Table of Contents
All around the world people have experienced water problems that have affected them one way or another. Many water sources such as lakes, rivers, canals, ponds, and oceans have become increasingly polluted. Not only does it harm the animals that depend upon those waters but the polluted waters also affect humans since we also depend on those same waters. A health crisis has increased due to the fact that we have polluted our waters by throwing trash in them, infrastructures, and other contributing factors. As a community, we have to start paying attention to our surroundings and realize that our earth is being contaminated faster every day. If our waters continue to get contaminated we will soon be left with contaminated waters that will cause diseases that can lead to serious health problems or even death. As a result of contamination, the lack of clean water will increase health problems, and it will lead the future generations to have unsafe water.
Social Problem
Many people don’t realize that pollution has increased not only by having trash thrown but also infrastructures that can affect our drinking sources. These problems will not only have effects on the environment but it will also cause economical problems. According to the article ¨The United States Faces a National Water Crisis¨ the author stated ¨According to the Associated General Contractors of America, our nation faces between $400 and $600 billion in costs over the next 20 years for safe drinking and wastewater treatment systems (Cisneros, 2016).¨
In the future, not only will we be dealing with unsanitary waters but we will have to deal with increased taxes. As a result of cleaning the water and providing safe drinking water to our citizens, we will eventually have to pay for all the resources with increased taxes. As of today there is a lack of infrastructure which can cause chemical elements such as lead in the water. The increase of bills have left many people at the border line of receiving clean water. According to the article ¨America has a Water Crisis No One is Talking About¨ it stated ¨ Yet for 14 million US households, or 12 percent of homes, water bills are too expensive.
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And as the cost of water rises, even more Americans are at risk of not being able to pay their monthly water bill (Frostenson, 2018).¨ As they are trying to fix the infrastructures that can cause chemicals to leak into the water, the prices to fix them have increased and will significantly increase as well. Out of the 128 million households that have been recorded, 14 million can not afford to pay their water bills. The article was written in 2018 and now 2 years later we can only expect that those numbers have increased. As a result of this, pollution is a major contribution of not having clean water but also the outdated infrastructures that cause chemical leaks as well as an increase of water bills.
Research Method
Many people do not give importance to the fact that we will all soon begin to experience water problems until it personally happens to them. In Laredo, our community experienced first-hand a water crisis when a city wide boil-water notice was issued. The issue was noticed when low-chlorine levels were found in the drinking water supply. As result of that, the community had to boil their water for simple things such as brushing their teeth, cook, shower, or prevent any contact with water that could potentially cause health risks.
However, the main source of water of Laredo is the Rio Grande River. Since the 1900´s types of pollution and raw sewage have been dumped into the water and as a result of that bacteria as E. Coli have been found and could affect or kill swimmers or people that come in contact with the water. One of the most noticeable ways to see how polluted the river is, is by the color of the water that has turned into a ¨chocolate brown¨ type of color. As a result of that, communities that are by the river should take care of it to help clean our environment and to prevent diseases.
Data
As a result of this, we conducted a survey to ask the community their stance on the water crisis. The first question was ¨Do you think Laredo´s main source of water is polluted?¨ and 72.5% said yes and the other 27.5% said no. The second question: ¨On a national level, how polluted do you think our water is?¨ the results determined that 57.5% of people think that our earth is slightly polluted and the other 42.5% stated that it was not polluted. The third question: ¨Do you think farming and fracking companies pollute our water?¨ and 82.5% said yes while the other 17.5% said no. The fourth question: ¨Have you ever polluted any water source?¨ the results showed that 67.5% stated no and 32.5% said yes. And the final question was: ¨How do you think that we can stop pollution?¨ the final results showed that 40% said to clean/ not pollute, 27.5% said to enforce laws, 25% said to spread awareness, and 7.5% said to own Tesla.
Solutions
According to the survey, many people stated that we should stop polluting and come together to start cleaning the waters. Not only our main water sources but on a national level and worldwide to help our environment and to have clean, drinking water for many years to come. On a personal level, I believe that we can start being careful about where we throw our trash. Not only ourselves but picking up trash that we may see thrown. Even if its having one day of picking up trash can make an absolute difference to our environment, and prevent more trash from going into the waters.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our environment has become significantly polluted as the years have passed. As pollution increases our water becomes unsanitary and it could increase to many diseases that could affect up to millions of people. As a result of that, we must also enforce our policies about pollution. Not only stricter policies but to also reward people that help clean the community so that we can have clean drinkable water.
