TOPICS: Checking water pollution

Human beings are being plagued by different kinds of pollution, of which water pollution is one.

Such pollution has become an ever-growing problem in many countries, especially in developing and least developed ones.

Though there are many sources of water pollution, agriculture has been recognized as an important source of the pollution. In some irrigated areas, nitrate pollution of groundwater supplies has made the groundwater unusable for human consumption.

Nutrients contained in run-off from agricultural fields and particularly feedlots have increased eutrophication of streams and lakes.

Since nitrate is lost in drainage from farmland, fertilizers have been considered responsible for the eutrophication of natural water which encourages the growth of organisms. This extra growth has been said to deoxygenate water and so kills fish and makes the water tainted for drinking and difficult to purity.

Phosphate is not leached from agricultural land in any significant quantity. However, it leaches natural water which causes water pollution. This fact has not been realized by the concerned sector.

Leak of wastes from storage or during spreading and by the liquor released from sewage into streams, rivers and lakes creates serious eutrophication. Recent legislation has made the discharge of farm wastes into water course illegal and the cost of disposal to public sectors has become prohibitive.

In recent years, the construction of buildings is increasing day by day. However, building activities loosen the top soil which is easily eroded into local water courses. At the beginning, the building metropolis will have relied for the cesspits and septic tanks.

These, if poorly constructed and carelessly located, can pollute the underground water store, the aquifer causing outbreaks of diseases such cholera and typhoid.

Degradation of water quality can adequately affect various water uses, especially fisheries, recreation and generally aesthetic values. Economical water quality thus becomes a matter of finding the appropriate trade-off between waste treatment, waste disposal and other valuable water services.

Though water is of supreme importance for the survival of humans, growing water pollution has posed a great problem to meet the increasing demand of water every year, especially in developing and least developed country.