Polluted water has many negative effects on the environment, including on humans, plants and animals. The water cycle affects numerous critical systems — from the human need for clean water to the wellbeing of ecosystems, water pollution can have devastating effects. The Environment Agency’s Improving Water Quality Policy (1) expressed the need for the UK to ‘improve the quality of our open waters, including rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and ground waters’. This is particularly significant as ‘only 27% of our water bodies in England are currently classified as being of ‘good status’ under the standards set down by the EU Water Framework Directive.
What is polluted water?
The UK Rivers Network defines water pollution as ‘a chemical or biological substance that builds up in the environment enough to be toxic, harmful, or a nuisance to humans, other animals, or other living things’.(2)
How does water become polluted?
There are many sources of pollution including urban runoff, misconnections, trading estates, abuse of drainage systems, septic tanks and non-mains sewage systems, in-situ contaminated river bed sediment, contaminated land, mine waters, pesticides and fertilisers, transient commercial car washing, rural road runoff, airports, railways and discharges from boats and other craft. (3)
How can it affect human health and the environment?
Human Health
Pollutants to surface water and ground water used for drinking purposes can cause many chronic and life threatening diseases in humans. Many common water pollutants cause side effects in humans such as damage to the central nervous system, the development of various cancers, reproduction disorders, and liver damage to name a few. Pollution from salts makes fresh water unusable for drinking and irrigation purposes.
The Environment
Pollution to lakes, rivers and the ocean can be toxic to marine and freshwater organisms; additionally the food chain can be affected via bioaccumulation. This initial effect to aquatic animals will eventually spread throughout the ecosystem making its way to the top of the food chain — which is often humans. Additionally, the elevation of nutrients within a water body will often lead to eutrophication, or a dramatic increase in aerobic algae causing depletion in oxygen with the water body. This reduction in oxygen causes suffocation of fish and other aquatic organisms.
What legislation is in place to manage water pollution issues?
There are many pieces of legislation set in place in the UK in order to ensure that water pollution is regulated and controlled under law. Some of the key pieces of legislation governing the control of water pollution today are noted below. The EU Water Framework Directive 2000 (4). This aims to ‘get polluted waters clean again, and ensure clean waters are kept clean’ across the European Union (EU). The framework commits EU member states to achieve good qualitative and quantitative status of all water bodies by 2027. This forms the overarching basis for managing water pollution in the UK. The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2003. (5) These regulations give effect to the European Water Framework Directive in England and Wales, and the focus is to achieve good chemical and ecological status of inland and coastal waters by 2015. (6) The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009 (7). In England and Wales; individuals or companies found to have caused ‘water damage’ via a serious pollution incident – as determined by the Environment Agency – can be required to take action to prevent and/or remediate the damage under these regulations. (6) The Water Resources Act 1991 (8) This helps to regulate offences, in England and Wales, in which individuals or companies cause or knowingly permit a water discharge activity without an environmental permit, that causes a water pollution incident.
Case studies
Water pollution can affect us in many ways and not always in the form that you may think. The following case studies show some more unusual instances of water pollution effecting the environment and human health.
The effect of the birth control pill on water systems
Recent studies have found that ethinyl estradiol – the active ingredient in the contraceptive pill, has found its way, via sewage systems into our waterways. Ethinyl estradiol is very potent and creates intersex fish and amphibians, interfering with the animal’s ability to reproduce. (9) Additionally, it is very difficult to remove from wastewater. The European Union is the first entity to seriously consider mandating the removal of ethinyl estradiol, also known as EE2, from wastewater. (10) In 2013 it added EE2 to a ‘watch list’ of emerging pollutants that could one day be placed on their priority list. (11) It has been calculated that to upgrade the 1,400 sewage waterworks in England and Wales to filter EE2 from wastewater it would cost a total of more than £30bn. (9).
Polluted flood waters
Flooding of any kind is distressing, however flood water can often be polluted with sewage, causing health issues relating to bacteria such as E.coli, salmonella and campylobacter bacteria. Illnesses caused by these bacteria are not often deadly but are certainly very unpleasant with symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach pain (12).
References
1. The Environment Agency (2014). Policy: Improving Water Quality.
2. UK Rivers Network (2012). Introduction to water pollution.
4. The EU Water Framework Directive – integrated river basin management for Europe 2000.
5. The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2003.
6. The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009.
7. Law and Your Environment (2014). Water Pollution.
9. The Guardian, 2012. “£30bn bill to purify water system after toxic impact of contraceptive pill”
10. Live Science, 2012. “Water Pollution Caused by Birth Control Poses Dilemma”
12. The Independent, 2014. “UK weather: Contaminated floodwaters could lead to norovirus spike”
