water pollution

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Water pollution

Two large pipes discharge polluted, muddy water, illustrating water contamination and environmental pollution.

Aerial view of wastewater treatment basins with circular clarifiers; overlaid toilet graphic and arrow with text reading: “Where does it go?”

Bright green algae blooms distort the surface of water.

Green algae bloom covers the surface of a pond or lake, with trees and vegetation along the shore, indicating water pollution.

Plastic bottles, cups, and other trash litter the banks and surface of Ballona Creek in Culver City, California, after a rainstorm, with a bridge visible in the background.

Solid waste pollution

A white woman in blurry focus holds up a small piece of plastic called a nurdle, highlighted with a blue circle.

A large pile of plastic trash collected from the ocean.

At a Glance

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water pollution summary

water pollution: Media

environmental science

Videos

Two large pipes discharge polluted, muddy water, illustrating water contamination and environmental pollution.

The Fight for Clean Drinking Water

“America's Top Young Scientist” Gitanjali Rao invented a device to help test drinking...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Aerial view of wastewater treatment basins with circular clarifiers; overlaid toilet graphic and arrow with text reading: “Where does it go?”

How Does Wastewater Treatment Actually Work?

All the sewers in your neighborhood end up here.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Bright green algae blooms distort the surface of water.

What Causes Algae Blooms?

Algae blooms can make lakes and oceans look like abstract paintings.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

A white woman in blurry focus holds up a small piece of plastic called a nurdle, highlighted with a blue circle.

Marine Debris: How Trash Ends Up in the Ocean?

Who brought an office chair to the beach?

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

A large pile of plastic trash collected from the ocean.

How To Clean Up Earth's Oceans

The Ocean Cleanup wants to rid the world's oceans of plastic.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The video thumbnail image shows a person's hand holding small fragments of colorful plastic.

What are microplastics?

What lies beneath? Plastic, probably.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Can reed beds clean contaminated groundwater?

Can reed beds clean contaminated groundwater?

Learn about experiments that use plants, notably reeds, to filter pollutants from...

Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Tt/Dreamstime.com

The impact of plastic waste on marine life

The impact of plastic waste on marine life

Learn how plastic debris affects the Pacific Ocean.

Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Evgeniy Parilov/Dreamstime.com

Does global warming affect the ocean's oxygen levels?

Does global warming affect the ocean's oxygen levels?

Learn about the steady decline in levels of dissolved oxygen in the ocean, a phenomenon...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The video thumbnail image shows a black and white bridge over blue water. Blue arrows show that the flow of the water was switched from one direction to the other.

Why the Chicago River was reversed

It used to be treated more like a sewer than an ecosystem.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

How can coral reefs be protected from sunscreen damage?

How can coral reefs be protected from sunscreen damage?

Development of a biodegradable bead that can soak up the coral-killing sunblock ingredient,...

Video: © American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Major types of pollution explained

Major types of pollution explained

Learn more about the major kinds of pollution in this infographic explainer.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Learn how littering and the improper disposal of waste put trash in the oceans

Learn how littering and the improper disposal of waste put trash in the oceans

Learn where marine debris—trash in the ocean—comes from.

Video: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce

Images

Water pollution

Water pollution

Metals from industrial production waste contaminate surface water.

© DELBO ANDREA/Shutterstock.com

Point source

Point source

Industrial wastewater gushing from a pipe into a wetland.

© narvikk—E+/Getty Images

Green algae bloom covers the surface of a pond or lake, with trees and vegetation along the shore, indicating water pollution.

Euglena bloom

Toxic bloom caused by Euglena, a photosynthetic protist.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Plastic bottles, cups, and other trash litter the banks and surface of Ballona Creek in Culver City, California, after a rainstorm, with a bridge visible in the background.

Surface water pollution

Large amounts of trash and plastic refuse collected in Ballona Creek after a major...

© Citizens of the Planet—Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Solid waste pollution

Solid waste pollution

Plastic pollution on a beach in Honduras.

The Ocean Cleanup

Illustration showing the process of plastic pollution in the ocean, from floating garbage and subsurface debris to breakdown into microplastics, sinking debris, and microplastic particles reaching the ocean floor and deep-sea trenches. Various types of plastic waste, marine animals, and labeled stages highlight how plastics and toxins disperse and persist in the marine environment.

Plastic pollution breakdown into microplastics

Breakdown of plastic pollution in ocean waters. Sunlight and seawater embrittle plastic,...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Christine McCabe

Thick toxic foam covers the surface of the Yamuna River below the Okhla Barrage in Delhi, India, with small boats on the water and a yellow and blue bridge in the background.

Toxic froth on the Yamuna

Phosphates and other chemicals from untreated sewage causing froth to float on the...

© Bambam Kumar Jha/Dreamstime.com

Toxic waste

Toxic waste

This Utah pond (pictured in the mid-1970s) was so polluted with junked automobiles...

Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com

Dark oil slick spreads across pond water, swirling around partially submerged rocks and polluting the surface with a shiny, iridescent sheen.

Oil pollution

A pond polluted by oil.

© forcdan/stock.adobe.com

Diagram showing three stages of saltwater intrusion into a coastal aquifer: the first panel shows normal conditions with a stable interface between ocean saltwater and fresh groundwater; the second shows increased saltwater intrusion and a cone of depression when groundwater is pumped; the third shows how an injection well restores pressure and blocks saltwater intrusion. Labels identify ocean, aquifer, potentiometric surface, and water flow directions.

Aquifer

The process of saltwater intrusion into a coastal aquifer depends on how much water...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Patrick O'Neill Riley

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