Two Ways That The Earth's Waters Become Polluted

It is extremely important to know exactly how water pollution occurs to know how it is affecting our lives as well as nature and animals. First off, there are two different ways that the earth’s water becomes polluted (“Water Pollution Causes”). The first category is Point source. This happens when harmful contaminants are directly emitted into a body of water. This is usually regulated and monitored. The second category, Non-point source pollution, is much harder to monitor. This contamination occurs when pollutants are emitted into our water from transport and environmental changes. An example of Point source pollution would be an oil spill from a boat, where the oil goes directly into the water. Where a source of Non-point source pollution would be the use of harmful pesticides. These chemicals soak into the ground, where there exists a natural source of groundwater, and they run into streams as well as rivers, contaminating the freshwater that we drink. The pollution of water has now become a serious environmental problem, and has not only been affecting nature, but as well our health and the economy of Quebec. Diagram 1 illustrates what percentage of Quebec’s water is used for specific areas.

The government of Quebec has now stated that “surface water and groundwater are part of the common heritage of the Quebec nation, and safe water is a human right” (“Great Lakes Law”). But there is only one problem with this: the world is running out of water. The government of Quebec has taken note that water management will be one of the most important issues of the 21st century. One of the biggest problems right now that our freshwater is facing is the threat of blue-green algae. Blue-green algae have been around for t...

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... affected by this. Each province that has jurisdiction over the Great Lakes have to publish a fish advisory every year, just to make sure that the water is not too contaminated. These contaminants can be spread through drinking the water, can cause sickness and skin infections.

Desalination, not being a perfect process, is not enough to save the world’s water from too much pollution. These harmful chemicals can build up over time to the point that we will not be able to extract them completely to make water suitable for human use. Certain areas are being more affected by this contamination than others, but most of these bodies of water run into each other. Our usage of harmful chemicals is only contributing to the pollution of our water, and this affects us and causes many other environmental issues, all of which need to be regulated, and eventually stopped.