What Causes Water Pollution?
Most of the waste we produce on land eventually reaches the oceans. This happens in many ways, including:
- Factories, mines, and other industries dump chemical wastes into water sources.
- Our sewage is treated in water treatment plants and the waste that contains harmful bacteria and chemicals is often disposed of into the sea.
- Our garbage ends up in the water when people litter or when it is dumped into the oceans by waste management companies.
- Oil spills occur when oil companies accidentally spill oil into in the oceans.
- When companies coal and other fossil fuels – the pollution in the air mixes with water vapor resulting in acid rain that returns to bodies of water.
- When rain flows through farms that use harmful fertilizers and pesticides, the rain carries these chemicals into rivers, canals, and underground water reservoirs.
- When it rains in cities and towns, the rain carries fertilizers and pesticides from lawns; oil, grease, and other toxic chemicals from cars and trucks; dirt and sand; and other pollutants into streams and rivers (and eventually estuaries and the ocean).