problem of fresh water pollution is one of the most pressing in the modern world. The life activity of all living beings on the planet is inextricably linked with water, and deterioration in water quality necessarily affects the health of many living organisms.

What happens to water when it is polluted? The physical, chemical or biological properties of water change, imposing certain restrictions on its use. The physical effects may be temporary (eg, increased temperature). Chemical exposure can be temporary or permanent.

Some substances are destroyed over time, and some remain in water for quite a long time.

In what ways does fresh water pollution most often occur?

One of the most common ways of water pollution is human waste: wastewater of various origins - both domestic and municipal.

Industrial sources.

The release of industrial water containing industrial waste is several times greater in volume than municipal and domestic wastewater. Depending on the type of production, industrial wastewater may contain toxic substances, heavy metals, pathogenic bacteria and other organic components.

Heat sources.

For the most part, an increase in the temperature of water that is released into the external environment occurs in the area of thermal power plants. It should be noted that in some cases, replenishing lakes and rivers with warm water from such sources can bring certain benefits.

Agricultural sources.

A significant amount of planned technical work on land irrigation is carried out in agriculture. These works lead to the fact that various chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, etc.) and organic waste dissolve in water and enter nearby water bodies, deteriorating the quality of the water they contain.

Water pollution increases over time because... harmful impurities tend to accumulate, and measures to cleanse water bodies are rarely used.

When fresh water is polluted, the consequences are not long in coming: fish and other inhabitants of water bodies begin to die, an unpleasant odor appears, the water body becomes overgrown with algae, begins to bloom, an oily film may appear on the surface of the water, the amount of oxygen in the water decreases, harmful gases, heavy metals and radioactive waste can cause mutations and cancer.

For these reasons, taking care of the purity of fresh water is not just important, but vital.

For almost six months, the operators of the Partnership project have been helping Belarusians solve pressing environmental problems. From today, he will talk about the most relevant ones and, most importantly, show with specific examples how you can solve them on your own. Let’s start with a case study of what to do if you witness pollution of lakes and rivers or the water in your water supply is too chlorinated.

Dirty water is a source of disease

Dirty water is the source of many diseases: typhus, cholera, intestinal disorders, gastritis, skin lesions, burns of mucous membranes, cancer, decreased reproductive function, endocrine disorders and others. In the world, more than half of the patients in hospitals are because of it, as evidenced by a special UN report on water resources. When toxic water gets into rivers and reservoirs, it causes the spread of infections and causes irreparable harm to ecosystems.

Help

It is not surprising that people who are concerned about their health and the health of their loved ones, when faced with the problem of water pollution, ask the question: what to do?

Operators provide great assistance in solving these problems. They record every request from citizens, indicating the location of the problem, contact information for feedback, and advise on the necessary actions to resolve a specific issue.

And the townspeople have a lot of questions! The most common among them, according to Alena Dubovik, coordinator, can be called siltation and overgrowing of water bodies, their pollution by industrial wastewater, melt and rain water. Belarusians are also concerned about chlorinated water in their taps.

Of course, resolving these issues is not a matter of one day or one organization. But if you have patience and follow the algorithms below, you can achieve results.

Tested in practice

For clarity, we have compiled the most frequent requests from citizens received by operators on the topic of water pollution, and an algorithm for possible actions.

Problem #1:

The fire pond has silted up and become covered with algae, and no one is monitoring its condition.

Task- cleaning the reservoir and turning it into a recreation area.

Necessary:

Write a written appeal to the local executive body (village council, etc.) in order to establish on whose balance the reservoir is located and who should maintain it in proper condition.
Write a request to the organization that manages the pond to find out what measures for use (cleaning) it has in its plans.
Write a written request to the local sanitary and epidemiological station to check the condition of the reservoir and issue an order to the appropriate organization to clean it.

- Fire ponds are intended only for extinguishing fires and are owned by the Ministry of Emergency Situations, accordingly, no one will allow them to be turned into a recreation area,- comments on the problem Natalya Porechina, expert on sustainable water management at the Center for Environmental Solutions.

Problem #2:

From an unknown source, rusty water with an unpleasant odor flows into the Minsk Sea (Zaslavskoye Reservoir).

Task- find out the source and stop the pollution.

Necessary:

Write a written appeal to the local epidemiological and sanitary surveillance authorities, the district inspectorate of natural resources and environmental protection with a request to inspect the reservoir for contamination, do a water analysis, draw up a report and provide a copy of the report with a response within the time period established by law (from 15 to 30 days) .
Observe the site of contamination to determine the frequency of influx of contaminated water and identify the possible source.
Call the hotline and describe the situation.

- In such cases, it is necessary to conduct additional laboratory and imaging studies. In this situation, the subscriber and our organization agreed to go to the site in the summer and check possible sources of pollution,- says Natalya Porechina.

Problem #3:

Chlorinated water flows from the tap of a city apartment.

Task- reduce the concentration of chlorine.

Necessary:

Contact the housing maintenance service (HES) at your place of residence to find out with whom the contract for the provision of water supply services has been concluded.
Write a collective appeal to this organization with the wording: “We ask you to check the water for chlorine content at ____________, since we believe that the concentration of chlorine exceeds the established standards.”
Write a written request to the local sanitary and epidemiological supervision authorities with a request to check whether the chlorine content in the water supplied to consumers at this address is not exceeded. And also whether there were any violations in the actions of Vodokanal services in the process of cleaning, chlorination and water supply.
Study the relevant sanitary standards and regulations () to compare with the answer received.
In case of an unsatisfactory response, the subscriber can appeal it and demand that a proper check be carried out, thereby achieving an improvement in the condition of the tap water.

- Most likely, the chlorine content will be normal, since otherwise this is a criminal offense. Residents may be advised to let the water sit in an open container for several hours before drinking. Chlorine evaporates during settling, - explains an expert from the Center for Environmental Solutions.

Problem #4:

Melt and rainwater runoff flows into the river bed through pipes from the road surface. They overflow the river, the riverbed gradually becomes overgrown, and the toxic water pollutes the nearby spring.

Task- clean the river bed so that it does not overflow with wastewater that poisons the spring.

Necessary:

Write a written appeal to the local executive body in order to determine the cause of flooding of the river bed and active growth of vegetation.
On the “Water Control” website, fill out a form about the location and contamination of the spring. (The artificial water body must be operated in a predetermined mode.)
Conduct a chemical analysis of water (you can contact specialists at the Center for Environmental Solutions).
Further actions depend on the response of the executive committee, the result of the water analysis and the recommendations of the CER expert.

- The river bed should be cleared not of vegetation, but to prevent possible runoff, which causes its rapid growth, - Natalya Porechina emphasizes. - More research into the causes of pollution needs to be done there. This can be done in the summer, but now the subscriber needs to find out the cause of the flooding.

Problem #5:

An agro-industrial enterprise discharges sewage into an old river bed connected to the existing one. Fishermen saw dead fish.

Task- stop river pollution with toxic wastewater.

Necessary:

Write a written appeal to the local sanitary and epidemiological surveillance authorities, the district inspectorate of natural resources and environmental protection with a request to check the reservoir for pollution, do a water analysis, draw up a report and provide a copy of the report with a response within the time period established by law (from 15 to 30 days ). (If possible, attach a photo of the dead fish to the appeal.)
Write an appeal to the administration of an agro-industrial enterprise with a request to provide environmental information about the presence of treatment facilities at the site and their operation during the designated period of time.
Call the hotline of the State Inspectorate for the Protection of Animal and Plant World.

- The problem of dumping sewage from agricultural complexes into water bodies cannot be solved so easily. When such facts are revealed, it is necessary to ensure that enterprise managers are held accountable,- lawyers emphasize.

Everyone can exercise public environmental control

In a financial crisis, enterprises can save on treatment facilities and modernization and use outdated and ineffective technologies. Such facts need to be identified and dealt with.

Due to the small number of employees, state environmental and sanitary supervision bodies do not have the ability to quickly monitor the situation in all water bodies at once. Therefore, the active participation of local residents is important, who can:

regularly visit nearby water bodies and carefully monitor their condition;
note unusual changes in smell, color, transparency of water, the appearance of dead animals in the water, the death of near-aquatic plants, etc., especially in areas remote from large cities.

- Public environmental control has been and remains an important factor in maintaining a clean environment,- say the lawyers.

- I would advise local residents to contact the authorities only in writing! And more often - in the media. Our most effective calls were to the ONT hotline and the “Reporter” program on BT, - Natalya Porechina summarizes. - Our legislation provides tools to protect your rights. All that remains is to use them and go to the end in solving the problem.

Water is of great importance for all life on our planet. People, animals, and plants need it to live, grow and develop. Moreover, living organisms need clean water, not spoiled by foreign contaminants. Before the start of the industrial era, water in natural conditions was clean. But, as civilization developed, people began to pollute water sources with waste from their activities.

Natural sources of water that people use are rivers, lakes, and seas. Clean water is also obtained from underground sources using wells and boreholes. What are the sources of water pollution?

Industry
We live in an era of intense industrial activity. Water in industry is used in huge quantities, and after use it is discharged into industrial sewers. Industrial wastewater is treated, but it cannot be completely purified. Numerous plants, factories and industries are sources of water pollution.

Oil production and oil transportation
Industry and transport require fuel, the production of which uses oil. Oil is produced both on land and at sea. The extracted oil is transported by huge sea tankers. In the event of accidents at oil production sites or transport accidents, spills of oil products occur on the water surface. A few grams of oil is enough to form a film of tens of square meters on the sea surface.

Energy
Thermal stations contribute to the deterioration of the quality of natural water. They use large quantities of water for cooling processes and discharge the heated water into open water bodies. The water temperature in such reservoirs rises, they begin to become overgrown with harmful algae, and the amount of oxygen in such water decreases. All this negatively affects living organisms living in such reservoirs. The ecological balance is disrupted and water quality deteriorates.

Household sphere
People need water, first of all, in everyday life. In every house, in every apartment, water is used for cooking, washing dishes, cleaning rooms, and also in bathrooms. Used water is removed from residential premises through sewage systems. Such water is subsequently purified in special purification devices, but it is very difficult to achieve complete purification. Therefore, one of the sources of water pollution in nature is municipal wastewater. These waters contain harmful chemicals, various microorganisms and small household waste.

Agriculture
Another source of natural water pollution is agriculture. This type of human activity requires huge amounts of water. Numerous fields of crops need to be watered. Water is also needed for raising farm animals. Many artificial fertilizers are used in crop production. Water used to irrigate fertilized fields becomes contaminated by these fertilizers. And wastewater discharged from livestock complexes carries animal waste. With insufficient wastewater treatment in agriculture, natural water sources are polluted.

In our world, there are many sources of natural water pollution caused by human activities. It is impossible to refuse the benefits of civilization, therefore the only way to preserve the purity of natural waters is to continuously improve methods for purifying contaminated water.

Water is not only a source of oxygen and hydrogen, but also the most significant component of the body of all living beings: in the human body it makes up about 70% of the mass, in a plant organism - up to 95%.

Such an important physiological function as metabolism cannot do without water, and this in turn threatens all vital processes of the body. The main water reserves are found in the World Ocean (95%), which occupies about 70% of the globe's surface. Surface water: lakes and rivers (fresh water) include only 0.182 million km 3.

For their needs, people widely use both surface water (lakes, rivers, streams, in which the reserves of accessible fresh water are calculated not in millions of cubic meters, but in thousands), and underground or groundwater (wells, wells), the water of which is used by the population of villages and towns . And at the same time, today humanity is concerned about the lack of water.

Water is used both by consumers - for the preparation of products, returning water to reservoirs, but in smaller quantities and of poor quality, and by water users - farms, people who use water as a medium (water transport, fishing, energy, agriculture and municipal farming). However, they also change the quality of water and most often for the worse.

Sources of water pollution can be physical, biological, chemical, thermal and radiation pollutants.

Physical pollution- this is an increase in the water content of insoluble impurities (sand, clay, silt) as a result of the washing away of soils from fields by rainwater, mining dust carried by the wind, etc.
Chemical pollution- this is the entry into water of various chemicals, waste from various industries: petrochemical, pulp and paper, as well as municipal wastewater, waste from livestock farms, etc.
Biological contamination- this is the entry into water bodies, along with wastewater, of various pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses), spores of fungi, eggs, worms, etc. The main sources of biological pollution are municipal wastewater, sugar factories, meat and wood processing industries, etc. Such pollution of water bodies in places of mass recreation (resort areas of the coasts of seas and rivers) is especially dangerous.
Thermal pollution constitute the wastewater of heated water from thermal power plants and nuclear power plants. An example of radiation pollution is the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

To prevent the processes of pollution of water bodies, a number of methods should be applied to protect them:

use and regulation of water quality;
reducing runoff into water bodies by improving technological processes in a number of industries;
wastewater treatment.

A system of measures for the protection and rational use of water resources (sea, river, lake) should be an integral part of national plans in any country. In most cases, human activity causes pollution of water bodies, and their activity must be carried out by various methods: mechanical, chemical, biological.

The chemical properties of natural water are determined by the amount and composition of foreign impurities that are present in it. As modern industry develops, the issue of global freshwater pollution becomes more and more pressing.

According to scientists, water resources suitable for use in household activities will soon become catastrophically scarce, since sources of water pollution, even with treatment facilities, negatively affect surface and ground waters.

Methods for determining water contamination

Pollution of drinking water is the process of changing the physical and chemical parameters and organoleptic properties of water, which provides for some restrictions in the further exploitation of the resource. Particularly relevant is the pollution of fresh water, the quality of which is directly related to human health and life expectancy.

Water quality is determined taking into account the degree of importance of resources - rivers, lakes, ponds, reservoirs. When possible deviations from the norm are identified, the reasons that led to the contamination of surface and ground water are determined. Based on the analysis obtained, prompt measures are taken to eliminate pollutants.

What Causes Water Pollution

There are many factors that can lead to water contamination. This is not always the fault of people or industrial development. Man-made disasters and cataclysms have a great influence, which can lead to disruption of favorable environmental conditions.

Industrial companies can cause significant harm to the environment by polluting water with chemical waste. Biological pollution of domestic and economic origin poses a particular danger. This includes wastewater from residential buildings, utilities, educational and social institutions.

The water resource can become contaminated during periods of heavy rain and snowmelt, when precipitation comes from agricultural land, farms and pastures. High levels of pesticides, phosphorus and nitrogen can lead to environmental disaster, since such wastewater cannot be treated.

Another source of pollution is air: dust, gas and smoke from it settle on the water surface. Petroleum products are more dangerous for natural bodies of water. Contaminated wastewater appears in oil production areas or as a result of man-made disasters.

What types of pollution are underground sources susceptible to?

Sources of groundwater pollution can be divided into several categories: biological, chemical, thermal, radiation.

Biological origin

Biological contamination of groundwater is possible due to the ingress of pathogenic organisms, viruses and bacteria. The main sources of water pollution are sewer and drainage wells, inspection pits, septic tanks and filtration zones, where wastewater is treated as a result of household activities.

Groundwater pollution occurs on agricultural lands and farms, where people actively use strong chemicals and fertilizers.
No less dangerous are vertical cracks in rocks, through which chemical contaminants penetrate into pressure water layers. In addition, they can leak into an autonomous water supply system if the water intake column is deformed or insufficiently insulated.

Thermal origin

Occurs as a result of a significant increase in groundwater temperature. This often occurs due to the mixing of underground and surface sources, and the discharge of process wastewater into treatment wells.

Radiation origin

Groundwater can be contaminated as a result of bomb tests - neutron, atomic, hydrogen, as well as during the production of nuclear fuel reactors and weapons.

Sources of pollution are nuclear power plants, storage facilities for radioactive components, mines and mines for the extraction of rocks with a natural level of radioactivity.

Sources of drinking water contamination can cause significant harm to the environment and human health. Therefore, we need to conserve the water we drink to ensure a long and happy existence.