The primary needs for every human being are food, water, and shelter but water is the most critical need for every individual. Without water, people, plants, and other animals cannot survive. It is therefore essential to have clean and safe water for drinking because it is a basic need for human survival and a determinant of healthy living and prosperity. Clean water for drinking has been a challenge to access because of increasing cases of pollution that interferes with the quality of water. Many people think that after the water goes through treatment plants, they are free from germs but the reality is that they can be clean but still contains some of the contaminants that are there in the supply systems. It is hard to find pure water in nature because water has a strong tendency to dissolve substances in the environment that might compromise the quality of water. Characterizing water quality depends on the intended use of water for instance water for swimming cannot be of the same level of quality to that of drinking or cooking. This essay will focus on the quality of water for drinking in Florida where there are many cases of water contamination, and the paper will suggest some of the measures that will help in controlling the problem.
Throughout the world, the quality of drinking water and associated health risk vary from one region to another. Supply of adequate safe drinking water is a prerequisite for healthy living, but waterborne diseases are still a significant cause of death in different parts of the globe (Gray, 2008). In most cases, water supply companies obtain water from both surface and underground sources where there is the existence of natural contaminants mainly organic and inorganic contaminants. The inorganic contaminants originate from the geological strata when water washes mineral as it flows through the rocks. Organic pollutants, on the other hand, arise from the microorganisms and other chemicals that might get into the water cycle. In Florida, for example, about 7.8 million people are at risk of drinking unsafe water in comparison to any other part of the United States (Staletovich, 2017). The major pollutants in Florida drinking water include lead, toxic arsenic, algae bloom, and chemicals. People living in Florida are at high risk of contracting waterborne diseases because of the high level of contamination in drinking water. The source of water either surface or underground is a significant determinant of the quality of water in terms of the presence of pollutants.
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Both surface and underground water sources are essential in providing water to the people. Small towns and homes mostly utilize groundwater where rivers and lakes usually supply large towns and cities. Approximately 98% of liquid fresh water is available as groundwater but usually at extreme depths that make it expensive to pump for human consumption. Most of the drinking water in Florida is from underground sources with a lot of limestones contributing to the number of pollutants in the drinking water. The residents of Florida are using underground water where the supply companies pump water to the supply system even though the water still has a lot of contaminants. The increase in the population of people has to lead to a rise in water consumption making it even hard to supply water to the growing population. The effort in place to ensure that the water is available to the community is raising environmental concerns where there is an increase in offshore water drilling. Surface water pollution is also inevitable in the region because of the surface runoff into the water bodies, for instance, Lake Okeechobee, one among Florida's most significant water bodies.
The main contributor to the surface water pollution is runoff where in most cases chemicals from agricultural activities and erosion flow into the water bodies (Moss, 2007). If farmers do not observe proper farming methods, the chances that they will pollute the water are very high, and therefore there is a need to ensure that the farmers apply proper farming techniques that provide that both underground and surface water are safe by preventing any time of pollution from agricultural activities. Drinking water in Florida is also experiencing the challenge of pollution from agricultural activities where chemicals from farms find the way to the water supply system.
There are extensive agricultural activities in the region of Florida where farmers use different agrochemicals in their farming activities and keeping farm animals that have a contribution to the quality of water (Jung, Baures, and Thomas, 2009). Some of the farmers use pesticides in controlling pest in their farms, but the chemicals flow into the rivers or can also percolate into the ground hence polluting the underground water. In Florida, some people have managed to trace pesticides like ethylene dibromide (EDB) in the water wells meaning that the chemicals lead to flow from the farms into the water system causing pollution (The Guadian Correspondents, 2018).
Use of excessive fertilizers in agricultural farming is another point of concern when it comes to water pollution. The runoff can sweep the excess fertilizers into the drinking water sources causing both chemical pollution and algae bloom that produces harmful toxins into drinking water (Moss, 2007). The source of drinking water in Florida is experiencing the problem of runoff pollution that has lead to an increase in the algae bloom. The growing of algae is a result of the presence of nitrogen fertilizers from agricultural activities in the water, therefore, enabling the algae to thrive and grow in the water causing pollution through releasing toxins to the water system (Falconer, 1999). When people drink water with such toxins and contaminants, they are likely to develop health complication and even death.
In addition, other human activities contribute to the pollution of water for drinking. Deforestation and high rate of urbanization have a direct or indirect link to the quality of drinking water in Florida. Deforestation reduces the vegetation that helps in controlling runoff that is responsible for causing surface water pollution. Plants are also essential components in the water cycle, and by clearing it, the amount of water in the system will reduce leading to water shortage and increase in water concentration affecting the quality (Dessie & Bredemeier, 2013). In Florida, there is massive destruction of forests due to the construction of highways and the expansion of cities. Urbanization and construction processes utilize fossil fuels, for instance, oil and gasoline that cause many emissions of greenhouse gases that result in the formation of acid rain. The people from the region have a responsibility of ensuring that they check their activities to ensure that the water sources are free from pollutants enabling supply of quality and safe drinking water to the people.
Quality water supply is fundamental to the health of the consumers, and therefore it is essential to ensure that drinking water is safe and fit for human consumption. It is necessary to ensure that sources of water have the ultimate protection from any pollution because pollutants will find a way to water supply systems then will cause many negative impacts on the health of the consumers. It is also advisable to treat water properly before using because it plays a significant role in removing the germs and other pollutants present in water. Proper disposal of waste is another technique that will help in avoiding pollution and contamination of water sources. It is also vital to have buffer zones along the streams and rivers because it plays a significant role in filtering the contaminants from water before it gets into the river system. The landowners can also contribute to the protection of water sources from pollution through maintaining forests and wetlands that play crucial role in checking water quality in the water cycle.
Constructing proper water drainage systems is also vital because it prevents the contaminants from getting into the water systems causing pollution to sources of drinking water.
It is essential to protect water from pollution because it has a strong connection to the health status of the people. It is advantageous to maintain forest and vegetation because it helps in ensuring pollutants do not get into the water system by filtering them and providing quality water supply. The only problem of preventing deforestation is that it will hinder the construction of highways and the expansion of cities in Florida. Through reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides, there will be an improvement in water quality because; there will be fewer agrochemical pollutants in the water system that compromises the quality of water supply. However, the disadvantage of discouraging the use of agrochemicals will affect the agricultural activities since farmers need the chemicals for instance pesticides to kill pests in their farm to enhance the production in farming (Moss, 2007). The issue of eradicating the use of agrochemicals can be complicated to implement the solution of discouraging the use of agrochemicals, especially to the farmers.
The people will have to change their behavior accordingly to enable the protection of water from different forms of pollution. To lessen water pollution, people will have to learn and adopt proper waste disposal from both human and animals so that they prevent them from polluting water sources. Another complicated thing that people and farmers should do is to avoid the use of agrochemicals that contributes a lot to water contamination and adopt the use of less polluting fertilizers for instance urine. The people should also learn to use drainage and sewerage systems that ensure that the wastes do not get into water sources for human consumption.
The individuals should also participate in ensuring that the water supply for drinking is safe and of high quality. It is also essential to check personal activities like using fertilizers on laws and poor disposal of waste that will eventually pollute the sources of water. It is also important to consider the habit of cutting down trees for firewood that leads to deforestation and avoid the use of materials like plastic bags that clog drainages resulting in floods during high rainfall. Improper disposal of waste and use of plastic bags jams the drainage systems leading to floods that eventually sweep pollutants on the surface of the earth and drain them to the sources of water. Using nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides also contaminates and pollute sources of water, therefore, compromising the quality of drinking water.
Cutting down trees for firewood is the leading cause of low-quality water for drinking. This is because trees help in purifying water through the water cycle by extracting groundwater then through transpiration formation of rain providing clean and pure water. Deforestation reduces vegetation cover and reduction in the amount of rainfall leading to high water concentration thus affecting the quality of water (Dessie & Bredemeier, 2013). It is essential to find other alternative sources of energy for instance gas to help prevent further deforestation. With using the gas and planting more trees, the condition of the environment will improve ensuring quality water supply due to less pollution.
It is also important to use reusable bags instead of using the non-biodegradable plastic bags that clog the drainage system and pollute the environment (Samiha, 2013). Reusable bags will not find their way to the drainage system because people tend to use it many times reducing the chances of being disposed to the environment. The drainage system with no clogging materials will be at its optimum working condition preventing wastewater from getting into clean water sources. Substituting harmful fertilizers with simple ones for example urine fertilizers will play a significant role in reducing the number of contaminants in the water sources. Ordinary fertilizers have a high level of nitrogen that if it gets into the water sources cause algae growth that will eventually release toxins to the water.
Use of the gas as an alternative source of energy is essential in conserving the forest resources enabling the forest to expand and contribute to the water cycle process. It will be possible to eradicate the problem of deforestation if it is possible to substitute firewood with other environmentally friendly sources. Adopting reusable bags will solve the problem of clogging drainages enabling efficient flow of wastewater without contaminating the sources of water for drinking (Samiha, 2013). Using harmless fertilizers is also crucial because it prevents a large amount of nitrogen from getting into the water sources cause massive pollution of algae. Safe fertilizers like urine do not pollute water but will benefit the crops.
In conclusion, access to clean and quality water is a necessity for every human being. Florida is experiencing a significant challenge in accessing safe and quality water for drinking. Most of the water in the supply system has many contaminants making water unsafe for human consumption. Both surface and underground water pollution are responsible for compromising the quality of water available for drinking in Florida. Farming methods and deforestation are the leading causes of poor quality of drinking water. There is a need to ensure that the farming systems proper to provide that there is no flow of agrochemicals into the water sources. People plant more trees that will help in ensuring the provision of more and clean water through the water cycle. It is therefore essential for every individual to participate in providing that the water available for drinking is safe and of high quality.
References
Dessie, A. &. (2013). The Effect of Deforestation on Water Quality: A Case Study in Cienda Micro Watershed, Leyte, Philippines. Resources and Environment, 3(1) , 1-9.
Falconer, I. R. (1999). An overview of problems caused by toxic blue–green algae (cyanobacteria) in drinking and recreational water. Environmental Toxicology, 14(1) , 5-12.
Gray, N. F. (2008). Drinking water quality: problems and solutions. Cambridge University Press.
Jung, D. A. (2009). (2009). Impacts of climate change on surface water quality in relation to drinkig water production. Environmental International , 1225-1233.
Moss, B. (2007). Water pollution by agriculture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 363(1491) , 659-666.
Samiha, B. (2013). The importance of the 3R principle of municipal solid waste management for achieving sustainable development. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4(3) , 129.
Staletovich, J. (2017). Florida drinking water ranks among nation’s worst, study finds. Miami Heralds . Retrieved from: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article148112799.html
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (2018). Regulated Drinking Water Contaminants and Contaminants of Emerging Concern. https://floridadep.gov/comm/press-office/content/regulated-drinking-water-contaminants-and-contaminants-emerging-concern
The Guadian Correspondents. (2018). 5 Water Quality Testing Facts: Things to Know Before Moving to Florida. The Guadian. Retrieved from: https://www.guardianwaterservices.com/5-water-quality-testing-facts-things-to-know-before-moving-to-florida/
