The Two Biggest Causes of Water Pollution

Water pollution has always had a major impact on the world and the well-being of those affected by it. The two biggest causes or sources responsible for water pollution are the following:

Domestic Sewage and Waste

Humans require water to survive. As one of the most important resources needed to sustain all life, humans, once done using water for daily usages like cooking, bathing, cooling and cleaning, dispose of it back into the environment. That is why domestic sewage and waste serves as one of the biggest contributions to water pollution. With each person using on average 100 to 150 liters of water daily, around 70% to 80% of water gets drained into municipal drains, which then again, gets discharged into rivers, lakes or tanks.

When domestic water gets mixed with either waste material like plastic, cloth, paper or chemicals get mixed together, it gets classified as either sewage or municipal water. These sources of contaminated water kill off oxygen in the water and eventually, disrupts the natural balance in the water, which also severely affects the aquatic system.

Industrial Waste (Effluents)

Since the scale of industrial activities continues to increase, a ton of waste products are generated, which gets discharged into water resources. Some of the biggest contributors to the accumulation of industrial waste are paper, chemicals, petrochemicals, metalworking, pulp, textiles, distillery waste and more. This type of waste is normally categorized as synthetic organic compounds or excess metals, which reach various water bodies through discharge, as well as leaching from waste dumps into the ground and surrounding freshwater resources. In most developed first world countries, industrial waste is managed on a large scale. Regardless of this fact, however, industrial discharges have been uncontrolled on a big scale for over a century, which has permanently damaged the earth and added to a big scale of pollution.