Pollution of rivers

1. “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

2. 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.

4. By Ann Magkiosi