Question

How is water pollution caused by human defecation in the open? How is this solved?

Answer 1

Water pollution - The unwanted and harmful change in the physical and chemical properties of water is called water pollution.

Pollution caused by human defecation in the open:

• In villages or underdeveloped areas of the country people generally defecate in open fields due to the unavailability of proper toilets and poverty.
• When this excreta is washed away by water due to rainfall for surface runoff, this excreta enters the rivers and streams and pollute it making the water unfit for drinking.
• This polluted water if consumed by humans may cause diseases like cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid etc.
• Also human excreta contains eggs of enteric worms like tapeworms that can cause severe health issues.

The solution for defecation in the open:

• The problem can be solved by using pit latrines to end the system of open defecation.
• The pit latrines do not allow washing away of excreta to water bodies and over time convert the waste into useful manure.