Pollution of groundwater: causes and consequences

There are multiple human activities that trigger contamination of groundwater. To know How to contamination of groundwater It is important to be clear about some processes such as infiltration and leachate of polluting substances because, for the most part, pollutants are incorporated into aquifers through the filtration by the soil. Between the sources of contamination of aquifers or Causes of contamination of groundwater We find the following:

• The industries are generating multiple pollutants of chemical, organic or inorganic origin that can reach the environment through their spill to blind wells, by leaks, spills, leaks from purification systems, etc.
• In agriculture, the Diffuse contamination of groundwater for the use of chemical substances such as pesticides, fertilizers or herbicides. Here we tell you more about chemical pollution: what is, causes and consequences.
• On the other hand, urbanization and land sealing affect the functions of infiltration and purification of water, which with the expansion of urban nuclei means the destruction of the natural ecosystem and its biodiversity. These activities and domestic and individual themselves trigger polluting processes through the atmospheric deposition of polluting particles, such as nitrogen, (from vehicle traffic, industrial emissions, livestock, urban spills) and its subsequent leaching.
• Also septic systems, for the deposition and posterior treatment of domestic wastewater, in case of failure constitute a possible source of soil contamination and groundwater.
• Following this line, the burial of garbage and radioactive waste stands out.
• Inadequate construction, abandonment of wells (illegal wells) and overexploitation of them. When making the captures, we may contaminate a “healthy” aquifer by contacting another contaminated or, breaking its water balance, thus allowing the entry of poor quality waters to the reservoir.
• The injection of gray or contaminated water in aquifers, to avoid discharge and surface pollution and also to achieve an improvement in the quality of the injected resource, is another cause of this problem.

Of all these polluting water actions, several are developed Types of underground water pollution:

• Thermal (eg, nuclear power plant).
• Biological
• By heavy metals.
• By organic matter.
• For nutrients.
• By acids.
• Radioactive
• By xenobiotics.

Some of the Effects of underground water pollution are:

• Excessive concentration of nitrates in aquifers for excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers.
• Saline intrusion in aquifers due to excessive pumping of groundwater in coastal areas. In this case, the cause is the overexploitation of the appeal itself.
• Presence of heavy metals (which induces diseases such as saturnism).
• Presence of complex xenobiotics and organic compounds that act as mutagens.

All this derives in the reduction of quality of these waters, which can affect the potability of the resource and, therefore, to the consumption we make of it. To expand all this information, we also encourage you to read this other article about the causes and consequences of water pollution.

Finally, we talk about the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration.

• Normally groundwater pollution is diagnosed late. To work on the early detection of these pollution processes, it is important to carry out a continuous monitoring and control process through Hydrographic demarcationsin order to know the Water quality status.
• At the legislative level, concentration limits have been set for the presence of certain hazardous substances in the aquatic environment.
• However, normative efforts are wet paper if the individual, business and systemic or social will do not go ahead of all these measures. That is why, in addition to actions such as the installation of garbage dumps, dumps and industrial activities in waterproof zones, the purification of the waters before their discharge into the natural environment, the septic tanksthe removal of waste on surface, the control of the superficial runoff, the injection of quality clean water …, a particularly relevant role is charged Environmental Education. Becoming in this way, information and awareness of the most powerful tools to mitigate, reduce and correct the processes of contamination of groundwater.

After learning all this about the contamination of groundwater or contamination of aquifers, we recommend you to continue learning with these other ecology articles about the solutions to water pollution, how to avoid water pollution and how groundwater is formed.

If you want to read more articles similar to Pollution of groundwater: causes and consequenceswe recommend that you enter our pollution category.