All of us are Adding to the Main Causes of Water Pollution
When you start pointing the finger of blame at certain industries claiming they cause water pollution, you have to turn it around so that it’s pointing at yourself instead. During the mid 20th century, industrial waste was the major reason for pollution, but after the government passed numerous acts during the 1970s which forced them to correct the way they discarded waste products, so now industry isn’t the main culprit it used to be. The simple fact is that you and I are the ones polluting our lakes, rivers, and streams, and until we take it upon ourselves to halt our dirty habits, the problem is only likely to deteriorate.
The population in the USA continues to increase by leaps and bounds. The pollution caused by one individual may seem minimal, but when you have the contaminants put into the water sources by huge numbers of people… Well, you understand the situation. Your neighbor is out replacing the oil in his car. Since he isn’t sure how to get rid of the previous oil, you see him dumping it down the storm drain. Your old car is leaking gasoline. You don’t want it on your driveway, and that means you park the old heap out in the street where the gas leaks out and runs down the storm drain. You help your brother paint his bedroom, and watch as he goes out to the street to scrub the brushes with turpentine.
You have to admit, these things happen constantly. Whether it’s children throwing things down the storm drains in play, a restaurant doing away with rancid cooking oil, or else you yourself spraying pesticide sprays and fertilizer on the yard that will sooner or later wash off into the drains, it’s all adding to the problem of pollution within this country.
The terrible thing is, the majority of people aren’t even cognizant of what they’re doing. Not enough people put anything into a storm drain and think about where it goes. They’re just glad to get rid of it. However, beyond sight doesn’t signify it isn’t causing issues in the waterways. The water in the drains runs to lakes, rivers, or streams, merges with other polluted water already received from upstream, and then runs into bigger bodies of water, including the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In the Gulf, all these contaminants are killing the aquatic life that lives there.
Water pollution is known as a problem that will keep growing along with our increasing population. With experts predicting water shortages by the mid 21st century, we all need to get serious now with cleaning our major causes of water pollution such as through municipal water treatment systems or emergency water treatment methods. If we don’t, what sort of a world are we likely to leave to our kids?
Tags: causes of water pollution, water contamination, water pollution, water pollution causes
