The Effects of Water Pollution on The Environment and Human Life

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The Effects of Water Pollution on The Environment
and Human Life
















Name: Sam Brandt
Class: Environmental Science
Date: 6/15/2016
Teacher: Mr. Tressler

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Water pollution is problem that affects people and the environment. It’s hard to tell if
your water is polluted without testing. Through my research I will show you how water
pollution effects humans and the environment. The topics I will cover are the impact of water
pollution on health, how it affects drinking water, and economic costs. I will also explain how to
reduce pollution in drinking water, oceans, and lakes.
Human health is greatly impacted by water pollutants. Pollution can stem from harmful
algal blooms, which create toxins that can take a toll on your health (EPA, 2015). People and
pets can be exposed to these toxins in a variety of different ways (EPA, 2015). If you have direct
exposure to toxic algae it can cause a multiple health effects. Some health effects are
neurological affects, rashes, respiratory issues, and intestinal illnesses (EPA, 2015).
There are nitrates in water that come from fertilizers used on agriculture fields (EPA,
2015). It’s extremely important to keep infants away from drinking water with nitrates because
they can become seriously ill, and even die (EPA, 2015). Possible symptoms of ingesting
nitrates are blue-tinted skin and shortness of breath. A report conducted back in 2010 found that
nitrate levels were too high at 64% in urban areas and monitoring wells (EPA, 2015).
Another area that impacts humans is storm water runoff. Water runoff puts nutrients
directly into lakes, reservoirs, and rivers (EPA, 2015). This harms many people who get their
water from the rivers or lakes. When water is treated with disinfectants the water can react with
toxic algae creating a whole other problem called dioxins (EPA, 2015). All these byproducts
have been found to effect human’s developmental health, reproductive system, and even cause
cancer (EPA, 2015).
Drinking water is important, and we see that as over 286 million Americans get their
water from a community based water systems (CDC, 2014). The EPA sets standards to be

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enforced in the quality of drinking water to make sure concentration levels of pollutants or
chemicals aren’t too high (CDC, 2014). Sources of water for human consumption can have
contamination, which requires treatment to remove the contamination. Contamination can start
in the sources of water or from the distribution plant (CDC, 2014). Some contamination
elements are naturally in the water already. Some of these elements are uranium, radon, and
pesticides. If these contaminants and others aren’t filtered out they can cause health problems,
which include, but are not limited to immune system issues and gastrointestinal illness (CDC,
2014). A couple of the main outbreaks in water are E. coli, Copper, Salmonella, and Giardia
(CDC, 2014).
Many parts of our ecosystem are impacted because of water pollution like rivers, oceans
and forests (World Wildlife, 2016). Water pollution can also harm the soil, plants, and animals
within the area. Predators that ingest toxic chemicals from water can be harmful to people
consuming them. 2.4 billion people around the world lack access to clean water (World
Wildlife, 2016).
Technology is great, but it has hit the ecosystem hard (World Wildlife, 2016). When the
year 2000 rolled around, the world’s chemical production had severely gone up from where it
was in 1930. Chemicals have been a great advancement in modern life, however they can travel
far through the water and air (World Wildlife, 2016).
Acid rain has polluted our streams, forest, and lakes (World Wildlife, 2016). In the
atmosphere, water mixes with chemicals such as nitrogen and sulfur dioxide, which come from
burning fossil fuels (World Wildlife, 2016). This is what causes acid rain. There are a couple
specific things acid rain can impact in our environment. Fish can be stressed or even die if there
are large amounts of acid rain in the water (World Wildlife, 2016).

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The United States has to spend anywhere from 110 billion to 127 billion dollars to get
126,000 groundwater sources up to pollution standards (Walton, 2012). Contaminants can come
from military installations, underground storage tanks, and big industrial facilities (Walton,
2012). The United States Army is responsible for approximately 13,000 sites where water
contamination is. In the past few decades the Defense Department has spend $30 billion in
trying to remove ground water pollution at the base facilities (Walton, 2012). Currently, fixing
the problem has been put on the back burner. Money is being spent on other things without a
reduction in lower contamination levels (Walton, 2012).
There are a couple things you can do to reduce pollution of drinking water (Simsbury-CT
Government , 2016). The first is don’t pour cleaning chemicals down the toilet or sink. When
getting rid of old pills never flush them down the toilet (Simsbury-CT Government , 2016). If
you’re working with motor oil or fertilizers make sure you don’t just empty them into sewer
drains. Instead, find a facility to properly dispose of them (Simsbury-CT Government , 2016).
Oceans are heavily polluted. Nearly half of all ocean pollution comes from sewage,
garbage dumping, and chemical spills (Greenpeace , 2016). The United States produces 15
billion pounds of plastic, and only 1 billion pounds of that is recycled. The majority of what’s
left goes into the ocean. If you’re walking along somewhere and see litter pick it up (Greenpeace
, 2016). When shopping, stay away from plastic bags, and instead buy reusable ones. Talk to
your friends and family about helping to reduce the pollution in the ocean (Greenpeace , 2016).
Protecting lakes is important, especially if you live near or around them (Freshwater
Society , 2009). If you have a boat make sure to choose a 4- cycle engine because it pollutes the
water less than a 2-cycle engine (Freshwater Society , 2009). Never use the lake as a bathtub, as

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soap can pollute the water. Stay away from using salts on your driveway or sidewalks because
the runoff will also pollute the lake (Freshwater Society , 2009).
In conclusion, we can see how big of an impact we have as humans on the environment,
along with our potential to help reduce water pollution. Pollution starts off small and leads too
much bigger effects than you probably thought. Something simple as picking that piece of trash
up on your beach walk can help keep the ecosystem clean and save marine life from harmful
chemicals. Pollution comes from many different little components that build up and cause big
impacts on the ecosystems.
There is a lot you and I can do to protect our ecosystem. One of the best things we can
do is to keep educated on what products not to use or how to properly dispose of chemicals we
use. If we stop caring for the environment it probably will not affect you and I today or
tomorrow, but 20 or 50 years down the road it will take an effect. So challenge yourself
everyday to just pick up one or more piece of trash and find an organization to volunteer, such as
a roadside trash pick up, or beach clean up. The difference you’ll make is big. Remember,
would you want to drink or swim in polluted water in the future?

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References
CDC. (2014). Water-related Diseases and Contaminants in Public Water Systems. Retrieved 6
9, 2016, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/water_diseases.html
EPA. (2015). The Effects: Human Health. Retrieved 6 8, 2016, from Enviromental Protection
Agency: https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/effects-human-health
Freshwater Society . (2009). 10 ways to keeep lakes clean . Retrieved 6 14, 2016, from
Freshwater Society : http://freshwater.org/2009/09/25/10-ways-to-keep-lakes-
clean-2/
Greenpeace . (2016). Preventing Ocean Pollution . Retrieved 6 14, 2016, from Greenpeace :
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/oceans/preventing-pollution/
Simsbury-CT Government . (2016). Ten Things You Can Do To Reduce Water Pollution.
Retrieved 6 14, 2016, from Town of Simsbury Connecticut : http://www.simsbury-
ct.gov/water-pollution-control/pages/ten-things-you-can-do-to-reduce-water-pollution
Walton, B. (2012). Contaminated U.S. Groundwater Sites Will Cost $110 Billion to Clean,
Report Says. Retrieved 6 14, 2016, from Circle of Blue :
http://www.circleofblue.org/2012/groundwater/contaminated-groundwater-sites-in-u-s-
will-cost-at-least-us110-billion-to-clean-report-says/
World Wildlife. (2016). Threats Pollution. Retrieved 6 14, 2016, from World Wildlife:
http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/pollution

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