Water is the most valuable natural resource. Its role is participation in the metabolism of all substances that are the basis of any life form. It is impossible to imagine the activities of industrial and agricultural enterprises without the use of water; it is indispensable in the everyday life of a person. Water is necessary for everyone: people, animals, plants. For some, it is a habitat.
The rapid development of people's livelihoods, the inefficient use of resources has led to the fact that the environmental problems (including water pollution) have become too acute. Their solution is in the first place for humanity. Scientists, environmentalists around the world are sounding the alarm and trying to find a solution to the global problem of fresh water shortages.
Sources of Water Pollution
There are many reasons for pollution, and the human factor is not always to blame. Natural disasters also harm clean water bodies, upset the ecological balance.
The most common sources of water pollution are:
Industrial, domestic wastewater. Not passed the system of purification from chemical harmful substances, they, getting into the body of water, provoke an environmental disaster.
Acid rain. This is a common phenomenon, although it is rarely talked about. All industrial exhaust gases, car exhausts, once in the atmosphere, return with rain back to the ground, water bodies.
Solid waste, trash. Not only do they pollute the rivers, but even change the course of the current, making it difficult. Possible spills of lakes and rivers.
Organic pollution. Their natural decomposition (the death of plants, animals).
Man-made disasters. Industrial accidents.
Thermal, radiation pollution.
The gatherings of mudflows, avalanches.
The effect of water pollution on living organisms
Regardless of the reasons, water pollution does significant harm. When a pollutant enters a living organism, a protective reaction is triggered. Certain toxins are neutralized by immunity, but in many cases it does not cope. Treatment and taking drastic measures are required. Depending on the sources of pollution, scientists determine the following poisoning indicators:
Genotoxicity . Exposure to heavy metals and other dangerous trace elements can alter or damage the structure of DNA. Serious problems are observed in the development of the body, various diseases develop.
Carcinogenicity. Cancer problems are often related to the quality of the water we consume. The danger lies in the possibility of the transformation of cells into cancerous.
Neurotoxicity. Chemical elements can affect the nervous system. Heavy metal pollution of the oceans leads to unforeseen events. Everyone heard about the ejection of whales from the water. The behavior of animals becomes inadequate. In some cases, they even begin to devour those who previously coexisted peacefully with them.
Disturbed energy exchange. Contaminants, acting on mitochondria, lead to the fact that energy in the body simply ceases to be produced. The body ceases to function, and even death occurs.
Reproductive failure . If the death of living organisms is not always possible with contamination of the reservoir, then reproductive abnormalities occur in 100% of cases. It so happens that in order to fix the genetic problem, it is necessary to artificially update the aquatic environment.
Diseases caused by dirty water
Environmental problems, water pollution lead to the spread of the most serious diseases. It is with this fluid that various pathogens and pathogenic organisms can enter the body, killing hundreds of thousands of lives. The most common diseases that dirty water brings are:
Regardless of the causes of water pollution , the prevention will be the use of filtered, bottled water. Some put silver objects in the water, they have a certain disinfecting effect.
Water treatment control
Understanding that environmental problems and water pollution in particular pose a threat to humanity, requirements for the behavior of people and the activities of enterprises are being created at the national and international levels. Procedures for monitoring the operation of cleaning systems have been developed:
Primary or mechanical . The main task is not to miss large objects into the reservoir. On drains, delaying gratings and filters are installed. Their timely cleaning is required, otherwise clogged gratings can provoke an accident.
Specialized . A certain type of pollutant is captured. There are, for example, traps for oil spills, fats, flakes, they are precipitated using coagulants.
Chemical. Such a system implies that waste water will be used in a closed (re) cycle. At the exit, substances are used that return it to its original form. This is technical water.
Tertiary cleaning. Water is treated with powders, special formulations, multi-stage filtered, killing harmful organisms and destroying other substances. It is used for domestic needs of citizens, as well as in the food industry, in agriculture.
Environmental Issues - Radioactive Water Pollution
The main sources that pollute the oceans include the following radioactive factors:
nuclear weapons tests;
discharges of radioactive waste;
major accidents (ships with nuclear reactors, Chernobyl nuclear power plant);
burial at the bottom of the oceans, seas of radioactive waste.
Environmental problems and water pollution, including those directly related to contamination with radioactive waste. For example, French and English nuclear plants infected almost the entire North Atlantic. Our country has become the culprit of pollution of the Arctic Ocean. Three nuclear underground reactors, as well as the production of Krasnoyarsk-26, clogged the largest Yenisei river. Obviously, radioactive products have landed in the ocean.
Radionuclide pollution of world waters
There is an acute problem of pollution of the oceans. We briefly list the most dangerous radionuclides that fall into it: cesium-137; cerium-144; strontium-90; niobium-95; yttrium-91. All of them have high bioaccumulative ability, cross the food chain and concentrate in marine organisms. This creates a danger to both humans and aquatic organisms.
The waters of the Arctic seas are subject to severe pollution of various sources of radionuclides. People blithely dump hazardous waste into the ocean, thereby turning it into a dead one. Man probably forgot that the ocean is the main wealth of the earth. It has powerful biological and mineral resources. And if we want to survive, it is urgent to take measures to save him.
Solutions
Rational water consumption, protection from pollution - the main tasks of mankind. Ways to solve environmental problems of water pollution lead to the fact that, first of all, great attention should be paid to discharges of hazardous substances into rivers. On an industrial scale, it is necessary to improve wastewater treatment technologies. In Russia, it is necessary to introduce a law that would increase the collection of fees for discharges. The proceeds should be directed to the development and construction of new environmental technologies. For the smallest emissions, the fee should be reduced, this will serve as a motivation to maintain a healthy environmental situation.
A major role in solving environmental problems is played by the upbringing of the younger generation. From an early age it is necessary to accustom children to respect, love of nature. To inspire them that the Earth is our big house, for the order in which every person is responsible. It is necessary to protect water, do not pour it thoughtlessly, try to prevent foreign objects and harmful substances from entering the sewer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to say that the environmental problems of Russia and water pollution concern, perhaps, everyone. The thoughtless waste of water resources, littering of rivers with various garbage has led to the fact that in nature there are very few clean, safe corners. Environmentalists have become much more vigilant, multiple measures are being taken to restore order in the environment. If each of us thinks about the consequences of our barbarian, consumer relations, the situation can be corrected. Only together with humanity will it be possible to save water bodies, the oceans and, possibly, the lives of future generations.