Point Source Water Pollution Examples

Water Pollution

Water pollution is contamination of a body of water, whether a stream, a lake, a river, an ocean, or groundwater supply. This type of contamination is the result of human activity, such as toxic chemicals released by a factory into the water body, or agricultural run-off. The contamination can be harmful to both plant and animal life. It can have numerous knock-on effects as well that do damage to the ecology and to human life.

Point source pollution is a type of pollution that originates from a single, identifiable source or place. An example would be discharge from a sewage treatment plant that finds its way into groundwater or into a river; or an oil spill in an ocean would be another example.

Non-point source pollution is a type of pollution that comes from a lot of different places rather just one single point. It is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground, and this movement of water picks up pollutants like pesticides, or chemicals used in fertilizers, or oils that have been spilled (Withgott & Laposata, 2018). It then carries these chemicals and toxins into nearby streams, rivers, lakes or other bodies of water. Because of the fact that it is a kind of convergence of sources from multiple directions, it is type of pollution that is much more difficult to trace to one place of origin.

Thus, point source pollution is generally easier to identify as it originates from a clear and specific, identifiable location. For example, if a factory is expelling dangerous pollutants into a river, it is a rather straight-forward process of identifying the factor as the source point.

That is also why it is typically easier to pass legislation regarding point source pollution and why it is easier to regulate. Since the source is identifiable, regulations can be put in place that can be enforced based on monitoring efforts. Factories have to show that they are not crossing thresholds established by laws. But non-point-source pollution, on the other hand, poses an all-together different challenge because it is impossible to regulate as there is no way to monitor where the pollution is really coming from (Withgott & Laposata, 2018).

The greatest threat to fresh water is non-point-source because it can be happening over a very widespread area, under the noses of all concerned, without anyone even really realizing it. And for that reason it is all the more difficult to control and prevent. Obviously, point source pollution can be very harmful for the environment, but it is also something that can be stopped through regulation because it is so obvious and apparent when it is happening: people notice the effects of it on the environment more quickly than they do with non-point-source pollution. Non-point-source pollution cannot really be effectively regulated, and its effects are incremental and not noticed so immediately, because they are spread out over a big area. Plus, the effects of non-point-source pollution tend to be systemic and deeply entrenched within the very infrastructure of the region (Withgott & Laposata, 2018). For instance, with agricultural runoff, or with urban stormwater runoff, regulators have few means of monitoring and stopping the problem as it would mean overhauling the entire social infrastructure.