Water pollution or H2O pollution has many sources and characteristics. Humans and other organisms produce bodily wastes which enter rivers, lakes, oceans and other surface waters; in high concentrations these wastes result in bacterial contamination and excessive nutrient loading (eutrophication). Industries discharge a variety of compounds such as heavy metals, and wastewater, sometimes in toxic concentrations, from industrial processes that may also be too hot or too low in dissolved oxygen to support life. Silt-bearing runoff from ...

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Water pollution - Causes Water pollution - Contaminants Water pollution - Consequences

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Water pollution, Water pollution - Causes, Water pollution - Contaminants, Water pollution - Consequences

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The causes of water pollution can be divided into two groups: anthropogenic sources of pollution are those due to human choices, and natural sources are those resulting from forces intrinsic to the environment. Anthropogenic sources include: discharge of poorly-treated or untreated sewage; runoff from construction sites, farms, or paved and other impervious surfaces e.g. silt discharge of contaminated and/or heated water used for industrial processes acid rain caused by industrial discharge of s ...

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Water pollution, Water pollution - Causes, Water pollution - Contaminants, Water pollution - Consequences

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A solution of carbon dioxide in water in equilibrium with the atmosphere (0.033% CO2) has a pH of 5.6. Rain water is normally not quite saturated in CO2, and has a pH of around 6 in the absence of atmospheric pollutants. This effect is separate from the phenomenon of acid rain, where industrial pollutants such as sulfur dioxide dissolve in rain water and lower its pH drastically. However, the acidity of rain water has important geological consequences for carbonate rocks such as chalk and limestone. An equilibrium is es ...

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Carbonic acid, Carbonic acid - Acidity of carbonic acid, Carbonic acid - Instability of carbonic acid, Carbonic acid - Carbonic acid and rain water

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The hydroxyl radical, ·OH, is the neutral form of the hydroxide ion. Hydroxyl radicals are highly reactive and consequently short lived, however they form an important part of radical chemistry. Most notably hydroxyl radicals are produced from the decomposition of hydro-peroxides (ROOH) or, importantly in atmospheric chemistry, by the reaction of excited atomic oxygen with water. The Hydroxyl radical is often referred to as the "detergent" of the troposphere because it reacts with many pollutants, often acting as ...

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Hydroxide, Hydroxide - Hydroxyl radical

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Groundwater - Groundwater overdraft. Groundwater is a highly useful and abundant resource, but in arid or semi-arid regions it cannot renew itself as rapidly as it is being withdrawn by humans. If groundwater is extracted intensively from water wells, as for irrigation or municipal use in arid or semi-arid regions, it may not recover to its pre-development state. The most evident problem that may result from this is a lowering of the water table beyond the reach of existing wells. Wells must consequently be deepe ...

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Groundwater, Groundwater - Problems with groundwater, Groundwater - Groundwater overdraft, Groundwater - Subsidence, Groundwater - Seawater intrusion, Groundwater - Mining groundwater, Groundwater - Groundwater pollution

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