Separating water pollution facts from water pollution myths is a bit like separating oxygen from hydrogen with tweezers. The facts about water pollution have gotten rather mixed up in between hype, hope, skilled political spin, and a host of other issues that have been deemed by the notorious “they” as more important.

Yet it is important to educate oneself when it comes to the water pollution issues that are facing not just the country, but the whole world.

Marine ecosystems are more than just interesting places to water ski. They are the life’s blood of the planet. Without marine ecosystems there would be no planet, and no life. That is why preserving our water is so vital to ensuring that the planet has a brighter tomorrow.

First of all, it is important to recognize that not all of the pollutants that end up in the water come from water based activities. In fact, an interesting water pollution fact reveals that only 20% of the pollutants in oceans, rivers, bays, streams, lakes, and other bodies of water come from water based activities.

The remaining 80% is derived from land based activities. This means that it is not just the responsibility of the beach goers to clean up the ocean. We are all responsible for doing what we can to protect and preserve the planet’s water supplies.

Another interesting albeit not surprising water pollution fact reveals that claiming a chunk of that 20% of pollution due to water based activities is caused by cruise ships. A one week cruise on a cruise ships yields more than a million gallons of grey water.

Cruise ships pollute sea water

Grey water refers to waste water that has been tainted by soaps, detergents, and other sources of negative environmental impact but does not include human waste. These soaps and detergents from grey water can literally poison the ecosystem and pollute the water which in turn kills valuable wildlife.

These floating cities are also responsible for producing over 200,000 gallons of raw sewage, much of which is dumped during ocean transit. The bilge water, which is loaded with oils, diesel fuel, and other pollutants can account for at least 35,000 gallons of weekly contamination.

Most of us feel we have no control over how a cruise ship operates and many have never even been on one.

So let’s move some of our water pollution facts closer to home. Littering jeopardizes marine wildlife, which interrupts the balance of the ecosystem. Annually, plastic litter is responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000 marine mammals like porpoises and sea otters.

This same plastic pollution is responsible for the deaths of at least a million sea birds and waterfowl like pelicans and gulls. There is no way to accurately tally the number of fish deaths caused by plastic pollution but the estimates are up near three or four million on an annual basis. Littering and a failure to recycle plastics, even if you don’t live near the coastline, have some pretty dramatic consequences.

Worldwide, ocean pollution become just as much of a human problem as a marine problem. Water pollution facts that have been the result of numerous studies have shown that at least 50% of worldwide groundwater is unsuitable for drinking thanks to pollution.

Polluted groundwater can be pinpointed as the cause for more than 250 million diseases including cholera, typhoid, and dysentery. Of these 250 million cases, about 8 million result in death from polluted groundwater.

The world’s water pollution facts include potentially life threatening waters that are found on every continent and in nearly every country.

Asia’s rivers are filled with human waste and thus are not sanitary. Human waste encourages the development of dangerous bacteria which can be harmful to people as well as to animals.

Ireland suffers from a similar problem as 30% of her rivers are either contaminated with raw human sewage or have been polluted with fertilizer. The Sarno River, a river in Europe, has turned into a collection river for raw human waste, chemicals which have been dumped, raw waste from the agriculture, and waste from industrial and manufacturing plants.

The world’s water pollution facts leave no country untouched by the dangers of river and ocean pollution.