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Water Pollution
Name: Marge
Status: Other
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Are all the water supplies in the world polluted?
Replies:
Not all water on earth is polluted, or more correctly, not all
water IN earth is polluted. Many people rely on wells drilled into the ground
for their water, and this water has generally remained untainted by human
activity (except possibly in the pipes during transportation). In some
agricultural areas, there is concern that pesticides may leach through sandy
soils and contaminate some of this underground water. In other places, there
is concern that too much water has been drawn out for irrigation, and that the
wells will go dry. The good news is that water can be unpolluted by filtering,
boiling, or by chemical treatment, so drinking water supplies are safe most of
the time. Recently, the city of Milwaukee (in my home state of Wisconsin)
experienced a breakdown in their water purification system and many people got
sick from a bacteria that was not filtered out. People in poor countries also
get sick from drinking contaminated water quite often, because they have not
been able to afford to build water treatment systems. So, while much of the
surface water on earth may be polluted (either by natural bacteria or by
agricultural or industrial waste), there is some hope that almost everyone can
get water clean enough to drink.
Don Libby
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Update: June 2012
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