Water is an essential ingredient for life and may be the most precious resource the earth has to offer humanity. Many believe, however, that this valuable commodity is in danger as a result of man-made pollution. Through disrespect, shortsightedness and neglect, the species may be compromising its own survival unless there is significant improvement in water quality and management. The purpose of this paper will be to discuss water and its pollution through the various contaminants found in domestic, agricultural and industrial uses. In addition, a review of the legal issues and current methods of water treatment and purification will be included.
All the fresh water in the world's lakes, creeks, streams and rivers equals less than .01 percent of the earth's total water supply (4:80). The system is continually replenished by rainfall and water vapor from the atmosphere in the form of rain or snow. Today, however, much of this water supply is contaminated on the way down to the ground by gases and particles that mankind introduces into the air (4:80).
Further, fresh water is constantly moving towards the ocean and in so doing picks up other particles and dissolved matter--organic and inorganic waste. Where the population density is low, the waste can be degraded by microbes through a process known as self-purification. However, where its density is high, large quantities of waste accumulate in bodies of water, including the ocean, and harming aquatic life. The water will evaporate and return to the atmosphere as pure water vapor and the cycle will then repeat itself.
"The World Resources Institute estimates that 41,000 cubic kilometers of water per year returns to the sea from the land, counterbalancing the atmospheric vapor transport from sea to land" (4:80). Of this amount, about 27,000 cubic kilometers return to the sea as flood vater, another 5,000 cubic kilometers flow into the sea in uninhabited areas, leavin...