INTRO TO WATER POLLUTION AND DISEASES

Question 1

WHAT IS WATER POLLUTION?

Answer 1

WATER POLLUTION OCCURS WHEN HARMFUL SUBSTANCES - OFTEN CHEMICALS OR MICROORGANISNS CONTAMINATE A STREAM, RIVER, LAKE, OCEAN OR OTHER SOURCE OF WATER, DEGRADING ITS QUALITY AND RENDERING IT TOXIC TO HUMANS AND/OR ENVIRONMENT

Question 2

HOW MUCH WATER IS THERE ON EARTH AND HOW MUCH OF IT IS DRINKABLE?

Answer 2

TOTAL: 1,260,000,000,000,000,000,000 liters

0.5% of the earth’s water is available fresh water

Question 3

HOW MANY PEOPLE LACK ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER?

Answer 3

An estimated 2.2 billion people need access to safely managed drinking water, including 884 million currently without basic drinking water services.

Question 4

HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE IN WATER-STRESSED COUNTRIES?

Answer 4

OVER 2 BILLION

Question 5

HOW MANY PEOPLE GLOBALLY USE A DRINKING WATER SOURCE CONTAMINATED WITH FAECES?

Answer 5

AT LEAST 2 BILLION

Question 6

% OF WORLD’S WASTE WATER WHICH IS DUMPED - LARGELY UNTREATED - BACK INTO THE ENVIRONMENT, THUS POLLUTING RIVERS, LAKES AND OCEANS

Answer 6

80%

Question 7

UNSAFE WATER KILLS MORE PEOPLE EACH YEAR THAN WAR AND ALL OTHER FORMS OF VIOLENCE COMBINED. TRUE OR FALSE

Answer 7

TRUE

Question 8

UK DRINKING WATER, SAFETY?

Answer 8

• OF THE HIGHEST STANDARD, AMONG THE BEST IN THE WORLD
• HOWEVER, A RECENT STUDY FOUND PFAS (Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances: large, complex, and ever-expanding group of manufactured chemicals that are widely used to make various types of everyday products, AKA ‘FOREVER CHEMICALS’) LEVELS EXCEEDING EUROPEAN SAFETY LEVELS IN ALMOST HALF OF THE SAMPLES TAKEN IN THE UK

Question 9

WHAT IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF WATER DEGRADATION?

Answer 9

AGRICULTURE

Around the world, agriculture is the leading cause of water degradation. Every time it rains, fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste from farms and livestock operations wash nutrients and pathogens—such bacteria and viruses—into our waterways.Nutrient pollution, caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in water or air (farm waste and fertilizer runoff), is the number-one threat to water quality worldwide and cancause algal blooms, a toxic soup of blue-green algae that can be harmful to people and wildlife.

Question 10

GROUND WATER POLLUTANTS

Answer 10

Pesticides, fertilizers, waste leached from landfills and septic systems, radio active substances (generated by uranium mining, nuclear power plants, testing of military weapons, universities and hospitals)

Question 11

SURFACE WATER POLLUTANTS

Answer 11

Nutrient pollution (nitrates and phosphates)- farm waste and fertilizer runoff.
Municipal and industrial waste discharge
Costal pollutants, marine debris (mostly plastic), oil pollution, radio active substances

Question 12

DIFFERENCES IN POLLUTANTS: URBAN WASTEWATER IN INDUSTRIALISED COUNTRIES AND URBAN WASTEWATER IN DEVELOPING AND EMERGING COUNTRIES?

Answer 12

• BOTH ARE POINT SOURCES
• DIFFERENCE IN POLUTANT TYPE

Urban wastewater in industrialized countries: Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, Chemicals

Urban wastewater in developing and emerging countries: Microorganisms and Viruses, parasitic worms

Question 13

AGRICULTURE AS A SOURCE OF POLLUTANTS USUALLY INVOLVES WHAT TYPES OF POLLUTANTS? WHAT KIND OF SOURCE IS IT?

Answer 13

POLLUTANT TYPES:
Pesticides
Nutrient pollutants

• A DIFFUSE SOURCE

Question 14

DIFFUSE VS POINT SOURCE OF POLLUTION

Answer 14

Unlike point source pollution, which enters a river course at a specific site such as a pipe discharge, diffuse pollution occurs when potentially-polluting substances leach into surface waters and groundwater as a result of rainfall, soil infiltration and surface runoff.

Question 15

persistent organic pollutants?

Answer 15

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), sometimes known as “forever chemicals”, are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. They are toxic chemicals that adversely affect human health and the environment around the world.

• have multiple sources, both point and diffuse

Question 16

MINING AS A POLLUTANT SOURCE:
WHAT TYPE OF SOURCE IS IT
WHAT TYPES OF POLLUTANTS DOES IT RELEASE?

Answer 16

• MOSTLY POINT SOURCE
• POLLUTANT TYPES: Acids, leaching agents,
  heavy metals

Question 17

Natural contaminants
Geogeniccontaminants
Biogenic contaminants

WHAT TYPE OF POLLUTANT SOURCE ARE THEY?
WHAT TYPES OF POLLUTANTS DO THEY RELEASE?

Answer 17

• DIFFUSE SOURCE

- TYPES OF POLLUTANTS: Inorganic contaminants, cyanotoxins, taste and odor compounds

Question 18

HOW MANY PEOPLE USE SAFELY-MANAGED DRINKING SOURCES?

Answer 18

In 2020, 74% of the global population (5.8 billion people) used a safely managed drinking-water service – that is, one located on premises, available when needed, and free from contamination.

Question 19

% OF DISEASES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES RELATED TO POOR DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION?

Answer 19

Over 80% of the disease in developing countries is related to poor drinking water and sanitation.

Question 20

How many children die every day from preventable diseases related to a lack of access to clean water, adequate sanitation and hygiene?

Answer 20

Around 5000 children die every day from preventable diseases related to a lack of access to clean water, adequate sanitation and hygiene.

Question 21

How many people are estimated to die each year from diarrhoea as a result of unsafe drinking-water, sanitation and hand hygiene?

Answer 21

Around 800000 people are estimated to die each year from diarrhoea as a result of unsafe drinking-water, sanitation and hand hygiene.

Question 22

DIARRHOEAL DISEASE IN CHILDREN, FACTS AND FIGURES?

Answer 22

• Second leading cause of death in children under five years old. It is both preventable and treatable.
• Accounts for 1 in 9 child deaths worldwide
• Diarrhoea is a leading cause of malnutrition in children under five years old.
• Most diarrhoeal deaths can be prevented using simple low cost interventions

Question 23

VECTOR BORNE DISEASES AND CLIMATE CHANGE?

Answer 23

• Vector-borne diseases cause more than one million deaths each year
• Vectors thrive under conditions where housing is poor, water is unsafe and environments are contaminated with filth
• Malaria which is spread by mosquitos, is the biggest killer among the Vector-borne diseases.

Question 24

SCHISTOSOMIASIS

Answer 24

Schistosomiasis is an acute and chronic disease caused by parasitic worms.
People are infected during routine agricultural, domestic, occupational, and recreational activities, which expose them to infested water.
Lack of hygiene and certain play habits of school-aged children such as swimming or fishing in infested water make them especially vulnerable to infection.