Industrial Water Contamination

Industrial Water Contamination

Water pollution initially began due to ignorance and not having access to knowledge about how germs and bacteria travel through water. The definition of water pollution changed as we entered the Industrialization Revolution. From this point on water pollution was mainly due to the chemical waste from industries, which is now better known as industrial water contamination. Different industries that keep the world functional are now damaging the ocean from their chemical waste. The Industrial Revolution has only brought these industries around two hundred years ago, and it has already created such frightful effects upon the world. The world will continue to develop, meaning the contamination will simply worsen, so action should be taken to prevent this issue from growing out of control.

Water pollution is a long term issue that has been changing forms over the years. “Water pollution is large set of adverse effects upon water bodies … caused by human activities” (Corsey). Water pollution is simply the things that ruin the quality of the water to a point where it is no longer feasible. This issue has been brewing for several reasons and through many decades. “Unfortunately, the importance of clean water was not understood until the second half of the nineteenth century, a relatively recent development” (Korve). For as long as humans have existed water pollution has co-existed. Without the knowledge and understanding of pollution and spread of waste people have been unknowingly ruining their water sources. “As cities became more populated towards the end of the 19th century, industrialized cities across Europe and the United States were experiencing a new kind of pollution: waste from industries and factories” (Nonpoint Water Pollution). When industries became more prevalent, industrial water contamination first began. Industrial water contamination is quite similar to water pollution, but it also focuses on the pollutants that can be traced back to the industrial businesses. Some common chemicals tend to be sulfur, asbestos, lead, mercury, and many more (Bora). There are many forms of water pollution, but the most common at this stage of development is industrial water contamination.

Everyone is aware of water pollution, but the extent that industrial water contamination has got unnerving. “Industrial development may result in the increasing generation of industrial effluents” (Amin). Due to the increase in industrial dependency, there is an influx in chemical waste. Which adds additional severity to this issue because it puts the life of close to 230,000 species of animals in danger (Brahic). “Heavy metals are environmentally stable, non-biodegradable, and toxic to living organisms and tend to accumulate in plants and animals creating acute and chronic adverse effects” (Amin). The research, has stated there is no way the wildlife can survive in these horrendous situations that have been created. As the dumps build up, there will be a point where there will may be nothing that can be done. An example of this was when “a billion-gallon sludge flood … buried homes and fields, swamped the Emory River, killed countless fish and other animals” (Handwerk). Heavy metal industries leave behind tons of coal ash, to store the ash, coal is being put into wet ponds as storage sites. One of these plans failed leading to the Tennessee catastrophe. Gradually, it is becoming apparent that industrial wastes can no longer be neglected while it ruins one of the world’s most demanding resources.

Industrial water contamination is detrimental to everyone in some shape or form. “Those films showed a type of waste material some of it radioactive-from four decades of dumping this raised a very real concern about pollution as well as contamination of seafood” (Raulinaitis). Not only do the wild-life get harmed in the waste dumping process the industries have created, but it indirectly affects the people of the world in every way. Alyson Saben connected the dots between the sea food and water contamination, every dump increases the chance of seafood on someone’s plate to be contaminated. Later, there was research conducted in water bodies where industrial waste had been found. “The forensic test for deleterious substances is to place ten rainbow trout fingerlings in a twenty-litre tank full of undiluted effluent … eight fingerlings died within three days” (McCandless). In Tasmania, the copper mine sites have released lethal concentrations of chemicals, like copper, zinc, and cadmium which can pose great risks for the wildlife. To worsen the issue when a test was conducted the results showed that close to 80% of the rainbow trout died to the chemical concentrations they were exposed to. Industrial water contamination can lead to river contamination because, at times the waste leaks into rivers. One case occurred Kosovo in the Sitnica River. “This river’s water was an important source for the neighboring settlements and was used for different purposes, such as water supply, irrigation, fishing, and recreation. In recent times, the Sitnica River has been converted into a natural recipient of wastewaters … due to wastewater discharges” (Shala). For developed countries there are run into issues of contaminated food, but for the developing countries a contaminated river can lead to the destruction of the whole village. In the case of the Sitnica River in Kosovo, it not only supplies to the villages near, but it branches off to neighboring settlements. Many developments have occurred, but it is vital to remember and cradle the developing countries and villages so they can reach their optimal stage as well. During the 1950’s, in California the Keterson National Wildlife Refuge had an irrigation drainage system which was contaminated with mainly selenium, boron, mercury, and arsenic (Poisoned Land). This land was then sectioned off and was supposed to be cleaned, however even after a $50 million cleanup project the chemicals are heavily concentrated in the dirt and show no signs of ever becoming fertile again (Tokunaga). This ultimately led to the impairment of its future agricultural development. Water contamination can affect countries in several ways with a few simple solutions to solve it.

Water contamination is not something that can be taken care of, it takes long term solutions or prevention. “One way to mitigate the environmental consequences of the industries is through the use of bioleaching microbes” (Donati). As demand for keeping these industries functioning continues to grow, it is only fitting to come up with a solution that does not end the progress of these industries. On abandoned mining sites using microbes like Acidithiobacillus and Leptospirillum bacteria to clean would eradicate the need for storing them in places, like the ponds