Pollution of water bodies– discharge or otherwise entering water bodies (surface and underground), as well as formation in them harmful substances that worsen the quality of water, limit its use or negatively affect the condition of the bottom and banks of water bodies; anthropogenic introduction of various pollutants into the aquatic ecosystem, the impact of which on living organisms exceeds the natural level, causing their oppression, degradation and death.
There are several types of water pollution:
Chemical water pollution seems to be the most dangerous at present due to the global scale of this process and the growing number of pollutants, including many xenobiotics, i.e. substances alien to aquatic and near-water ecosystems.
Pollutants enter the environment in liquid, solid, gaseous and aerosol form. The routes of their entry into the aquatic environment are varied: directly into water bodies, through the atmosphere with precipitation and during dry deposition, through the drainage area with surface, intrasoil and underground water flow.
Sources of pollutants can be divided into concentrated, distributed, or diffuse, and linear.
Concentrated runoff comes from enterprises, utilities and, as a rule, is controlled in volume and composition by the relevant services and can be managed, in particular through construction treatment facilities. Diffuse runoff comes irregularly from built-up areas, unequipped landfills and landfills, agricultural fields and livestock farms, as well as from precipitation. This runoff is generally unmonitored and unregulated.
Sources of diffuse runoff are also zones of anomalous technogenic soil pollution, which systematically “feed” water bodies with hazardous substances. Such zones were formed, for example, after the Chernobyl accident. These are also lenses of liquid waste, for example, petroleum products, solid waste burial sites, the waterproofing of which is broken.
It is almost impossible to control the flow of pollutants from such sources; the only way is to prevent their formation.
Global pollution is a sign of today. Natural and man-made flows of chemicals are comparable in scale; For some substances (primarily metals), the intensity of anthropogenic turnover is many times greater than the intensity of the natural cycle.
Acid precipitation, formed as a result of nitrogen and sulfur oxides entering the atmosphere, significantly changes the behavior of microelements in water bodies and their catchment areas. The process of removal of microelements from soils is activated, water acidification occurs in reservoirs, which negatively affects all aquatic ecosystems.
An important consequence of water pollution is the accumulation of pollutants in the bottom sediments of water bodies. Under certain conditions, they are released into the water mass, causing an increase in pollution in the apparent absence of pollution from waste water.
Dangerous water pollutants include oil and petroleum products. Their sources are all stages of oil production, transportation and refining, as well as consumption of petroleum products. In Russia, tens of thousands of medium and large emergency spills of oil and petroleum products occur annually. A lot of oil gets into the water due to leaks in oil and product pipelines, railways, on the territory of oil storage facilities. Natural oil is a mixture of dozens of individual hydrocarbons, some of which are toxic. It also contains heavy metals (for example, molybdenum and vanadium), radionuclides (uranium and thorium).
The main process of transformation of hydrocarbons into natural environment is biodegradation. However, its speed is low and depends on the hydrometeorological situation. IN northern regions Where the main reserves of Russian oil are concentrated, the rate of oil biodegradation is very low. Some of the oil and insufficiently oxidized hydrocarbons fall to the bottom of water bodies, where the rate of their oxidation is practically zero. Substances such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons of petroleum, including 3,4-benzo(a)pyrene, exhibit increased stability in water. An increase in its concentration poses a real danger to the organisms of the aquatic ecosystem.
Another dangerous component of water pollution is pesticides. Migrating in the form of suspensions, they settle to the bottom of water bodies. Bottom sediments are the main reservoir for the accumulation of pesticides and other persistent organic pollutants, which ensures their long-term circulation in aquatic ecosystems. In food chains their concentration increases many times over. Thus, compared to the content in bottom silt, the concentration of DDT in algae increases 10 times, in zooplankton (crustaceans) - 100 times, in fish - 1000 times, in predatory fish - 10,000 times.
A number of pesticides have structures unknown to nature and therefore resistant to biotransformation. These pesticides include organochlorine pesticides, which are extremely toxic and persistent in the aquatic environment and in soils. Representatives such as DDT are banned, but traces of this substance are still found in nature.
Persistent substances include dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls. Some of them have exceptional toxicity that surpasses the most powerful poisons. For example, the maximum permissible concentration of dioxins in surface and groundwater in the USA is 0.013 ng/l, in Germany - 0.01 ng/l. They actively accumulate in food chains, especially in the final links of these chains - in animals. The highest concentrations are observed in fish.
Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) enter the environment with energy and transport waste. Among them, benzo(a)pyrene accounts for 70–80% of the emission mass. PAHs are classified as strong carcinogens.
Surfactants (surfactants) are usually not toxic, but they form a film on the surface of the water that disrupts gas exchange between water and the atmosphere. Phosphates included in surfactants cause eutrophication of water bodies.
Use of mineral and organic fertilizers leads to contamination of soils, surface and groundwater with compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus, and microelements. Pollution with phosphorus compounds is the main cause of eutrophication of water bodies; the greatest threat to the biota of water bodies is posed by blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, which multiply in huge quantities during the warm season in water bodies prone to eutrophication. When these organisms die and decompose, acutely toxic substances – cyanotoxins – are released. About 20% of all phosphorus pollution in water bodies comes from agricultural landscapes, 45% comes from livestock farming and municipal wastewater, and more than a third comes from losses during transportation and storage of fertilizers.
Mineral fertilizers contain a large “bouquet” of microelements. Among them are heavy metals: chromium, lead, zinc, copper, arsenic, cadmium, nickel. They can negatively affect animals and humans.
The huge number of existing anthropogenic sources of pollution and the numerous ways in which pollutants enter water bodies make it practically impossible to completely eliminate pollution of water bodies. Therefore, it was necessary to determine water quality indicators that ensure the safety of water use by the population and the stability of aquatic ecosystems. The establishment of such indicators is called water quality standardization. In sanitary and hygienic standards, the focus is on the impact of dangerous concentrations of chemicals in water on human health, while in environmental standards, the priority is to ensure the protection of living organisms in the aquatic environment from them.
The indicator of maximum permissible concentrations (MAC) is based on the concept of the threshold of action of a pollutant. Below this threshold, the concentration of the substance is considered safe for organisms.
The classification of water bodies according to the nature and level of pollution allows for a classification that establishes four degrees of pollution of a water body: permissible (1-fold excess of the MPC), moderate (3-fold excess of the MPC), high (10-fold excess of the MPC) and extremely high (100 - multiple excess of MPC).
Environmental regulation is designed to ensure the preservation of the sustainability and integrity of aquatic ecosystems. Using the principle of the “weak link” of an ecosystem allows us to estimate the concentration of pollutants that are acceptable for the most vulnerable component of the system. This concentration is accepted as acceptable for the entire ecosystem as a whole.
The degree of pollution of land waters is controlled by the State Monitoring of Water Bodies system. In 2007, sampling for physical and chemical indicators with the simultaneous determination of hydrological indicators was carried out at 1716 points (2390 sections).
IN Russian Federation the problem of providing the population with benign drinking water remains unresolved. The main reason for this is the unsatisfactory condition of water supply sources. Rivers like
Pollution of aquatic ecosystems leads to a decrease in biodiversity and depletion of the gene pool. This is not the only, but important reason for the decline in biodiversity and numbers of aquatic species.
Protection of natural resources and quality assurance natural waters- a task of national importance.
By Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 27, 2009 No. 1235-r, the Water Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period until 2020 was approved. It states that in order to improve the quality of water in water bodies, restore aquatic ecosystems and the recreational potential of water bodies, the following tasks must be solved:
To solve this problem, legislative, organizational, economic, technological measures are required, and most importantly, political will aimed at solving the formulated problems.
Water pollution is a decrease in its quality as a result of various physical, chemical or biological substances entering rivers, streams, lakes, seas and oceans. Water pollution has many causes.
Wastewater
Industrial wastewater containing inorganic and organic waste, often descend into rivers and seas. Every year, thousands of chemicals enter water sources, the effect of which on the environment is not known in advance. Hundreds of these substances are new compounds. Although industrial wastewater is often pre-treated, it still contains toxic substances that are difficult to detect.
Domestic wastewater containing, for example, synthetic detergents eventually ends up in rivers and seas. Fertilizers washed off the soil surface end up in drains leading to lakes and seas. All these reasons lead to severe water pollution, especially in closed lakes and ponds.
Solid waste.
If there is large number suspended solids, they make it opaque to sunlight and thereby interfere with the process of photosynthesis in water basins. This in turn causes disturbances in the food chain in such pools. In addition, solid waste causes siltation in rivers and shipping channels, necessitating frequent dredging.
Eutrophication.
Industrial and agricultural wastewater that enters water sources contains high levels of nitrates and phosphates. This leads to an oversaturation of closed reservoirs with fertilizing substances and causes increased growth of protozoan algae microorganisms in them. Blue-green algae grows especially strongly. But, unfortunately, it is inedible for most fish species. Algae growth leads to absorption from water more oxygen than can naturally form in it. As a result, the BOD of such water increases. The release of biological wastes, such as wood pulp or untreated sewage water, into water also increases the BOD. Other plants and living things cannot survive in such an environment. However, microorganisms that are capable of decomposing dead plant and animal tissues multiply rapidly in it. These microorganisms absorb even more oxygen and form even more nitrates and phosphates. Gradually, the number of plant and animal species in such a reservoir decreases significantly. The most important victims of the ongoing process are fish. Eventually, the decrease in oxygen concentration due to the growth of algae and microorganisms that decompose dead tissue leads to the aging of lakes and their waterlogging. This process is called eutrophication.
A classic example of eutrophication is Lake Erie in the USA. Over 25 years, the nitrogen content in this lake has increased by 50%, and the phosphorus content by 500%. The cause was mainly the entry into the lake of household wastewater containing synthetic detergents. Synthetic detergents contain a lot of phosphates.
Wastewater treatment is ineffective because it removes only solids and only a small proportion of dissolved nutrients from the water.
Toxicity of inorganic waste.
The discharge of industrial wastewater into rivers and seas leads to an increase in the concentration of toxic heavy metal ions, such as cadmium, mercury and lead. A significant part of them is absorbed or adsorbed by certain substances, and this is sometimes called the process of self-purification. However, in closed pools, heavy metals can reach dangerously high levels.
The most famous case of this kind occurred in Minamata Bay in Japan. Industrial wastewater containing methyl mercury acetate was discharged into this bay. As a result, mercury began to enter the food chain. It was absorbed by algae, which were eaten by shellfish; Fish ate shellfish, and fish was eaten by the local population. The mercury content in fish turned out to be so high that it led to the appearance of children with congenital deformities and deaths. This disease is called Minamata disease.
Increased nitrate levels observed in drinking water are also of great concern. It is suggested that high content Nitrates in water can lead to stomach cancer and cause increased child mortality.
Microbiological contamination of water.
However, the problem of water pollution and unsanitary conditions is not limited to developing countries. A quarter of the entire Mediterranean coastline is considered dangerously polluted. According to a report on pollution in the Mediterranean Sea published in 1983 by the United Nations Environment Programme, eating shellfish and lobsters caught there is unsafe for health. Typhoid, paratyphoid, dysentery, polio, viral hepatitis and food poisoning are common in this region, and cholera outbreaks occur periodically. Most of these diseases are caused by the discharge of untreated sewage into the sea. It is estimated that 85% of waste from 120 coastal cities is dumped into the Mediterranean Sea, where holidaymakers and tourists swim and fish. local residents. Between Barcelona and Genoa every mile coastline accounts for approximately 200 tons of waste discharged per year.
Oil leak
In the United States alone, approximately 13,000 oil spills occur annually. Up to 12 million tons of oil enter seawater annually. In the UK, over 1 million tons of used engine oil are poured down the drain every year.
Oil spilled into sea water has many adverse effects on sea life. First of all, birds die - they drown, overheat in the sun or are deprived of food. Oil blinds animals living in the water - seals and seals. It reduces the penetration of light into enclosed bodies of water and can increase water temperature. This is especially destructive for organisms that can exist only in a limited temperature range. Oil contains toxic components, such as aromatic hydrocarbons, that are harmful to some forms of aquatic life even in concentrations as low as a few parts per million.
Other forms of water pollution
These include radioactive and thermal pollution. The main source of radioactive pollution of the sea is low-level waste removed from nuclear power plants. One of the most important problems arising from this contamination is that marine organisms such as algae accumulate, or concentrate, radioactive isotopes.
Thermal water pollution is caused by thermal or nuclear power plants. Thermal pollution is introduced into surrounding water bodies by waste cooling water. As a result, an increase in the water temperature in these reservoirs leads to the acceleration of some biochemical processes in them, as well as to a decrease in the oxygen content dissolved in the water. This causes rapid and often very significant changes in the biological environment in the vicinity of power plants. The finely balanced reproduction cycles of various organisms are disrupted. In conditions of thermal pollution, as a rule, there is a strong growth of algae, but the extinction of other organisms living in the water.
Water is one of the most important natural resources, and it is in our power to prevent its contamination. Small changes in habits, such as using natural cleaning products instead of toxic chemicals in the home or growing trees and flowers in the garden, can make a huge difference. For larger-scale changes, try not to hush up the facts of discharges of dirty wastewater from enterprises into local water bodies. Any action can lead to a positive result.
Steps
Changing housekeeping habits
- Paints
- Motor oil
- Solvents and Cleaners
- Ammonia
- Pool chemicals
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Do not flush medications down the drain. Medicines are made from substances that may be harmful to the environment. If you have expired medications, take them to a hazardous waste collection point, such as mobile collection points called Ecomobiles. This way, medications will not get into the water body and cause harm to people and animals.
Do not flush trash down the drain. Flushing items such as diapers, wet wipes, and plastic tampon applicators down the toilet can create drainage problems. In addition, these items will clog rivers and lakes, and this can kill fish and other river and sea creatures. Instead of flushing such items down the toilet, simply throw them in the trash.
- You can use cloth diapers toilet paper recycled, biodegradable tampons to minimize items that end up in landfill.
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Save as much as possible more water. Saving water is very important for preserving the planet's water resources. Cleaning drinking water and water for reference household requires a lot of effort and energy resources, so save as much water as possible, especially during droughts. Here are some healthy habits that will help you save water:
Try not to use plastic. Since plastic is not biodegradable, it accumulates in rivers, lakes, and seas because it has nowhere else to go. For example, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or the Eastern Garbage Continent, or the Pacific “Garbage Gap” - garbage accumulated in Pacific Ocean. Garbage polluting rivers, seas and lakes harms marine life and people. If possible, use glass containers or cloth bags instead of plastic.
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Collect and compost garden waste. If waste is stored haphazardly, it can end up in sewers, ditches, and drains. Even if your waste does not contain herbicides or pesticides, large amounts of branches, leaves, and grass clippings can oversaturate the water with nutrients.
- Store compost in a bin or barrel to prevent the compost from washing out across the area. In some countries, these boxes are provided free of charge or at a low cost.
- Use a mulching lawn mower instead of a bag lawn mower. A mulching lawn mower adds a natural layer of compost to your lawn, plus you don't have to deal with disposing of grass clippings.
- Properly dispose of garden waste and grass clippings. If you don't have compost, find out if there are compost recycling facilities in your area.
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Monitor the condition of your car. If your car leaks gasoline or other liquids, remember that they enter through the soil. Carry out regular technical inspections of the machine and eliminate all faults in a timely manner.
- In addition to the above, remember to properly dispose of your motor oil instead of simply pouring it down the drain.
Dissemination of your ideas and achievements
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Be active at school or at work. You can take the same steps at school or work as you do at home. Review your school or office policies and determine what areas need to be changed to improve the health of the water and the environment in general. Involve friends, teachers, and colleagues in this process, tell them about the possibilities of keeping water clean.
- For example, you can recommend environmentally friendly cleaning products for your school or office, and tell which of these products are most effective.
- You can put up signs to remind people to conserve water in the kitchen and bathroom.
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Help clean up trash around waterways. If you live near a local water source, there is a lot you can do to protect it from pollution. Find out if community clean-ups are organized to clean up areas close to the reservoir; be sure to participate in such cleaning as a volunteer to clean the banks of a river, lake, or sea.
- Think bigger. You're probably thinking that a small gas leak in your car isn't a big deal at all. However, if you take such a small leak from thousands, or even millions of cars, the extent of the damage can be compared to an oil tanker accident. You may not be able to fix all the leaks in the world, but you can fix them in your car. Be part of the solution to a big problem.
- If you are unsure whether a particular waste is hazardous, contact your local waste disposal or environmental authority, or search the Internet for information.
- Some runoff from agricultural enterprises causes more environmental damage than runoff from industrial areas of the city. If you are involved in agricultural activities, contact your local environmental protection office with questions about how to reduce your negative impact on the environment.
- Talk to your family, friends and neighbors about ways to reduce their contribution to water pollution. If your area doesn't have environmental education programs, pollution control guidelines, or hazardous waste disposal facilities, then it's time to take the initiative.
Use as little as possible chemicals when cleaning the house. This simple step can make a big difference. Using toxic chemicals like bleach or ammonia is not only harmful to water resources, but they are simply unnecessary. Natural cleaning products are also effective for cleaning your household, but they are not harmful environment and the planet's water resources.
Dispose of waste correctly. Never pour waste that does not decompose down the drain. When you use toxic substances such as paints or ammonia, take steps to dispose of them properly. If you are unsure how to properly dispose of them, consult your hazardous waste collection point or search online for information. Here is a list of some substances that should never be poured down the drain:
Water pollution
Any actions performed by a person with water lead to a change in how it physical properties(for example, when heated), and chemical composition (in places of industrial wastewater). Over time, substances that enter the water are grouped and remain in the same state. The first category includes domestic and most industrial wastewater. The second group includes various types salts, pesticides, dyes. Let's take a closer look at some pollutants.
Settlements
This is one of the main factors affecting the condition of water. Fluid consumption per person per day in America is 750 liters. Of course, this is not the amount you need to drink. A person consumes water when washing, using it for cooking, and using the toilet. The main drain goes to the sewer. Water pollution increases depending on the number of people living in locality residents. Each city has its own treatment facilities; in them, sewage is purified from bacteria and viruses that can seriously harm the human body. The purified liquid is discharged into rivers. Water pollution from household waste is also increasing because, in addition to bacteria, it contains food debris, soap, paper and other substances that negatively affect its condition.
Industry
Any developed state must have its own plants and factories. This is the largest factor causing water pollution. The liquid is used in technological processes, it serves both for cooling and heating the product, various aqueous solutions used in chemical reactions. More than 50% of all discharges come from four main liquid consumers: oil refineries, steel foundries and blast furnaces, and the pulp and paper industry. Due to the fact that the disposal of hazardous waste is often an order of magnitude more expensive than its primary treatment, in most cases, together with industrial wastewater, a large amount of the most hazardous waste is discharged into water bodies. different substances. Chemical water pollution leads to disruption of the entire ecological situation in the entire region.
Thermal impact
Most power plants use steam energy to operate. In this case, water acts as a coolant; after completing the process, it is simply discharged back into the river. The temperature of the current in such places may increase by several degrees. This effect is called thermal water pollution, however, there are a number of objections to this term, since in some cases an increase in temperature can lead to an improvement in the environmental situation.
Water pollution with oil
Hydrocarbons are one of the main sources of energy on the entire planet. Tanker wrecks and ruptures in oil pipelines form a film on the water surface through which air cannot flow. Spilled substances envelop marine life, often leading to their death. Both volunteers and special equipment are involved in eliminating pollution. Water is a life-giving source. It is she who gives life to almost every creature on our planet. A careless and irresponsible attitude towards it will lead to the fact that the Earth will simply turn into a sun-scorched desert. Already, some countries are experiencing water shortages. Of course, there are projects to use arctic ice, But best solution The problem is to reduce overall water pollution.
According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), about one third of the world's population lives in countries suffering from food shortages. fresh water, and in less than 25 years, two-thirds of humanity will live in countries with a shortage of fresh water. Countries have unequal water potential. But the habit of thinking that Russia is a power with inexhaustible supplies of clean fresh water can do a lot of harm. The ubiquitous anthropogenic factor is changing the order of things in our rich water resources country. It is enough to recall the once largest reservoir of pure fresh water in the world, Lake Baikal, or the vast Volga-Caspian basin, perhaps the most polluted in Russia.
Water quality problems are no less serious than water availability problems, but they receive relatively little attention. This is especially true for densely populated areas and territories of large industrial enterprises and agricultural complexes.
In Russia in 2003, on average, every fifth to seventh of the tested drinking water samples did not meet hygienic requirements.
WATER SOURCES. ALL INCLUSIVE
Water from natural surface sources is increasingly less suitable for direct use. Be it for production purposes, agriculture or human drinking water needs. The reasons are long-term discharge of untreated and under-treated wastewater from industrial and agricultural enterprises, runoff from fields, radioactive pollution, lack of sewerage systems, thermal pollution, etc.
The quality of natural water sources is also reflected in the state of the atmosphere, since reservoirs are replenished by precipitation, which, unfortunately, carries a significant amount of undesirable dissolved elements.
The main pollutants from surface sources are petroleum products, phenols, easily oxidized organic substances, copper and zinc compounds, ammonium and nitrate nitrogen. Some hazardous substances, for example, such as salts of heavy metals, lurk in bottom sediments in stagnant or weakly flowing water bodies and pose a significant threat, especially in the event of a strong drop in water level.
The second half of the last century was marked by the emergence of another major water use problem. Organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus, entering water bodies from fields with residues mineral fertilizers, as well as with municipal wastewater and wastewater from livestock farms, cause eutrophication of water bodies.
As a result, in some cases, dirty water cannot be pre-treatment enter even production systems water circulation, it is not suitable for watering agricultural land and, of course, for drinking.
There is a well-known example of the city of Salekhard, which stands at the confluence of the huge Ob River with its large tributary Poluy and experiences difficulties with drinking water. The pollution of the river basins with petroleum products is so severe that tap water is completely unfit for drinking, and drinking water is transported throughout the city in tanks.
According to the UN, approximately a third of the world's population uses water from underground sources for drinking. But this resource is not able to provide us with clean, safe water. Firstly, underground sources are a rather heterogeneous class of aquifers and are not always artesian. An analysis of only a small number of wells in our country showed that in most of them the water is unsuitable for drinking.
According to UNEP estimates, in 1999 there were more than 2,700 groundwater sources in Russia classified as contaminated. In densely populated, industrial and agricultural areas, soils can become so saturated with toxic substances that they have lost both their filtering and buffering properties.
In addition, the system underground communications in many areas it is not perfect. Difficult to control and, accordingly, unrepairable leaks, for example from sewer pipes, add problems. All this leads to the same unwanted substances penetrating into groundwater.
SIP. IS IT A LOT OR A LITTLE?
Total water pollution affects people's health.
According to international experts, in 2000, due to consumption poor quality water 2 billion people are at risk of contracting malaria (with an estimated constant incidence of 100 million and an annual death rate of 1-2 million).
Every year, there are approximately 4 billion cases of diarrhea and 2.2 million deaths from diarrhea worldwide, which is equivalent to 20 large airliner crashes every day. More than 10% of the population in the developing world is affected by helminthic diseases. About 6 million people have lost their sight due to trachoma. 200 million people suffer from schistosomiasis. Even in relatively prosperous Europe, there are isolated outbreaks of intestinal infections associated with drinking water. Moreover, according to statistics, among those affected by unfavorable conditions Wednesdays, two-thirds are children.
Unfortunately, in Russia the quality of drinking water is unacceptably low. This is often associated with the country's lagging behind other industrialized countries in terms of average life expectancy. The cost of risk and loss of public health from the consumption of poor-quality drinking water in Russia as a whole is estimated at approximately 33.7 billion rubles per year.
In 2003, according to statistical reporting, on average, every fifth to seventh of the studied drinking water samples from the distribution network did not meet hygienic requirements, including 90% for organoleptics, 9% for the content of chemicals exceeding the maximum permissible concentration on sanitary and toxicological grounds harmfulness; every ninth sample is microbiological, and more than 60% of the negative samples show a real epidemic danger, since sometimes the level of bacterial contamination is 20 or more times higher than the established standard.
The impact of chemical, as well as radiation, pollution cannot always be traced directly. The result of systematic consumption of low-quality water can affect you much later. According to the observations of experts, chlorides and sulfates affect the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular areas. Excess nitrogen and chlorine compounds cause complications on the kidneys and liver. Aluminum negatively affects the central and immune systems. Iron contributes to the occurrence of allergic diseases.
“SWIMMING IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED!”
About 30 infectious outbreaks associated with water supply are recorded annually.
The unfavorable state of reservoirs has another unpleasant consequence. The water becomes unsafe to swim in.
It is estimated that swimming in polluted seas causes approximately 250 million cases of gastroenteritis and upper respiratory illnesses each year, resulting in an economic loss of US$1.6 billion per year. What can we say about much smaller reservoirs, and even with standing water?
The “poisoning” of food products by water should not be overlooked. A well-known example is the level of nitrates in crop products exceeding established hygienic regulations. Salts of heavy metals and radionuclides are also detected.
Eating shellfish and crustaceans from wastewater-contaminated waters is responsible for 2.5 million cases of infectious hepatitis each year. About 25 thousand cases of this disease end in death, and the same number result in serious liver damage and long-term loss of ability to work.
It is estimated that the annual impact of such “delicacies” on global health is equivalent to labor losses of 3.2 million person-years and costs the global community $10 billion.
CLEANING PROBLEMS
Water purification remains a pressing issue.
Moreover, this task is becoming more complicated day by day: the corresponding engineering structures are worn out and no longer meet the requirements of today's technology. The water treatment system created decades ago was not designed for the modern volumes and condition of the substance being purified. And the fact that the necessary actions to maintain the existing system in a functioning state are not carried out or are carried out in insufficient quantities leads to the fact that many elements of the water management complex become dangerously unsafe for the population.
In Russia, approximately 50% of the distribution water supply network is in emergency or close to that condition, mainly due to corrosion and organic and chemical deposits that saturate the water with undesirable and sometimes harmful elements.
Sometimes corrosion leads to gaps in pipelines. If such a pipeline is underground, dirt will flow through the holes. All this leads to the fact that the output water, even with optimal purification, does not meet drinking standards.
At the parliamentary hearings on March 18, 2003 “On the national program for environmental management of the Russian Federation for the long term,” First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Nikolai Tarasov, summing up the discussion of the main problems water management Russian Federation, especially noted the unsatisfactory state of domestic drinking water supply associated with low quality water supplied to the population due to contamination of surface and groundwater, unsatisfactory condition water supply networks, and also, importantly, insufficient use modern methods drinking water purification.
At a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council of the Russian Federation in the summer of 2003, it was stated that the ecological condition of many water bodies in the most populated and industrialized regions of Russia is unsatisfactory.
The main rivers: Volga, Don, Kuban, Dnieper, Northern Dvina, Pechora, Ural, Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Kolyma, Amur - are assessed as “polluted”, in some places - as “very dirty”; large tributaries: Oka, Kama, Tom, Irtysh, Tobol, Miass, Iset, Tura - as “very dirty”, and in some places as “extremely dirty”. The ecological state of a number of smaller rivers is considered catastrophic. Although groundwater is on average less polluted than surface water, there is now a tendency for its ecological condition to deteriorate.
The sanitary condition of water bodies of water use categories 1 and 2 in Russia remains unsatisfactory. Almost half of the sources centralized water supply from open waters does not correspond sanitary standards. The volume of wastewater discharged into surface water bodies is more than 55 cubic meters. km, while only 11% undergo “regulatory clearance”.
In 2001, 22% of water samples in places of water intake from open reservoirs did not meet hygienic standards for microbiological indicators, and 28% - for chemical ones. The proportion of water samples isolating pathogens is increasing infectious diseases, in 2002 it reached almost 1.5%. In the country as a whole, only 1% of the initial water from surface sources meets the standards that guarantee the production of drinking water of adequate quality. 34% of water pipelines with water intake from open reservoirs do not have full complex treatment facilities, and 20% - disinfection plants. Extremely slow to implement modern technologies water treatment, high wear of distribution networks remains - up to 60%. In 2001, 19.5% of water samples supplied directly to consumers did not meet hygienic requirements for sanitary and chemical indicators.
The most high performance microbial pollution of water bodies of category 1 are typical for St. Petersburg: 80.3% of standard samples (with the isolation of infectious disease agents in 12.3%, with an average percentage for the country of 2.27). As a result of the use of poor-quality, contaminated drinking water, from 15 to 30 outbreaks of acute intestinal infections, typhoid fever and viral hepatitis A are recorded annually in the country with the number of victims up to 2.5-3 thousand people.
www.regnum.ru
DEBT PAYMENT IS RED
Any natural system always strives for self-purification. But its resources are still limited. It is not able to “extinguish” too much pollution, especially when it comes to substances not of natural origin, but invented by man. Therefore, in order to avoid problems in the future, it is worth putting a powerful barrier against further poisoning of water sources.
The experience of Western European countries has shown that wastewater treatment can be very effective. For example, since the beginning of the 80s of the last century, the discharge of phosphorus into natural reservoirs with effluents from urban water treatment plants has decreased by 50-80%, which has led to a significant decrease in the phosphorus content in many lakes that are “unfavorable” in terms of this indicator.
Unfortunately, Russia has not yet taken tangible steps in creating an effective system for collecting and treating wastewater, and, moreover, by the end of the last century, the discharge of polluted water into rivers increased.
This is especially unfortunate due to the fact that, according to some data, overall production in Russia has become “dirtier.” The reason lies in outdated equipment, low-quality raw materials with a high content of harmful substances.
It is clear that such backward enterprises have poor or non-functioning water treatment systems. There are also completely unacceptable cases of discharging industrial wastewater directly into water bodies or into city sewerage, which is not suitable for purifying such waters, which leads to deterioration in the performance of its purification systems.
The unfavorable trend of worsening water-related problems that has emerged and taken hold in the last century poses an urgent task for the world community to overcome the crisis. And the search for new, economical ways to purify water, both for technical purposes and for drinking water, is one of the components of the program of necessary actions to stabilize the environmental situation.
Interesting facts:
WHO: a billion people drink dirty water. Experts are sounding the alarm: More than one billion people on Earth drink dirty, unsafe water, and 2.6 billion - almost 40 percent of the world's population - live in unsanitary conditions, reports Reuters.
UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy and World Health Organization (WHO) experts said in their report that this situation poses the greatest danger to children.
About 1.8 million people die each year from intestinal infections, most of them children under 5 years of age, the report says.
The issue takes on greater urgency with reports that in 20 years the amount of water needed to produce food will increase by a quarter, and many rapidly developing countries will not be able to produce it without damaging ecosystems.
Agency Mednovosti.ru, 08.26.04
Tsunami2. Infectious diseases- habitual companions of natural disasters. They were observed after major floods in Sudan in 1980, in West Bengal in 1998, in Mozambique in 2000. And the number of victims was comparable to the floods themselves.
The reasons are obvious: after natural disasters, communications and housing were destroyed, masses of people were forced to live crowdedly in hiking conditions, water sources and drinking water treatment systems are contaminated, local medical services are paralyzed. And aggressive microorganisms, out of control, are just waiting for the opportunity to conquer new spaces. The greatest danger is represented by intestinal infections: dysentery, hepatitis A, cholera, typhoid fever.
T. Bateneva, Izvestia Nauki, 01/19/05
Microbial and viral contamination of drinking water Both centralized and non-centralized water supply creates a risk of the population becoming ill with intestinal infections, primarily viral hepatitis A.
IA Regions.ru, 01/25/2005
