Though most Americans can simply turn on the faucet when they are thirsty for a drink of water, millions of people around the world don’t have that same ability. In fact, in China alone, some 320 million people don’t have access to clean drinking water. While there are several reasons that contribute to that trend, environmental issues and water pollution problems certainly play a role. Finding solutions for water pollution is vital for making sure that everyone, no matter where they live, has access to water so that they can live happily and healthily. Unfortunately, those solutions are not always easy to find.
One of the main reasons that it can be tough to locate solutions is that, quite simply, many people do not understand exactly how is water pollution caused. Perhaps the biggest perpetrator of water pollution today is pesticides. Americans use roughly 2.2 billion pounds of pesticides every year, and more than 100 ingredients used in them are linked to causing health issues like cancer, birth defects, and even gene mutation. So cutting the use of pesticides is one of the best going green ideas for making sure everyone has clean drinking water.
Of course, when asking how is water pollution caused, you have to think about the waste that people produce. Plastic water bottles, that are generally used for drinking water, are one of the major pollutants of the Pacific Ocean, and cause a number of different hazards to fish and sea mammals. On top of that, more than 80% of the sewage produced in developing countries finds its way into rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. While products like pesticides can be quite problematic, waste and improper disposal also play a serious role in reducing water quality.
The answer to these types of problems is complex, and there isn’t necessarily one solution available to make sure all water is clean and everyone on the planet has the ability to simply turn on the faucet when they want a drink. Perhaps the best thing for people to do is find some information of water pollution and learn to recycle and dispose of waste properly. Everybody doing that would represent a big step forward towards cleaning up the planet’s water.
