When dealing with water pollution sewage is one of the leading problems that have become increasingly difficult to contend with.

With a growing population the wastewater that ends up in our natural waterways is also increasing.

While stricter laws have been passed to help eradicate the issue, raw sewage from dogs, boats, and commercial vessels are still getting into our water.

This means that people are swimming in (and swallowing) some amount of raw sewage along many of the most populated beaches and in rivers. Of course, sewage can also get into our drinking water with one cracked septic system or mismanagement at a waste water pollution treatment plant.

In the fight against water pollution sewage happens to be one of the easiest pollutants to control in theory, but the hardest to get the human population dealing with. Pleasure boaters have not been allowed to discharge directly overboard for almost ten years.

With difficulties in enforcing this policy, the US Coast Guard has had to expend resources boarding and inspecting pleasure boats to ensure that the raw sewage is being directed into a holding tank rather than a direct overboard discharge.

All pleasure boats built in the last thirty years have offered the buyer the option of discharging overboard or discharging into a holding tank. Boaters resist holding tanks because there is a residual odor that can not be easily contended with when raw sewage sits in the holding tank in summer heat.

Wastewater treatment plants are prone to mishandling of the wastewater due to employee training issues. It only takes a small accidental discharge to contaminate a large portion of the waterways with untreated sewage. With greater employee training and fail safe technology, this is the one problem that many ecological organizations feel can be reasonably dealt with in the coming years.

Raw sewage in our swimming and drinking water also comes from our beloved pets. Dog owners who do not take the small moment required to reach down and scoop their dogs’ waste are contributing directly to the water pollution sewage problem.

This type of waste can be especially difficult to contend with because many dogs tend to carry worms and other parasites that are excreted with their bowels. This means that when the rainwater carries away the defecation, there is an increased chance that internal parasites will enter the swimming and drinking water as well.

It is vital that everyone recognize the detrimental effects of raw sewage as one of our nastiest but solvable water pollution issues. The cooperation of pleasure boaters, boats and charters for hire, dog owners, and wastewater treatment facilities could decrease the threat of spreading infection, parasites, and water born illnesses by more than eighty percent.

With the chronic difficulties of getting everyone on board with the hazards that raw sewage poses within our natural waterways and our drinking water, it is not likely that we will see parasite and disease free water for a long time. The more effort we put into educating the public the closer we come to solving the problem of water pollution and sewage.

Our native waters are not the only waters at risk. Our waters are not only threatened by the actions and behaviors of its own residents when dealing with water pollution sewage issues. Around the globe there are raw sewage issues, and the more the untreated, infected, and parasitic waste enters the water the harder it is for the natural filtration system that the planet provides to clean the waterways.

With the current population, we have the potential to pollute every single waterway, ocean, and drinking water supply with raw sewage is we simply stop the effort to clean up after ourselves.

With such a harsh effect potentially waiting for us, why would we not all get on board the idea of keeping sewage out of our waterways? Water pollution and sewage treatment does not have to take over the planet, but it does take a cooperative effort.

The ecological effects of oil pollution in the natural waterways have the potential to be absolutely devastating. Waterfowl, aquatic life, and even human water sources can be devastated by even a small oil leak in water. When a large water event happens, the damage takes decades to correct.

Most oil water pollution doesn’t happen in major newsworthy events like Exxon’s mishap. The majority of oil water pollution happens through the average consumer’s actions, whether those actions are based on not being fully aware of the consequences or not caring about the consequences of their actions.

Something as simple as dumping motor oil from the change of oil of a boat or car can cause pollution effects for miles.It takes very little oil to create significant ecological problems. The 3 to 4 quarts of oil that most car engines hold have the potential to pollute more than 100 miles of waterway.

This can cause the death of waterfowl and aquatic life, and even annihilate water foliage that is vital to the natural ecosystem’s health.

The biggest problem with contaminating water with oil or oil based water pollution is that the oil adheres to everything, restricting a bird’s ability to fly, cutting off essential light sources for underwater life, and even suffocating fish as they take oil in through their gills.The devastation can have ecological impacts for years while the natural environment attempts to bounce back.

Car motor oil, boat engine oil, and oil based applications such as teak oil used to beautify the wood on boats can simply continue adding damage on top of more damage as these small infractions continue to add an accumulative power to the oil discharge that is already in the water.

You don’t have to live right next to a waterway to contribute to the oil water pollution problem. Disposing of oil in inappropriate ways seeps into the ground, contaminates drinking water, and can find its way to some of the waterways through rain runoff.

Every single time oil is spilled on the ground, coats our roadways, is dumped overboard or is pumped out through the boat’s bilge, you can be guaranteed that either groundwater or a natural waterway will feel the effects of the action.

A little bit of public education is invariably important in correcting the problem, it will perhaps contibute to solving the effects of water pollution. It is necessary for boat owners to farmers to residential communities to become oil aware.

Every time waste oil is properly disposed of, oil leaks from cars and trucks are fixed, and oil is recycled without spillage, hundreds of miles of waterways and groundwater is saved from the deadly effects that oil water pollution brings to our world.

Contaminated groundwater is a human hazard, and can make tap water highly unsafe to drink or to cook with. The oil water pollution found in groundwater isn’t likely to come pouring out of the faucet in thick black clumps.

Rather it is likely to carry the toxins into the tap and distribute it throughout the body without a great deal of detection until serious illness takes over and becomes arguably a forced recognition in order to improve the health of the contaminated drinking water victims.

Oil water pollution is one of the most damaging environmental concerns of today. The potential for the chronic and morbid destruction is far reaching and ever able to be doubled and tripled on negative effects simply through the daily actions of individuals and small businesses.

It is vital that the public become adequately educated on how their handling of oil and oil based components are likely to damage the world around them, sicken the ecosystem and in some cases even sicken their own family.

While drinking water filters and bottled water has become a staple in our society, most consumers still use unfiltered drinking water for cooking, filling pet water bowls and bottles, and for mixing powdered drink mixes.

Drinking water pollution is a big enough problem within our country to warrant the same vigilance as we give other health hazards.

There are numerous sources that pile up into serious contamination potential for all drinking water.

Whether your water i scoming from a well on your property or if you are using “filtered” city water sources, the chances that you have a problem with drinking water pollution is quite high.

Groundwater testing has shown that in any given area throughout the country as many as 200 variable contaminants have been detected. Long term exposure can create numerous health problems, including lead poisoning.

While not every single contaminant is destined to cause a serious health problem or even any health problem at all, you can not count on your local contaminants to be harmless.

Filtering helps to clear up a great deal of the usual drinking water pollution but what is much more effective and necessary is dealing with the direct sources of the water contaminants and cleaning up the environmental factors that are poisoning our drinking water.

By dealing with the direct sources of water contamination we can not only control our drinking water contaminants but we can also clean up the natural sources of water that house and provide life saving water for the wildlife of the natural environment.

Agriculture practices are one of the largest sources of groundwater contaminants. The chemical used in controlling bugs and other chemically based treatments run directly into the groundwater supply. Pesticides and poisonous agricultural raw waste can contaminate more than 40% of the surrounding groundwater.

Since groundwater contaminants run down with the gravitational pull, poisonous contaminants from agricultural practices can pollute drinking water miles away from its original source.

By teaching farmers and farming coops safer, more natural agricultural practices we can reduce one of the largest sources of drinking water contaminants and make the areas around farms a much healthier environment.

Another major contributor to drinking water pollution is urban run off. Another human based contribution that needs to be controlled at the source in order to save our drinking water supply.

Urban run off used to be considered a rather small contributor to the pollution problem in our drinking water because there was a very large contribution being made by construction and industrial wastes.

Yet with more stringent regulations controlling the pollutants associated with construction and industrial wastes, urban run off has reached a much higher place on the list of problematic situations contributing to the drinking water pollution problem.

When rain washes urban trash, chemicals, and pollutants from the structures and roadways of populated areas, there is no way for the water to filter itself on its way to the groundwater.

Since the pollutants run directly over pavement and other non-porous surfaces that have no filtering capabilities, and thus all pollutants will travel straight to the groundwater supply.

Everything from basic trash, cigarette butts, antifreeze, motor oil, gasoline, pesticides, and other daily use products are all contributing factors in groundwater contamination caused by urban run off. Practicing safer disposal practices of automobile chemicals, putting together trash clean up projects, and using environmentally safe household products can help cut down on urban run off pollutants.

Lead is one of the most concerning urban run off pollutants, as lead poisoning can cause learning problems, chronic emotional and health issues, and is non-reversible. Drinking lead contaminated water is a serious health problem. It does not matter if you live in the city, the country, or an upscale neighborhood, your drinking water can be laden with very dangerous levels of lead.

Lead based paints were outlawed due to their dangers, but older homes and buildings that are remodeled, improperly disposed of older electronics, and construction in older neighborhoods can release lead into the groundwater, creating a significant drinking water pollution hazard.

It takes the cooperation and the education of everyone to help clean up our biggest drinking water threats. The more environmentally friendly everyone becomes, the closer we get to finding cleaner drinking water and protecting our natural environment. Industrial and personal responsibility for our environment is the first and most significant step toward clean drinking water in the country in every community.

The potential effects of industrial water pollution could grow to catastrophic levels. Not only does the potential for destruction of fish and other water dwelling creatures exist, but the potential for serious human illness also exists.

Additional studies on the toxicity and hazardous waste need to be done in order to determine whether more stringent regulations are necessary in order to save the planet’s natural waterways.

Just like the human body (as well as the bodies of animals) metabolizes blends of minerals together, the human body can also metabolize blends of toxins found in polluted water. Calcium is metabolized better when blended with Vitamin D. There are countless toxins that blend together in the very same way.

However, instead of promoting healthy bone growth the blend of pollutants causes illness and potentially fatal diseases. This is why further research is necessary to determine the true possible damage to the natural environment as well as to the human body.

Industrial water pollution has been a very serious issue since the beginning of the industrial age. A great many industrial buildings were originally built alongside rivers and bays for the convenience that the water offered.

Whether the water was needed for the production purposes or it was used as a convenient waste disposal site, it took several decades for the damage to become apparent enough to require governmental intervention. The greatest concern with this type of pollution is that it can be very difficult to discern every single toxin in any given area when the pollution is industrial.

Through the process of manufacturing there can be a great number of pollutants for one single product. Once the pollutants hit the water and disperse, identifying the source becomes even more difficult.

The overall effect of industrial water pollution can be devastating to the environment. When pollution hits the water the entire ecosystem becomes affected in one way or another. The toxins can be absorbed by plants and ingested by the sea life.

If the pollution levels are toxic enough the sea life not only starts to die off but many toxins can be passed to other animals in nearby ecosystems if the affected sea life is eaten. On top of that, the pollution often changes the algae and natural bacteria levels in the water which can significantly increase of decrease the oxygen levels in the water. Too much oxygen in the water is just as detrimental as too little oxygen in the water.

Governmental regulations have helped to put a damper on the level of pollutants that are released into the waterways. However, the regulations are either not strict enough or they are not enforced with enough vigor.

New regulations are often created to restrict the pollutants from entering the water but do not go into effect immediately. Industrial corporations are often given as long as five years to eliminate their pollutants from their discharge. The government offers the industrial world this type of time extension due to the hefty expense that making the appropriate adjustments can accrue.

On a positive note, most businesses now choose to use office water coolers which supply clean drinking water to their employees and having either a bottled or bottleless water cooler dispenser in the building is one sure way of avoiding the polluted water from tap water.

The toll the industrial water pollution takes on the planet’s well-being can be extreme. Cleaning up the polluted water is certainly no easy task. It takes a combination of natural filtration, human effort, and preservation techniques.

Even then there are some pollutants that will remain embedded in the silt and plant life for decades. Industrial water pollution can leave its mark in some of the worst ways for a long time which makes it one of the worst forms of pollution. The long term effects on natural ecosystems as well as humans are not yet completely understood, but it is understood that the long term effects are detrimental.

Ground water pollution is an epidemic, and almost all of the contaminants that reach water sources are caused by the actions or inactions of people. Everything from agricultural sources to industrial sources contributes to the ground water pollution problem. 

Regulation laws have been implemented to help offset the damage that has already been done to the ground water supply. Stricter regulations regarding industrial pollutants as well as residential waste management have been implemented in order to further resolve the contamination problems within the ground water. 

Ground water pollution is such a serious problem because the tainted water puts everyone at risk for potential healthproblems. The level of contamination and the vast variations of the contamination make it nearly impossible to determine the exact potential for health threats.

While some contaminants cause very obvious health problems, many of the pollutants have an unknown effect on the health of the human body. 

The good news is that there are plenty of opportunities for humanity to prevent further ground water pollution. Responsible and ecologically ethical management of household chemicals, including products such as dishwasher detergents and laundry soaps, can drastically help reduce the pollution that can be found in ground water. 

Using environmentally friendly products and protecting the ground’s surface from contact with products that are not environmentally sound is one of the most important steps that the average citizen can take. If each individual put the precautionary steps into place the reduction in ground water pollution would be significant. 

Of course, residential contamination is not the only cause of the pollution of ground water. While industrial regulations help to prevent excessive pollution, the smaller businesses are not monitored as closely. Auto maintenance and repair shops are almost always in constant violation of OSHA standards. 

Because these businesses are smaller they end up not being as closely monitored for pollutant contributions. Antifreeze, waste oil, and deicer can cause significant and dangerous pollution levels in the ground water. The necessary regulations exist but the follow through and enforcement of the regulations are woefully undermined by many of the smaller businesses that are not closely monitored. 

Some of the biggest contributors to the industrial pollution problem include quick stop oil change businesses, small auto mechanic businesses that are in rural areas and run often from the same property as the family home, and traveling auto repair businesses. 

The more public education that reaches the management of these small businesses as well as the average home owner the greater the chances are that we can see a significant reduction in contamination of the ground water within the next ten years. 

While government regulations can continue to pile up and enforcement can improve immensely, what will lower the concentration of pollution in our ground water comes down to education and perhaps even incentives for small businesses.

It takes more effort for a small business, as well as individuals, to dispose of wastes in an environmentally friendly manner that will not continue to contaminate the ground water than it does to simply go about business in the environmentally destructive manner. Incentives may help increase the response necessary for cleaner ground water.

Reading articles on water pollution is a depressing and a very complicated subject to get into, but even the quick facts on water pollution are enough to give any conscientious person the chills:

Researcher Larry West estimates that every day, 14,000 people die because of water pollution.

According to official classification, 41.3% of the United States’ water is polluted.

China is the latest victim of impure water tragedies. Emissaries around the globe are working nonstop to help China prevent a polluted-water epidemic before their contaminants spread even further. Some facts on water pollution in China:

70% of Chinese lakes and rivers are polluted, not to mention 90% of their groundwater (which constitutes most of the “potable” water people use for drinking, cooking, etc.) This pollution means that 320 million Chinese citizens have no clean drinking water.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently estimated that 75% of all disease in China comes from water pollution.

WHO puts the number of Chinese water-pollution-related deaths at 100,000 per year.

Water pollution in China is largely due to lax restrictions. In 2005 a Chinese petro-chemical plant exploded, shooting 100 tons of benzene into the Songhua River—and as usual, the company would have gotten off scot-free if the international community had not noticed something amiss and raised the alarm.

International distress is well-placed. Consumers of Chinese goods, who number in the millions, are upset by reports of unhygienic practices because of the overwhelmingly numerous Chinese imports distributed worldwide.

Children’s toys are largely made in China and this is a particular concern. Many people are smart enough to realize that sources of water pollution have an extremely pervasive vehicle in which to transmit toxins. Citizens of the USA’s Pacific Coast are especially worried that China’s polluted water will reach them in tidal currents.

The environment is extremely fragile. Recent pollution offenses include mountaintop mining in the Appalachians, oil drilling at both the Arctic and Antarctic poles which results in massive wildlife death, and oil spills that sicken people, as was recently the case in Puerto Rico.

So, after all of this sobering and unpleasant information, one question remains: how to stop water pollution? There are many technicalities involved, but the most comprehensive and pressing solution is better regulation. Government oversight needs a dramatic facelift.

A recent, disgraceful slump is due to a 2002 ruling by British courts which, incredibly enough, stated that heavy industrial mining waste was not dangerous and could be dumped into any water source at any time without permission. Articles on water pollution in the news reflect the consequences.

This ruling has given rise to a scandal currently unfolding in the Appalachian Mountains—West Virginian senator Robert Byrd, backed by profit-hungry mining companies and the Corps of Engineers, are literally “blowing the tops off mountains” to get at the ore inside and then dumping their poisonous leftovers directly into nearby streams, making them direct sources of water pollution.

They have even insulted public intelligence with their ludicrous claim that there is no better way to dispose of this waste. Well, if ultimately drinking it is the best solution, then here’s a toast to Senator Byrd. But if it turns out that putting heavy mining slag into our bodies isn’t the best solution, then here’s hoping that the government steps in to regulate pollution—and soon.

Here are a few quick ways to ensure that this coming summer, you have quality water rather than just quantity;

Individually, you can do small things to help. For example you may not realize that over-watering your lawn can wash dirt and heavy fertilizers into storm drains, where they join up with the main water supply. Water in small amounts throughout the day so that the ice water you drink after your yard work doesn’t taste like the fertilizer you just applied

 Sources of water pollution are everywhere. You might not think that dead leaves from your yard could pollute water, because a leaf is biodegradable plant matter. But something as simple as a layer of leaves blocking light can make water grow murky with algae and kill off the fish living there, for example. So, bag your leaves or better yet, go green by turning them into compost for your garden.

Be aware that all drains lead to the ocean, in a manner of speaking. Think twice before you pour chemicals in your sink such as paint or cleaning supplies. Instead, think about how to stop water pollution and dispose of them in an alternative manner, as dictated by the instructions on their bottles

One of the facts about water pollution that will surprise you is just what can get into your water supply. If you have decided to start a compost pile, try dumping your potato peelings there instead of into the garbage disposal.

Things that you would normally put in the disposal are usually compatible with composting, and putting them there gives your city water filter one less job to do (and potentially mess up on)

Limit your dumping. Try to avoid the junk yard.  Inevitably, we must do something as a community. The facts about water pollution are simple—no one person can stop it. As a community, as a state, and as a nation, we must all do certain things to ensure that our children have a future that includes clean water and all that this entails.

We need to make sure that our nuclear waste dumps are more strictly regulated, that no one is allowed to dump any amount of toxic waste into a stream (even if it is below the current regulation limit) and step up conservation laws to include every type of known toxin, rather than accommodating lucrative businesses at a terrible cost.

Water pollution in China has reached epic proportions because of these exact practices—and we are being shown, over and over again, that when it comes to the environment, cutting corners doesn’t pay.

We can’t allow regulation to continue as it is now. Few people realize how many tons of toxic waste are allowed as a safe dumping amount before the company in question will have violated a government regulation. It’s time to find out what’s going on and take steps on every level to limit and reverse water pollution.

These may also be referred to as point and nonpoint contamination. In both cases, the descriptive word applied to the contamination type references its amount of direct contact with the water source.

Direct, or point contact, is something introduced right into the water. Indirect, or nonpoint contact, is contamination that occurs elsewhere and then finds its way into a water source, generally by natural means.

Point contamination involving surface water has typically gotten the most attention from the media; articles on water pollution will frequently highlight oil spills out at sea and similar scandals. These are the most visible type of water pollution.

The terrible reality that we see in front of our eyes is not always the fullest extent of pollution, however. As bad as oil and chemical spills are (and they are bad), much of the worst pollution goes unnoticed by most people because it occurs underground, affecting groundwater aquifers.

Groundwater is a prime nonpoint contamination target, which occurs in many ways and as we discuss the issue of how to stop water pollution, the best way to do it is to attack indirect pollution of groundwater, by finding the sources of water pollution.

Groundwater accounts for nearly 90% of the world’s drinking water. It’s especially difficult tracking nonpoint contamination because many times it occurs naturally when small amounts of pollutant find their way together and the overall effect becomes dangerous.

This means that regulations must be stepped up. If small amounts of pesticides are sprayed over orchards by a crop duster, for example, each individual dose of pesticide might be perfectly up to code. Then after it rains, these pesticides become sources of water pollution by draining slowly together until they finally run through the soil and reach an underground aquifer.

Pesticides are a relatively mild example. Rain can fall anywhere and anytime it wishes, thereby washing pollutants into major water sources. These pollutants can come from construction sites, which contain heavy metal content as well as chemical elements.

They can also come from something as innocuous as rainwater washing across asphalt-this is known as “urban runoff” and is actually somewhat poisonous. (Not a very comforting thought when we consider the prevalence of asphalt in modern life.) Then, we have more typical sources of water pollution: major corporations dumping toxic waste. Still, is it always those big-business bad guys ruining our lives with their sludge? The answer may surprise you.

Extreme forms of contamination often come from landfills. Sometimes nuclear waste has been buried by the government and, when mixed with rainwater, this becomes a very toxic runoff. But the worst and most dangerous landfills are those created by ordinary people.

You and I throw garbage away without thinking about where it goes-but in reality, it goes into our faucets. Facts about sources of water pollution are disturbing, partly because we are to blame. Rainwater runs through our garbage, becoming a thick, grimy juice of toxins in our water sources. Your baby’s diaper doesn’t biodegrade.

Old tyres don’t biodegrade. Plastic shopping bags don’t biodegrade either, and best of all, everything made of plastic originates from petroleum, or natural gas. We drink these residues every day.

We also eat residues. In 1962, researcher Rachel Carson wrote a groundbreaking book called Silent Spring in which she blew the lid off of lax government restrictions and showed contamination to the world.

For the first time, people became aware of what they were doing to the environment as they read the facts about water pollution, including this one: a stalk of celery, if grown in soil that has been exposed to polluted water, can magnify the pollutant in its stem many times over as it grows. That’s the ugly truth about sources of water pollution-whether direct or indirect, eventually they affect us all.

It is an unfortunate yet all-too-true fact that developing nations tend to ravage the environment as they climb to power.

The United States famously destroyed a good portion of its natural resources during the 1800’s when citizens of every kind raced toward Manifest Destiny.

Britain caused a great deal of its own pollution during this same timeframe with the Industrial Revolution.

India has been having problems preserving their beautiful landscape as their economy pushes them toward becoming a world power.

However, recent articles on water pollution reveal that perhaps the most pervasive contamination of all is found in China, where burgeoning financial success is also bringing huge environmental failures. Most notably, China’s water sources are abominably unclean.

There are certainly other conservation causes in China that need attention, but none are as dangerous or widespread as the water pollution in China. 70% of Chinese lakes and rivers are polluted, not to mention 90% of their groundwater (which constitutes most of the “potable” water people use for drinking, cooking, etc.) This pollution means that 320 million Chinese citizens have no clean drinking water.

The facts about water pollution in China aren’t pretty by any means. To make matters worse, almost every day a large-scale pollution incident occurs, and there is little or no regulation infrastructure in place to prevent, much less deal with,  these contaminations.

Water pollution in China is not merely a nuisance; it is a danger. Although Chinese bureaucrats will of course claim otherwise, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently estimated that 75% of all disease in China comes from water pollution.

As we learn more about the water pollution crisis in China, it becomes abundantly clear that they have a severe lack of officials who know how to stop water pollution. Dirty water has caused so much cancer that people living along polluted water sources are often said to live in “cancer villages,” and are lucky if they reach their prime without contracting a terminable disease. Inevitably, such practices take their toll. WHO puts the number of Chinese water-pollution-related deaths at 100,000 per year.

This shocking mortality rate could easily be prevented if China’s government would change their attitude about regulation. Responsible parties currently get away with extreme pollution and the Chinese government quickly and quietly covers up each scandal in order to save face. Water pollution in China is largely due to these lax restrictions.

Yet there comes a point at which hiding is no longer an option.  International attention was aroused in 2005 when a Chinese petro-chemical plant exploded, shooting 100 tons of benzene into the Songhua River. Despite dealing with similarly atrocious spills on a frequent basis, China’s government officials did not move fast enough this time, and journalists around the world exposed China’s appalling environmental policies.

The international community began on ongoing campaign pressuring China to hold itself accountable for pollution, which means not only punishing and restricting the companies that break environmental laws, but also allowing the facts about water pollution to be accessed by the public.

Happily, this outside encouragement is getting results. China now openly acknowledges what WHO already knew: that their water is in a deplorable state of contamination. Pan Yue, the Vice Minister of China’s environmental protection department, admits that crisis with the environment, especially for water, has reached China much earlier than expected.

Pan Yue’s statement is essentially a delicate confession that China has finally realized the impact they are having not just on their immediate territory, but on the planet and its people at large. Sources of water pollution can cause damage miles away. Citizens on the Pacific Coast of the USA are particularly concerned about China’s polluted water reaching them in tidal currents. Consumers of Chinese goods, who number in the millions, have also voiced trepidation about Chinese imports and their safety standards.

Hopefully with international voices as their conscience, China will continue its progress in a greener, safer way, so that water pollution in China will take its rightful place as a thing of the past.

Modern technology has given us a heightened awareness of pollution, and some people may be inclined to think that because of the regulations this awareness has prompted, pollution is no longer as much of an issue as it was before.

They would be surprised to learn the truth.

One of its most dangerous forms is water contamination, which can affect almost everything else on Earth.

In March 2006, researcher Larry West wrote an exposé on dangerous drinking water. How to stop water pollution becomes a pressing issue when one reads his research.

He postulated that contaminated water is actually the leading cause of death worldwide—that it kills more people than wars, disease, or car accidents combined. The facts about water pollution are chilling, as anyone who reads West’s book can see.

His research indicated that every day, 14,000 people die because of polluted water. West also revealed that despite modern awareness, industrialized countries are among the worst offenders and that no country is considered safe simply because of technological advances.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not just developing nations who struggle with stopping water contamination; about 41.3% of the USA’s major water sources are officially classified as polluted.

Surface water and groundwater are the two main categories in this debate. Most of the media’s attention on how to stop water pollution has traditionally been given over to surface water, since as its name indicates, it is the most noticeable.

Controversy exploded in the 1980s when pictures emerged of hardcore industrial waste being dumped into rivers and streams; during this same period the Exxon-Valdez oil spill brought further attention to pollution of Earth’s oceans, which are another form of surface water.

When corporations dump slime into a lake, people can see it floating there. But perhaps the most pervasive and insidious form of pollution does not take place on the surface at all.

Groundwater accounts for most of the world’s drinking water. Water pollution in China has become a huge concern, since groundwater constitutes about 70% of their drinking water on average, not to mention 40% of the water used for crop irrigation. To put it bluntly, a lot of groundwater ends up in peoples’ bodies one way or another.

And in places like China, a healthy economy comes first and healthy drinking water comes second. Amazingly, 90% of China’s cities have heavily contaminated groundwater. Although the government has tried to downplay this alarming fact by claiming that 63% of it is still suitable for drinking, people who live close to industrial areas suffer constant diarrhea.

Sources of water pollution are often extremely dangerous, especially in countries like China that don’t have sufficient regulation. For example many inhabitants of Daciluo Village, just outside of Beijing, have gotten violently sick from their murky greenish water. Daciluo’s wells were drilled from groundwater aquifers just below the surface.

Those aquifers had been badly contaminated by a nearby zinc-plating factory. The Chinese government shut down the zinc-plating plant after the international community got involved, but most companies get away without so much as a slap on the wrist.

Even though we may not live in China, everyone has a vested interest in finding out how to stop water pollution from continuing its planet-wide ravages. Every day, our water sources become a little more corrupted, until we too may share the fate of the Daciluo villagers with their monthly cramps and indigestion, not to mention birth defects and disease.

Raw sewage flows into the United States from rivers that run through Mexico. Shell Oil is paying $1 million in damages for severe water pollution in Puerto Rico. Livestock waste and industrial byproducts run into water sources of every kind, among other things causing disease and the closure of thousands of beaches every year.

Modern technology has shown us that nightmarish sources of water pollution are everywhere and the time has come to act, because clean drinking water is decreasing worldwide and it is feared population growth may soon cause worldwide drought and potential famine.

We need to shake off our sense of complacency and revise our infrastructure as well as our attitudes, so that the next generation can enjoy water free of pollution.