The Water Pollution Crisis in My Indiana Community - Essay Sample

Introduction

Water pollution involves the contamination of water bodies, i.e., lakes, rivers, aquifers, oceans, and groundwater as a result of human activities among others. It occurs when harmful substances are released to the water bodies. My community in Indiana faces various challenges to water quality that is attributed to nutrient pollution, excess sediment, manure runoff, industrial contamination, and inadequate sewage treatment. This is a major concern for the community because approximately 75% of the population obtains their drinking water from the public drinking water system, while 25% obtain water from their wells. In this case, the owners of wells are responsible for the safety of their water and are required to test it regularly. However, the public drinking water systems obtain their water from the region's reservoirs, groundwater, and rivers which are highly prone to pollution.

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An analysis of the water quality in the region shows that high levels of E Coli are the most prevalent challenge. This represents bacteria from human and animal fecal material that originates from livestock operations and improper treatment of human sewage. The sewerage systems are also prone to problems such as failing sewage pipes, and septic systems that go straight to ditches, streams, and drains.

Nutrient pollution is also another major problem that originates from manure and sewage. The excess nutrients which are mainly phosphorus and nitrogen get to water (Denchak, 2018). They come from soil erosion, fertilizers, and urban stormwater. The nutrient overabundance in lakes and rivers result in algae overgrowth and loss of various aquatic species. The overabundance of nutrients in groundwater may result in high levels of nitrates in wells leading to water-related diseases such as 'blue baby syndrome' (Denchak, 2018).

The region also has various industries that leave behind contaminated groundwater and sites. Small businesses such as gas stations and dry cleaners also contribute significantly to groundwater contamination. Each groundwater contaminated site reduces the sites for safe drinking water.

Solutions to the Problem

A plan to solve the problem will incorporate the following elements.

Waste Treatment

This will involve proper treating of the wastewater and industrial sewage before releasing it to the environment. The sewage would go through several chemical processes and chambers in the water treatment plants to reduce its levels of toxicity. The sewage systems will also be maintained and improved consistently to prevent any leakages of the wastewater into the water systems (Ameh, 2019).

Establishment of More Septic Tanks

The septic tanks would help to treat sewage by separating the solid contents from the liquid ones. The tanks will rely on the biological processes to degrade the solid content while the liquid ones will flow out to the land drainage system (Ameh, 2019).

Implementation of Denitrification Processes

Denitrification is an ecological process that focuses on converting nitrates to nitrogen gas, hence preventing leaching of nitrates to the soil to contaminate groundwater. This mitigates overfertilization or eutrophication that may originate from fertilizer runoff to increase the nitrogen content in the water and causing overgrowth of algae and phytoplankton.

Establishment of Wetlands

The wetlands would act as buffer zones that would aid in filtering rain runoff to remove any pollutants from the water. Controlling deforestation would also help in soaking up land in rainwater to prevent the runoff of organic pollutants and fertilizers.

Conclusion

To conclude, life is all about making choices, and so is pollution. It is up to us to live in sewage-strewn water bodies, and fish that is poisonous to eat, or work together towards keeping the environment clean so that animals, plants, and humans who rely on it remain healthy. Individual and communal actions can be taken to make this possible.

References

Ameh, T. (2019). What are the solutions to water pollution? Sciencing.com. https://sciencing.com/examples-secondary-pollutants-5314906.html

Denchak, M. (2018). Water pollution: Everything you need to know. Nrdc.org. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/water-pollution-everything-you-need-know