WATER POLLUTION

Penyakit Demam Kepialu

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Virus kepialu atau Salmonella typhi

Demam kepialu atau Demam paratifoid (Typhoid Fever dalam bahasa Inggeris) merupakan penyakit yang disebabkan oleh bakteria yang dikenali sebagai Salmonella typhi. Demam kepialu biasa terdapat di seluruh dunia, dan hanya boleh dibawa dalam saluran usus dan darah manusia.

Demam kepialu merebak melalui makanan atau air yang tercemar dengan bakteria dari orang yang dijangkiti, atau dari sisi kumbahan yang mengandungi bakteria. Oleh itu kebersihan tempat penyediaan makanan perlu dikekalkan setiap waktu. Mereka yang mengendalikan makanan jualan perlu menjalani pemeriksaan perubatan seperti yang disyaratkan dalam lesan perniagaan makanan. Elakkan daripada membeli makanan daripada peniaga tidak berlesen terutamanya apabila terdapat wabak demam kepialu di sesuatu kawasan.

Selepas membiak di dalam badan pesakit, antara gejala termasuklah demam tinggi 103° ke 104°F (39° ke 40°C), lemah, sakit kepala, hilang selera makan, dan sakit perut. Gejala lain pula termasuklah radang leper, tompok bewarna merah bunga ros. Demam kepialu mampu membawa maut. Gejala akut kebocoran usus kecil (intestinal perforation), berkhayal (delusions), dan menjadi keliru juga boleh berlaku. Antibiotik, seperti ampicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, dan ciprofloxacin biasa digunakan bagi merawat demam kepialu.

Seseorang itu mampu menjadi pembawa penyakit demam kepialu, tanpa menunjukkan sebarang gejala, tetapi mampu menjangkiti orang lain. Pada tahun 1907, Mary Mallon ("Typhoid Mary") menjadi pembawa Amerika Syarikat yang pertama dijejak dan dikenal pasti. Menurut Pusat Kawalan Penyakit (Centers for Disease Control) dianggarkan 1 sehingga 20 orang yang dijangkiti demam kepialu masih membawa penyakit demam kepialu selepas sembuh.

Demam kepialu mungkin berlarutan selama tiga minggu sehingga satu bulan sekiranya tidak dirawat. Kematian berlaku antara setiap 1 dalam 9 ke 1 dalam 3 kes. Suntikan vaksin berserta pemilihan makanan merupakan cara utama mengelakkan terkenanya demam ini.

Demam kepialu telah meragut nyawa beberapa orang terkenal, termasuk Rudyard Kipling, Franz Schubert, Wilbur Wright, dan Putera Pengiring British Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Penyakit Taun

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Penerangan mengenai penyakit taun atau nama lainnya kolera

Penyakit taun atau kolera merupakan penyakit akibat daripada jangkitan virus (kuman), vibrio cholera.

Salah satu punca bagaimana kuman taun boleh tersebar ialah melalui pengambilan makanan dari persekitaran yang kotor dan tidak terurus seperti pengambilan makanan yang dicemari kuman taun atau tidak dimasak .

Penyakit taun merupakan penyakit saluran penghadaman (intestinal tract) yang disebabkan oleh bakteria Vibrio cholerae. Virus ini biasanya ditelan melalui air minuman yang tercemar kerana pengendalian yang tidak bersih atau melalui ikan yang tidak dimasak dengan betul terutamanya kerang. Simptom termasuk cirit-birit ( diarrhea ), perut tegang (abdominal cramps), mual, muntah, dan kekeringan. Penyakit Taun dirawat dengan rehidrasi dan antibiotik, tetapi dalam kes teruk, taun boleh menyebabkan kematian.

Statistik Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia menunjukkan penyakit taun atau kolera telah menurun dari 1,304 kes (19 kematian) pada tahun 1998 kepada 365 kes (7 kematian) pada tahun 2002. Penurunan ini adalah petanda baik bahawa pendidikan dan penguatkuasaan yang dijalankan oleh Kementerian Kesihatan berkesan, namun pengguna harus sentiasa berwaspada terhadap tahap kebersihan dan keselamatan makanan mereka.

Sekitar sejuta virus Vibrio cholerae harus dihadamkan sebelum taun menjangkiti seseorang dewasa yang sihat, walaupun peningkatan jangkitan boleh diperhati pada mereka dengan sistem pertahanan diri yang lemah, mereka yang asid gastrik kurang (akibat penggunaan antasid), atau mereka yang kekurangan makanan.
Wabak taun terakhir di Amerika Syarikat adalah pada tahun 1911..
1,099,882 kes dan 10,453 kematian dilapurkan di Hemisphere Barat antara Januari 1991 dan Julai 1995.
Secara purata, satu kes taun dilapurkan di Amerika Syarikat setiap minggu.

Vibrio cholerae menyebabkan penyakit dengan membebaskan toksin yang melumpuhkan fungsi GTPase pada protin G yang merupakan sebahagian pasangan penerima-protin G ( G protein-coupled receptor ) di dalam sel usus. Ini mengakibatkan protin G terkunci dalam "kedudukan terpasang" mengikat GTP (biasanya, protin G kembali "tertutup" dengan pantas dengan hydrolizing GTP kepada GDP). Protin G mengakibatkan adenylate cyclase menghasilkan sejumlah besar cyclic AMP (cAMP) yang mengakibatkan kehilangan cecair dan garam yang banyak pada lapisan perut.

Cirit-birit yang berlaku membenarkan virus tersebar kepada orang lain akibat keadaan yang tidak bersih. Pembawa gen penyakit Sistik Fibrosis (cystic fibrosis) dilindungi dari kesan taun teruk akibat mereka tidak kehilangan air dengan cepat. Ini menjelaskan jumlah tinggi cystic fibrosis dikalangan penduduk yang pernah terdedah kepada taun.

Kajian genetik terkini menunjukkan kecenderungan seseorang kepada taun (dan cirit-birit lain) bergantung kepada jenis darah mereka. Mereka dengan darah jenis O paling mudah dijangkiti. Mereka dengan darah jenis AB paling tahan, hampir kebal. Antara kedua melampau terdapat jenis darah A dan B, dengan jenis A lebih tahan berbanding jenis B

Penyakit Hepatitis A

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Virus demam kepialu berasal dari lalat

Kuman Hepatitis A menyerang organ dalaman manusia

Hepatitis A merupakan sejenis penyakit kelamin. Virus hepatitis A (HAV) mengakibatkan penyakit berjangkit yang teruk serta keradangan hati. Keadaan klinikal penyakit ini berbeza, iaitu daripada sakit ringan yang berlanjutan selama satu hingga dua minggu kepada sakit teruk yang menyebabkan hilang keupayaan selama beberapa bulan. Sebahagian besarnya langsung tidak menunjukkan kesan, hanya sakit ringan lazimnya di kalangan kanak-kanak.

Hepatitis A jarang menyebabkan kematian dan mempunyai kadar kematian amat rendah. Kematian hanya berlaku kepada pesakit tua yang mendapat penyakit ini dengan mendadak. Virus hepatitis A tersebar melalui saluran najis, mulut serta saluran penghadaman. Keram, tiram dan kima (siput besar) boleh menjadi punca utama wabak hepatitis A jika tidak dimasak dengan betul.

Hepatitis A adalah penyakit berjangkit yang paling mudah dijangkiti. Kadar jangkitannya lebih 1,000 kali lebih tinggi daripada taun dan 10 hingga 100 kali lebih tinggi daripada demam kepialu. Kematian akibat hepatitis A dilaporkan lebih dua orang setiap 100 mangsa yang berusia lebih 40 tahun dan meningkat hingga seorang dalam setiap 30 mangsa yang berumur lebih 49 tahun. Kajian yang dijalankan di negara kita menunjukkan bahawa 50 peratus daripada penduduk Malaysia di bawah usia 30 tahun tidak mempunyai pelalian kepada hepatitis A.

Kuman Hepatitis A

Kesan Penyakit

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PENYAKIT BAWAAN AIR

Contoh penyakit bawaan air :

Hepatitis A
Taun
Demam kepialu ( paratifoid )

Causes

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Many causes of pollution including sewage and fertilizers contain nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. In excess levels, nutrients over stimulate the growth of aquatic plants and algae. Excessive growth of these types of organisms consequently clogs our waterways, use up dissolved oxygen as they decompose, and block light to deeper waters. This, in turn, proves very harmful to aquatic organisms as it affects the respiration ability or fish and other invertebrates that reside in water.

Pollution is also caused when silt and other suspended solids, such as soil, washoff plowed fields, construction and logging sites, urban areas, and eroded river banks when it rains. Under natural conditions, lakes, rivers, and other water bodies undergo Eutrophication, an aging process that slowly fills in the water body with sediment and organic matter. When these sediments enter various bodies of water, fish respirationbecomes impaired, plant productivity and water depth become reduced, and aquatic organisms and their environments become suffocated.

Pollution in the form of organic material enters waterways in many different forms as sewage, as leaves and grass clippings, or as runoff from livestock feedlots and pastures. When natural bacteria and protozoan in the water break down this organic material, they begin to use up the oxygen dissolved in the water. Many types of fish and bottom-dwelling animals cannot survive when levels of dissolved oxygen drop below two to five parts per million. When this occurs, it kills aquatic organisms in large numbers which leads to disruptions in the food chain

The pollution of rivers and streams with chemical contaminants has become one of the most crutial environmental problems within the 20th century. Waterborne chemical pollution entering rivers and streams cause tramendous amounts of destruction.

Pathogens are another type of pollution that prove very harmful. They can cause many illnesses that range from typhoid and dysentery to minor respiratory and skin diseases. Pathogens include such organisms as bacteria, viruses, and protozoan. These pollutants enter waterways through untreated sewage, storm drains, septic tanks, runoff from farms, and particularly boats that dump sewage. Though microscopic, these pollutants have a tremendous effect evidenced by their ability to cause sickness.

The pathway of contamination

Sewer systems

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Paris sewer system

Japanese sewer system

A Word About Sewers: Besides having a set of sewer pipes-- called, strangely enough, sanitary sewers-- which carry wastewater to a treatment plant, cities and towns also need pipes to collect stormwater. These are needed to prevent street flooding and usually lead directly to a waterway without any treatment. The runoff of pollutants from streets and yards into these storm sewers contain oil and other automotive wastes, which may contain toxic metals and organic compounds-- as well as pesticides and nutrient-containing fertilizers from lawns and gardens, and pathogenic microorganisms from animal wastes. The problem of pollution from storm sewers is currently being addressed by the USEPA. Further complicating the situation is the fact that while some cities and towns have completely separate sanitary and storm sewer systems, many others have combined systems. During rainy periods, combined sewers cause two problems: overloading of the treatment plant with extra water and contaminating waterways with untreated sewage from overflows. Even in cities with separate sewer systems, the flows to the treatment plants often increase greatly when it rains because of cracks or separations in the pipes, which allow groundwater or stormwater from broken storm sewer pipes to infiltrate into the sanitary sewer-- or from direct inflow of stormwater into manholes and from illegal connections of roof drains and sump pumps in buildings.

How sewer system is work

Prevention

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To keep our used water from spoiling our water resources, we have to remove the pollutants before the water gets back into the environment. In urban areas in most developed countries, the wastewater from homes, businesses and factories is collected by a system of underground pipes-- sewers-- which carry it to one or more central treatment facilites. Most of these are located near bodies of water into which the treated wastewater is discharged.

In the U.S., all such facilites must have a permit issued by the federal and/or state government, describing limits on the amounts of various pollutants which may be discharged. The U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) refers to these as NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permits. Industries located in areas where they are not connected to a sewer can discharge directly into a waterway, but will need a permit, and will probably have to have their own treatment plants. Even industries which are connected to sewers may have to pretreat their wastewaters before discharging them into the sewers, because they may contain materials which will harm the sewers or the treatment plants-- or may be a danger to the people who work in maintaining the sewer system.

Homes in non-urban areas that are not connected to a sewer are usually required by their town to have on-site treatment systems. Most common for single homes are septic systems, which consist of a buried tank connected to a set of perforated pipes, embedded in gravel, which distribute the water into the soil. (The "Links" page has several references on this subject.) Larger housing complexes may have treatment systems based on the principles used in full-scale sewage treatment plants.

Sejarah pencemaran air

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Alam sekitar kita ini saling terikat antara satu sama lain. Perkara yang sama juga berlaku dengan pencemaran air. Pencemaran ini berlaku akibat daripada perbuatan manusia memusnah alam yang semakin lama semakin menjadi. Pengendalian dan penggunaan tanah yang salah akhirnya mengakibatkan tanah terhakis dan tanah ini akan memasuki ke dalam sungai dan akan mengakibatkan sungai menjadi berlumpur. Ada juga tanah yang dihanyut ke sungai dan kemudian memasuki ke dalam laut. Pembuangan sampah sarap di merata-rata juga akan terus dihanyut ke dalam sungai oleh air hujan. Fenomena tersebut dikenali sebagai air larian.

Pencemaran air ini sudah mula mengancam menusia dari dulu lagi, iaitu pada Zaman Neolitik. Kematian secara besar-besaran yang disebabkan oleh air yang tercemar telah berlaku pada Zaman Keagungan Rom. Ini merupakan kes kematian yang disebabkan oleh pencemaran air yang terawal pernah direkodkan. Orang Rom pada zaman itu telah membina sistem bekalan air yang canggih. Pada masa itu sebanyak lapan aqueduct (saliran air) telah dibina untuk menyalurkan air ke bandar itu. Sistem bekalan air ini bukan sahaja dibina di sekitar Rom malah di koloni-koloni mereka juga iaitu di Gaul, Sepanyol dan Ingggeris.

Kedua-dua aqueduct dan juga pembetung mula menghadapi kekurangan perhatian dan jagaan rapi pada kurun pertama A.D. Pada kurun ke-4, Zaman Orang Gasar, sistem pembentungan menjadi lebih teruk apabila ia tersumbat dengan lumpur dan juga sampah-sarap. Tanah pertanian yang dahulunya disaliri oleh Cloaca Maxima telah bertukar menjadi sebuah paya pembawa kuman penyakit yang kini dikenali sebagai Pontine Marshes, dan menyebabkan penyakit-penykit epidemik dan juga Malaria. Kesan-kesan ini mungkin sekali menyumbang kepada keruntuhan Tamadun Rom.

Dengan kejatuhan Tamadun Rom, langkah-langkah untuk mengekalkan kesihatan mulai dilupakan. Bandaraya pada Zaman Pertengahan Eropah mempunyai sistem pembetungan terbuka dengan sistem perparitan yang tidak sistematik dengan sedikit kawasan takungan dan tandas yang selalunya berdekatan dengan parit air. Pada akhir Zaman Pertengahan Eropah, keadaan yang tidak bersistematik ini telah membawa kepada "Black Death" di mana ia mungkin telah mengorbankan setengah hingga tiga perempat daripada populasi penduduk Eropah yang berlaku dari tahun 1348 hingga 1349. Keadaan ini sering kali berlaku di bandar-bandar Eropah sehingga ia pulih pada abad ke-19. Sungai digunakan sebagai pusat untuk pembuangan sampah sejak kewujudan manusia di dunia ini. Dengan ada penciptaan alat dan pembersihan sungai, sungai tidak diancam pencemaran yang lebih teruk sehingga tahun 1825.

Pada hari ini juga, sampah sarap yang tidak diproses dilonggokkan ke dalam sungai walaupun manusia tahu perbuatan ini boleh membahayakan dirinya sendiri. Pada masa itu juga, iaitu pada zaman pemerintahan Raja Richard II, Raja Inggeris dari tahun 1377 hingga 1399, baginda telah membina sebuah patung yang melarang supaya tidak mengalirkan air kumbahan ke dalam sungai yang berdekatan dengan bandar. Raja Henry VIII yang memerintah Inggeris pada awal kurun ke-16, juga menubuhkan ordinan yang berhubung dengan pencemaran air. Ramai rakyat tidak sedar bahawa air yang tercemar mungkin boleh jadi punca kepada penyakit yang menyerang pada masa itu. Di London, sebagai contoh, diserang oleh taun yang datang secara berkala. Dalam satu kejadian, ia telah meragut 50,000 nyawa manusia pada tahun 1831. Diikuti pula dengannya adalah disentri dan deman kepialu yang sering kali berlaku di kalangan masyarakat luar bandar.

Taun yang disebabkan oleh air yang tercemar telah juga membunuh 20,000 orang di London pada tahun 1849 dan 1953. Deman Kepialu yang menyebabkan individu itu lumpuh juga menyerang Utara Boston, New York pada tahun 1843. Di Plymouth, Pa., pada tahun 1885 dan di Hamburg, Jerman pada tahun 1892. Menurut Donald E. Carr dalam bukunya iaitu Death of the Sweet Waters menyatakan bahawa air yang dicemari oleh air kumbahan merupakan punca kepada tersebarnya deman kepialu dan taun yang mewakili 20% dalam kes-kes yang dilaporkan di hospital di India dan China. Penyakit lain yang merebak secara meluas adalah hepatitis yang berpunca daripada meminum air yang tercemar ataupun memakan kerang yang hidup di kawasan yang tercemar. India pernah diserang oleh hepatitis pada tahun 1956 tetapi tidak begitu banyak tersebar di Mississippi, New York, New Jersey dan Connecticut pada tahun 1961 di mana ia berpunca daripada kerang.

Kaitan di antara mikroorganisma, pembunuh yang terdapat di dalam air dan penyakit yang dibawanya telah membuka jalan kepada penciptaan penawar penyakit tersebut. Sebagai contoh Eberth menemui bacillus taun pada tahun 1880, Koch telah menjumpai kuman Kholera pada tahun 1883 dan Pasteur telah berjaya menjumpai penawar untuk manusia menentang penyakit anjing gila pada tahun 1885. Pada tahun yang sama juga Franklund telah memulakan rutin analisis biologi terhadap air yang disalirkan oleh syarikat air di London dan berupaya menunjukkan bahawa penurasan air melalui pasir boleh mengurangkan kandungan bakteria sehingga 98%.

Wikipedia Definition

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Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater. All water pollution affects organisms and plants that live in these water bodies and in almost all cases the effect is damaging either to individual species and populations but also to the natural biological communities. It occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful constituents.

Water....

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It covers 71% of the earth's surface and makes up 65 % of our bodies. Everyone wants clean water-- to drink, for recreation, and just to enjoy looking at. If water becomes polluted, its loses its value to us economically and aesthetically, and can become a threat to our health and to the survival of the fish living in it and the wildlife that depends on it.

Dictionary Means

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WATER!!!!

According to the American College Dictionary, pollution is defined as: to make foul or unclean; dirty.Water pollution occurs when a body of water is adversely affected due to the addition of large amounts of materials to the water. When it is unfit for its intended use, water is considered polluted. Two types of water pollutants exist; point source and nonpoint source. Point sources of pollution occur when harmful substances are emitted directly into a body of water. The Exxon Valdez oil spill best illustrates a point source water pollution. A nonpoint source delivers pollutants indirectly through environmental changes. An example of this type of water pollution is when fertilizer from a field is carried into a stream by rain, in the form of run-off
which in turn effects aquatic life. The technology exists for point sources of pollution to be monitored and regulated, although political factors may complicate matters. Nonpoint sources are much more difficult to control. Pollution arising from nonpoint sources accounts for a majority of the contaminants in streams and lakes.

Homes

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Waste from the settlement

Waste channeled to the main river

Sewage generated by houses or runoff from septic tanks into nearby waterways, introduce organic pollutants that can cause eutrophication.

Fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides used for lawn care can runoff and contaminate the waterway. As with agriculteral fertilizers, home fertilizers can lead to the eutrophication of lakes and rivers.

Improper disposal of hazardous chemicals down the drain itroduce toxic materials into to the ecosystem, contaminating the water supplies in a way that can harm aquatic organisms.

Leaks of oil and antifreeze from a car on a driveway can be washed off by the rain into nearby waterways, polluting it.

Business

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Smoke from the industries

Toxic and mineral oil pollution from the industries

Clearing of land can lead to erosion of soil into the river.

Waste and sewage generated by industry can get into the water supply, introducing large organic pollutants into the ecosystem.

Many industrial and power plants use rivers, streams and lakes to despose of waste heat. The resulting hot water can cause thermal pollution. Thermal pollution can have a disasterous effect on life in an aquatic ecosystem as temperature increaces decreace the amount of oxygen in the water, thereby reducing the number of animals that can survive there.

Water can become contaminated with toxic or radioactive materials from industry, mine sites and abandoned hazardous waste sites.

Acid precipitation is caused when the burning of fossil fuels emits sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. The sulfur dioxide reacts with the water in the atmosphere, creating rainfall which contains sulfuric acid. As acid precipitation falls into lakes, streams and ponds it can lower the overall pH of the waterway, killing vital plant life, thereby affecting the whole food chain. It can also leach heavy metals from the soil into the water, killing fish and other aquatic organisms. Because of this, air pollution is potentially one of the most threatening forms of pollution to aquatic ecosystems.

Chemical waste from the industries

Farming

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pesticides process

herbicides process

Farms often use large amounts of herbicides and pesticides, both of which are toxic pollutants. These substances are particularly dangerous to life in rivers, streams and lakes, where toxic substances can build up over a period of time.

Farms also frequently use large amounts of chemical fertilizers that are washed into the waterways and damage the water supply and the life within it. Fertilizers can increase the amounts of nitrates and phosphates in the water, which can lead to the process of eutrophication.

Allowing livestock to graze near water sources often results in organic waste products being washed into the waterways. This sudden introduction of organic material increaces the amount of nitrogen in the water, and can also lead to eutrophication.

Four hundred million tons of soil are carried by the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico each year. A great deal of this siltation is due to runoff from the exposed soil of agricultural fields. Excessive amounts of sediment in waterways can block sunlight, preventing aquatic plants from photosynthesizing, and can suffocate fish by clogging their gills.

Process of absorbing pesticides and herbicides by the ground

Thermal pollution

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Smoke pollution

How thermal pollution occur

Thermal pollution is the degradation of water quality by any process that changes ambient watertemperature. A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers. When water used as a coolant is returned to the natural environment at a higher temperature, the change in temperature impacts organisms by
(a) decreasing oxygen supply, and
(b) affecting ecosystem composition. Urban runoff--stormwater discharged to surface waters from roads andparking lots--can also be a source of elevated water temperatures.

When a power plant first opens or shuts down for repair or other causes, fish and other organisms adapted to particular temperature range can be killed by the abrupt rise in water temperature known as 'thermal shock'.

Thermal pollution can also be caused by the release of very cold water from the base of reservoirs into warmer rivers. This affects fish (particularly their eggs and larvae), macroinvertebrates and river productivity.

Thermal Pollution -- Thermal pollution can occur when water is used as a coolant near a power or industrial plant and then is returned to the aquatic environment at a higher temperature than it was originally. Thermal pollution can lead to a decrease in the dissolved oxygen level in the water while also increasing the biological demand of aquatic organisms for oxygen.

Industrial Effluents

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Waste water from manufacturing or chemical processes in industries contributes to water pollution. Industrial waste water usually contains specific and readily identifiable chemical compounds. During the last fifty years, the number of industries in India has grown rapidly. But water pollution is concentrated within a few subsectors, mainly in the form of toxic wastes and organic pollutants. Out of this a large portion can be traced to the processing of industrial chemicals and to the food products industry. In fact, a number of large- and medium-sized industries in the region covered by the Ganga Action Plan do not have adequate effluent treatment facilities. Most of these defaulting industries are sugar mills, distilleries, leather processing industries, and thermal power stations. Most major industries have treatment facilities for industrial effluents. But this is not the case with small-scale industries, which cannot afford enormous investments in pollution control equipment as their profit margin is very slender.

Industrial seewage

Agricultural Run Off

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Fertilizers and pesticides

The use of land for agriculture and the practices followed in cultivation greatly affect the quality of groundwater. Intensive cultivation of crops causes chemicals from fertilizers (e.g. nitrate) and pesticides to seep into the groundwater, a process commonly known as leaching. Routine applications of fertilizers and pesticides for agriculture and indiscriminate disposal of industrial and domestic wastes are increasingly being recognized as significant sources of water pollution.

The high nitrate content in groundwater is mainly from irrigation run-off from agricultural fields where chemical fertilizers have been used indiscriminately.

Domestic Sewage

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Domestic sewage refers to waste water that is discarded from households. Also referred to as sanitary sewage, such water contains a wide variety of dissolved and suspended impurities.

It amounts to a very small fraction of the sewage by weight. But it is large by volume and contains impurities such as organic materials and plant nutrients that tend to rot. The main organic materials are food and vegetable waste, plant nutrient come from chemical soaps, washing powders, etc. Domestic sewage is also very likely to contain disease-causing microbes. Thus, disposal of domestic waste water is a significant technical problem. Sewage generated from the urban areas in India has multiplied manifold since 1947.

Today, many people dump their garbage into streams, lakes, rivers, and seas, thus making water bodies the final resting place of cans, bottles, plastics, and other household products. The various substances that we use for keeping our houses clean add to water pollution as they contain harmful chemicals. In the past, people mostly used soaps made from animal and vegetable fat for all types of washing. But most of today’s cleaning products are synthetic detergents and come from the petrochemical industry. Most detergents and washing powders contain phosphates, which are used to soften the water among other things. These and other chemicals contained in washing powders affect the health of all forms of life in the water.

Waste from the household

Organic Substance

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Organic substance from the settlement

Organic waste channeled to the river

Organic Substance -- Organic pollution occurs when an excess of organic matter, such as manure or sewage, enters the water. When organic matter increases in a pond, the number of decomposers will increase. These decomposers grow rapidly and use a great deal of oxygen during their growth. This leads to a depletion of oxygen as the decomposition process occurs. A lack of oxygen can kill aquatic organisms. As the aquatic organisms die, they are broken down by decomposers which leads to further depletion of the oxygen levels.

A type of organic pollution can occur when inorganic pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphates accumulate in aquatic ecosystems. High levels of these nutrients cause an overgrowth of plants and algae. As the plants and algae die, they become organic material in the water. The enormous decay of this plant matter, in turn, lowers the oxygen level. The process of rapid plant growth followed by increased activity by decomposers and a depletion of the oxygen level is called eutrophication.

Human waste...eee...yakkkk!!!!

Mahukah Anda???

2009-10-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

Mahukah anda???

Pantai tempat anda berkelah mnjadi sebegini rupa.....

Pantai yang indah dengan deruan angin yang nyaman dan menyegarkan berubah berbau busuk....

Pantai yang mmpunyai pemandangan yang indah dicemari sisa tumpahan minyak....

mahukah anda????

Tempat perkelahan keluarga anda di nodai oleh hasil tumpahan sisa toksik dan sampah sarap yang merosakkan pemandangan serta kualiti air sungai

Minum dari air sungai yg tercemar....

Sumber ikan dari sungai yg tercemar....

Persoalannya?

Mahukah anda????

sama-samalah kite renungkan sejenak....

sungai yang mengalir dari atas bukit hingga ke hilir sungai dan keindahan pantai serta laut tercalar dan tercemar akibat perbuatan tamak dan rakus manusia yang mementingkan keuntungan yang sementara daripada memelihara khazanah negara yang tiada tolok bandingan nilainya

PENYAKIT kesan pencemaran air

2009-09-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

Antara penyakit yang berjangkit melalui keracunan air minuman dan air untuk mandi adalah

disenteri
salmonela
cryptosporidium
hepatitis

ANGKARA MANUSIA!!

2009-09-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

Persepsi tidak tepat terhadap laut menyebabkan ia menjadi tempat semua longgokan sampah dan sisa lain termasuk pembuangan minyak

MASALAH pembuangan sampah ke dalam laut sama ada akibat aktiviti yang dijalankan di kawasan marin atau di darat jika tidak ditangani segera boleh menjadi semakin serius dan berkemungkinan membawa kerosakan kepada sistem ekosistem batu karang dan laut di negara ini.

Jabatan Taman Laut, Kementerian Sumber Asli dan Alam Sekitar menjangkakan lebih banyak spesies akan mati jika isu pencemaran dan pembuangan sisa pepejal dalam laut tidak diatasi dengan segera.

Ketika ini, Malaysia mempunyai 42 peratus daripada 2,300 terumbu karang yang sihat dan 56 peratus lagi dalam kategori sederhana sihat.

Namun, kini, 20 peratus daripada 42 peratus terumbu karang yang sihat itu dicemari oleh pelbagai pencemaran seperti minyak dan sisa pepejal (pukat hanyut dan puntung rokok) yang dibuang di darat dan laut.

Persepsi tidak tepat terhadap laut juga menyebabkan ia menjadi tempat semua longgokan sampah dan sisa lain termasuk pembuangan minyak.

Dalam kes hidupan laut mati akibat pencemaran air memang banyak dilaporkan, namun dalam kes paus tersesat dan terdampar di perairan negara ini di Kampung Kuala Nenasi, Pekan baru-baru ini, jarang berlaku.

Dilaporkan ikan itu mati kerana tercekik plastik dan tali nilon tetapi ada kemungkinan ikan berkenaan sebenarnya memang sakit akibat kualiti air yang rendah berbeza dengan habitat sebenarnya.

Dr Zelina Zaiton juga menyatakan saintis percaya apabila paus sesat atau dijumpai terdampar di perairan yang bukan habitatnya menunjukkan kualiti air rendah dan pergerakan arus sudah berubah.

“Ikan paus biasanya tinggal di kawasan laut dalam dan dalam kes ini, kemungkinan ia sesat apabila arus air berubah akibat perubahan iklim dunia,” katanya.

Pensyarah Pengurusan Strategik Zon Pantai dan Maritim, Jabatan Pengurusan Alam Sekitar UPM, Laksamana Pertama (B) Prof Madya Dr Sutarji Kasmin, berkata sisa buangan enap cemar juga berisiko tinggi menyebabkan pencemaran kepada hidupan laut.

Kebiasaannya, sisa buangan enap cemar seperti minyak hitam dibuang oleh kapal dagang. Kawasan yang sering menerima akibat ini adalah laluan kapal dagang dan pelabuhan.

Di negara ini, laluan yang sering menjadi tempat pembuangan enap cemar adalah Selat Melaka kerana ia adalah laluan paling sibuk di dunia.

Mengikut maklumat Pusat Penyelaras Penguat Kuasa Maritim Kebangsaan, Bahagian Keselamatan Negara (BKN), Jabatan Perdana Menteri (JPM), sebanyak 144 kes pencemaran minyak laut dikenal pasti.

Daripada jumlah itu, 108 kes membabitkan pembuangan enap cemar dan 32 kapal didakwa di mahkamah tetapi hanya 14 saja didapati bersalah.

Difahamkan 15 pelabuhan yang ada di Malaysia menyediakan perkhidmatan kepada kapal dagangan membuang sisa minyak seperti minyak hitam, namun kos pembersihan yang dikenakan terlalu mahal yang memaksa kapal mengambil tindakan membuang sisa berkenaan di dalam laut secara haram.

Mengikut laporan Badan Penyelaras Laut Asia Timur (Cobsea), mendapati ada dua penyebab utama pembuangan sampah di laut di negara ini iaitu sisa buangan daripada kapal dan aktiviti di darat.

Pembuangan sampah daripada kapal ini berlaku akibat aktiviti yang dilakukan di laut. Selain kapal dagang dan bot menangkap ikan, pelabuhan dan loji minyak turut menyumbang kepada pencemaran dan pembuangan sisa pepejal dan cecair ke laut.

Sisa buangan daripada jeti minyak dan gas serta bahan buangan daripada kapal nelayan, bot rekreasi dan kegiatan memancing turut menyumbang kepada pembuangan sampah ke laut.

Setakat ini, Malaysia mempunyai 15 pelabuhan yang menyediakan kemudahan pembuangan sampah sarap daripada kapal yang mana sampah itu diuruskan oleh kontraktor yang dilantik mengendalikannya.

Aktiviti di daratan turut menyebabkan pencemaran laut terutama kawasan persisiran pantai atau pulau seperti Pulau Pinang dan Langkawi.

Sampah sarap daripada daratan dibawa ke laut melalui sungai dan terusan yang turut memberi kesan kemusnahan kepada pantai.

Kegiatan pelancongan dan rekreasi di sepanjang pantai peranginan menjadi antara penyumbang pembuangan sampah. Begitu juga pengurusan sampah di daratan yang tidak teratur turut menyebabkan ia mencemari laut.

Pembuangan sampah biasanya datang daripada kawasan perumahan, rekreasi, kemudahan awam, pusat komersial, kawasan industri, tempat pembuangan sampah dan aktiviti pertanian.

Maka, perlu ada amalan yang baik untuk pengurusan sampah dan cara pengendaliannya (pengumpulan, penghantaran, pengangkutan dan pengalihan, penghapusan dan penembusan sampah).

Pada masa ini, mengikut laporan itu, pengurusan sampah di Malaysia dijalankan pihak berkuasa tempatan (PBT). Kini Malaysia menyediakan Pelan Strategi Kebangsaan Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal yang mensasarkan mengurangkan sumber dan mencegah pembuangan sisa pepejal; mempelbagaikan lagi sistem pengurusan sampah menerusi kaedah kitar semula dan penggunaan semula, penukaran teknologi dan pengenalan kemudahan pembuangan sampah seperti insinerator dan sampah sebagai sumber tenaga baru.

Di Malaysia, kerja pembersihan sampah di pantai dilakukan kumpulan badan bukan kerajaan (NGO), PBT, pertubuhan berkaitan marin dan pusat peranginan pantai termasuk hotel.

Cobsea mencadangkan Malaysia meningkatkan lagi aktiviti pembersihan pantai dan meningkatkan lagi kesedaran awam kepentingan menjaga alam sekitar selain mengurus dengan baik pembuangan sisa ke laut.

Ketiadaan data lengkap mengenai tahap kebersihan dan pencemaran menyukarkan usaha mengatasi masalah pembuangan sampah di Malaysia. Namun, secara keseluruhannya warga Malaysia sudah ada kesedaran mengenai masalah pembuangan sampah melalui siri kempen pembersihan pantai dan program kesedaran yang dilakukan berterusan.

How can we stop water pollution?

2009-09-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

There is no easy way to solve water pollution; if there were, it wouldn't be so much of a problem. Broadly speaking, there are three different things that can help to tackle the problem :

education
laws
economics

They can work together as a team

What are the effects of water pollution?

2009-09-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

Some people believe pollution is an inescapable result of human activity: they argue that if we want to have factories, cities, ships, cars, oil, and coastal resorts, some degree of pollution is almost certain to result. In other words, pollution is a necessary evil that people must put up with if they want to make progress. Fortunately, not everyone agrees with this view. One reason people have woken up to the problem of pollution is that it brings costs of its own that undermine any economic benefits that come about by polluting.

Take oil spills, for example. They can happen if tankers are too poorly built to survive accidents at sea. But the economic benefit of compromising on tanker quality brings an economic cost when an oil spill occurs. The oil can wash up on nearby beaches, devastate the ecosystem, and severely affect tourism. The main problem is that the people who bear the cost of the spill (typically a small coastal community) are not the people who caused the problem in the first place (the people who operate the tanker). Yet, arguably, everyone who puts gasoline (petrol) into their car—or uses almost any kind of petroleum-fueled transport—contributes to the problem in some way. So oil spills are a problem for everyone, not just people who live by the coast and tanker operates.

Sewage is another good example of how pollution can affect us all. Sewage discharged into coastal waters can wash up on beaches and cause a health hazard. People who bathe or surf in the water can fall ill if they swallow polluted water—yet sewage can have other harmful effects too: it can poison shellfish (such as cockles and mussels) that grow near the shore. People who eat poisoned shellfish risk suffering from an acute—and sometimes fatal—illness called paralytic shellfish poisoning. Shellfish is no longer caught along many shores because it is simply too polluted with sewage or toxic chemical wastes that have discharged from the land nearby.

Pollution matters because it harms the environment on which people depend. The environment is not something distant and separate from our lives. It's not a pretty shoreline hundreds of miles from our homes or a wilderness landscape that we see only on TV. The environment is everything that surrounds us that gives us life and health. Destroying the environment ultimately reduces the quality of our own lives—and that, most selfishly, is why pollution should matter to all of us.

What are the causes of water pollution?

2009-09-29T07:11:00.000-07:00

nutrients
waste water
chemical waste
radioactive waste
oil pollution
plastics
sewage
alien species

How do we know when water is polluted?

2009-09-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

Some forms of water pollution are very obvious: everyone has seen TV news footage of oil slicks filmed from helicopters flying overhead. Water pollution is usually less obvious and much harder to detect than this. But how can we measure water pollution when we cannot see it? How do we even know it's there?

There are two main ways of measuring the quality of water. One is to take samples of the water and measure the concentrations of different chemicals that it contains. If the chemicals are dangerous or the concentrations are too great, we can regard the water as polluted. Measurements like this are known as chemical indicators of water quality. Another way to measure water quality involves examining the fish, insects, and other invertebrates that the water will support. If many different types of creatures can live in a river, the quality is likely to be very good; if the river supports no fish life at all, the quality is obviously much poorer. Measurements like this are called biological indicators of water quality.

Toxic Subtance

2009-09-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

Toxic Substance -- A toxic substance is a chemical pollutant that is not a naturally occurring substance in aquatic ecosystems. The greatest contributors to toxic pollution are herbicides, pesticides and industrial compounds.

Industries and even small businesses in your community probably use many different types of chemicals that can cause short-term (acute) and long-term (chronic) adverse health effects to workers and to the surrounding community if used improperly. These chemicals will be referred to as "toxic substances."
Toxic substances may be used by a wide variety of different types of industries or small businesses. They can be used to manufacture paper, fertilizers, chemicals, drugs, textiles, dyes, paints, plastics, and many other products. Toxic substances are often used and managed in a responsible and safe manner. Many toxic substances are even incorporated into products that consumers buy.

Water Pollution?

2009-09-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

Waste entering water channel

When toxic substances enter lakes, streams, rivers, oceans and other water bodies, they get dissolved or lie suspended in water or get deposited on the bed. this results in the pollution of water whereby the quality of the water deteriorates, affecting aguatic ecosystems. Pollutants can also seep down and affect the groundwater deposits.

Oil pollution