140 Unknown Facts About Water Pollution

Facts About Water Pollution - Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. 6 Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs, and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants are introduced into these water bodies. Water pollution can be attributed to one of four sources: sewage discharges, industrial activities, agricultural activities, and urban runoff including stormwater. It can be grouped into surface water pollution (either freshwater pollution or marine pollution) or groundwater pollution. For example, releasing inadequately treated wastewater into natural waters can lead to the degradation of these aquatic ecosystems. Water pollution can also lead to water-borne diseases for people using polluted water for drinking, bathing, washing, or irrigation. Water pollution reduces the ability of the body of water to provide the ecosystem services (such as drinking water) that it would otherwise provide.

Today in this post we are going to share Facts about Water Pollution. Please share this post with your friends. I hope you like this post.

Unknown Facts About Water Pollution

The largest quantities of water are in the oceans.
Around 70% of industrial waste is dumped to water.
46 percent of plastics produced on the planet float;
About 700 million people worldwide drink contaminated water.
80% of the water pollution is caused due to domestic sewage.
1.3 million gallons of oil is spilled into the ocean every year;
Almost two million tons of human waste are exposed daily to water.
Oil is more harmful to the ocean's ecosystem than waste and trash;
There are many sources of water pollution, both legal and illegal.
Water is polluted by humans when they dump contaminates into water.
85 percent of Bangladesh's groundwater is contaminated with arsenic;
40,000 tons of plastics are currently floating on the oceans' surface;
There are more microplastics in our oceans than stars in the Milky Way;
About two million tons of human waste is disposed of in water every day.
An estimated 1000 children die every day in India due to polluted water.
Marine pollution is the act of polluting one of the Earth’s five oceans.
80 percent of urban sewage discharged into the Mediterranean Sea is untreated;
Water pollution is the process of introducing contaminates to a body of water.
Humans are the primary source of the contaminates that pollute bodies of water.
Groundwater pollution is the act of polluting groundwater sources and aquifers.
At least 320 million people in China do not have access to clean drinking water.
Water pollution is the major cause of various diseases like cholera and typhoid.
Oil spills: more harmful to the ocean than waste and trash | Photo: Shutterstock
Surface water pollution is the act of polluting lakes, rivers, ponds and streams.
More than 6 billion pounds of garbage, mainly plastic end up in the oceans every year.
Fourteen billion pounds of garbage, mostly plastic, is dumped into the ocean every year.
On average, 250 million people worldwide succumb to diseases related to water pollution.
The contaminated water is the main cause of various diseases such as cholera and typhus.
Over 30 billion tons of urban sewage discharged into lakes, rivers, and oceans each year.
Globally, 80 percent of municipal wastewater is discharged into the environment untreated.
For every one million tons of oil that are shipped, one ton is spilled into the waterways;
20% of groundwater in China which are used as drinking water contaminated with carcinogens.
Every year, more people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war.
As per reports by UNESCO, 27% of the urban population do not have piped water in their homes.
Lack of safe drinking water and sanitation in cities leads to cholera, malaria, and diarrhea.
Lake Karachay, in Russia, is considered the most contaminated and polluted lake on the planet;
Oceans, lakes, rivers, ponds, aquifers and groundwater are polluted by humans every single day.
The source of water pollution can be defined as a point source (PS) or a non-point source (NPS).
The same tsunami debris created islands totaling 70 kilometers in length which float in the ocean.
40 percent of all lakes and rivers in the United States are too polluted for fishing and swimming;
Water is polluted naturally by volcanic eruptions, algae blooms, storms and other natural sources.
Every eight seconds, a child under the age of five dies from diseases related to contaminated water;
Planet Earth has now around 500 "dead zones," the equivalent to the territory of the United Kingdom;
15 million children under the age of five die each year because of diseases caused by drinking water.
Nitrate from agriculture is the most common chemical contaminant in the world’s groundwater aquifers.
Grocery bags: 80 percent of all trash floating in the oceans is made of plastic | Photo: Shutterstock
Plastics and water pollution kill more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year.
Aquatic animals have faced an estimated extinction rate five times more than that of terrestrial animals.
Fresh water on earth is only 2.5% of the total water when 70% of the earth's surface is covered by water.
In North America's Lake Erie, 85 percent of the plastic particles are smaller than two-tenths of an inch;
About 10% of America’s beaches fail to meet the federal benchmark for what constitutes safe swimming water.
Only 12 percent of the oil that is leaked into the ocean is the result of spills - the rest comes from land;
Water pollution kills around 10,000 people around the world every day - that's 3.6 million people every year;
Underground Bangladeshi water is contaminated with arsenic, which is highly toxic, poisonous and carcinogenic.
80 percent of all trash floating in the oceans is made of plastic, i.e., around 46,000 pieces per square mile;
There are three types of water pollution, surface water pollution, marine pollution and groundwater pollution.
Canada has 10 most polluted rivers– some of which are the Petitcodiac River, Okanagan river and Eastmain River.
80% of the water pollution is caused due to domestic sewage like throwing garbage on open ground and water bodies.
Each year, 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, stormwater, and industrial waste are dumped into U.S. waters.
Asia has the highest number of contaminated rivers than any other continent, mainly of bacteria from human waste.
According to WHO and UNICEF, approximately 894 million people globally don’t have access to improved water sources.
15 million children under the age of five years die every year from diseases caused by drinking contaminated water.
The total volume of water available on Earth is about 1.4 billion km, and about 70% of the earth is covered in water.
In America 40% of rivers and 46% of the lakes are polluted and unsuitable for swimming, fishing or any other activity.
The same 2011 tsunami debris in Japan created a 70 km long island of debris that is floating out into the Pacific Ocean.
The Ganges river in India is one of the most polluted in the world. It contains sewage, trash, food, and animal remains.
According to UNICEF, more than 3000 children die every day globally due to the consumption of contaminated drinking water.
Leather and chemical industries cause are major contributors to water pollution and are emerging leading market economies.
The nuclear crisis created by the tsunami of 2011, unleashed 11 million liters of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.
The most common element found in the world's oceans is plastic, but there are also fishing gear and nets and cigarette buts;
10 percent of the plastic we use in our daily lives - the equivalent to 700 billion plastic bottles - ends up in the oceans;
40 percent of China's water bodies are polluted, and roughly 700 million Chinese citizens drink contaminated water regularly;
The Ganges river in India is considered the most polluted river in the world and contains dirt, garbage, dead animals and humans.
In America, 40% of the rivers and 46% of the lakes are polluted and are considered unhealthy for swimming, fishing or aquatic life.
Asia has a maximum number of polluted rivers than anywhere else in the world. Most of it contains bacteria created from human waste.
Los Angeles dumps 22,000 pounds (9,979 kilograms) of soda bottles, grocery bags, and plastic straws into the Pacific Ocean every day;
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a continent made from plastic trash, is thought to be 386,000 square miles, i.e., an area bigger than Texas;
50 percent of all sea turtles, 44 percent of all seabirds, 22 percent of all cetaceans, and a long list of fish species have already eaten plastics;
The waste produced in the river contains bacteria, parasites, and viruses. These cause life-threatening diseases like diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 38% of the European Union’s water bodies are under pressure from agricultural pollution.
20% of the groundwater in China is used as drinking water, which is highly contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals that cause high levels of water pollution.
As per U.S. EPA estimates, every year in the U.S, 1.2 trillion gallons of sewage from household, industry, and restaurants is dumped into U.S. water annually.
According to the WHO (World Health Organization) and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), around 2.5 billion people do not have access to improved sanitation.
Freshwater in the world is only 2.5% of the total water available on this planet. Make sure the water you drink is clean by using a water filter on your refrigerator.
More than 70 percent of China’s rivers and lakes are polluted, government reports have said, and almost half may contain water that is unfit for human consumption or contact.
Industry dumps an estimated 300-400 MT of polluted waste into water bodies every year. It includes millions of tonnes of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge and other wastes.
Rivers in the Asian subcontinent are considered to be the most polluted. The bacteria (from human waste) found in these rivers are 3 times as much as that of the global average.
Huge oil spill was caused by BP in the year 2010. Over 1,000 animals, i.e., birds, turtles, mammals, have been reported dead, and many of them were on the endangered species list.
According to the World Health Organization, 3.2 million children under the age of five in developing nations die each year as a result of unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation.
Most of the ocean plastic waste can be found in the five subtropical gyres - Indian Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, and South Pacific Ocean;
In the United States, there are thought to be over 20,000 known abandoned and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites and these sites could contaminate the groundwater if there is a leak.
The agricultural sector is one of the largest sources of water pollution. The runoff from the agricultural sector introduces animal waste, pesticides and fertilizers to bodies of water.
The nuclear crisis that occurred in Japan after the 2011 Tsunami prompted the Japanese government dumped 11 million liters (2 million gallons) of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.
80 percent of ocean pollution comes from land-based sources - oil, pesticides, septic tanks, dirt, discharge of nutrients, untreated sewage, run-off, farms, motor vehicles, ranches, etc.;
Groundwater in Bangladesh is contaminated with arsenic. Arsenic is very toxic, acute poison and a carcinogen. Approximately 85% of the total area of Bangladesh has contaminated groundwater.
Water pollution has a negative impact on our environment. It can damage aquatic habitats, kill off aquatic and terrestrial animals and limit the amount of drinking water available to humans.
A point source of water pollution is when a body of water is polluted by an identifiable single source. For example, a factory or sewage drainage pipe would be a point source of water pollution.
The Citarum River in West Java, Indonesia, Asia is considered the most polluted river in the world. It’s estimated around 340,000 tons of wastewater is dumped into the Citarum River every single day.
The Mississippi River carries an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution into the Gulf of Mexico each year, creating a “dead zone” in the Gulf each summer about the size of New Jersey.
High levels of nitrates in water from nutrient pollution can also be particularly harmful to infants, interfering with their ability to deliver oxygen to tissues and potentially causing “blue baby syndrome.”
Plastic waste being a major water pollutant, is causing huge destruction of marine life and is believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000 sea mammals, sea birds and various types of fishes.
On average 250 million people succumb each year from diseases caused by the contaminated water while according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF almost 2.5 billion people lack access to valuable health conditions.
In 2018, it was estimated that the Great Pacific garbage patch contained 88,100 tons of debris and around 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic. Keep that in mind the next time the grocery store asks if you want “paper or plastic”.
China’s Yangtze River is the world’s third longest river. The annual discharge of sewage and industrial waste in the Yangtze River has reached about 25 billion tons, and it is 42 percent of the country’s total sewage discharge, according to WWF.
Agriculture accounts for 70% of total water consumption worldwide and is the single-largest contributor to non-point-source pollution to surface water and groundwater. The other key sources of water pollution are human settlements and industries.
Cruise ships are also a major source of water pollution. They produce over 200,000 gallons of sewage, which is mostly released in the ocean. Apart from that, they are also causing at least 35,000 gallons of water contamination due to the oil spill.
The Mississippi River is a giant, slow-moving river where agricultural runoff is one of the leading causes of water pollution as much as with other rivers in the United States. Current agricultural practices lead to nutrient loading and, in turn, to eutrophication.
A non-point source of water pollution is when a body of water is polluted by an unidentifiable single source. For example, a small farm has minimal fertilizer contaminates, but hundreds of small farms can collectively create a large source of fertilizer contaminates.
Globally, unsanitary water supplies also exact a health toll in the form of diseases. At least 2 billion people drink water from sources contaminated by feces, according to the World Health Organization, and that water may transmit dangerous diseases such as cholera and typhoid.
Oil is another large source of water pollution. You may think oil spills from tankers are the biggest source of oil pollutants, but the biggest source is consumers. Just think of how much oil leaks from cars around the world every day. That oil is then washed into a storm drain and ends up in our waterways.
Wastewater is another large source of water pollution. Wastewater is all the water used by humans that is not potable (drinkable). Wastewater is created from sinks, toilets, showers and commercial activities. All that water that goes down the drain must go somewhere, and a lot of times its dump right back into waterways.
Speaking of plastic garbage in the ocean, did you know there is massive collection of garbage in the Pacific Ocean known as the Great Pacific garbage patch? Guess what, there is also one in the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, both respectively called the Indian Ocean garbage patch and the North Atlantic garbage patch.
According to the survey done by Food & Water Watch cites that approximately 3.5 billion people in 2025 will face water shortage issues. This will be mainly due to water pollution. This is likely to happen because the world pollution is increasing tremendously with more water sources getting contaminated as a result of water pollution.
Pure garbage is another large source of water pollution. Think of all the paper, plastic and metal garbage that ends up in waterways. This garbage breaks down and introduces contaminates to the water. Plastics can take hundreds of years to breakdown and in some cases thousands. Imagine all the plastic that can build in the ocean over a thousand years.
In a global review of water pollution from agriculture, out of the 3 928 km3 of freshwater that is withdrawn every year, it is estimated that only 44% is consumed, mainly through evapotranspiration by irrigated agriculture. The remaining 56% (2 212 km3 per year) is released into the environment as urban wastewater (approximately 330 km3), industrial wastewater – including cooling water – (approximately 660 km3) or agricultural drainage (approximately 1 260 km3).
The most important water contaminants created by human activities are microbial pathogens, nutrients, oxygen-consuming materials, heavy metals and persistent organic matter, as well as suspended sediments, nutrients, pesticides and oxygen-consuming substances, much of it from non-point sources. Heat, which raises the temperature of the receiving water, can also be a pollutant. Pollutants are typically the cause of major water quality degradation around the world.

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