The causes of Water Pollution

Domestic households, industrial and agricultural practices produce wastewater that can cause pollution of many lakes and rivers.

Sewage is the term used for wastewater that often contains faeces, urine and laundry waste.
There are billions of people on Earth, so treating sewage is a big priority.
Sewage disposal is a major problem in developing countries as many people in these areas don’t have access to sanitary conditions and clean water.
Untreated sewage water in such areas can contaminate the environment and cause diseases such as diarrhoea.
Sewage in developed countries is carried away from the home quickly and hygienically through sewage pipes.
Sewage is treated in water treatment plants and the waste is often disposed into the sea.
Sewage is mainly biodegradable and most of it is broken down in the environment.
In developed countries, sewage often causes problems when people flush chemical and pharmaceutical substances down the toilet. When people are ill, sewage often carries harmful viruses and bacteria into the environment causing health problems

Dumping of litter in the sea can cause huge problems. Litter items such as 6-pack ring packaging can get caught in marine animals and may result in death. Different items take different lengths of time to degrade in water:

Cardboard – Takes 2 weeks to degrade.
Newspaper – Takes 6 weeks to degrade.
Photodegradable packaging – Takes 6 weeks to degrade.
Foam – Takes 50 years to degrade.
Styrofoam – Takes 80 years to degrade.
Aluminium – Takes 200 years to degrade.
Plastic packaging – Takes 400 years to degrade.
Glass – It takes so long to degrade that we don’t know the exact time.

Industry is a huge source of water pollution, it produces pollutants that are extremely harmful to people and the environment.
Many industrial facilities use freshwater to carry away waste from the plant and into rivers, lakes and oceans.
Pollutants from industrial sources include:
Asbestos – This pollutant is a serious health hazard and carcinogenic. Asbestos fibres can be inhaled and cause illnesses such as asbestosis, mesothelioma, lung cancer, intestinal cancer and liver cancer.
Lead – This is a metallic element and can cause health and environmental problems. It is a non-biodegradable substance so is hard to clean up once the environment is contaminated. Lead is harmful to the health of many animals, including humans, as it can inhibit the action of bodily enzymes.
Mercury - This is a metallic element and can cause health and environmental problems. It is a non-biodegradable substance so is hard to clean up once the environment is contaminated. Mercury is also harmful to animal health as it can cause illness through mercury poisoning.
Nitrates – The increased use of fertilisers means that nitrates are more often being washed from the soil and into rivers and lakes. This can cause eutrophication, which can be very problematic to marine environments.
Phosphates - The increased use of fertilisers means that phosphates are more often being washed from the soil and into rivers and lakes. This can cause eutrophication, which can be very problematic to marine environments.
Sulphur – This is a non-metallic substance that is harmful for marine life.
Oils – Oil does not dissolve in water, instead it forms a thick layer on the water surface. This can stop marine plants receiving enough light for photosynthesis. It is also harmful for fish and marine birds.
Petrochemicals – This is formed from gas or petrol and can be toxic to marine life.

Nuclear waste is produced from industrial, medical and scientific processes that use radioactive material. Nuclear waste can have detrimental effects on marine habitats. Nuclear waste comes from a number of sources:

Operations conducted by nuclear power stations produce radioactive waste. Nuclear-fuel reprocessing plants in northern Europe are the biggest sources of man-made nuclear waste in the surrounding ocean. Radioactive traces from these plants have been found as far away as Greenland.
Mining and refining of uranium and thorium are also causes of marine nuclear waste.
Waste is also produced in the nuclear fuel cycle which is used in many industrial, medical and scientific processes.

Oceans are polluted by oil on a daily basis from oil spills, routine shipping, run-offs and dumping.

Oil spills make up about 12% of the oil that enters the ocean. The rest come from shipping travel, drains and dumping.
An oil spill from a tanker is a severe problem because there is such a huge quantity of oil being spilt into one place.
Oil spills cause a very localised problem but can be catastrophic to local marine wildlife such as fish, birds and sea otters.
Oil cannot dissolve in water and forms a thick sludge in the water. This suffocates fish, gets caught in the feathers of marine birds stopping them from flying and blocks light from photosynthetic aquatic plants.

A tank or piping network that has at least 10 percent of its volume underground is known as an underground storage tank (UST). They often store substances such as petroleum, that are harmful to the surrounding environment should it become contaminated. Many UST’s constructed before 1980 are made from steel pipes that are directly exposed to the environment. Over time the steel corrodes and causes leakages, affecting surrounding soil and groundwater.

Atmospheric deposition is the pollution of water caused by air pollution.
In the atmosphere, water particles mix with carbon dioxide sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, this forms a weak acid.
Air pollution means that water vapour absorbs more of these gases and becomes even more acidic.
When it rains the water is polluted with these gases, this is called acid rain.
When acid rain pollutes marine habitats such as rivers and lakes, aquatic life is harmed.

An increase in water temperature can result in the death of many aquatic organisms and disrupt many marine habitats. For example, a rise in water temperatures causes coral bleaching of reefs around the world. This is when the coral expels the microorganisms of which it is dependent on. This can result in great damage to coral reefs and subsequently, all the marine life that depends on it.

The rise in the Earth's water temperature is caused by global warming.

Global warming is a process where the average global temperature increases due to the greenhouse effect.
The burning of fossil fuel releases greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere.
This causes heat from the sun to get ‘trapped’ in the Earths atmosphere and consequently the global temperature rises.

Eutrophication is when the environment becomes enriched with nutrients. This can be a problem in marine habitats such as lakes as it can cause algal blooms.

Fertilisers are often used in farming, sometimes these fertilisers run-off into nearby water causing an increase in nutrient levels.
This causes phytoplankton to grow and reproduce more rapidly, resulting in algal blooms.
This bloom of algae disrupts normal ecosystem functioning and causes many problems.
The algae may use up all the oxygen in the water, leaving none for other marine life. This results in the death of many aquatic organisms such as fish, which need the oxygen in the water to live.
The bloom of algae may also block sunlight from photosynthetic marine plants under the water surface.
Some algae even produce toxins that are harmful to higher forms of life. This can cause problems along the food chain and affect any animal that feeds on them.

Water pollution threatens Goan villagers health

The villagers of Cuncolim, Goa, have come under the cloud of pollution. The Cuncolim industrial state has polluted the water resources of village. As a result, drinking water has become contaminated and the health of the villagers is under threat.

WHEN WE were young, we often heard our grandparents and parents telling us stories about the 12 embankments of the village and the various natural water resources that the Cuncolim village was blessed with. Sadly, a new generation is growing up drinking polluted water, contaminated by industries. The very water that our forefathers told us would give us an edge over others, is threatening the health of the new generation.

One such story, that went about is that the Cuncolkars, the residents of Cuncolim, a village in the Indian state of Goa, derived their warrior and intellectual insights from the water of the village.
Yes, Cuncolkars were gallant fighters on the battle field and stories of valour and gallantry of the villagers dated back to 1583, against the Portuguese colonial rule.

The Portuguese first conquered Goa in 1510. The Cuncolim revolt was the first uprising that the Portuguese had to face in Goa, apart from the organised armies and rulers, who fought different wars with them over a period of time.

The villagers comprised mostly of Kshatriyas (a warrior caste). They served the armies of different rulers. These villagers fought the war over forceful conversions and the destruction and defiling of their temples and places of worship. Five Jesuits priests, who sought to convert the locals, died propagating the faith along with an equal number of laymen accompanying the priests.

The five priests have since been canonised by the Roman Catholic Church as martyrs, but the laymen have not received the same treatment.

In retaliation to the priests’ killing, 13 village heads were massacred in a cold-blooded murder by the Portuguese at the fort in Assolna, after inviting them for talks. Thereafter, they confiscated their lands and handed them to the Portuguese royals. The land ownership dispute still prevails as acres and acres of land is still being demarcated as court receiver in the survey records.

The subsequent execution of the chieftains did not diminish the fighting qualities and valour of the villagers. After the Kshatriyas of Cuncolim failed to match the superior armed forces of the colonial rulers, who destroyed their orchards and unleashed other atrocities, the villagers continued the struggle through a non-cooperation movement by non-payment of taxes to the Portuguese.

Centuries later, Mahatma Gandhi would launch a similar movement of not paying taxes to British rulers. Unlike other parts of India, however, Goa, a small state on the western coast, was ruled by the Portuguese till 1961. In comparison, the British rule ended in 1947.

The villages of Cuncolim, Velim, Assolna, Ambleim and Veroda refused to pay taxes on the items generated from their fields and orchards. As a result, their lands were confiscated and entrusted to the Condado of the Marquis of Fronteira.

Before the advent of Portuguese into Cuncolim in 1583, the village was a temple town and a booming market for traders from within and outside the state. However, the setting up of industries in the form of Cuncolim industrial estate in the early 90’s, has spelled a doom for the village.

Today, the rivulets, which we grew up swimming or catching fish in the summer holidays, are not the same non-polluting one, which it was twenty years back.

The fishes have become scarce and the water is not safe for drinking on account of the pollutants discharged by the polluting industries. Mothers are discouraging their children to swim in the polluted waters for danger of picking up skin diseases.

The thrill of having a bath drawing water from the traditional drinking water well during summer holidays, was what I relished. But not any more. The well, from which I drew water through a coil rope and copper pot, has been shut down on account of pollution and sadly I cannot indulge in my fresh water bath from the well.

That is not all. We, along with our friends and relatives, had feasted on the fresh water fish caught from numerous rivulets. But the fishes have become extinct since last five years and we no longer can go fishing in the rivultets. Residents from Guelacatto, Bhatiem, Sanvorcotto, Tankaband and other areas close to Cuncolim industrial estate have stopped using well water and instead, rely on tap water for their needs.

The contamination of water resources, through discharge of hazardous waste by industries in Cuncolim, has rendered the wells unfit for consumption over a radius of five kilometers. The scientists have warned that more damage will be done in the coming monsoon season, with the effect likely to spread over a radius of 10 kilometres.

Last year, tests conducted by the pollution control board in Guelacatto confirmed that the wells in the area are contaminated and the water unfit for human consumption. Eight years ago, the residents of Cuncolim, staying close to the industrial estate, woke up to see a large number of dead fishes floating in the nearby rivulet at Guelacotto. The dead fishes were taken for testing, but no action was initiated against the polluting industries nor were they identified.

Yes this is the grim reality. Nicomet Industries, in Cuncolim village, is one of the two polluting industries, which had been ordered to be shut down by the Goa bench of the Mumbai High Court on pollution related issues. However, it has got a fresh reprieve with the Supreme Court lifting the ban. The unit, which has been accused of contaminating ground water resources of the entire village by disposing hazardous waste, is now constructing a land fill site to dump tonnes and tonnes of hazardous waste, which is presently lying inside the factory premises.

Residents are up in arms against the land fill site as the pollution control board has approved the site without any public hearing. Goa does not have any hazardous waste fill site and the one at Dhanbadora in north Goa is yet to be completed.

The hazardous waste from Nicomet industries has found its way into the Selaulim Irrigation Canal and effects of ground water pollution can also be seen in the fruit bearing trees.

Residents like me are waiting with their fingers crossed on the damage we are likely to suffer in the long run, for allowing industries and a hazardous waste disposal site in Cuncolim.

Armstrong Vaz
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