POLLUTION AND ITS VARIOUS TYPES(PART 1) | @gwillchrist|

Good day creative steamians, I wish us a happy weekend and a prosperous new week.

I will be teaching us about POLLUTION AND ITS VARIOUS TYPES

POLLUTION

Pollution is a Greek word that means defilement. Pollution is the release or addition of impurities (pollutants) into the environment in such amount to constitute danger to health or natural resources. Pollutants are noxious chemicals and refuse materials natural or man-made. Many pollutants accumulate in the environment because they are non-degradable i.e they cannot be broken down into simple harmless substances. These include plastics, glass, tin, cans and metal scraps. Noise is also pollution.

WATER POLLUTION

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Water pollution may be caused by:

• Industrial and solid waste such as garbage, bottles, metallic containers, etc.

• Domestic waste such as sewage or human shit, urine, bath water, kitchen waste etc.

• Agricultural chemicals which include pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fertilizer.

• Thermal pollution i.e releasing of water used in cooling power stations and atomic reactors into rivers, lakes and seas.

• Oil spillage resulting from explosions from oil well, natural gas, laundry detergents.

• Addition of dangerous chemicals such as nitrates and phosphorous of inorganic fertilizer.

EFFECTS OF WATER POLLUTION

• Free oxygen in the water is depleted thus killing off some beneficial organisms such as fish, crustaceans etc.

• Untreated sewage in water causes diseases such as cholera, typhoid.

• Pollutants such as phosphate provide excess of plant nutrients, stimulate excessive growth of water plants and disturb the ecological balance of the water. This is also known as EUTROPHICATION

• Heavy metals such as lead are toxic to organisms even at a very low concentration.

• Pesticides, fungicides and herbicides make the water poisonous to organism if accumulated in high amount.

• Oils spillage kills fish and other aquatic life. It also makes water unfit for drinking and planting of crops.

• Radioactive discharges are very dangerous on organisms and cause cancer, leukaemia, sterility and genetic disease.

• Thermal pollution has effect in aquatic ecosystems and organisms. They can also kill useful insects.

CONTROL OF WATER POLLUTION

• Sewage should be properly treated before being discharged into water.

• Prohibition of the discharge of industrial wastes, municipal wastes and heated water.

• Use of excess fertilizers should be avoided.

• Oil tankers should be carefully loaded and off loaded.

• Spray powdered chalk should be used to cover the floating oil and to sink it to the bottom of the sea.

• Burial or urban wastes in land-fill and conversion of solid waste to compost.

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