New filtration membranes for cleaner industrial water

Many industries need plenty of water for different processes. The water used for these processes compounds of different metals and minerals, meaning that this is not clean water that can be used for drinking.

The scientists from all over the globe are working on potential solutions that could effectively remove various pollutants from industrial water and turn it into a clean water.

The latest interesting research on this topic comes from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, where researchers were able to develop energy-efficient methods for reuse of water in industrial processes, the ones that also allow extraction of metals and valuable minerals.

The current treatment methods of water in purification plants and industrial facilities require enormous amounts of energy. In most cases,  water recycling and seawater desalination processes use filtration membranes that consume plenty of energy. VTT scientists on the other hand developed intelligent membrane materials, that require significantly less energy, and are based on osmosis technology.

The VTT scientists also developed sensor technology that allows easy and rapid detection of pollutants. They also announced that their technology will be ready for production use within the next few years.

It also has to be said  that many researchers are already testing various biological extraction methods by which metals are recovered from mining, metal and recycling industry waste by using the combination of microbes and chemical reactions. These new methods and technologies are predicted to appear on the market within the next few years.

We all know that clean water is becoming scarcer with each new day. Cleaning industrial water is certainly something world should aspire to in order to tackle the clean water issue.

Mozambique lacks access to safe drinking water

Mozambique is one of the countries where large percentage of total population still lacks access to safe drinking water. The worst part in the whole story is that the country has enough water resources to cover for their needs if not for the growing water pollution issue.

The main culprit responsible for growing water pollution in the country is effluent from households, agriculture and industry. Add to this a growing exploitation of natural gas, metals and other resources in the coastal areas of the country, and the increase in the runoff of nutrients into surface water, and there is really no surprise why majority of the population still lacks access to safe drinking water.

These factors have lead  to the blooming of cyanobacteria. The large number of these species of bacteria produce substances called cyanotoxins. The largest family of cyanotoxins are called microcystins and they can have a negative effect on human health such as serious damage to liver. The exposure to these substances is done by either drinking polluted water or via direct skin contact and inhalation.

To counter these issues, developed countries have established effective management of the drinking water systems, by first of all monitoring the levels of cyanobacterial blooms and their toxins, in order to prevent them from spreading and affecting the water quality.

Olivia Carolina Narciso Pedro, has in her doctoral research measured he occurrence of microcystins in freshwater used for drinking in Mozambique. She discovered that the concentrations of microcystins were far higher than WHO's recommendations for the safe drinking water.

Small dams are effective against water pollution

The pollution issue is very complex issue to solve because of many different factors and variables involved in the whole pollution story. Every single day a new interesting study pops our broadening the reach of this global issue by adding new factors into the equation. One of the latest factors involved are small dams and reservoirs.

According to a latest study by Steve Powers, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Notre Dame's Environmental Change Initiative small dams and reservoirs play major role in pollution prevention by trapping various water pollutants.

This is said to be of particular importance in agricultural lands of the Midwest U.S., where there are lots of small, but aging dams that are „threatened by long-term structural decline and are also filling with sediment“. This ability of small dams and reservoirs to trap water pollutants is extremely important for the health of our environment because these small dams affect the movement of water and wastes through the environment.

Powers acknowledges that these dams are small individually but their total sum has a global surface area comparable to that of all large reservoirs added together.

This study also showed the negative environmental effects which were manifested in an increase in downstream transport of nutrient pollution after the dam was removed. Small dams affect greatly global water quality and thus we should make certain steps to prevent them disappear.

Many regions from all over the world are vulnerable to water quality changes caused by accumulation of sediment and phosphorus behind dams. Preserving small dams means not only improved water quality but also cleaner and healthier environment.

Water pollution in 2012 – Talking points

Here are some talking points for water pollution in 2012, with the special emphasis on India and China, as well as some other negative examples from several interesting studies:

Rivers and other water bodies in China will continue to be heavily polluted, mostly for the sake of rapid economic growth. It will be extremely difficult for China to find the balance between the rapid economic growth and adequate environmental protection. Without effective environmental regulation the Chinese will continue to have major water (and air) pollution issue on their hands.

India, on the other hand is in even worse environmental condition regarding the water pollution. The rapidly growing industry is only part of the problem here with other part referring to lack of even basic sanitation in many of India's rural areas. The sewage disposal issue is one of the main reasons why India is having tremendous river pollution issue to deal with.

Many river around the world are heavily polluted, offering this ugly sight

Many people do not put coffee in context with water pollution but scientists have already discussed about „caffeinated coastal waters“. One of the recent interesting studies on this topic came from the U.S. scientists at the Portland State University. By analyzing the water off the coast of Oregon they have discovered elevated levels of caffeine at several different sites in Pacific Ocean. According to them the waste water treatment plants are not a major source of caffeine in waters but this was rather the combination of high rainfall and combined sewer overflows that flush the contaminants out to sea.

Oceans are becoming increasingly polluted with carbon dioxide (CO2). In the last 250 years CO2 levels in our oceans have increased by about 40 percent. This is not only happening because our carbon emissions from fossil fuel fired power plants and traffic continue to grow but also because of increased water pollution with nutrients (nutrient runoff from fertilizer, human and animal waste).

Our seas and oceans are also experiencing increased levels of plastic pollution. The plastic pollution is no longer an ugly site just at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch but is rapidly spreading into new areas such as northwest coast of North America. The countries are yet to agree some sort of deal that would mean annual monitoring of trends in plastic pollution.

Shale gas industry is rapidly growing which sadly opens the door to more water pollution. Hydraulic fracturing of gas wells could lead to severe water pollution and reduce the amount of drinking water in many areas of the United States. The problem lies in the current shale gas frocking techniques that include pumping fluids underground into shale formations to release pockets of natural gas that are then pumped to the surface. This practice could lead to drinking water contamination from salts and several naturally occurring radioactive materials.

How to best prevent water pollution?

Water pollution is a serious health, social, and environmental issue in many parts of the world, especially developing countries. There are currently more than one billion people in the world without the access to safe drinking water, and this issue is soon to become even worse because many scientists expect major droughts (as a result of increasing climate change impact) that will further limit already scarce water resources in many parts of the world.

Harmful chemical and biological pollutants, many of which come from the industry and agriculture, are mostly to blame for excessive water pollution in many countries of the world. The increased industrial and agricultural activity still fails to find an eye to eye with a sustainable management of freshwater resources, and this is something that will require a special attention.

Water is one of the most precious resources on our planet. This means that water pollution issue must reach global level in terms of involving all countries in the world in a joint effort to find the best possible solution(s) to stop further rise of water pollution worldwide.

Water pollution is often characterized with excessive level of different pollutants into rivers. Cleaning these rivers from pollution requires huge funds, and since most of these incidents happen in developing countries there is often not enough money available for these funds.

Stopping poverty is one of the best ways to tackle water pollution issue. Poor, uneducated people will fail to prevent water pollution, as they in general care very little for our environment.

The industries that pollute water bodies and the responsible people in these industries should be strictly punished for the pollution they cause so they would think twice before again dumping waste into rivers and other water bodies. This also requires frequent monitoring of water bodies in order to prevent further spreading of the pollution, and also reducing eventual cleaning costs as much as possible. Chemical, biological and physical testing of water bodies should be done on regular level.

Water purification methods could be also used to decrease the levels of water pollution in many countries of the world. Water purification methods refer to different processes that are used to remove harmful chemicals and other pollutants from water bodies so water could be used for safe drinking.

The science could well be the one that will decide the final outcome of our battle against water pollution. The numerous ongoing scientific studies search for possible solutions that would cheaply and effectively clean water pollution, and there have been some very interesting proposals (such as for instance using carbon nanotubes to clean polluted water).

We mustn't forget that water pollution leads to different waterborne diseases that are causing the deaths of million people all over the world. Diarrhea alone causes approximately 1.5 million deaths of children worldwide each year.

The connection between water pollution and shale gas fracking

Shale gas fracking could lead to increased levels of water pollution in many parts of the world. Shale gas (natural gas trapped within the shale formations) is becoming increasingly popular source of natural gas, not only in United States, but the rest of the world too.

The U.S. scientists at the Stony Brook University have found the link between the shale gas fracking and water pollution by claiming that the disposal of contaminated wastewater that comes from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) wells producing natural gas poses a major risk of excessive water pollution.

They have studied the intensively developed Marcellus Shale region that extends throughout much of the Appalachian Basin and discovered that the disposal of large amounts of fracking well wastewater that will likely be generated in this area presents major water pollution threat because of risks from salts and different radioactive materials such as sodium, chloride, bromide, arsenic, barium, all of which are common compounds in fracking well wastewater.

The scientists further claim that if only 10 percent of the Marcellus Shale region was developed, that could equate to 40,000 wells, and describe this by comparing the volume of contaminated wastewater with "several hours flow of the Hudson River or a few thousand Olympic-sized swimming pools."

The scientists have concluded that regulators and others should consider additional mandatory steps to reduce the potential of drinking water contaminated from shale gas fracking.

This study is not the first of its kind linking shale gas fracking and water pollution. Last year's study concluded that fracking has seriously contaminated shallow groundwater supplies in northeastern Pennsylvania with flammable methane, while in December 2011 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency( EPA) issued a draft finding which stated that the groundwater contamination in Pavilion, Wyoming may be the result of fracking in the area.

The shale gas development is a big thing these days and many industrial lobbyists have been describing fracking as a green alternative to renewable energy. Judging by the current looks of it the environmental impacts of shale gas fracking are not harmless as previously thought and require adequate management, with special emphasis on lowering the potential risk for contaminated fracking wastewater release.

Water is a precious resource, and the last thing this world needs right now is more contaminated water. Shale gas is currently extremely profitable business but  further development should also include solutions for potential environmental and health risks shale gas fracking may be connected with.

Thermal pollution facts

Thermal pollution is a form of water pollution characterized by the degradation of water quality due to the rise or fall in the temperature of certain water body.

Thermal pollution of water bodies is almost always caused by humans, and is mostly the result of use of water as a coolant in power plants and different industrial facilities.

Unlike chemical pollution of water, thermal pollution primarily results in a change in the physical properties of water.

Thermal water pollution can cause huge damage to many aquatic ecosystems because there are many fish and other aquatic organisms that have adapted to particular temperature of the water and once this temperature changes they often fail to adapt and die in the process as a result of thermal shock.

Thermal water pollution is mostly associated with elevated water temperatures. The higher temperatures of water cause oxygen level to decrease and this can lead to major decline of fish species. The higher water temperatures can also lead to increased bacteria levels.

The less common is the case of thermal pollution by the release of very cold water from the base of reservoirs and into warmer water bodies such as rivers.

Thermal water pollution can lead to reduced biodiversity of the affected area and cause migration of many fish species.

Even small temperature changes of one to two degrees Celsius can cause significant changes to many aquatic species and lead to loss in biodiversity.

Thermal pollution can in some very rare cases have beneficial effect and may even lead to positive impact on certain aquatic species such as manatee.

More than 75% of thermal pollution in United States is attributed to power plants.

In order to control the levels of thermal pollution many industrial facilities in developed world are equipped with cooling ponds and cooling towers.

Urban runoff from roads and parking lots can also become major source of thermal pollution, particularly during warm weather.

Thermal pollution of water can also lead to increased levels of chemical pollution because toxicity of many harmful chemicals often increases with the increase in temperature.

One of the best ways to reduce thermal pollution is to primarily focus on energy facilities that do not have large water requirements for cooling purposes.

River pollution facts

River pollution is form of water pollution that refers to the contamination of rivers. River pollution occurs when waste and different other pollutants are discharged into river without being properly treated.

River pollution has negative effect on aquatic ecosystems. The negative impact on plants and animals often leads to decline in species, and sometimes even to extinction of entire species (Yangtze River dolphin).

River pollution also leads to decrease in freshwater resources because rivers are among most important sources of freshwater in the world. This means that the excessive river pollution could easily lead to global water shortage.

Excessive river pollution could also lead to many waterborne diseases.

China and India are countries notorious for excessive water pollution. This however doesn't mean that other countries aren’t affected with river pollution issue.  

Yangtze and Ganges are world's most polluted big rivers.

It has been estimated that up to 80 % of India's urban waste ends up in its rivers.

The holy river Ganges has become an international symbol for excessive river pollution. The recent measuring of pollution in Ganges showed that in some places the level of pollution is 3,000 percent higher than what is considered safe for bathing.

Citarum River in Indonesia is also notorious for pollution because of the combination of untreated household sewage, solid waste and industrial effluents.

Many developed countries are also experiencing worrying levels of river pollution. In Germany, for instance, the river pollution is increasing in its major rivers: the Elbe, Weser, Aller and Ems, mostly because of pesticides and industrial chemicals (study from University of Koblenz-Landau).

In order to tackle river pollution issue people need to show more care for our environment in general. There also needs to be better and far more frequent monitoring of rivers as well as strict punishments for polluters. The data needs to become live, and real-date, as well as being available to general public.

The worst affected countries should create funds and start cleaning their rivers because having polluted river doesn't only mean huge environmental but also huge economic damage. We must not forget that rivers provide us with many important services.

Improving water quality of our rivers is certainly very important task that needs to be addressed properly on all levels - local, regional, national as well as international. Healthy rivers mean healthy environment, and healthy environment means healthy life.

How does pollution affect our world?

Pollution affects our world by making our environment dirty and unhealthy place to live in. In order to live healthy we need our environment to stay clean and pollution-free but sadly pollution levels continue to grow in many parts of the world.

The rapid industrial development often means excessive pollution and destruction of valuable nature resources. It’s not that we don’t need industry but we need cleaner industry that is more environmentally friendly.

Fighting pollution is anything but easy mostly because pollution comes from various sources and has many different forms such as water, air and noise pollution. Successful fight against pollution means not just finding the sources of pollution but also ensuring their frequent monitoring in order to prevent them from polluting our environment.

Air pollution and water pollution are the two most talked about forms of pollution because they cause the biggest damage to our environment and our planet in general.

These two forms of pollution do not only hurt our environment but are also doing tremendous damage to our health. World Health Organization reports that close to 2.5 million people die each year from causes directly attributable to air pollution, while on the other hand water pollution takes 15,000 lives each day, mostly in developing countries.

Air pollution leads to different respiratory diseases and heart problems while water pollution remains the main source of diarrhea, a disease that is responsible for 1.5 million deaths of children each year.
 
Our vehicles and industry are the main sources of excessive air pollution in many parts of the world while the two main sources of water pollution are waste water and sewage waste.

Air pollution also contributes to global warming and climate change while water pollution leads to decline of freshwater resources and could lead to future water shortages.

Protecting our world from pollution means protecting the wellbeing of not only ourselves but also of our future generations. To protect the environment from the negative effects of pollution, many countries worldwide have enacted legislation that regulate various types of pollution but despite of these admirable efforts pollution still continues to grow in many parts of the world, especially in developing countries.

 Each and every one of us needs to get involved and practice efforts that lead to pollution prevention and reduction. We simply have no other choice because Earth is still our only home.

Cadmium causing huge pollution in Chinese river

Over the last couple of decades China has become one of the symbols for excessive pollution and Chinese are certainly doing their part in prolonging their notoriously poor environmental record with the latest proof coming in form of 20 tons of discharged cadmium poisoning China's Longjiang River.

The authorities still do not know the exact source and the time of the discharge that could poison close to 4 million people that live in the city of Liuzhou.

One of the main downstreams of Longjiang River is Liujiang River that provides drinking water for the 3.7 million residents of the city of Liuzhou.

The city authorities still say that drinking water in Liuzhou is safe for drinking despite having cadmium levels 80 times higher than what is described as the safe limit.

The authorities are trying to tackle cadmium pollution by dumping hundreds of tons of aluminum chloride into the Longjiang River in an effort to dissolve the cadmium but so far less than half of discharged cadmium has been dissolved and neutralized.

Cadmium is a toxic metal heavily used in batteries. Exposure to cadmium can cause adverse health effects by damaging kidneys, and can also cause diarrhea, stomach pains and severe vomiting, reproduction issues and even cancer.

This is just another example of how difficult is for Beijing to improve environmental condition throughout the country with many local authorities choosing to sacrifice environment by giving pollution industries a helping hand in order to boost its economic development.

Pollution is decreasing in Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay has been for many years a symbol for excessive pollution with the large amount of fertilizers, animal waste and other pollutants making their way into the largest estuary in United States.

However, the pollution levels seem to be finally decreasing. This was the conclusion of the major study coming from the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science published in the the November 2011 issue of Estuaries and Coasts..

The researchers have discovered that the size of dead zones (areas with very little or no oxygen where plants and animals cannot live) leveled off in deep channels of the bay during the 1980s and has been declining ever since.

This timing corresponds with the introduction of multistate-federal Chesapeake Bay Program that went live in 1980s and whose goal was to restore the water quality and health of the bay.

This is a clear evidence that the federal program has actually worked and that limiting nutrient pollution is the key factor in making Chesapeake Bay healthier. Under this program farmers were encouraged to plant natural barriers and take other steps to keep fertilizer out of waterways that feed the Chesapeake.

The other important factors that helped to reduce the levels of nutrients in Chesapeake Bay were forcing water treatment plants to pull more pollutants from their discharge, and different air pollution control measures that reduced the movement of nitrogen from the atmosphere into the bay.

The decrease in the nutrients will have to continue in order to achieve bay restoration goals. More nutrients cause faster algae growth and once the algae die, their remains sink to the bottom of the bay, where they are being eaten by bacteria. As they consume algae, the bacteria utilize dissolved oxygen in the water creating dead zones. This has lead to serious decreases in the Chesapeake's fish and shellfish populations.

Chesapeake Bay is home to a more than 3,600 species of plants, fish and other animals.

Water pollution testing – Quick facts

Water pollution testing is a broad term which includes chemical, biological and physical testing of certain body of water.

Chemical testing usually refers to examination of pH levels in water, biochemical and chemical oxygen demand as well as the level of nutrients and metal in the water.

Biological testing on the other hand examines the level of water pollution by monitoring the condition of plants and animals in certain aquatic ecosystem

Physical testing includes measuring the temperature of water, turbidity and the concentration of total suspended solids.

The time factor is of extreme importance in water pollution testing. This is because many pollution events can be identified only in certain time, in most cases when there is a rain. This is the main reason why in many cases just grabbing the sample of water isn't enough to fully measure the level of pollutants in water.

The water is usually first being tested on-site with researchers measuring the temperature, pH levels, dissolved oxygen and oxygen reduction potential and turbidity. More comprehensive testing is done in the laboratory. However, the question about the accuracy of laboratory testing always remains open because it is very difficult to determine the extent to which the taken sample may be representative of the water quality (samples may for instance vary seasonally).

Once a sample is taken it is also important to make sure that sample container is made of materials with minimal reactivity with substances to be measured, not to mention how important it is to always clean sample container prior to taking sample. Researchers also tend to keep the samples cold in order to minimize the chance of possible chemical reactions with surrounding environment.

If you live near a potential source of water pollution such as factories, landfills and large agricultural areas it is wise to test the quality of water from time to time. Polluted water can spread many different waterborne diseases such as diarrhea.

The most obvious signs of water contaminated with pollutants include odd taste or smell, colored water which appears filthy, less effective cleaning ability of soaps and detergents, plumbing containing lead pip or solder joints, etc.

In United States water quality is monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This body regulates the concentrations and types of chemicals that may be found in drinking water. In United States all laboratories that conduct water testing must first obtain certificate by EPA.

German rivers experiencing increased pollution

Germany is one of the most industrialized nations in the world and one of the global economic leaders. Huge industrialization and advanced agriculture can however have very negative environmental impact and this has also lead to an increased pollution in four German major rivers the Elbe, Weser, Aller and Ems.

The German scientists were analyzing the concentrations of toxic chemicals and other pollutants in river water by analyzing data from official monitoring spanning from 1994 until 2004.

The scientists discovered that Germany won't be able to attain by 2015 the good chemical and ecological status of water bodies as defined by the EU Water Framework Directive mostly because of significant concentrations of pesticides and industrial chemicals in major German rivers.

The amount of pesticides and industrial chemicals in German rivers is so high that river ecosystems will very likely suffer toxic impacts which could lead to significant decline of many aquatic species.

Ralf B. Schäfer, an assistant professor at the Institute for Environmental Sciences at the University of Koblenz-Landau said that "in some cases we found worrying concentrations of substances at levels which under laboratory conditions would kill 50 per cent of water fleas and could lead to the significant decline of the algae population."

The scientists also pointed to the fact that Germany still lacks regular official monitoring which is currently being carried out only 2 or three times a year.

Some scientists like Dr von der Ohe also pointed out that the actual pollution levels might be even bigger because the monitoring data were collected using point water grab sampling which may not include all pollutants, particularly pesticides since they are in most cases released into water bodies episodically.

In order to successfully tackle river pollution (and water pollution in general) issue the scientists must first find their exact sources and to do so the official monitoring needs to be done more thoroughly and what is also important more frequently.

River pollution – Definition and meaning

River pollution is a form of water pollution which refers to the introduction of different chemicals and other pollutants such as sewage, food waste and farm effluents into rivers.

Rivers are among the most important sources of freshwater on our planet and this is one of the most important reasons why we have to address river pollution issue very seriously. Even now, there are many places in the world suffering from the water shortage issue, and in years to come things will be much more difficult because human population is set for massive growth in the next couple of decades.

Polluted rivers have extremely harmful effect on river ecosystems mostly because water pollution causes significant drop in oxygen levels, and many animals are not able to tolerate low levels of oxygen in rivers.

Polluted river can also become a source of disease and animals that drink this water can even pass this disease to people after people eat an infected animal. There have been several cases in Africa where people caught different waterborne diseases by drinking untreated polluted water directly from the river.

River pollution has become particularly serious issue in fast developing countries such as China and India. Ganges and Yangtze, for instance, are amongst world's most polluted rivers.

The easiest sign to spot water pollution is seeing dead fish floating on the river or noticing that the water has strange color or it smells bad.

Cleaning up dirty rivers requires lot of efforts and of course large funds, particularly in cases where large river water bodies are being polluted. As in many other cases it is wiser to prevent river pollution than cleaning it afterwards. Therefore make sure to do your part and don't be one of those people who deliberately throw rubbish into the river.

Can carbon nanotubes clean polluted water?

Water pollution is big issue in many countries of the world, particularly developing countries. One of the possible solutions which could be used to clean polluted water are also carbon nanotubes, according to the scientists from the University of Vienna.

The Austrian scientists have discovered that water pollutants have very high affinity for carbon nanotubes which means that pollutants could be removed from polluted water by filters made of this carbon nanotubes.

There are several advantages of carbon nanotubes which could be quite useful to clean polluted water, such as for instance a very large surface area that has a high capacity to retain large amount of pollutants.

Nanotechnology is still a brand new technology that has just started developing and despite having enormous potential will still need time and lot of studies before being widely and cost-effectively used.

This study is really only a beginning and scientists still need to find many answers in order to successfully use carbon nanotubes to clean polluted water.

First of all scientists need to learn the behavior of carbon nanotubes in the environment. This is essential before they can be used in water filters to clean polluted water.

The efficacy of each water filter varies according to the quantity and type of contaminants present in water. If there are many different pollutants in water some pollutants may not attach to carbon nanotubes so scientists still need to heavily research the mechanisms of sorption.

Around one billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water. Who knows, in years to come, perhaps nanotubes will change this negative number for better.

Thermal pollution - Definition and main cause

Thermal pollution is basically the form of water pollution that refers to degradation of water quality by any process that changes ambient water temperature. The main cause of thermal pollution is our industry, or to be more precise power plants that use water as a coolant. After this water has been used as coolant it is returned to its natural environment at a higher temperature. This change in water temperature decreases the amount of oxygen in the water which can lead to many negative ecological effects.

Less oxygen in the water can harm fish population, for instance it can increase the metabolic rate of fish and other aquatic animals so they eat lot more food in a shorter time than if their environment were not changed. This can lead to imbalance in food chain resulting in significant damage to many aquatic ecosystems.

Warmer water temperatures can also lead to reproduction problems for many aquatic animals, and can cause huge bacteria and plant growth. It can even lead to algae bloom resulting in even less oxygen in the water.

Industry doesn't always return water at higher temperatures, sometimes the water can return to its natural environment at lower temperatures. Colder water can have even more serious consequences to fish population than warmer water, as it can completely disrupt their reproduction ability.

There have been several cases around the globe where colder water created total extinction of native fish species which lead to the drastic changes in these ecosystems.

In United States power plants currently account for more than three quarters of total thermal pollution. The thermal pollution levels are still relatively high in United States despite the controlling measures like the implementation of cooling ponds and cooling towers in some power plants. This is because many power plants in United States use less efficient cooling solutions like once-through cooling (OTC).

Urban runoff can also become the source of thermal pollution especially in smaller streams once stormwater passes over hot parking lots and roads and enters the water body.

Thermal pollution still doesn't get much of public attention. In most cases it is being scarcely mentioned when discussing the general water pollution issue.

Water purification – The best water pollution solution

Water pollution is taking heavy toll in many corners of the world, with millions of people across the globe dying because of different waterborne diseases. Harmful chemicals and other pollutants have degraded the quality of water in many parts of the world, and world is finding it very hard to tackle the ever-growing impact of water pollution.

Water purification is one of the methods to at least temporarily reduce the impact of water pollution. Water purification refers to different processes that are used to remove chemicals and other pollutants from the water, mostly with the purpose to create drinking water, though water purification can be also for a variety of other purposes.

In cases where water pollution levels aren't high water purification can be achieved with simple processes such as boiling or filtering but the more serious cases of water pollution require more complex methods.

Millions of lives around the globe could be saved if people were to use processes such as chlorination, filtration, and solar disinfection to treat water at their homes but the implementation of these relatively simple methods is happening very slowly in developing countries, resulting in large number of deaths from waterborne diseases.

The more complex water purification methods are usually done in water purification plants. Water purification plants use many different processes to remove pollutants from the water such as flocculation, sedimentation, different types of filtration as well as many other mechanical and biological techniques.

Disinfection is usually the last process of water purification. The purpose of disinfection is to remove any remaining harmful microbes by adding disinfectant chemicals because otherwise harmful microbes could pass through water filters and create serious threat to human health.

The usual disinfection method involves the usage of chlorine as the disinfectant though many developed countries have lately started using chloramine instead. Chloramine despite not being as powerful oxidant as chlorine is has one major advantage over chlorine by providing longer lasting effects. The process of creating chloramine from the chlorine is very simple, all it takes is adding some ammonia to the water after the addition of chlorine.

As said before the main goal of water purification is to produce safe drinking water. There are both domestic as well as international standards for drinking water. Water purification is definitely the best method to create the safe drinking water, and safe drinking water could save million of lives across the globe.

What is the worst kind of pollution?

When discussing the worst kind of pollution people talk about either water pollution or air pollution. Water pollution and air pollution not only harm our environment but also our health. Recent estimates say that around 15,000 people in the world die each day because of the water pollution, while according to the data from the World Health Organization 2.4 million people in the world die each year because of the air pollution.

Waste water and sewage waste are the two biggest causes of water pollution. World population is increasing each year, which means that each year there is more waste compared to previous year(s). According to recent estimates world generates 400 billion tons of industrial waste each year, plenty of which ends up in different water bodies causing huge environmental and health damage.

Despite the fact that we now live in the 21st century there is still more than billion people worldwide who lack access to safe drinking water, and more than two billion people in the world live without proper sanitation systems. When you consider this, the fact that diarrhea causes around 1,5 million deaths of children each year shouldn't be really surprising us.

Air pollution doesn't only refer to outdoor but also indoor air pollution, in fact according to the recent estimates indoor air pollution is responsible for more deaths compared to outdoor air pollution (1,5 million deaths per year as the result of indoor air pollution compared to little less than one million deaths per year caused by outdoor air pollution).

The main sources of air pollution are traffic and industry. Air pollution coming from traffic is causing hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. Air pollution is not only issue in many China's cities but also in several U.S. cities such as Los Angeles and Pittsburgh.

How can we fight against water and air pollution? The most obvious answer would be to tackle the main sources of the pollution but this is anything but easy, especially in developing world.

The fight against water and air pollution does not only require global environmental conscience but also very large funding, which is why developing world is finding fight against pollution particularly hard.

On the other hand our industry and our vehicles still need fossil fuels because renewable energy is still not ready to jump in and make the difference.

In current situation it is almost impossible to find some logical foundation that would give us the right to an optimistic point of view in regards to pollution.

Pollution growing at Yucatan Peninsula

The latest report published in the journal Environmental Pollution talks about the problem of growing water pollution at Yucatan Peninsula, or to be more precise at the well known tourist destination "Riviera Maya".

"Riviera Maya" is the popular destination for tourists, and this is the main reason behind the sudden increase in pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, shampoo, toothpaste, pesticides that have started infiltrating a vast labyrinth of water-filled caves under the Riviera Maya.

The additional problem is the fact that this polluted water is making its way into the Caribbean sea, and there have been significant number of scientists who claim that polluted water (together with climate change) has been the main cause for the rapid loss of corals in Caribbean sea.

The water pollution at Yucatan Peninsula looks very unlikely to improve, in fact many experts believe that things will become even worse in years to come because of the expected rapid growth of population in this area. And more people means in most cases more pollution.

Experts agree that the first thing that needs to be done in this case is to establish monitoring systems in order to find the locations from where these pollutants are originating.

Also, further development of this area needs to be planned very carefully in order not to interfere too much with marine environment, though high levels of pollution are not only a serious environmental problem, but also a serious health issue.

It's all about tourism for people in this area, but if pollution levels continue to grow tourists will stop coming, and federal as well as local government will have to come up with the adequate solution to stop further water pollution in this area.

Researchers believe that the most likely origin of these pollutants are latrines, septic tanks and leaking sewer lines. A logical presumption given the fact that only one-third of the state is served by municipal wastewater treatment systems.

The levels of pollutants found in the water are still not considered to be a health threat but if this situation continues drinking water could soon become contaminated.

As researchers remark "the area's highly permeable geology, characterized by remarkable sinkholes offering access to the groundwater cave systems, makes the peninsula very susceptible to contamination."

How does water pollution affect our environment?

Water pollution is together with air pollution the most serious form of environmental pollution. Water pollution not only does huge damage to our environment but also to our health. Water is the most precious resource on our planet, and water pollution is the main reason why freshwater resources are constantly declining, and the worst part in the whole story is the fact that there are still many people in the world who do not take water pollution problem seriously.

The contamination of water bodies has tremendous negative impact on environment, it has ability to destroy many animal habitats, and cause irreparable damage to many ecosystems. Water pollution is not only killing millions of people around the globe each year, it is also killing millions of plants and animals that simply cannot cope with the increasing levels of water pollution caused by different chemicals and other waste.

In some areas of the world water pollution issue is totally out of control, and in these areas polluted water spreads different toxins and other chemicals into environment, making it dirty, and above all unhealthy place to live in.

The main problem with water pollution is the fact that in many countries around the globe large industries still continue to dump different types of waste into streams and rivers because there is the lack of controlling mechanisms that would keep their eyes on these industries and prevent them from dumping industrial waste into water bodies.

If this world really wants clean environment, then the crucial thing to do is to stop the two most common types of pollution, namely the air and the water pollution. However, world still looks to be lacking global will needed for such an action and this is the reason why these two forms of pollution will continue to deteriorate our environment for years to come.

The aquatic life is mostly affected with water pollution, and water pollution can even lead to an extinction of some animal species, like this was the case with the Yangtze River Dolphin.

Chemical compounds and other water pollutants cause aquatic animals difficulties with breathing while on the other hand these chemicals can also be quite toxic for land animals once they drink this polluted water.

The environmental damage of water pollution doesn't stop there, water pollution also increases the impact of air pollution, because the more polluted water gets the better chance there is that some of these pollutants will evaporate into air. Polluted water is also one of the major contributing factors to acid rain creation, and generally speaking this is certainly one of the biggest environmental problems.

Id world currently doing enough to tackle water pollution issue? I will answer this question by saying that almost one billion people in the world still do not have access to safe drinking water. So much about the 21th century.