Following are some facts on water pollution:
• Fourteen billion pounds of garbage, which is mostly plastic, is dumped into the ocean every year.
• The Ganges River in India is one the most polluted rivers in the world with sewage, trash, food, and animal remains.
• According to United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) estimates, 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, stormwater, and industrial waste is dumped into U.S. waters annually.
• About 700 million people globally drink contaminated water.
• Aquatic animals face an extinction rate of five times more than that of terrestrial animals.
• Over 30 billion tons of urban sewage is discharged into lakes, rivers and oceans every year.
• The massive oil spill that was caused by British Petroleum (BP) in the year 2010 caused over 1,000 animals to die. Many of them were on the endangered species list.
• According to UNICEF, more than 3,000 children die every day all over the world due to consumption of contaminated drinking water.
• Pollution is one of the biggest killers in the world, affecting over 100 million people.
• Lack of proper sanitation in water leads to diseases like cholera, malaria and diarrhea.
• At least 320 million people in China do not have access to clean drinking water
Water pollution has been extensively documented as a contributor to health problems in humans and marine animal ecosystems. It has a huge impact on our lives, and if we do our part by not throwing trash or chemicals into our water supplies and drains, we can contribute to the improvement of aquatic life and of our health in general.