www.watershedwatch.net

A Brief History of Global Water Pollution

admin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Water pollution is as old as waste itself, and dates back to well before recorded human history. Moving bodies of water in particular have long been regarded as easy and harmless ways for individuals and even entire communities or civilizations to dispose of their waste and pollution. For millions of years, the impact upon the environment was negligible, as human populations were still small and the waste they generated tended to be organic and treated naturally by the bodies of water they were using as the town dump. Over time, though, and with the explosions in population growth, population density and environmental contaminants being dumped in waterways, the damage to rivers, lakes, aquifers and oceans has grown considerably.Get more information here. http://marksubryan71.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/the-ganges/

Initially, people just threw things away in the fast-moving river that was often the focal point for many communities. The waste was whisked away up or downstream, never to be seen again, and no damage or pollution was terribly noticeable. The historic and holy Ganges River of India, for example, has long been the primary means for the indigenous inhabitants to dispose of their dead, often building biers and setting loved ones afloat down the river. Today, though, the Ganges River is a cesspool, full of waste, dangerous pollutants, and serving as a threat to those living nearby.

The War Against Bottled Water in Canada

admin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Bottled water has been an extremely popular concept in the world for decades now. People in the United States of America are obsessed with their bottled water and continue to purchase this product far more than they actually bother using their sinks at home. Bottled water has become a multi-billion dollar industry over the years, although some activists in certain countries have been fighting this trend for a long time now. Canadians are starting to wake up and smell the roses when it comes to looking at how bottled water affects their great and prosperous nation. They realize the dangers that this product has on their environment and want to do whatever they can to curb the amount of consumers who purchase bottled water.

Canadians have stated that the production of plastic which is required for bottled water is harmful to the environment. Since plastic is not biodegradable, it simply sits in landfills and continues to pollute the world. People in Canada are more environmentally conscious than in anywhere else in the world and it is for that reason that people there have begun to speak out. These activists are hoping that in the years to come, people will rely on bottled water less and less.

War vs. Polluted Water: Which Is Deadlier?

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Water is life and humans need it to survive. It constitutes about 60 percent of the total body weight. Without it, human beings would die. Since it is a vital fluid required by the body, it should be very clean for human consumption. Water can be polluted by broken sewers and impurities in the ground. Some substances such as chlorine are added to the water to kills harmful substances but the chlorine itself can cause cancer or bind with other water pollutants to form toxic compounds.Didn’t catch that? This explains it.
War always results in fatalities most of whom are innocent civilians. They say that war has to occur in order for peace to reign. Soldiers in war choose to put themselves in danger in order to fight for something they strongly believe in.
Polluted water is definitely deadlier than war because wars are choices humans make and can be corrected through reconciliation but water is a must have for all human, plants and animals and if it is polluted, there is no way of knowing it. There are some measures people do to protect their drinking water. These include boiling, filtering and even buying bottled mineral water which is said to have zero impurities.

Tips for Starting a Community Garden

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

If you’re interested in starting a community garden in your area to improve environmental awareness and bring your neighborhood together, we commend you. Getting everyone out of the house and away from their football on http://www.Direct.TV/ satellite or their romance novels is a great way to foster awareness and communityhere are some tips:
Talk to a Rep: If you’ve got neighborhood representatives or even a local congressman talk to them about funding for your garden. Go to city council meetings and request space and capital and watch everyone get behind your project.
Include the Kids: If you plan at least one event a week where everyone’s encouraged to come out and help in the garden people will come if their kids want to. Plan some child-centric activities to inspire awareness in a new generation and get everyone involved.
Have a Veggie Sale: When your first crop comes in, choose a few select fruits and veggies to sell at a farmer’s market before everyone’s allowed to pick. Give that money back to the garden and watch your idea flourish!

Plastic Waste: Polluting Rivers, Lakes, Oceans

admin — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Water is the most valuable resource on this planet. Although most of the planet is covered in water, most of it is not for human consumption. The worlds population is rising, leading to a shortfall in drinkable water. The United Kingdom issues hose pipe bans across the country during hot weather to preserve water supplies. Fresh drinking water tables below the land are shrinking every year.

In most major cities, 90 of water from the faucet is recycled. Without recycling water, the human race would already be on the brink of extinction. Reducing water consumption at home will reduce the average water bill and help save precious water supplies. Leaving the tap running whilst brushing teeth wastes an average of 5 litres each time. Some families only flush the toilet after a few hours and not each time a person urinates.

Mankind has for centuries taken for granted the oceans, rivers and lakes by dumping their trash into them. River and lake polluion is at an all time high. Plastic takes years to biodegrade and releases harmfull chemicals into the environment. The oceans are full of radioactive waste as well as oil and other potentiall hazardous manmade chemicals. Mankind must learn the error of their ways before it is to late.

Demand For Water Outpaces Supply within 20 Years

admin — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The abuse of water supplies has been replenishing fresh water reserves over the past century. The overuse of limited aquifers and pollution of fresh water sources is quickly depleting the available water resources. With a water shortage comes many consequences. These may include food shortages and crop devastation as water resources are squeezed to the last drop.
Protecting our water resources from this looming disaster will require a change in how we use this precious resource. Agriculture is the number one use of water resources, so changing how agriculture is performed is vital to protecting our water resources.Get more information here. http://bdfreebooks.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/water-resources-engineering/ Since water is currently cheap, there is little incentive for farmers to change their farming methods to use less water. This results in the blatant overuse of water with little regards to its future availability.
Water resources will also need to be protected from the hazards of pollution. Water is often polluted by the mining and fuel industries, who often do not take adequate precautionary measures to prevent it from happening in the first place. This is due to a lack of government oversight and penalties for pollution, as well as proving who caused the pollution in the first place. Our water resources are very important.

Three Billion Severely Short Of Water in 50 Years

admin — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Clean, accessible water is becoming a luxury. Due to the combined factors of climate change, pollution and poor management, three billion people may face critical shortages of water in 50 years.

Vast swaths of America face water shortages due to the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer. Additionally, climate change has made melting snow less predictable, threatening agricultural land and urban centers dependent on mountain-fed rivers in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and California.

However, the largest threat to water accessibility exists in Asia. The Himalayan Plateau provides glacial water to nations that contain 40 of the world’s population. These glaciers are shrinking rapidly and could disappear in the next half century. If the Himalayan Plateau no longer provided a regular flow of water, nations such as India, China, Vietnam and Pakistan might not have regular water flow during the dry season.

Thankfully, conservation of water is something that everyone can help with. By doing simple steps such as running a washing machine only when it is full or making sure your sprinkler is watering the lawn and not the street, water use can be curbed sharply.

The lack of clean water is a direct threat to humanity, and when coupled with population booms in the developing world, could represent a grave challenge in the coming decades.

For ideas on how to do your part, visit http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/chap3.cfm or find easy steps to reduce your water use at http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/index.php

Water: The Sustainer Of Life on Earth

admin — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Water is surprisingly the main source of everything besides sunlight. It can cure so many things that you never thought it would be able to. It helps plants grow, it can cure many things in your body as well. Many issues that arise medically with people, water can mostly prevent. A good daily dosage of eight to twelve cups of water per day. It can prevent dry throats (obviously), it can make asthma a lot less severe, and it can even help you lose extra weight. Some people who have extra weight on them could be storing water because of the fact that they are not getting enough so the body thinks there is a shortage so it stores the water in your body, saving it for when it is needed. Without water, there would not be life on earth. The oceans are important because without the ocean, we would not have rain. The evaporation causes rain which waters all the plants and helps everything bloom including the plants that feed us. As you can see, water is the most avid source for life on earth. Without it, we would not live. There would simply be no food and our bodies would die without the water needed to live.