Water is abundantly available on Earth. Water is necessary for life to sustain to sustain. About 71 % of Earth surface is covered with water. Water is available as surface water in seas, ocean, river,lakes; as ground water, as ice caps in polar region, as water vapour in air. Only 1% of it is water and is available for drinking, domestic and other uses.
Water is very essential to maintain good health and hygiene. Water pollution has reduced the availability of drinking water. Water pollution can be caused by geological processes or by human activities. The results of these will affect the quality of water. The natural processes such as volcanic eruptions, mineral deposits, erosion of rock all these processes are a part of nature evolution and cannot be controlled. The contamination of ground water with inorganic and organic matter would be under control when there is no human interference. The regions where some of the mineral deposits are in excess and water always has excess of fluoride and arsenic.
Water pollution due to human activities is causing lot of problems. Mining activities, dumping of sewage into seas, refuse run off, agricultural waste rum off, industrial wastes all these and others contribute to water pollution. With the advancement in technology, the waste related with these is also increasing. The heavy metals such as Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Copper, Zinc find applications in manufacture of various products. Lead is used in heavy machines, lead acid batteries, paints containing lead oxide pigment. Lead and Cadmium are used in production of solar cells. Mercury can contaminate air as well as water. Elemental Mercury can be carried by dust and deposit. Mercury is used in thermometers and barometers. Mercury contaminated water is known to cause a deadly disease called minamata that is caused by consumption of fish from such water. The disposal of products containing these elements into water bodies and drinking contaminated water will cause kidney disease, cancer and also death.
On the other hand agricultural activities have also known to cause pollution. Excess use of fertilizers causes to increase urea, sodium, nitrate, nitrite, calcium, magnesium content in soil. Excess of rainfall would carry the contaminated soil to the near by water sources . Improper handling of domestic and livestock waste also contaminated water. In addition to these problems, several pathogenic bacteria,virsus grow further aggravating the problem. The water contamination affect life on land and water alike. Eutrophication results in growth of algae and decrease the available oxygen in water for the plants and fishes.
Proper awareness has to be created for disposal of waste. Segregation of wastes is a good practice. Farmers have to be trained to use only required quantity of fertilizers. Water quality has to be tested frequently to keep contaminants in check. These methods can help in maintaining good health and control diseases from water. It is also everyone’s responsibility to use water in controlled manner. Everybody has Right to have clean drinking water.
