“Let’s make our world more green and clean”

Nursery Rizario School –Trikala -Greece

River pollution

Urban development dumping untreated sewage and storm water Erosion from farmland Spills from shipping Agricultural run - off (pesticides, herbicides, fertilizer, amanure) Indiscriminate discharge of untreated wastewater from industries,

domestic settlements Indiscriminate disposal of garbage, solid wastes directly into rivers (In underdeveloped countries) Disposal of dead animal bodies carcass,

etc. in rivers (In underdeveloped countries) Direct discharge o sanitary waste into

the rivers Indiscriminate quarrying of sand, rock and other minerals in river

beds Rubbish like crisp packets, newspaper and bags. Oil Poisonous substances Cans, bottles and other solid objects Human waste / excrement Factories waste

Many towns and factories are built near rivers so that they can use water from the river. But sometimes the water is not cleaned before it is put back into the river. This dirtying of water (also air and soil) is called pollution.

Causes of pollution

Agriculture

Farmers put fertilizers and pesticides on their crops so that their crops grow better. But these fertilizers and pesticides can be washed through the soil by rain, to end up in rivers. Fertilizers and pesticides are harmful because they cause algae to grow. The algae then destroy water plants.

Factories

Factories use water from rivers to power machinery or to cool down machinery. Dirty water containing chemicals is put back in the river. Water used for cooling is warmer than the river itself, and this is also a form of pollution.

People

People are sometimes careless and throw rubbish such as bottles and crisp packets directly into rivers.

Effects of pollution

Pollution kills water plants and animals.

Polluted water also carries diseases. When animals drink the water, they may get diseases which can kill them. People can even get these diseases by eating the infected animal. This happens a lot in poor countries in Africa where people get untreated water directly from the river.

Rivers look unsightly when there is rubbish in them.

Polluted rivers smell bad.

Solutions

Efforts are being made to clean dirty rivers. Some water companies are spending a lot of money to clean up dirty rivers. There are fines for companies and people who deliberately throw rubbish into the river. There are also factories for biological cleaning of water.

By Ann Magkiosi