We all have basic needs to survive. These include water, food, and
shelter. Fresh water is a need that is increasingly becoming more and
more scarce. Having a clean source of water needs to be a top priority.
However, ever since civilizations first developed along rivers clean
water sources have been sacrificed and often polluted because of
population growth, urban growth, and economic development and
modernization. However, because this vital resource has been
continuously compromised by humans society is facing some severe
problems today. Water pollution is a major issue that continues to
persist, with the main causes of water pollution being,
industrialization, agricultural advancement, population growth,
urban development, and inadequate sanitation systems.
Throughout history, as civilizations began to industrialize and
develop urban areas and factories, water sources took a huge hit. From
the dumping of human waste to the dumping of industrial waste
water pollution resulted from the growth of rising urban populations.
When industry thrives, large companies and corpurations seek to
lower their costs of production. Early factories were built on water
sources in order to use water power. Not realizing the horrible impact,
these factories often dumped dye, scraps, and other materials into the
water. This would contaminate the water supplies which would affect
the people who worked and lived near these factories. Industry caused
many water sources to no longer be viable and safe drinking sources
because of dumping their waste. This was true during the early
Industrial Revolution and it remains true today. Many corpurations
have chosen profits over the environment throughout history. In 2013
the UN agency called UN Water states that the major sources of water
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pollution are from human, industrial, and agricultural activities. It
is estimated that between 300 to 400 metric tons of industrial waste
pollutes water sources every year. (Doc 5) Problems of industrial
pollution are particularly bad in places without strick laws to protect
the environment. Places like China’s Yellow River is in danger of
being polluted to a point beyond repair because of their desire to
industrialize quickly and their lack of concern for the environmental
impact (Doc 2). Settlements along the Yellow River which historically
was the heart of early Chinese civilization have become “cancer
villages” because the river is so polluted. Many of China’s rivers have
water that is considered unhealthy to drink. This problem is not just
isolated to China. Places like India, Indonesia, and the Philippines
have similar problems, often choosing industrial growth over the
environment and human health.
Another leading cause of water pollution throughout history is the
use of new technologies in agriculture which has gotten worse with
more modern technology. Following the settlement of people in river
valleys throughout the world following the Neolithic Revolution,
agriculture became the main source of food for most civilizations.
With this emphasis on agriculture and growing populations many
technological advancements took place to make farming easier, more
efficient and more productive. One of the main innovations of
agriculture in the 20th century was the invention of pesticides. The
Green Revolution started in the 1950s in places like Mexico, India,
and Bangladesh by introducing new pesticides, genetically modified
seeds, and chemical fertilizers. The goal was to increase production of
food but some of the negative results of this revolution were the over
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use, over dependence, and polluting of water. Pesticides allowed for
farming to take place without the worry of crops being destroyed by
insects. Although the invention of pesticides was ultimately a positive
innovation for crops, one major negative side effect was the pollution
of ground water. Pesticides would be sprayed on crops and when it
rained, the pesticides would runoff into water sources or soak into the
ground, polluting the natural water sources. Also with a growing
amount of food being produced in the developing world often by hand
such as in Northern India, the spraying of these pesticides has
resulted in increased instances of cancers, birth defects, and
abnormalities. This posed a huge threat to the environment and
human life which was caused by a human innovation and many
argue the technology simply was not worth it.
As populations increase and urban areas develop, especially during
and after the Industrial Revolution, water has become more scarce and
more polluted. Civilizations and then towns and cities grew along
fresh water sources. With population growth there are more people
consuming water. In modern times this population growth and urban
development led to problems because urban areas did not have
sufficient sanitation systems. There is often not a sufficient system
for keeping main water sources from being contaminated. This can
lead to disease and death. Following the industrialization of the city
of London, England, in the 1800s there was a large outbreak of the
waterbourne, bacterial disease cholera. This outbreak of cholera killed
over forty thousand people in London and was a direct result of there
lacking sanitation system. (Doc 1). The sewage system directly
emptied into the fresh water source, the Thames. While this was what
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cities and towns historically did because of massive urbanization and
population growth the amount of raw sewage led to this deadly
outbreak. The fresh water sources and wells throughout London were
contaminated and contained sewage, allowing for the Cholera disease to
spread. A lack of knowledge about this disease and the effects
contaminated water have on humans, allowed for the spread of this
disease to continue for quite some time before it was determined that
there needed to be a sewage system separate from the main water
sources. Once they figured this out, governments struggled to fix the
problem. Eventually they created waste treatment centers as well as
water treatment centers to keep the solid waste away from the fresh
water and to treat the water before human consumption. In other areas
such as Mozambique Africa sustainable sanitation facilities are being
built by NGOs in order to keep bacteria from entering into the water
supply. No matter whether it is in rural areas or urban areas more
modern societies have learned to create better more hygenic systems to
separate sewage and fresh water sources in order to decrease disease and
try to maintain clean water sources. However, this isn’t always
necessarily true — many places in the world have polluted water sources
that are leading to higher risk of disease and other health problems.
Water pollution is a huge issue that persisted through out history,
due to human interaction with the environment. The effect humans
have on the environment is negative in that human advancements in
society have largely contributed to the pollution of major water sources.
Some societies have created technology and systems to deal with this
problem but because water is scarce this will continue to be an enduring
issue in the future. shorten and rephrase (while explaining what an enduring issue is and introducing the enduring issue as topic sentence) enduring issue is water scarcity