The Water Resource Issue
The water resource issue I chose was water pollution in freshwater. Water pollution is a global problem that varies in magnitude and type of pollutant from one region to another. In many locations, particularly in developing countries, the main water pollution issue is providing individuals with disease-free drinking water (WileyPLUS, n.d).
There are 8 different categories of water pollution. The first type is sewage; sewage is defined as water waste from sewers and drains. Sewage threatens public health; causes enrichment and high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) (WileyPLUS, n.d). Disease-causing agents are waste from infected individuals. This has become a problem because it spreads infectious disease (cholera, typhoid, infectious hepatitis, etc.) to others. The next type of water pollution is sediment pollution. Sediment pollution is the erosion of soil sediments from construction, agricultural lands, etc. Sediment pollution carries and places disease-causing agents and toxic chemicals into the water, as well as reducing light penetration, clogging gills of aquatic animals, and limiting photosynthesis while disrupting the food chain.
In addition, inorganic plant and algal nutrients; inorganic plants and algal nutrients are human and animal wastes, plant residue, fertilizer runoff, and atmospheric deposition. The problem with inorganic plants and algal nutrients is it stimulates growth of excess plants and algae, which disrupts natural balance between producers and consumers and causes enrichment, bad odors, and a high BOD; suspected of causing red tides, explosive blooms of toxic pigmented algae that threaten the health of humans and aquatic animals in coastal areas (WileyPLUS, n.d).
Along with inorganic plant and algal nutrients, inorganic chemicals are another type of water pollution. Inorganic chemicals are runoff from industries, irrigation, oil companies, storm drains and mines. Inorganic chemicals contaminate groundwater, and threaten drinking...
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