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Water Pollutants and Their Effects
Water Pollutants and Their Effects. Pollution is a serious problem that threatens the lives of many species. One type of pollution is water pollution, which is caused by numerous foreign substances entering the water and contaminating it, harming the fish within and possibly any life that later consumes the water.
Pollution is a serious problem that threatens the lives of many species. One type of pollution is water pollution, which is caused by numerous foreign substances entering the water and contaminating it, harming the fish within and possibly any life that later consumes the water.
Soil
Soil can cause problems in water in multiple ways. It can block sunlight, which hinders photosynthesis in the underwater plants. It can also block the gills of many of the fish in the water, causing them to suffocate. According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, "four hundred million tons of soil are carried by the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico each year." This is caused by erosion, either from natural causes or from businesses clearing areas for new buildings.
Nutrients
Nutrients may seem like a strange category for a pollutant to fall under, but it is a serious problem. This mainly comes from fertilizer that farmers use on their crops. The fertilizer runs off into the water, much the same way that soil does, and it affects the growth of the plants in the water. These plants may grow much larger than normal due to the great amounts of extra nitrogen and other nutrients in the fertilizer runoff; when they die, the decomposition of the organic material may cause a lack of oxygen in the water. This process is called eutrofication.
Bacteria
This is one of the more well-known pollutants. Bacterial pollution is usually caused by some sort of spill. The most common problem in this case is sewage contamination. A "USA Today" article by Traci Watson suggests that dog waste may be one leading cause of water pollution. "At some beaches, dogs help raise bacteria levels so high that visitors must stay out of the water," says Watson.
Farming Chemicals
As well as soil and fertilizer, farms often use many potentially harmful chemicals to protect their crops. The herbicides and pesticides may stop weeds and bugs from harming their crops, but when the soil and fertilizer end up in nearby bodies of water, these chemicals often accompany it. The pesticides and herbicides are very harmful to the aquatic life, especially in smaller bodies of water where these chemicals build up over a length of time.
