water pollution. Thereby the abuse of lakes, ponds, oceans, rivers, reservoirs etc is water pollution. Pollution of water occurs when substances that will modify the water in negative fashion are discharged in it. This discharge of pollutants can be direct as well as indirect.
Water pollution is an appalling problem, powerful enough to lead the world on a path of destruction. Water is an easy solvent, enabling most pollutants to dissolve in it easily and contaminate it. The most basic effect of water pollution is directly suffered by the organisms and vegetation that survive in water, including amphibians. On a human level, several people die each day due to consumption of polluted and infected water.
As per the Economist report (dated 2008) each day over 1000 children die of diarrheal sickness in India and the numbers have only increased alarming in the last five years. Water is polluted by both natural as well as man-made activities. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, Tsunamis etc are known to alter water and contaminate it, also affecting ecosystems that survive under water.
There are various classifications of water pollution. The two chief sources of water pollution can be seen as Point and Non Point.
Point refer to the pollutants that belong to a single source. An example of this would be emissions from factories into the water.
Non Point on the other hand means pollutants emitted from multiple sources. Contaminated water after rains that has traveled through several regions may also be considered as a Non point source of pollution.