• The contamination of water bodies such as oceans, rivers, lakes and ground water due to human activities is known as Water pollution.
• Water pollution has been described as the leading causes of diseases since water as a resource is a crucial for life to exist on earth.
• Water pollution is also caused by natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and storms.

This phenomenon of Water pollution has several causes:

• Pathogens: Various pathogens such as Viruses and Bacteria are the main causes of the spreading of water-borne diseases like cholera malaria etc. High presence of these pathogens may lead to the inadequate treatment of water.

• Chemical and other contaminants:
  • Organic wastes such as food wastes, detergents, insoluble VOCs which are denser than water, insecticides and pesticides and chemical compounds found in cosmetics.
  • Inorganic wastes such as silt, chemical nitrite and nitrate fertilizers, Ammonia, heavy metallic wastes and acidity.

As water is an important resource, water pollution affects quiet a large number of life forms:

• Ecological Balance is affected when water that is consumable becomes scarce due to pollution.
• Marine life is affected when hydrocarbons dissolve in water bodies.
• Ground water is polluted to an extent that it cannot be used for drinking.
• Society cannot live in good health due to the diseases caused by the contaminated water.
• Since fresh water available on earth is very meager, the availability becomes less and the accessibility of people to water becomes low.

As water pollution causes a lot of Global change, it must be controlled by some means:

• Domestic waste can be treated by sewage treatment plants. Green infrastructure can be adopted. Malfunctioning of equipments must be fixed without delay.
• Industrial waste can be treated by toxic removal plants. Rivers have to be tested before their water is going to be used for drinking.
• Agricultural waste can be minimized by the usage of fertilizers in the right quantity and the knowledge of farmers on not to pollute the ground water.
• Urban run off during storms has to be directed for a beneficial purpose rather than allowing it to mix with a potable water source.