Water Pollution
Table of Contents
Introduction
Water pollution can occur in a number of ways.
Some falls from the sky as microplastics and acid rain. Some water pollution is from discharges of human or animal waste, factory waste, farm and garden run off. Some pollution is actively added to our water, such as fluoride in drinking water or pond treatments for controlling mosquitos.
This page only covers some of these issues for now, but we hope to expand as we learn more about the many types of pollution. In each listed section we've tried to provide useful info about the sources of water pollution, as well as ways to reduce or eliminate them.
The green buttons will take you to related pages which have more detailed information, solutions, and organizations to join or support in tackling these issues.
Types of Water Pollution
The following are a variety types and sources of water pollution, but probably doesn't include all types at this time.
Acidification
Thanks to air pollutants including nitrous oxide, ammonia, and sulfur-oxide, our rain is becoming more acidic, damaging everything from stone, soil, and plants to our oceans with many species beneath the waves being particularly impacted.
Corals, shelfish, and the eggs of many animals have been shown to suffer from growing acidification. Our super rare glass sponge reefs and chalk reefs are already under massive threat from many human activities, but acidification is already taking it's own toll on these unique ecosystems.
Farmland uses 50% of our planet's habitable land, more land than any other human activity. 77% of that land is used to raise livestock, both grazing and growing their feed.
Erosion and run off from farming causes a massive amount of siltation and water pollution, but a single factory farm full of livestock can produce more manure than an entire city of humans can produce in sewage.
Human sewage is generally treated before being released, but manure is often piped out directly into water ways, kept in leaky manure lagoons, or sprayed on fields, where rain can wash it back into water ways.
Farm pollution is frequently the culprit of mass die offs in lakes, waterways, and has been linked to the ever-growing, ever-expanding dead zones seen around coastlines world wide.
Hog Farming
16:36 minute video about hog farms in North Carolina.
Aquaculture
Erosion
Cattle have a habit of congregating around and in waterways where their hooves dislodge the soil. Over time the soil and plant roots holding it together become so damaged the soil ends up being washed away, causing significant erosion over time. Nutrient loss on land coincides with waterway pollution from livestock allowed to roam too close. - Cattle Destroy Streams
Dead Zones
Manure Runoff & Leaks
Nitrate in Water Widespread, Current Rules No Match for It (Wisconsin, USA) "At least 90 percent of nitrate inputs into groundwater come from artificial fertilizers and manure from farming operations, according to the 2015 report of the Groundwater Coordinating Council. Nitrate in drinking water systems is increasing, the council found, and “current management activities to limit nitrate pollution have questionable effectiveness.”
In addition to blue baby syndrome, researchers are studying other possible health effects from nitrate in drinking water, including several cancers, thyroid problems, birth defects and diabetes. Nitrate can convert to compounds that are “some of the strongest known carcinogens,” according to the state groundwater council.
Slaughterhouse Waste
Water Pollution from Slaughterhouses (PDF) "Three Quarters of U.S. Meat Processing Plants that Discharge into Waterways Violated their Permits, 2016-2018"
Health Affects
"Fluorinated" Chemicals
"The chemicals, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), are widely found in fire-fighting foam, non-stick pans, popcorn bags, and stain-free carpets."
Click here to see where U.S. Counties Have Water Systems Exceeding New EPA Guidelines.
PFAS
Where PFAS Found?
Wild-Caught Fish "Eating fish from a local lake or stream could give you a giant dose of hazardous "forever chemicals," equal to nearly a month of drinking highly contaminated water, researchers have calculated.
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The problem is widespread across the US. The Environmental Working Group assembled a map, below, of the more than 500 samples of PFAS-contaminated fish. The instances span all 48 contiguous states.
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Eating just one freshwater fish could be equal to a month of drinking water contaminated with 48 parts per trillion of PFOS, EWG researchers calculated. Last year, the EPA lowered the level of PFOS in drinking water it considers safe to 0.02 parts per trillion." There have also been "PFAS contamination advisories for fishing spots in Sweden"
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"The new EWG study found that the median total PFAS level in freshwater fish was 278 times higher than that of commercially sold fish tested in the last three years."
Click the PFAS button to learn more about this chemical, where it is found, if your country has laws regulating this group of pollutants, and companies that sell PFAS-free products.
Click the PFAS Cleanup button to learn about the ways we may be able to eliminate PFAS from water, soil, and human bodies.
Sewage
In ancient times, many civilizations recycled their waste by using it to fertilize fields, but around the world, this practice has become rare. In richer nations, many people use septic tanks or have their waste washed away to sewage plants to be treated.
However less-developed regions and out at sea, humane waste is often dumped on site, and ends up contaminating rivers, lakes, bays, and oceans.
Check out our Toilets page to learn about different types of toilets, and how they work. Some allow for waste to be taken away and composted, while the arborloo is a temporary structure which is replaced with a tree which can use the nutrients to grow food.
UK
In 2017 "55% of our failing rivers are polluted with sewage. That’s about 40% of all our rivers in England and Wales.
Constant discharge from outdated sewage treatment plants is the main problem. These discharges are legal but the levels of treatment are not sufficient to protect river health.
What’s more, there are over 18,000 sewer overflows across England and Wales – and about 90% of them discharge raw sewage (mixed with rainwater) directly into rivers. Overflows are supposed to happen only during extreme rainfall, to prevent sewage backing up into homes. But we found 8-14% of overflows are spilling sewage into rivers at least once a week, and between a third and a half at least once a month.
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Sewage pollution causes rapid algae growth, starving the river of the oxygen that wildlife needs to survive. This affects animals like otters and kingfishers that prey on aquatic life.
A more recent "... investigation found one water company was discharging sewage without a permit and evidence that another company had given the Environment Agency incorrect information about the sewage it was dumping in the river.
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The data suggests seven of the 10 companies had treatment works that were breaching their permits by dumping sewage before they were treating the specified volumes.
One of the worst offenders was the not-for-profit company, Welsh Water. The data shows three of its treatment works were in breach of their permits.
Its Aberbaiden plant illegally dumped untreated sewage into the River Usk on 12 consecutive days in December.
The Usk is supposed to be a protected river, as it is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation.
Panorama also discovered Welsh Water has been using a sewage overflow pipe on the River Usk that doesn't have a permit.
The company has been illegally dumping untreated sewage through the pipe, sometimes on several occasions a day.
Additional data about an eleventh water company, Thames Water, was shared with the program by the campaign group Windrush Against Sewage Pollution.
It showed the company's giant Mogden treatment works in south-west London has been illegally dumping billions of liters of untreated sewage.
The data revealed Mogden - which deals with waste from more than two million people in the city - breached its permit on 43 days last year.
"Sewage wastewater discharges by water companies into rivers account for damage to 36% of waterways, and run-off from agricultural industries is responsible for 40% of damage to waterways, according to the EA." "In 2019 there were over 200,000 discharges of untreated sewage into UK rivers and in 2020, almost 3,000 discharges into UK coastal bathing waters alone. The sheer volume of sewage and run-off entering the water means the UK is ranked just 25th out of 30 EU countries for coastal water quality and only 16% of waterways meet good ecological status."
"On March 22, 2021 "... the Ocean Conservation APPG roundtable brought together parliamentarians from across parties with environmental NGOs Surfers Against Sewage, The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, The Rivers Trust as well as representatives from Water UK and Wessex Water for a truly cross-sectoral discussion on the solutions to sewage pollution.
The group discussed the benefits that nature-based solutions such as wetlands and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDs) can have as part of water treatment works at a fraction of the cost of traditional infrastructure. The group also highlighted the need for the adoption of new technology and methods of water quality testing, to provide a clear and honest picture of the scale of the problem.
The Rt Hon Phillip Dunne MP, chair of the Environment Audit Committee, made it clear that new and improved government policy and legislation was needed to ensure that both new technology and nature-based solutions are adopted as standard across the water industry.
Solutions
Contact your MP - Stay up to date on bills being passed in the UK, and contact your local leaders to emphasize the important of protecting our waters, for both human and environmental wellbeing.
Fund Raising - Click here for ideas on how to fund-raise for cleaner water ways and oceans.
Sign A Petition - As the hosts of COP26, the UK government has a responsibility to make sure the ocean is at the forefront of climate negotiations. Sign the petition today to demand that the voice of the ocean is heard within the climate crisis. This particular petition calls for:
Ocean rewilding and blue carbon habitat restoration
Implementation of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAS)
Recognition of the importance of marine ecosystems for human wellbeing
Leave a gift in your will - After you’ve taken care of your family and loved ones, you may wish to think about what else is close to your heart. By leaving a gift in your will no matter how large or small to Surfers Against Sewage, you can carry on protecting the oceans, waves, wildlife and beaches that you love, long into the future.
Solutions
Level 4: Civic
Contact Your Representatives
You can do this any time or day of the year. Phone, write, text, or e-mail to let your local leaders know you want better protections for our waters.
Vote!
Though you can only do this at certain times of year and in many cases only once every few years, voting has a massive impact on the local, national, and international rules that govern and protect our world.
Level 3: Community
Infrastructure
Poorly-planned infrastructure can help funnel pollutants straight into waterways, helping them build up quickly in waterways and out into our oceans. By incorporating sustainable design into our infrastructure we can help reduce flooding, nutrient and pollution load, even helping to protect against water shortages later on.
Buildings
Water-smart building design can (on a smaller scale) also help protect our water quality.
Levels 1-3
This section includes Level 1: Personal actions which can be scaled up to the family/friend (Level 2) and community (Level 3) actions.
Dietary Changes
Eat more plant, mushroom, and seaweed-based foods instead of animal products which have the heaviest impact on our waters. Changing our own dietary habits can have a knock on effect as others in our personal circle also choose to eat healthier, more eco-friendly diets. As we gain confidence, we can have even greater impact by engaging in different types of vegan activism.
Riparian Zones & Plants
These areas along waterways and beside bodies of water help protect against pollution including livestock waste and pesticides.
Toilets
Many of us take toilets and sewage systems for granted, however many people don't even have a sceptic system, and even countries that do have sewage systems may have seriously outdated systems which aren't able to keep up with the growing volume as our populations have grown.
Explore our Toilets page to learn about the different types of toilet, including composting toilets, and other waterless or water recycling options we can now use.
North America
USA
Water Scarcity and Fish Imperilment Driven by Beef Production (Paper with maps)
Who Are The Top Toxic Water Polluters in Your State? Scroll down for the full list, and click the arrow under the list to find your state. Some of the worst polluters are livestock related, including meat-processing plants.
Industrial Pollution
Fashion & Textiles
"Tannery industries are listed as the most polluting activity due to the wide type of chemicals applied during the conversion of animal skins into leather. Chromium salts, phenolics, tannins, organic matter, among others products, are constantly released to the environment in tannery wastewater. These pollutants offer environmental risks to the aquatic life and human health [2]. In China high concentration of NH4-N and Ge were listed as impact and residues for the local ecosystem and human health [8]. Pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria are part of the organic matter in effluents (coliforms, anaerobic spore-forming bacilli. Streptococci, Staphylococci, etc) [9].
How leather is slowly killing the people and places that make it? It was written by [10]. In India there are more than 3,000 tanneries, and most of them (nearly 80%) are produced in chrome tanning process [11]. Health risks related to this manufacture was shown at Figure 1 and they were discussed by different authors. Brazil is also an important exporter of blue-leather tanning. Many efforts from different countries have been made for diminishing ecological and human health risks once this activity is very important for the economy and positive impacts of the good initiatives were presented during the discussion section [12-14]."
Microplastics
Mining
Oil & Gas
Deepwater Horizon Project Tracker "provides an easy and comprehensive way to track restoration, research, and recovery projects resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill."
Resources & Toolkits
Apps & Trackers
North America
Deepwater Horizon Project Tracker "provides an easy and comprehensive way to track restoration, research, and recovery projects resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill."
USA
Minnesota
Organizations
North America
USA
Anthropocene Alliance (A2) "has almost 300 member-communities in 41 U.S. states and territories. They are impacted by flooding, toxic waste, wildfires, and drought and heat — all compounded by reckless development and climate change. The consequence is broken lives and a ravaged environment.
The goal of A2 is to help communities fight back. We do that by providing them organizing support, scientific and technical guidance, and better access to foundation and government funding. Most of all, our work consists of listening to our frontline leaders. Their experience, research, and solidarity guide everything we do, and offer a path toward environmental and social justice.
Supported by outstanding partner organizations with expertise in engineering, hydrology, public health, planning, and the law, A2 leaders have successfully halted developments in climate-vulnerable areas; implemented nature-based hazard mitigation strategies; organized home buyouts; and pushed for clean-ups at superfund sites, toxic landfills, and petrochemical plants.
We support everyone we can, but our special priority is people who have suffered the worst environmental impacts for the longest time; that usually means low-income, Black, Latinx, Native American and other underserved communities.
To learn about our policies, read our A 10-Point Platform on Climate Change."
Funding & Grants
Products Made from Pollution
Buying products that are made from waste can help fund efforts to keep our aquatic ecosystems clean. Some existing organizations include ocean plastic products which help are not only made from plastics recovered from our oceans, but their sales also help fund further ocean clean-ups.
North America
USA
Coalition for Green Capital: Clean Water Infrastructure "Quantified Ventures and Coalition for Green Capital will select six (6) existing green banks to receive grant funding (~$50,000/grantee) and technical assistance to build a pipeline of clean and equitable water infrastructure projects that will directly benefit disadvantaged communities.
There are two key outcomes associated with this effort:
Build a pipeline of financeable water projects for each cohort green bank.
Design the structure of the financing programs that the green banks can use to finance clean water projects in the future."
Minnesota
Stewardship Fund Grants "support public efforts to manage stormwater, control pollution, and improve water quality and habitat."
Further Reading
Restore Nature
Restoring nature means restoring Earth's natural ability to take care of herself, and start filtering out pollutants.
Wetlands are especially good at filtering out pollutants like sewage and manure, protecting oceans before water flows back into them. Wetlands have also been shown to have lower acidity than ocean waters, indicating that they help reduce acidification of water before to flows into the sea.
Oysters reefs have been slashed by around 95% in the last century or so by overharvesting, siltation, and habitat destruction, but they are amazingly good at cleaning water, and even absorbing plastics. Their waste can be filtered out to remove microplastics from habitats.