Cause Water Pollution example essay topic

3,141 words
Water pollution and pollution in general is a problem that people don't like to deal with. Water pollution can cause so much damage to people and to the animals that live in that body of water. The laws that we have are doing what they need to but we need to monitor the water more closely because if we don't catch the pollution when it happens it could cause a big disaster. It could kill all of the plant life that lives in the water and the animals that live there to. Some of the pollutions that occur are very hard to clean up and things might never be the same that it was. To clean something up it takes a lot of hours and a lot of man power to get this mess taken care of.

Water pollution could be the cause of some animals being endangered. The government needs to strongly enforce environmental policies in order to resolve the current problems that our facing our bodies of water. The laws that we have right now are doing what they need to. It is control the pollution level right now. It can get out of hand at any time.

It just takes one big oil spill or someone dumping large amounts of items into the water. All kinds of things can cause pollution and we can't watch over everything. Water pollution can kill various kinds of animals that have a habitat in the water. The water is home to so many types of animals. If the water pollution was so bad it could make the animals in water become endangered after a period of time. People aren't always the cause of pollution.

It can happen on its own. Some people don't know that, and it's true. There are so many types of pollutions that we the people don't even know the names of time. We see pollution and know that's what it is.

The thing they don't know is what kind it is and that's what people need to know. What the cause of pollution is so then next time they might be able to stop is from ever happening. Toxic Substances are a chemical pollutant that is not a naturally occurring substance in an aquatic ecosystem. Theses kinds of things come from plants that have a drainage system that runs off into the water and they dumb the things that they won't need anymore. These chemicals can be very harmful to animals.

When sewage is thrown into the water an organic substance occurs. With this happening the water loses oxygen and with the lack of oxygen it can kill all of the aquatic organisms. When they die they are broken down by decomposes which then lead to a further depletion of the oxygen levels (Krantz 1996). When a power or Industrial plant uses water to cool down things inside the factory and then they release the water back to where it came from can cause a Thermal Pollution. When the water is returned at a higher temperature then what it was at. That then leads to a decrease in the dissolved oxygen level in the water.

It also increases the biological demand of aquatic organisms for oxygen (Krantz 1996). There are some things that are not caused by human activity such as Ecological Pollution. An example of ecological pollution would be an increased rate of siltation of a waterway after a landslide which would increase the amount of sediments in runoff water. Another example would be when a large animal, such as a deer, drowns in a flood and a large amount of organic material is added to the water as a result. Major geological events such as a volcano eruption might also be sources of ecological pollution (Krantz 1996). Water pollution comes in all different types.

You don't know what one to going to happen till it happens. There are three other forms that can occur from different ways. When there is an oil spill and which there many of those that we experience a form of pollution called Petroleum. Accidental discharges of petroleum are an important cause of pollution along the shore lines.

Off-shore drilling operations also cause water pollution. A fun fact here to know is that for every one ton of oil spilled there is a million tons of oil transported (EPA 2003). That doesn't seem like it's that bad by the numbers of oil transported to the number that is spilled but one oil spill is a big problem. It affects everything living in that water that is affected.

People think the sun is good when they are laying out ay the beach and getting there tan. Heat affects the water just like it affects our skin. An increased in temperature results in death of many aquatic organisms. Nuclear power plants cause a pollution called Radioactive Substance. This happens from plants that use radioactive materials.

People don't know who to blame when it comes to finding the person who caused the pollution. People always want to point there fingers at someone else but themselves. Lawn fertilizers, fertilizer production, industrial waste, and even car exhaust creates excess nitrogen that's deposited on the land and causes everything from acidification of lakes and streams to the loss of soil nutrients and the decline of certain marine species (Belsie 1999). When this happens it runs off into bodies of water or even streams that connect to a body of water and it creates a growth spurt for water planets. This then makes the plants living in the water to grow very fast like algae. If you have an area that has this kind of growth spurt it's called a dead zone.

It's called this because the algae plants use oxygen to live and they use a lot of it when they get bigger (Belsie 1999). The bigger they are the more oxygen that they are going to use and this will cause a lack of oxygen and the fish and animals living here won't be able to breath and then they will begin to die of slow and soon enough there won't be anything else living in that area except algae plants. The algae plants may cause some kinds of problems but eventually they die or get eaten by other microscopic organisms (Belsie 1999). You can't blame all of this on the farmers. This could happen by anyone. Car exhaust can create things like this to happen to the algae plants.

Everyone who drives a car can or could be the cause foe this happening. An oil spill occurs and as soon as people find out about it they point fingers at the oil company, but really some of the pollution is caused by them. Many of the causes of pollution are from sewage and fertilizers containing nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. The nutrients over stimulate the growth of aquatic plants and algae. Excessive growths of these plants clog our waterways, and they block the light to the deeper parts of the water. With this it would be harmful to aquatic organisms as if affects the respiration ability of fish and other invertebrates that live in the water.

People put things along the shoreline and think that it's alright. They might leave things at the beach and not think of anything about it, but when it rains it washes things off banks, plowed fields, construction and logging sites into the water and it put harms to the water, the environment, and the animals that live in the water. Some people think if they throw something into the water it won't hurt nothing because its just that one time and they won't do it again, but If everyone was thinking the same way that person was then there would be so much juke in the water cause things to be harmed. Water pollution isn't just caused by human beings.

The environment also has a role in Water Pollution. The effects of acid deposition that it has on water quality, although it's complicated and variable, it has been well documented. The impacts from these acidic compounds in the atmosphere can occur directly, by deposition on the water surface, or indirectly, by contact with one or more components of the terrestrial ecosystem before reaching any aquatic system. (Water pollution) Water Pollution isn't all caused by mankind. The environment plays a role in it to. Even though effects of acid deposition don't sound that bad, the interactions of acid deposition with the terrestrial of the waters draining these watersheds eventually change the conditions in the lakes downstream from where it's coming from.

Substances contained in acid rain deposition can impair plant growth, alter soil composition and affect reproduction capacities of many species of fish, insects, aquatic plants and bacteria. The decline in the population of any of these aquatic organisms affects the food chain. Dwindling populations of insects and small a qua tic plants and animals are especially serious because the entire food chain is affected. In addition to low pH, acidification releases elements such as aluminum and manganese into the waterway from sources in soil and bottom sediments.

These are also detrimental to organisms. (Water pollution) Another effect of water pollution is the acceleration of the eutrophication processes of waters. Eutrophication is the aging of a lake by biological enrichment of its water. In a young lake the water is cold and clear, supporting little life.

With time, streams draining into the lake introduce nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which encourage the growth of aquatic organisms. As the lake's fertility increases, plant and animal life burgeons, and organic remains begin to be deposited on the lake bottom. Over the centuries, as silt and organic debris pile up, the lake grows shallower and warmer, with warm-water organisms supplanting those that thrive in a cold environment. Marsh plants take root in the shallows and begin to fill in the original lake basin. Eventually the lake gives way to bog, finally disappearing into land. Depending on climate, size of the lake, and other factors, the natural aging of a lake may span thousands of years.

People think that offshore oil drilling is a cause of pollution. They think when there is an oil spill that is the main reason for pollution, but there wrong. That's not even the leading cause of pollution. According to statistics offshore drill and large oil spills are the two smallest causes of pollution (Brown 1978).

Out of the total percentage of pollution in the world 2.12 percent is causes by offshore drill, well only 5.24 percent is caused by large oil spills (Brown 1978). The leading cause of pollution is down the drain. Down the drain makes up about 51.45 percent of the worlds pollution. People are the main cause of pollution. Not thinking of what we are putting down the drain.

The definitions of the different forms of oil pollution are as follows. Offshore drilling pollution comes from operation discharges and drilling accidents during oceanic oil exploration. Large oil spills typically result from and oil tanker accidents such as collisions and groundings. Natural oil pollution (seeps) comes from seepage off the ocean floor and eroding sedimentary rocks.

Natural oil pollution into the marine environment has occurred for thousands if not millions of years. Up in Smoke oil pollution comes from oil consumption in automobiles and industry. Typically the oil hydrocarbons find their way into the ocean through atmospheric fallout. Oil pollution from routine maintenance occurs from ship bilge cleaning and so forth. Lastly, oil pollution occurs from people dumping oils and oil products down storm drains after oil changes, urban street runoff and so forth. The worst oil pollution comes from oil dumped into the drains and road runoff (Dolan 1997).

Cruise ships were becoming a problem. They were dumping things into the water well there were on a voyage. The EPA came up with a clean water act. It now requires cruise ships to have and use marine sanitation devices to treat sewage's, but the devices do such a poor job of treating the sewage. There is no independent verification that they even operate properly or are even used at all (Oceana). The cruise ships dump raw and treated sewage into the ocean and it's not illegal because they are exempt from the United States Clean Water Act discharge permit program (Oceana).

Even though oil pollution is a huge environmental issue we still need to keep transporting it. We use oil in our everyday life. Every either drives or rides in a car that is using gasoline. Everyone wonders how that gasoline got there. It was shipped over seas to get to the states. There are many different methods of prevention to stop marine oil pollution.

In the case of oil exploration and oil tankers there are new procedures and equipment to ensure that less pollution occurs. Most oil tankers now are double hulled to reduce the chance of oil leakage if a tanker runs aground. Oceangoing ships filter out most of the oil from bilge maintenance to ensure that it does not reach the ocean. Used oil recycling facilities exist to ensure people do not pour oil down storm drains and pollute millions of gallons of water. Another method is for people to spray-paint fish pictures near storm-drains so people do not put oils and other substances down the drain.

This method is cheap and remarkably effective as people find other ways to properly dispose of oils. Even will all of these new methods for oil pollution reduction oil pollution? It still does occur. According to Omar Chaalal, "For every thousand barrels of crude oil transported around the world, one is spilt into the sea" (Graham-Rowe 2003). So he decided to create a boat that can clean up the oil that is spill. Omar Chaalal, an engineer at the United Arab Emirates University in Al-Am.

He designed a tanker to recover lost oil, which not only helps to reduce any environmental damage but also produces a sell able product (Graham-Rowe 2003). On board the ship there is a large tank which is completely filled with seawater before the ship leaves the dock. When the ship gets to where there has been an oil spill it opens a series of holes in the bottom of the hull to connect the water to the tank to the water outside. Just like a glass full of water that is upturned in a filled sink, the water in the tank does not flood out as long as the holes remain submerged (Graham-Rowe 2003). As the ship moves along, its designed hull shape forces any oil it encounters underneath the boat past the holes. Oil is less dense than seawater, so it rises up through the holes to the top of the tank.

It gradually displaces the seawater in the tank until it contains nothing but oil. After all of that the water is cleaned up, the holes on the hull are closed, and then the boat returns to the dock. This shows someone who cares about the environment. He came up with a boat that will clean the water.

It doesn't clean it completely but does a very good job for what it is. There needs to be more people like this so then we won't even have to worry about pollution and the environment will stay clean. We the people need to take a stand for one another. There needs to be more laws and bigger penalties for people who are polluting our water. There needs to be someone who is in charge of monitoring the waters for pollution so they can enforce the laws and give out fines to those who don't respect the law. Everyone needs to know what the rules / laws are.

People in today's society don't know what the laws and regulations are for polluting. Some people are polluting and they don't even know that's what there doing. It is the government's job to make sure that people know what's going on. It's the government's job to make sure that the polluting is monitor in ever city. Just not the cities that already have a problem but the ones that don't have one. People need to use common senses to.

They should know not to throw things in the water or even anywhere. That's why we make garbage cans and recycle drop offs, so that things that to be recycled can be and the things that need to be thrown out can be done to. There are organizations out there that are fighting things like this. They want to make sure that all of the animals that live in the water our safe from people who don't care about anything but them self's and throw things into storm drains or even right into the lake. Oceana is one of the organizations that are fighting against this.

The government needs to take a step into this and help out. They pay to keep the war going. They also need to start funding money so that origination's like Oceana can do whatever they need to clean this problem up. If people don't take a stand soon this could turn into a bigger problem in what it already is. For young adults that are 18 years old right now. There kids might not be able to see a clean lake or even a clean environment.

People in this century are destroying the environment and they think since they seen it all that its fines to do whatever they want, but really they don't think about the future. There kids are the future and if this kind of pollution to the water and even the environment is going to kill it and there wont be an environment..