Essay on Water Quality and Environmental Health

In the modern world the problem of the reliable water supply is extremely important because the water resources are widely exploited and water is used in different fields of human activities. In fact, the life of human beings is impossible without water but nowadays water is used not only simply to provide people with the essential substance they consume to survive but it is also widely used in agriculture and different industries. As a result, the water, being widely used, is naturally deteriorating in quality and decreasing in quantity because the water used in agriculture and industries is often impossible to recycle or filter to make it drinkable. In such a situation, the problem of scarcity of water as the vitally important product seems to be quite real. In this respect, it is necessary to underline that the US undertake various steps to improve the current situation and one of the strategic directions in the development of the federal and state policy is the effective treatment of wastewater. Despite the exiting differences in the water supply and water quality in different states, the high level of standards is equally important in all of the states.

First of all, it should be said that the water quality is extremely important to human health. It is not a secret that the current problem of the water pollution is a serious threat to the health of the entire nation since if the existing standards were lower the national health would be under a threat. The reason is quite obvious since nowadays it is practically impossible to consume water without any artificial treatment being applied (Anon 1998). What is meant here is the fact that nowadays water cannot be used in its original form as it is taken from the nature. In stark contrast, water needs to undergo various stages of special treatment that make it really pure and prepared for the consumption by people without any harm to their health.

Nowadays, due to the development of modern technologies, water undergoes various treatment that make the water purer and closer to its natural and practically ideal consistency. However, the latter is quite difficult to achieve because of the current environmental situation since the development of industries and water pollution undermine the natural potential of the effective water treatment so that the wastewater needs to be specifically treated to avoid the further pollution of natural water (Anon 1998). At this point, it should be said that various states may have different standards concerning the quality of water but, nonetheless, these standards should guarantee the safety of water consumed by people. This means that all states need to supply water which is really safe to human health and is close to its natural consistency without any pollutants.

By the way, it should be said that the water supply is another serious problem since it is getting to be more and more difficult to provide a permanent and ample supply of water to the population. In fact, in the result of the pollution and the increasing costs of its treatment the supply of water may vary depending on states (Bartram 2005). For instance, the states with larger natural resources of water and lower level of pollution could supply more water to consumers compared to the states where the water is naturally scarce and the situation is deteriorated by the high level of the pollution of water.

As a result, the states which are in a disadvantageous position in relation to the water supply need to invest more in the effective treatment of the wastewater and the reliable supply it to consumers. At the same time, these states face a serious problem of the lack of water. In such a situation, the water supply is really a great challenge since it is necessary to provide population with water of possibly higher quality regardless the resources of water and its initial quality. However, the state with larger water resources also need to pay a particular attention to the quality of water since it is the major condition of the supply of water to consumers.

Thus, taking into consideration all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that nowadays states are in different positions since some states have larger resources of water and have better environmental situation, while others have scarce resources of water and the level of pollution is dangerously high. Nevertheless, regardless all these factors, the states need to provide population with the sufficient amount of water which should be of a high quality in order to guarantee the national health since the low quality of water or its insufficient supply threatens to the health of people and may provoke infectious diseases. This is why the quality of water and high standards remain the major factors that unite all the states in relation to the water supply.

Works cited

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