Water Equality: An Ignored Global Crisis
Veronica Mielcarek
World Civilizations (H)
Water Assignment
20 January 2014
Water Quality: An Ignored Global Crisis Water pollution has been happening all over the world since it was first created. The first people on the planet have been the cause and it has been reoccurring since then. But not everyone is just waiting around for it to get better by itself. The U.S., Canada, and parts of Europe have been making an effort to try to control water pollution. About 150 years ago in London, they created a very large sewage system in order for no water-borne diseases to exist, to get rid of unwanted odors, and to improve living conditions for its citizens. Now, London has changed because of population increase and lack of government involvement. Because of lack of attention, each year 30 million tons of sewage flows into the River Thames. It is estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency in America that 850 billion gallons of raw sewage is discharged into bodies of water annually. The sewage has caused over 7 million illnesses every year because of it. These damages have caused our government to spend billions of dollars in order to fix them. In Latin America there is only around 10 to 12 percent of wastewater that is treated properly according to The Third World Centre for Water Management. Much of the water needed for people and their food to survive is heavily contaminated. Major cities in India release untreated wastewater into bodies of water used for drinking water of about 57 million people. The effects of this neglect will be life-threatening for a majority of the earth’s population in the future. Untreated wastewater will cause slow, painful deaths to many because of the serious illnesses from the water. These examples are just some of the many deathly problems the people of the world need to risk their health for in order to survive a little bit longer.
World Civilizations (H)
Water Assignment
20 January 2014
Water Quality: An Ignored Global Crisis Water pollution has been happening all over the world since it was first created. The first people on the planet have been the cause and it has been reoccurring since then. But not everyone is just waiting around for it to get better by itself. The U.S., Canada, and parts of Europe have been making an effort to try to control water pollution. About 150 years ago in London, they created a very large sewage system in order for no water-borne diseases to exist, to get rid of unwanted odors, and to improve living conditions for its citizens. Now, London has changed because of population increase and lack of government involvement. Because of lack of attention, each year 30 million tons of sewage flows into the River Thames. It is estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency in America that 850 billion gallons of raw sewage is discharged into bodies of water annually. The sewage has caused over 7 million illnesses every year because of it. These damages have caused our government to spend billions of dollars in order to fix them. In Latin America there is only around 10 to 12 percent of wastewater that is treated properly according to The Third World Centre for Water Management. Much of the water needed for people and their food to survive is heavily contaminated. Major cities in India release untreated wastewater into bodies of water used for drinking water of about 57 million people. The effects of this neglect will be life-threatening for a majority of the earth’s population in the future. Untreated wastewater will cause slow, painful deaths to many because of the serious illnesses from the water. These examples are just some of the many deathly problems the people of the world need to risk their health for in order to survive a little bit longer.