Water is the source of life for almost every animal. Every living organism needs water to survive however, when water is polluted with sewage and trash it becomes contaminated. The water then becomes undrinkable by an organism. 

For example polluted water pours down the Mississippi River down to the Gulf of Mexico contaminating about 8,000 mile dead zones. 

Eutrophication and Dead Zones: Dead zones occur when contaminated water from sewage and chemical runoffs from farms make their way to larger bodies of water like the Gulf of Mexico. The Chemicals from farms are fertilizers which should encourage the growth of plants but they also grow algae called Eutrophication. When the aquatic plants die from the contaminated water, they decompose which use up oxygen. Crustacean animals no longer have oxygen to live in these zones. That is why these places are called dead zones because slowly organism die due contaminated ecosystems. 

Algae: The growth of some algae from thriving in these toxic environment also release toxic chemicals which affect the fish, turtles, and dolphins in this ecosystem. It’s dangerous to these aquatic animals because they become poise and the algal toxin can lead to the animals dying. Water Pollutants are very harmful to aquatic life.

Drinking Water: Water becomes contaminated from human and animal waste, mining, fertilizers and pesticides, and industrial waste. It’s very important to protect our drinkable water because we only have 3% left, and only less than 1% is not frozen in ice caps. This means that all living organisms must share less than 1% of the water. 

Risk: The health risk to humans can be gastrointestinal disease which can be fatal when we drink contaminated water. 

Citation:

Walls-Thumma, Dawn. “How Can Water Pollution Affect Animals, Homes and Health?” Home Guides | SF Gate, 27 Dec. 2018, homeguides.sfgate.com/can-water-pollution-affect-animals-homes-health-79201.html.