What are the causes of groundwater contamination?

Groundwater pollution can be caused by chemical spills from commercial or industrial operations, chemical spills occurring during transport (e.g. spillage of diesel fuels), illegal waste dumping, infiltration from urban runoff or mining operations, road salts, de-icing chemicals from airports and even atmospheric …

What are the main sources of groundwater pollution?

Sources of Groundwater Contamination

• Waste. Any type of used water is called wastewater.
• Landfills.
• Air Pollution.
• Fuels.
• Septic Systems.
• Chemicals.
• Pesticides.
• Animal Waste.

What are 5 separate sources of pollution or contamination of groundwater?

The significant sources of contamination in groundwater are farming chemicals, septic waste, landfills, uncontrolled hazardous waste, storage tanks, and atmospheric pollutants.

What are the main pollutants of water?

The main water pollutants include bacteria, viruses, parasites, fertilisers, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, nitrates, phosphates, plastics, faecal waste and even radioactive substances.

How does groundwater contamination affect the environment?

Contamination of ground water can result in poor drinking water quality, loss of water supply, degraded surface water systems, high cleanup costs, high costs for alternative water supplies, and/or potential health problems. The consequences of contaminated ground water or degraded surface water are often serious.

How does contaminated groundwater affect the environment?

How do landfills cause water pollution?

Sanitary landfills have liners to keep contaminants from leaking into underlying groundwater, leachate collection systems that collect and treat the precipitation coming off of the garbage, and capping systems that keep the landfill from releasing harmful gases into the air.

Why is groundwater pollution particularly insidious?

Groundwater contamination is particularly insidious because of the slow movement of water through aquifers. Contamination introduced into an aquifer can show up years later at a site far removed from the original source.

What are water pollutants and their sources?

Water pollutants include contamination due to domestic wastes, insecticides and herbicides, food processing waste, pollutants from livestock operations, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, chemical waste, and others.

What are water pollutants explain?

Water pollutants can be divided into three major categories: (1) substances that harm humans or animals by causing disease or physical damage; (2) substances or situations that decrease the oxygen content of water, leading to anaerobic decay and the death of aquatic life; and (3) substances that are indirectly harmful.