What Is Water Pollution | Environmental Chemistry | Chemistry | FuseSchool
Learn the basics about water pollution, whilst learning about environmental chemistry.
The substances mankind throws away have polluted lakes, rivers and even the oceans.
The United Nations estimate that around 10% of the world’s people do not have access to clean drinking water. The main problem with this untreated water is that it can carry diseases, such as cholera, that spread through untreated human faeces. This is particularly serious in shanty towns near big cities and in refugee camps.
Rivers and streams can also be polluted with diseases from water coming from badly managed rubbish dumps. But human sewage is not the only substance that pollutes our water supplies - most of the other substances humans allow to escape into streams, rivers and the oceans, are more a danger to natural ecosystems than to us directly.
Chemical fertilisers are much more soluble in water than organic, manure-based fertilisers, so heavy rain can wash them into streams and lakes, causing eutrophication. The fertilisers cause algae to grow very fast forming a mat on the lake surface, which blocks sunlight from the vegetation deeper down, which then dies. Bacteria feed off the dying vegetation and use up the remaining oxygen supply. Once the oxygen has gone all animal life dies and the lake ecosystem is destroyed.
If heavy metals, such as lead mercury and cadmium, get into rivers and lakes many animals will die.
Radioactive waste is normally stored above ground in water tanks, waiting for a more permanent underground storage where it has to be safe for millions of years. There are fears that these underground stores could fail and contaminate water courses. Following a nuclear disaster, water courses and the oceans can become dangerously polluted with radioactive waste.
During mining and drilling operations to extract minerals from the earth, aquifers, which are underground water courses, can become polluted. Huge amounts of plastic thrown away from ships, and washed out to sea from rubbish dumps on land, have ended up floating in huge islands of waste causing a serious threat to fish, seabirds and other marine animals.
Coal and oil fuelled power stations have been responsible, more so in the past, for causing acid rain.
Fossil fuel and nuclear power stations need large amounts of water for condensing the steam which drives their turbines. This water is usually cooled on site in the great cooling towers that dominate the skyline of power-stations. Even so the water will be returned to the river or sea warmer than before. This can upset the river or sea ecosystems. Although not material pollution this waste heat is a pollutant.
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Пікірлер: 69
Oh bhaisahab katai jahar
It was informative,and easier to know about the topic.....!would like to watch more videos....cheers!
HEY STOP READING THE COMMENTS! GO BACK TO LISTENING TO THE VID! 😑🙄
@liquuid6958
3 жыл бұрын
Lol no
@jayrextong3409
3 жыл бұрын
NO NO NO
@emilygreen1399
3 жыл бұрын
...damn you, how did you know...
@galaxypotatobears3954
3 жыл бұрын
@@emilygreen1399 srsly-
How does chemistry relate to water pollution? Can chemistry help produce a solution to fight/eliminate the problem at hand? #Livetree #Fairweb #WaterPollution
more people should have to watch this video
@ionafrey967
7 жыл бұрын
you are right
@aarthi6089
7 жыл бұрын
Conrad Meaders you are right. I'll share this to my friends
@mj2k299
5 жыл бұрын
Wrong he's a nerd
very good class,Thank U
The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell
@happyonion5787
3 жыл бұрын
Yes
Hi there- this is a great video, but one thing is incorrect- the nuclear accident in 1979 was at Three Mile Island, not Five Mile Island
@lelanie367
4 жыл бұрын
Yes potato teacher =^=
@dabananaman9086
3 жыл бұрын
yes u r correct i was thinking the same thing to
Hola me encantan tus vídeos
Very interesting video!
🙏
i love the video we need to safe water and animals
very good
@fuseschool
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
Good
@fuseschool
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
************save water************
It should be Three Mile Island, not five mile island at 3:21-3:24
@fuseschool
3 жыл бұрын
You are right! Thanks for noticing!
logical one
your voice makes me fall asleep 😂😂 lovely video though
@fuseschool
3 жыл бұрын
Sorry! And thanks! 😅
@8b_24_kiran6
3 жыл бұрын
@@fuseschool thank you sir...🙏 Nice video.....😂
@fuseschool
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@8b_24_kiran6
3 жыл бұрын
@@fuseschool 😊
Can't Recognize your words
@dabananaman9086
3 жыл бұрын
then you have terrible speech recognition.
3 mile island
wow
Who's here because of summit learning?...
Meridian We Come With Open Hearts
Corona vines
Why is the intro 13 seconds long?
@fuseschool
3 жыл бұрын
It's too long, isn't it? We've changed it for our newer videos, though.
@happyonion5787
3 жыл бұрын
@@fuseschool its much better now, Thanks!
We Care! We are Eco Heroes 🌍❤️
@lelanie367
4 жыл бұрын
?
@lelanie367
4 жыл бұрын
O 0₩0 ok...
Hola
not to be rude but it was actually 3 mile island not 5
@keithross7058
5 жыл бұрын
Well spotted - thanks
treat it biochem
I Am One Of The Ten Percent Population :(
that intro is long as hell.
Dis sucks
my dead cat has more energy than this bloke
Good
@sunrathod1986
7 жыл бұрын
Water pollution Yarra
Hola