What Is Water Pollution?

Sources, Environmental
Impacts, Mitigation
What can we do to better protect our water sources from contaminants?

By
Autumn Spanne
Updated October 20, 2021
Fact checked by
Elizabeth MacLennan

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Zoran Milich / Getty Images
Environment
 Planet Earth
 Climate Crisis
 Pollution
 Recycling & Waste
 Natural Disasters
 Transportation
In This Article
 Sources of Water
 Environmental Impacts
 How to Mitigate Water Pollution

Water pollution is defined by any contaminants discharged into aquatic

ecosystems that lack the capacity to absorb or remove them. This
encompasses contamination from physical debris, such as plastics or
rubber tires, as well as chemical contamination, such as when runoff finds
its way into waterways from factories, farms, cities, and cars. Biological
agents, such as bacteria and viruses, can also contaminate water.

All life on Earth relies on water, which means water pollution and all its
sources are very real threats to our ecosystems. Here, we uncover where
water pollution comes from, how the varying types affect the world's
aquatic ecosystems, and what organizations and civilians alike can do
about it.

Water Sources Subject to Pollution

Alexis Rosenfeld / Getty Images

There are two separate sources of water on our planet at risk of pollution.
First is surface water—think oceans, rivers, lakes, and ponds. This water is
home to many plant and animal species that rely on good-quality water for
their survival. No less important is groundwater, which is stored below the
surface in the Earth's aquifers, feeds our rivers and oceans, and forms
much of the world's supply of drinking water.

Surface water and groundwater can become polluted in a number of ways,

and here it helps to understand how pollution types are often divided.

 Point source pollution refers to contaminants that enter a waterway

via a single, identifiable source. Examples include a wastewater
treatment pipe or a leaking oil pipeline.
 Non-point source pollution comes from many scattered locations.
Examples include nitrogen runoff from agricultural fields and
stormwater runoff that carries contaminants from sewage systems,
roadways, lawns, and industrial facilities into rivers, lakes, and
oceans.

Groundwater, in particular, is affected by point and non-point source

pollution. A chemical spill or pipeline leak can seep directly into the soil,
polluting the water below. But more often than not, groundwater becomes
polluted when non-point sources of contamination such as chemical-laden
agricultural runoff enter aquifers.

Environmental Impacts
The impacts of water pollution may seem obvious: environmental damage
and ecosystem disruption. Yet there are different levels to the damage that
can ensue, so it is important to dive in and identify the key areas and
species affected.

Agricultural Waste and Nutrient Pollution

Each summer off the coast of Louisiana and Texas, scientists measure a
dead zone—an area with insufficient oxygen to sustain marine life. The
culprit: stream discharge containing high levels of nutrient pollution.1
Nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from farm fertilizers and animal waste,
along with other land-based pollutants like pesticides, flow into waterways
that eventually feed into the mighty Mississippi and other major rivers,
which then carry massive amounts of nutrients into the Gulf of Mexico.21

These nutrients stimulate algae production. As the algae die, they sink and
decompose, becoming food for oxygen-consuming bacteria. The low
oxygen levels force many marine species to move, creating huge areas
void of life. Dead zones also occur in aquatic and marine systems in other
parts of the United States and around the world, including in the
Chesapeake Bay and Great Lakes. Sometimes the algae itself is toxic, too,
rendering water and even the surrounding air dangerous.34

Industrial and Extractive Waste

A Dow chemical plant sits along the banks of the Kanawha River. Corbis via Getty Images /
Getty Images

Chemicals and heavy metals from industrial facilities and power plants,
along with extractive industries like oil and gas drilling and mining, also
contaminate water, often with devastating consequences.

Power plant emissions account for 30% of water pollution from industrial
sources in the United States.5 Heavy metals like lead, mercury, and arsenic
don’t degrade. Instead, they concentrate as they move up the food chain,
bioaccumulating in the bodies of fish, wildlife, and people.6

Fossil fuel drilling and transport infrastructures like pipelines and tankers
are other big water pollution sources. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking and
conventional oil and gas drilling, along with wastewater storage and
disposal, can contaminate aquifers. That has happened in California’s San
Joaquin Valley, where toxic waste fluids from oil drilling operations have
leaked or migrated into groundwater.7

Pipeline accidents, like the 2010 oil spill in Michigan in which a broken
Enbridge Energy Partners pipeline dumped a million gallons of crude oil
into the Kalamazoo River, are common in the United States.89 Offshore
drilling rig blowouts, like the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and the
2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, along with tanker leaks like the
1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill have caused ecological disasters in marine
and coastal ecosystems.

Wastewater
Aerial view of water treatment plant. BNBB Studio / Getty Images

Wastewater refers to everything that goes down a drain or through a

sewage pipe. Human waste contains not only bacteria and viruses, but
pharmaceutical products, nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, and
contaminants that we’ve consumed.10 Household cleaners, personal care
products, and lawn and garden chemicals contribute additional chemicals
and plastics to wastewater.

While wastewater treatment systems filter some of these, even the most
high-tech treatment facilities don’t remove every contaminant.10 And not
all wastewater ends up in treatment systems. Aging and poorly managed
septic systems, for example, leach untreated wastewater into the ground,
directly contaminating surface and groundwater sources.11

Stormwater runoff represents another threat. When rain and snow hit
impermeable surfaces like concrete and roads that can’t absorb the
precipitation, it flows instead to drains and surface waters, picking up
pesticides, oil from roads, and lots of other chemicals. In addition, during
heavy precipitation events, many wastewater treatment facilities release
untreated sewage into waterways.12

Plastic Pollution
Plastics pose another challenge as rapid production of disposable plastic
products outpaces humanity’s ability to manage the waste. Significant
amounts of plastic end up in waterways and eventually the world’s oceans.
Plastic washes up on beaches, and joins the enormous gyres of waste that
collectively make up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.13

Once in water bodies, plastic simply breaks into smaller and smaller
components called microplastics. These microplastics end up in marine
organisms, including fish that people consume, ingesting tiny particles of
our plastic bags, water bottles, and synthetic clothing.14

In addition to ingesting plastics, birds and marine life die from becoming
entangled in fishing gear, six-pack can rings, and other plastic debris.15

Climate Change
Climate change is both a contributor to water pollution and a consequence
of it. Extreme weather like intense storms and drought worsen water
quality, while warmer water temperatures encourage algal blooms and
hinder the growth of native plants, like seagrasses, that sequester carbon,
and filter contaminants.1617 Carbon emissions are causing ocean
acidification, which further impacts marine ecosystems and inhibits the
ability of plants and animals to absorb carbon.18

Climate change is also converging with water pollution to diminish the

world’s drinking water supplies.19 Only by understanding the relationship
between these problems and addressing them in tandem will the world
avoid chronic, severe water crises.

How to Mitigate Water Pollution

Pollution caused in one part of the world can affect a community in
another. But political boundaries make it difficult to impose any one
standard to regulate how we use and protect the world's water.

Still, a number of international laws aim to prevent water pollution. These

include the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the
1978 MARPOL International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution
from Ships. In the United States, the 1972 Clean Water Act and the 1974
Safe Drinking Water Act, among other legislation, were created to help
protect both surface and groundwater supplies.

In addition, global actions to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy

sources and mitigate the impacts of climate change on water supplies help
combat water pollution.

Despite these and other actions to protect water quality, some places lack
the necessary infrastructure to achieve the standards. In other cases, a
government may lack the resources or political will to regulate the industry
and enforce pollution controls.
How Can You Prevent Water Pollution?

 Get to know your local watershed and volunteer to help clean litter from rivers,
beaches, and oceans.
 Educate yourself about the world's water supply and support projects aimed at
protecting it.
 Identify major polluters that impact water quality and advocate for laws and
enforcement actions that make it harder for polluters to pollute.
 Support green infrastructure projects that mitigate water contamination.
 Reduce the use of chemicals that go down the drain, from lawn fertilizers and
pesticides