Of course, the environment is an important thing. In this day and age, many of us can readily accept the importance that the environment holds in so many facets of our lives – including in regards to the way things will be in future years as well. After all, the environment is critical to protect not only for our own lives, but for the lives of our children and our children’s children (and so on and so forth) as well.
One of the most critical parts of our environment that must be protected is water, for while the majority of the planet is made up of water, less than 5% of it (around 3% of it, to be just a little bit more specific) is fresh water. And and even less percentage is considered to be suitable for drinking – a scant one percent. Therefore, protecting our fresh water sources and supplies of drinkable water is a matter of utmost importance in relation to our environment here in the United States.
Unfortunately, much of our environment has become the victim of pollution – and our water sources, particularly our drinkable water sources, as sad as it is to say, are no exception to that rule. After all, there are many ways that our drinking water gets contaminated, and they can happen in the majority of places all throughout the United States. For instance, chemical spills and the resulting chemical runoff can contribute significantly to chemical contamination of our water sources.
And these chemical spills are much more common than the average person would even realize. After all, though many of them are broadcast on the news and reported about, there are many others that never get any kind of media attention as they might be on a smaller scale. However, with up to 16,000 various types of chemical spills – occurring with trucks, railcars, and in moments of transport alike – taking place over the course of just one year, preventing as many chemical spills as is possible – no matter what the size or scope of it – should be a top priority when it comes to caring for and cleaning up our environment.
But chemical spills are not the only way that groundwater pollution occurs, something that is particularly detrimental, due to the fact that groundwater and groundwater alone makes up as much as 95% of all available fresh water sources for the people living in the United States. When this groundwater becomes dirty water, the sources of water that can be provided to entire communities of people can become less than safe for human consumption. In addition to this, the contamination of groundwater has also led to a rise in groundwater depletion, meaning that there is less water than every before to go around and meet the needs of various communities all throughout the country.
Industrial waste is also a huge problem when it comes to groundwater contamination and harming our environment as a whole. This is due to the fact that nearly three quarters of all industrial waste in this country (up to 70% of it, as a matter of fact) is directly dumped into various bodies of water all throughout the country. It’s no surprise, then, that so many of our water sources have become polluted, at least to some extent, though some areas and water sources will suffer from worse pollution than others do.
Fortunately, groundwater remediation is possible, and there is hope for our environment after all. In fact, both primary and secondary methods of waste treatment, when working together, can remove as much as 95% of all waste and contaminants from initially contaminated groundwater (and typically no less than 85% of all waste, at the very least). In addition to this, the water in question is then disinfected, meaning that it is made to be as clean as possible through various groundwater remediation systems that can be found in many places all throughout the United States.
