Water pollution

The pollution the water can be presented in various forms: chemical, bacteriological, thermal, and water water or masses concerned can be soft, brackish or salted, underground or surface. It can even be a question of the rain or the dew.

The fight against this pollution all the more difficult as what is at the bottom of water, or is diluted in water is often invisible, and that some Toxique S infiltrated in the ground often produce their effect only after one long time and which many pollutants act as Synergie S complexes. Thus an accidental discharge of 4.000 liters Carbon tetrachloride, occurred close to Erstein in 1970 and almost unperceived past at the time, involved twenty years later a contamination of the Ground water and a well dug seven kilometers downstream.

Pollution by the pesticides

See also: Pollution water by the plant health products

These chemical substances today firstly required (one counts some today more than 900 molecules of bases, associated in many preparations or mixtures) intended to protect the plants against the insects, mushrooms or the “ bad grass” can penetrate in the ground and accumulate there to reach subterranean water, when they are not directly poured in the rivers or surface waters. In the environment some of these pesticides are transformed into molecules of degradation or Métabolite S which is many and sometimes very difficult to detect.

In France, to cure the alarming contamination of surface water as well as subterranean water, the Government follows a comprehensive policy of intervention, understanding, in addition to lawful and tax aspects, a national plan of reduction of this pollution launched in dialog with the whole of the partners, as well professional as associative. The ministry in charge with ecology and sustainable development carries its effort on a better knowledge of the impact of the pesticides on the aquatic environments like on the development of the preventive and curative solutions most adapted.

Better information

The principal conclusions of the studies carried out starting from information available by the French Institut of the environment are the following ones:

one notes a generalized contamination of water surface and littoral by certain substances, the subterranean water being less touched.
the pesticides intervene in nearly a quarter of the causes of nonconformity of water being used for the food of the populations.

A first stage consists in gathering all information available for better characterizing the impacts of the residues of pesticides on the watery organizations (ecotoxicity).

This diagnosis, although still very partial, justified already the questioning of the marketing authorizations of products containing certain substances, and justified the installation of preventive and curative solutions.

Solutions

Use ecological medical products, it exists a range as complete about it as in the traditional supermarkets. You will find them in all the stores bios. It is also necessary to decrease the water pollution by the factories and to avoid rejecting household waste in water.

National scales

installation of a die of recovery of empty packing and Produced plant health not used;
intensifying of the control of the use of the plant health products. The law of agricultural orientation of July 1999 increased the powers to control of the administration and envisages heavy sorrows in the event of infringement on the sales or the uses of products;
led prior studies to the future obligatory inspecting device of the agricultural pulverizers;
development of the techniques of biological shielding of the cultures, possible substitute of the chemical fight.

Regional scales

The program envisages to intensify work of the regional groups in charge of the fight against water pollution by the pesticides, under the authority of the regional prefects. The measurements supported by the State are centered on preventive actions developed on priority basins slopes. These actions include/understand a diagnosis of the causes of pollution per basin, an action plan including/understanding of the formation and the council, of the diagnoses of diffuse and specific pollution on the level of the exploitations, the installation of buffer zones as well as collective investments limiting the transfers of pesticides towards water. Moreover, it was decided to apply, as of on January 1st, 2000, the principle pollutant-payer with diffuse pollution of agricultural origin by the creation of a “pollutaxe” to the plant health products within the framework of the general tax to the polluting activities. This tax is applied to the quantities of dangerous classified substances entering the composition of the marketed products. The level of the tax varies according to the toxicity and the ecotoxicity of the substances. The products not containing dangerous classified substances are not taxed. The objective of this tax is double:

to incite the industrialists to develop less toxic substances for the man and the environment;
to incite the farmers to choose the least harmful products.

The introduction of this tax gave place to broad information of the users on the dangers related to the substances entering the composition of the plant health products. Water takes more than 60% of the ground. Only 3% are fresh water, of which 2% are in the polar regions. Therefore, only 1% of fresh water are accessible.

Pollution by nitrates

Present at the natural state in the ground and soluble, they penetrate in the ground and the subterranean water and flows in the rivers. But they are also brought in manner artificial by the nitrate fertilizers. The Nitrates (chemical formula: NO3: 3 in index, - while exposing) are one of the causes of the degradation of water quality.

Action plan against nitrates

An European directive of 1991 known as directive “nitrates” constitutes the principal lawful instrument to fight against pollution related to nitrogen coming from agricultural sources.

It relates to nitrogen all origins confused: artificial fertilizers, effluent of breeding, agro-alimentary effluents.

Transposed to France, it results in particular in the definition of vulnerable zones. They are priority areas to organize the fight against pollution of water by nitrates of agricultural origin. The actions to be carried out to it are defined by action plans tallied by orders of the prefect.

Pollution by phosphates

Pollution by the Phosphate S or the Nitrate S engages a process of Eutrophisation of water, returning water Eutrophique S, or at the very least, Hypertrophique S.

Pollution by heavy metals

Cadmium, Mercury, Lead, Manganese…
Arsenic

Pollution by the PCB

Pollution by hydrocarbons

degasification
Oil slick

Bacteriological pollution

One observes a bacteriological pollution for example by the high rate of coliformes fecal. (J.S.B) The rate of the bacteria coliformes is used to measure water quality.

This pollution can come from the effluents of breeding (in this case one observes a nitrate high rate), domestic rejections,…

Negative impact of a rejection containing of the bacterial germs of intestinal origin.

Acid Mining drainages

See the detailed article: Acid Mining Drainages

Water pollution in China

The rivers Chinese undergo an increasing pollution: thus, since the middle of the years 1980, the level of pollution of the Yellow Fleuve was multiplied by two. The polluting factories of the industrial areas of the east pour toxic waste. The pollution and the growth of the river traffic caused the disappearance of the Dauphin of China (also called Dauphin of Yang Tsé). The water pollution at the origin of 118.000 would have died by cancer for the year 2004. 75% of the Chinese lakes suffer from Eutrophisation.

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