Causes of Water Pollution
Oil Spills:
Oil spills are caused by ships. The ship might have crashed, and then the oil spills into the ocean. Or maybe people are careless and make mistakes, and then an oil tanker leaks. At war, some countries may decide to dump oil in another country's ocean or sea. |
Sewage:
There are three types of sewage. Domestic sewage, which is also called sanitary sewage, is used water from homes. Industrial sewage is used water from factories and chemicals. Storm sewage is useless liquids and trash carried by sewers when there is a lot of rain. |
Trash:
People throw or dump trash in bodies of water, which pollutes the water. We need clean water to drink,. swim, cook, and wash things. |
Events
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill of 2010:
On April 20, 2010, there was an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig. The explosion was about 41 miles away from the coast of Louisiana. Thousands of animals were covered with oil, and many birds died when they tried to clean themselves. As the oil slowly disappeared, parts of the Gulf of Mexico began reopening by July, 2010. |
Hudson River:
In July, 2013, a lot of sewage flowed into the Hudson River. People who use the river for fun (including people in boats and kayaks) were told to avoid the polluted part of the river. An electrical problem caused the sewage of North River Waste water Treatment Plant to go into the river. |
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch:
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean is garbage thrown into the ocean. Some of the trash meet together, and form something like an island. The trash is all spread apart, not one big mass. Some people think all the trash together could be the size of Texas.The USA is one of the countries that threw trash in the ocean. |