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Groundwater Pollution and Drinking Water Scarcity Essay

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"By means of water, we give life to everything."
– Koran, 21:30

Drinking water is our most precious resource, something every human being needs to survive. Yet today over 1.2 billion people a day on average do not have access to drinking water. Even if they might have this access, the chances are good that the drinking water is polluted with many contaminants. In the future, we will probably find that clean drinking water will go to the highest bidder, and even more people will find themselves without easy access to drinking water.

Pollution of the world's water resources began to take a scary turn as industrialization took hold on the European continent. We can see similar effects of what happened in the past if we look …show more content…

We also see pollution in different forms, such as water release from nuclear reactors and factories. Though the water is sometimes purified before leaving, the temperature of the water is sometimes significantly different from that of which it is being returned to. The difference in temperature does cause the death of aquatic life, and can sometimes effect plant life. One of the most visible effects of water pollution occurred with the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill, which launched over 11 million gallons of oil onto Alaska's coast. (see table below for more stats on oil pollution). The spill was a major one, but just one, as shown below, there are over 37 million gallons of oil sent into oceans every year! It is apparent that the protections and regulations used are failing. A concern for the future lies in the fact that water pollution does not usually remain in the country where it was produced. In light of this, it is necessary for the world to work together in order to maintain and upgrade water quality. However, with the descrepancies in economic wealth, it is possible that wars may be fought over water rights. At present, one of the hurdles between the Israeli and Palestinian people is that of water rights. Water pollution will remain as long as present systems are, which we rely on for living our lives. It will be necessary to modify water use,

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