Examples
- Sediments
- Particles of soils, sand, silt, clay, and minerals wash from land and paved areas into creeks and tributaries.
- Petroleum Products
- Oil
and other petroluem products like gasoline and kerosene can find their
way into water from ships, oil drilling rigs, oil refineries,
automobile service stations, and streets.
- Animal Waste
- Human
wastes that are not properly treated at a waste treatment plant and
then released to water may contain harmful bacteria and viruses.
- Organic Waste
- Domestic
sewage treatment plantsd, food processing plants, paper mill plants,
and leather tanning factories release organic wastes that bacteria
consume.
- Inorganic Waste
- Inorganic chemicals and mineral usubstances, solid matter and metal salts commonly dissolve into water.
- Detergents and Fertilizers
- Many
of these substance are toxic to fish and harmful to humans. They cause
taste and odor problems and often cannot be trated effectively.
- Heated or Cooled Water
- Heat
reduces the ability of water to dissolve oxygen. Electric power plants
use large quantites of water in their stream turbines.
- Acid Precipitation
- Aquatic animals and plants are adjusted to a rather narrow range of pH levels. pH is a measure of the acidity of a solution.
- Pesticides, Herbicides, and Fungicides
- Agricultural chemicals designed to kill or limit the growth of life forms are a common for of pollution.