What happens if the small amount of water that you do have available to us becomes polluted?

Answer 1

That really depends!

Some types of pollution are odorless and tasteless, like lead and PCBs. If your water got polluted by those, you'd never know it unless you had it tested by a chemist. Since they are hard to detect, people can consume a lot of these over time and it can affect their health slowly. Other pollutants, like some bacteria, make you very sick very quickly. This goes for animals and plants which may consume the water, too.

Some pollutants are easier to identify by taste, smell, or color.

Whether your water is coming from a municipal source, like your city, or from a well, it should be tested periodically and examined to make sure it meets EPA state and federal standards. If it doesn't, the person controlling the source may get fined, and will also be required to install treatment systems to improve the water quality.

Pollutants come from everywhere: household cleaners, leftover medication, car exhaust, etc. The number one source of pollution in the US is from farmland, where water runoff can carry pesticides and animal waste into major streams and rivers, and out to the ocean. In order to improve pollution, we must find ways to use less chemicals like pesticides, antibiotics, fossil fuels and ammonia-based cleaners. Eating less meat and more local fruits and veggies will make a huge improvement because of how resource-intensive raising animals is.

A good dig through the internet will tell you exactly how clean your water is, and you'll probably be surprised at how much scary stuff is in the water you drink. Even though most people have no clue, it's the law for this information to be accessable to the public. The EPA's website is a great place to start: www.epa.gov.