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A. Introduction
Our project tells broadly about water. It discusses the importance of water to civilizations and to life itself and how we use and still abuse our water. Our project talks about water pollution. Causes, effects and how to fight this problem besides the concepts of our team in order to clean our water, not only the Egyptian water but also the global as a start for our common enemy “pollution” to live in a better world. So, we took it as our target to let you know more and more about water to face this challenge.
Water! What is this magical liquid?!
Water is the most common substance on Earth. No one can do without water. So, there can be no life. It is undoubtedly the most precious natural resource that exists on our planet. Without the seemingly invaluable compound comprised of Hydrogen and Oxygen, life on Earth would be not-existent. Truly, water is an exception to many nature’s rules because of its unusual properties. In fact everything consists mostly of water; your body is about two-thirds water. Water itself is a clear and colorless liquid. It has many uses such as: drinking, irrigation, producing, cleanliness, hygiene, generating hydroelectric energy and many other uses. We also use water in generating energy in nuclear reactors as so-called heavy water that consists of water molecules that contain deuterium, a heavier isotope of ordinary Hydrogen. Water covers more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. It fills the oceans, rivers and lakes. And it is underground and in the air we breathe. Water is everywhere, today, more than ever; water is both salve and master to people. We use water in homes for cleanliness, cooking, hygiene and carrying away wastes. We use water to irrigate dry farmlands, so we can grow more food. Our factories use water more than any other materials.
B. Water pollution
What is water pollution? Water pollution is defined as: “Damage caused to water environment by harmful chemicals and wastes.”
Causes of water pollution: In our present time, after the man has used his genius to make miracles, he has done a lot of things to help and serve the humanity. He built factories and cities, invented cars and spaceships and discovered Gas and Petrol. Man took care of his stuff but he forgot something………….. To take care of his Mother Nature. And instead of broadening water, He began to fill it up. And instead of cleaning and disinfecting, he began to pollute until water (the secret of life) became (the secret of death). Pollutants of water, that we should fight, are increasing especially after being water pollution a serious environmental problem. And now we are going to mention some of these causes:
Industrial wastes: Many factories discharge their pollutants that include many toxic chemicals and wastes into water (like what is happening in Helwan.) In addition, the burning of coal, oil and other fuels by power plants, factories and motor vehicles release sulfur (S) and nitrogen oxides (NO2) into air and that cause acid rain which enters our water. High level of mercury has been found in fish far from industrial areas. The main source of this appearance is coal-fired boilers, incinerators and smelters.
Petroleum products: Oil and chemicals derived from oil are used for oil, plastics manufacturing and many other purposes. These petroleum products get into water mainly by means of accidental spills from ships, tanker trucks, pipelines and leaky underground storage tanks (like what is happening in the area of Suez Canal). Spilled oil damages the feather of birds or the fur of animals and that may cause death. In addition, spilled oil may be contaminated with harmful substance.
Pesticides and Herbicides: Chemicals used to kill unwanted animals or plants, for instance on farms or in suburban yards, may be collected by rainwater runoff and carried into water. Some of these chemicals decay into harmful forms while other chemicals remain dangerous for a long time (like what is happening in Delta and Upper Egypt) Many drinking water supplies are contaminated with pesticides. Scientists estimated that 10 % of wells contain pesticides nitrates. A nitrate is a pollutant often derived from fertilizer runoff can cause Anemia in human while other chemicals can cause cancer in animals.
Heavy metals: Heavy metals such as: cooper (Cu), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg) and selenium (Se),get into water from many sources, including factories, automobile exhaust, mines, and even natural soil (pesticides). Heavy metals become more concentrated as animals feed on plants. When they reach high levels in body, heavy metals can be immediately poisonous, or can result in long-term health problems similar to those caused by pesticides and Herbicides. For example, cadmium (Cd) in fertilizers derived from sewage sludge can be absorbed by crops. If these crops are eaten by human, the metal can cause diarrhea, and over time, liver and kidney damage. Lead can get into water from lead pipes in older water system. Lead in water can cause mental retardation to children.
Thermal pollution: Factories and power plants use water as a coolant. The water is usually returned to the source warmer than when it was taken. Even small temperature change in a body of water can drive away the fish and other species that were originally present, and attract other species in place of them. Thermal pollution depletes oxygen levels in water. The result may be fish and other wild life deaths near the discharge source. It can also caused by the removal of trees and vegetation that shade and cool water. Scientists think that the next years will be hotter and hotter. But why? One reason could be changed in the amount of heat, which actually comes from the sun at different times and different amounts. Another could be volcanic dust. When volcano erupts, it sends huge amounts of dust into the atmosphere. This dust partially blocks out the rays from the sun over large areas. This volcano dust stay in the atmosphere for many years. People have also been adding gases such as carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. These are called “greenhouse gases” because they hang in the atmosphere around the earth like the roof and walls of a green house. The earth receives heat and light from the sun and sends this back into space as infrared radiation. Much of them cannot pass through the greenhouse gases and this caused increase in temperature near the earth. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing mainly because all countries burn fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal. Some scientists believe that by the middle of the 21st century, the amount pf carbon dioxide may have doubled. And if it does increase, scientists think that the average temperature of the earth’s surface may increase by almost 1ºC and that’s called “GLOBAL WARMING”. What would be the consequences of this global warming? It is well known that the ice at the arctic and Antarctic is melting. That will cause a disaster because the sea levels would rise and some low-lying regions of the world would be submerged!!!!
What can water pollution do? (Effects)
Reduce the amount of clean water that we live on and try to infect it all and that may cause not only the end of mankind, but also the life itself.
Because of water pollution, about 1.5 billion people are suffering from lacking of safe drinking water. And that causes at least 5 million deaths per year.
Human illness. Water polluted with human and animals’ wastes can spread typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery and other diseases.
The acidic rain which considered bad for the water and for the people who drink it because it pollutes the water with toxic substances and cause the death to human.
Reduce recreational use. Pollution prevents people from enjoying in water. For example, odors and floating materials make boating; swimming and water sports unpleasant and the risk of disease make polluted water unsafe. Fish can be killed by oil or by lack of oxygen in water. Oil pollution and careless anchoring of boats have damaged coral reefs of the coasts.
Disruption of natural processes. Various natural processes that occur in water turn wastes into useful substance. These processes use oxygen that is dissolved in water. Water pollution upsets these processes mainly by robbing the oxygen in water.
Most coastal waters are now polluted. Beaches around the world are closed regularly, often because of high amounts of bacteria from sewage disposal, and marina wildlife is beginning to suffer.
The fact:
Winners
In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the river Thames in London was a real proof of water pollution. The river was full of sewage, humans’ and animals’ wastes and harmful chemicals. The British paid attention to this serious problem that should be fought. They cleaned their river and cared about it. Now, the river Thames is one of the cleanest rivers in the world. So, why don’t we do like British in our water and our great river: The Nile.
Losers
YES, we should confess that we are losers. WHY? Because we lose our water. We polluted our sources of water by our hands. We polluted our seas and Nile that are considered a great fortune to us, to Egyptians. After the shadows of wars were destroyed, and most of the crises were eliminated. In the last years, Egypt as one of the developing countries started flourishing its situation by catching up with the train of technology and modernity by modern development combined with long postponed infrastructure investment has severely over whelmed water and waste water services of urban areas, creating numerous environment hazards. And after all of these years, our dear river Nile begin to scream, objecting of what is happening to him, and we, the Egyptians, begin to realize the need for better environmental protection became a government priority. As a country with an arid landscape, little rain and 97% desert, Egypt is dependent on the Nile River for its existence. The Greek historian Herodotus observed that Egypt is a”gift of the Nile.” Now and from the first great civilization of the pharos arose in the valley of the Nile, nearly the entire population of Egypt continues living in the narrow banks of the Nile valley. The Nile River in Africa is the longest river in the world. It runs about 6.650 km through 6 countries. It goes its last journey about 1.600 km through Egypt. More than 96 % of Egypt is Desert and only 4 % inhabited. Egyptians consider the Nile is the secret of life. They use it for many purposes such as: drinking, cleanliness, agriculture and industry because it’s considered the first source of water in Egypt. The cultivable land is limited by fresh water availability. In addition to the fact, the high dam that saved the Country from the famine by helping to expend the agriculture land, serving the growing needs of vast urban population and emerging many economical projects. Nowadays, our Nile is facing many environmental problems. It receives large flows of mostly untreated wastewater every day because it passes 43 towns in Egypt with high population and they discharge their wastes to the Nile. It also passes 35 major factories discharge 125 million m3 per year of industrial wastewater. It’s strange to see how everything thrown into it as if it is our little basket. Instead of keeping it clean and pure, we pollute it. We by ourselves dirty it with our hands. Some farmers wash themselves, their clothes, their animals and their pots and pans in its water. They even throw their dead animals and birds into it. Some people living in cities and towns throw their old tyres and cars, their old broken bottles and rusty tins into it. Factories throw their waste chemicals and garbage into it. In this way, the water of the Nile is poisoned, killing our fish, poisoning our land, weaking our crops and destroying our health. With such large pollutant load, one might expect the Nile is very high polluted, but this is alleviated by the huge water flow of the river that takes the pollutants away. In Egypt, the industrial wastewater is considered one of the main sources of water pollution because of the toxic chemicals loading. About 80 % of the whole countries annual industrial wastes are discharge untreated into the Nile and both Egyptian seas (Red sea- Mediterranean Sea). These results can make Egypt’s shores and coastal fishing and tourism are being damaged. So, we should fight this problem to solve our problems and to happy enjoying our charming shores and coasts.
How to fight water pollution?
We have many ways to fight this problem. And here are some of them:
Passing laws by government and agencies to limit and prevent water pollution such as “Environmental Protection Law” and the “Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency” (EEAA) to formulate environmental policies, develop and undertake environmental protection efforts, and promote environmental education in.
Increasing public awareness to fight water pollution as advertisements and posters by the help of ministry of media.
Swages and wastes treatment to get a benefit from it by recycling that has a great economic benefit.
Governments have a great responsibility concerning the treatment of water pollution because it is very difficult. Treatment of polluted water is required before it can be safely buried, used, or released back into local water system. In a treatment plant, the waste is passed through a series of screens, chambers and chemicals processes to reduce its bulk and toxicity. The three general phases of treatment are primary, secondary and tertiary. During primary treatment, a large percentage of the suspended solids and inorganic material is removed from the sewage. The focus of secondary treatment is reducing organic material by acceleration natural biological processes. Tertiary treatment is necessary when the water will be refused; 99 percentage of solids are removed and various chemicals processes are used to ensure the water is as free from impurity as possible.
Our role in this fight: (our concepts):
We, as students, should fight this problem and we have many ways to share in this fighting: Helping the project of sewage and wastes recycling getting rid of wastes in the right places and not to get rid of them in water. To know that our Nile is great and in the future water will be precious than petrol. And one drop of water will coast one drop. So, we should keep out water clean and safe to live healthy and enjoy unpolluted water. In order to combat water pollution we must understand the problems and become part of the solutions. Government alone cannot solve the entire problem; it is ultimately up to us. We should do the first hard step to fight water pollution that is in our area, and then the whole world will take the second step with us. With the technology that currently exists, the years of global environmental mistreatment cab begin to be reversed. If we didn’t stop water from dying, tomorrow nothing will stop us from crying. Awareness and education will most assuredly continue to be the most important ways to prevent water pollution. We are not handicapped we can protest, refuse and object water mistreatment.
Conclusion
A Look at the future
Imagine with us a world all its water is polluted. Do you think that there will be a life? We don’t think so. Everybody in the world knows that water is the most precious liquid on this earth, because it is the element, which provides us with life. Without it, no body can live at all. For example, we drink from it and get power with and from it and energy that we need. Water pollution causes a lot of diseases that lead to a great damage in mankind like. What will you do if all the green land changed into desert no life in it, no food we can eat? So, there will be no production. This pollution death ghost wants to end mankind. Why? Because of our bad use to this liquid. Let’s set our eyes on a world with out pollution in water…. What a great, happy life will be in everywhere. A great area of agriculture will be grown. There will not be dangerous diseases. The human life will be in a continue progress. People will enjoy life with its comforts and pleasant. So, we must keep this magic liquid unpolluted to make the life go on…. To keep the nature in its right balance. Scientists think that that the clean water will be decreased in the coming years, even they expect that water will be precious than petrol…. There will be wars on water…. Do you imagine that view?! The water, which we waste it today, tomorrow there will be wars on it…. Oh my God….
So let’s save one drop before it coasts us another drop and that is for a better clean unpolluted life.
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