Water

Industrial and agricultural pollution

Its industrial origin is related to processing waste. It can occur when discharging the water used in productive processes that contains a high concentration of solved substances. Or it can occur when rainwater washes away solid waste dumping grounds. Or because of the accidental break of a tank and/or pipe that carries extremely polluting products that flow straight into the rivers or are spilled on the ground or underground and reach the water-bearing strata. There is also another form of industrial water pollution that does not concern its contents, but its temperature: thermal pollution. Cooling waters are taken from the seas, lakes and rivers at a given temperature and, after use, are sent back at a higher temperature. This thermal difference often causes alterations in the marine ecosystem that sometimes can have non-negligible effects, but can actually lead to the disappearance of animal and vegetal species. Water pollution of agricultural origin is produced by manure fields being washed down by rainwater or by the leaching of lands treated with chemical fertilisers, weed-killers and plant chemicals.