Water Pollution is one of today's many problems. Water is probably one of the most important resources we have. People can survive without food for several weeks, but without water we would die in less than one week. On a slightly less dramatic note, millions of liters of water are needed every day worldwide for washing, irrigating crops, and cooling industrial processes, not to mention leisure industries such as swimming pools and water sports centers. Despite our dependence on water, we use it as a dumping ground for all sorts of waste, and do very little to protect the water supplies we have. Today we need water more than anything it is essential for life. Everyone wants clean water to drink, for recreation, and just to enjoy looking at. If water becomes polluted, it loses its value to us economically and aesthetically, and can become a threat to our health and to the survival of the fish living in it and the wildlife that depends on it. .
Water Pollution can occur where there is human activity. The water we use is taken from lakes and rivers, and from underground and after we have used it and contaminated it, most of it returns to these locations. The used water of a community is called wastewater, or sewage. If it is not treated before being discharged into waterways, serious pollution is the result. .
There are many types of Water Pollution that people are unaware of. Some of them destroy our bodies of water and we do not even seem to notice. .
The way we prevent Water Pollution is to keep our used water from spoiling; we have to remove the pollutants before the water gets back into the environment. .
Water Pollution is not always visible. A river or lake may seem clean, but still be polluted. Are the effects of pollution necessarily immediate; they may take years to appear. Nobody escapes the effects of water pollution. We recycle and reuse water constantly. We withdraw it, use it, sometimes clean it, and then return it to the lake or river where others often use it again downstream.