Question

Write the causes and effects of water pollution.

Answer 1

Water pollution: It is the contamination of the water bodies with pollutants.

Causes of water pollution:

1. Household Detergents:

• The household detergents include the compounds of phosphate, nitrate, ammonium, alkyl benzene sulphonate, etc.
• These are harmful substances that gather in the water.

2. Industrial wastes:

• The wastes of industries are discharged into the running water, rivers, and canals.
• Industrial wastes mainly contain inert suspended particles such as dust, coal, toxins like acid, base, phenols, cyanides, mercury, zinc, etc., and inorganic materials like-ferrous salts, sulfides, oils, and other residues of organic material and hot water.

3. Oil spills: The accidental discharge of petroleum from oil tankers, offshore oil drilling, and oil refineries also pollute coastal waters.

Effects of water pollution:

1. Addition of undesirable substances to water bodies:

• The undesirable substances such as fertilizers and pesticides in farming or poisonous substance.
• Mercury salts in paper industries allow the growth of disease-causing organisms, like the bacteria which cause diseases like cholera.

2. Change in temperature:

• There are varieties of life forms in water bodies.
• The aquatic organisms can sustain only in a certain range of temperature and hence, a sudden marked change in the temperature would be dangerous for them. The eggs and larvae of various animals are particularly susceptible to temperature changes, thereby affecting their breeding.