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A practical definition of water pollution is: "Water pollution is the addition of substances or energy forms that directly or indirectly alter the nature of the water body in such a manner that negatively affects its legitimate uses." [1]: 6 Water is typically referred to as polluted when it is impaired by anthropogenic contaminants.
Although these pollutants have originated from a point source, the long-range transport ability and multiple sources of the pollutant make it a nonpoint source of pollution; if the discharges were to occur to a body of water or into the atmosphere at a single location, the pollution would be single-point.
Topsoil runoff from farm, central Iowa (2011). Water pollution in the United States is a growing problem that became critical in the 19th century with the development of mechanized agriculture, mining, and manufacturing industries—although laws and regulations introduced in the late 20th century have improved water quality in many water bodies. [1]
Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. [153]: 6 It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants mix with these water bodies. Contaminants can come ...
Pages in category "Water pollution" The following 181 pages are in this category, out of 181 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. ...
The consumption of polluted water leads to many deaths. In the year 2015, 1.8 million people world wide died because of water pollution and over 1 billion people became ill. [8] Low-income and third-world communities are especially endangered, because they often live close to industries with high emission. [8]
The difference with water pollution, however, is that the problems that cause local water quality issues differ from those that create regional air pollution problems. Discharges into water are difficult to measure and effects are dependent on a variety of other factors and vary with weather and location.
Population equivalent (PE) or unit per capita loading, or equivalent person (EP), is a parameter for characterizing industrial wastewaters.It essentially compares the polluting potential of an industry (in terms of biodegradable organic matter) with a population (or certain number of people), which would produce the same polluting load.