As the industrial sector continues to grow at a rapid pace, its effects on the environment have become more pronounced in recent years. The last two decades have been particularly harsh in some regards, particularly in terms of water quality. While some consumers don’t pay much attention to the situation, things have been growing increasingly bad in certain regions.
Who Is Affected?
Contrary to what some assume, the issue affects most parts of the world, not just poorly developed countries. Recent statistics indicate that more than 2 billion people live with no sanitation at all, while more than 10% of the global population obtains its water from dangerous sources without running it through any filtration.
Surprisingly, some parts of Africa and South America have actually seen an improvement in their water quality after 2000. Meanwhile, various regions of Asia have been in decline, especially over the last decade.
This doesn’t only affect humans either. Various species have been threatened with extinction due to the rapid decline in the quality of water in their ecosystems. As more areas suffer from pollution, the number of animals looking for refuge has been on the rise.
What’s Causing the Decline in Recent Decades?
Industrial processes are one of the main factors behind the decline of water quality in the last couple of decades. Thousands of tons of sewage and waste products are disposed of directly in water bodies on an annual basis. The lack of oversight in some areas has further escalated the problem.
Agriculture plays a heavy role in the problem too. Many farms reuse wastewater, which can be a good cost-saving measure, but it has various negative implications on the health and wellbeing of consumers.
Things are especially bad in areas with a large number of lakes, which have their own unique problems when it comes to pollution due to the way their ecosystems work. Large amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen are discharged into water bodies, reducing the availability of clean water for beneficial uses.
What Can We Do to Safeguard Our Future?
While it’s difficult for an individual to make any significant impact on the global industry, we can still do a lot to improve things on a local level. Treatment at the point of entry is one of the best ways to improve the water quality of an individual household, and many people have started to explore their options for domestic water filtration and treatment.
The market keeps providing new solutions on this front as well. Those who are concerned with the quality of their water are encouraged to take proactive steps to improve their own situation and to help those around them in the same way.
Small communities must also band together and investigate opportunities for treating their water on a larger scale. This is especially true for areas with heavy agriculture and industrial activity. Farmers sourcing their water from wells often neglect filtration and treat it as an afterthought, and this will have to change going forward.
This article was written in cooperation with Roy Oliveto