Causes of Water Pollution

Disposal of solid liquid waste: This is one of the major causes of water pollution. People who live around water bodies, especially, the coastal belts, lakes and rivers dump refuse and human excreta into them. Treated and untreated sewage waste from industries such as aluminum smelters and running firms discharge toxic liquid substance into water bodies. Moreover liquid wastes from gutters drain into seas, lagoons, rivers and streams.

Application of Agro-Chemicals: Excessive application of agro-chemicals is a cause of water pollution. When chemicals such as pesticides, insecticides and weedicides are excessively applied by farmers, rain water may wash them into streams, rivers and lakes. Moreover, these water bodies become contaminated, because farmers wash the chemical containers in them after application.

Oil Spills: Oil spillage into water bodies is caused by faulty oil tankers, steamers outboard motors and offshore wells. Drivers who wash their vehicles near streams and rivers release dirty oil into them which tends to pollute the water body. There are also pipes which transport petroleum from one station to another under the sea, when there is a spillage or leakage there are serious consequences involved, an example is the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill which happened in the Gulf of Mexico on 20th April, 2010. This harmed and killed a lot of the aquatic life around those areas since they could not breathe or move away. It takes quite some time to cleanup and is very expensive, putting more aquatic life in danger.

Crude method of fishing: People who adopt crude methods of fishing, degrade and pollute water bodies. The use of chemicals in fishing kills other organisms in rivers, lakes and streams. Fishermen also use explosives (DDT) to blow up areas of the water body causing the fish to die instantly and float upwards. These chemicals also make the bodies unsafe for domestic and other activities.

The buildup of debris, clay, sand and minerals in water bodies can contaminate the water as they are transported from one area to another, thus making it less pure for use.