Industrial development and production in western first-world countries has long ago reached the level when it is able to dramatically affect the environment. Among such industry-related problems as air pollution, soil contamination, radioactive waste, and so on, the problem of low-quality water stands as one of the first places in terms of its importance for the survival of humankind. Therefore, information about the negative effects of water pollution should be not only studied, but spread among the general populous, taken into consideration, and prevented.
One of the biggest problems connected to poor water quality is that entire food chains are drastically affected or even become extinct because of increased toxicity. Such pollutants as lead or cadmium get into water, and contaminate microorganisms living in it. These microorganisms are consumed by bigger species – such as plankton – which, in its turn, is eaten by even larger animals, and so on. Eventually, this chain leads to human beings, because people all over the world consume fish and seafood. Thus, by polluting oceans people worsen their overall well being (ESchoolToday).
Another problem connected to the contamination of water is the disruption of entire ecosystems. An ecosystem is the way of interaction between creatures that inhabit a certain area, and thus depend on each other. But, water pollution can severely damage the subtle connections between the living species inhabiting certain environmental areas (ESchoolToday). This, in its turn, leads to an increasing imbalance in the environment, causing species to become extinct; every time when an ecosystem suffers, it also affects the condition of our planet in general, and thus – people living on it.