Describe water pollution

Sources of water pollution:

• Household detergents
• Sewage
• Industrial waste
• Domestic waste
• Oil spills
• Fertilisers
• Pesticides
• Herbicides

Major water pollutants:

• Sewage
• Fertilisers
• Pesticides
• Industrial wastes

Effects of water pollution:

• Brain and nerve damage
• Cholera, dysentery, jaundice, typhoid, diarrhoea, malaria, dengue, fever and yellow fever
• Intestinal parasitism leading to anaemia and weakness
• Skin disorders and cancer, kidney and liver damage
• Oil spills, eutrophication and biomagnification

Measures to control water pollution:

• Sewage, industrial and domestic waste should be treated in order to make them harmless.
• Use of chemical pesticides must be minimised.
• Washing utensils, clothes and bathing cattle in water bodies must be avoided.
• Garbage and other domestic waste should not be thrown in water bodies.
• Leakage in drainage pipes must be repaired.
• Laws should be formulated to control water pollution.