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These are the main causes of water
pollution
| Pollutant |
Source |
| Household wastes |
|
| Agricultural wastes |
- Insecticides
- Chemicals from fertilizers
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| Industrial wastes |
- Detergent
- Acids and alkalis
- Asbestos
- Radioactive wastes
|
| Oil |
- Factories processing crude oil
- Oil spills, delibrate dumping of oil in oceans
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- Water polluted with microorganisms (from houshold wastes), may carry viruses and
diseases if consumed, e.g. Typhoid, Cholera
- Poisonous dissolved substances can endanger humans and animals.
- Dumping of fertilizers result in the overgrowth of algae, preventing sunlight from
reaching the river bed and restricting oxygen. Aquatic plants are unable to make food and
this will in turn affect herbivorous aquatic animals and then the carnivorous ones.
- Oil spills kill much aquatic life, cutting off oxygen flow. Fishermen and local are
affected too.
How can we handle water pollution?
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