Causes And Effects Of Water Pollution On Human Health And The Aquatic Ecosystems The Case Of Bahirdar Satellite Town Blue Nile Abbay River Basin

Water pollution occurs when unwanted materials enter in to water, changes the quality of waterrnand become harmful to environment and human health. Despite water is an important naturalrnresource used for drinking and other developmental purposes in Bahirdar satellite town, there arernpublic concerns on the lack of safe drinking water, deteriorating aquatic ecosystem and waterrnborne health problems. Thus, this thesis was imitated to investigate the causes and effects ofrnwater pollution on human health and the surrounding aquatic ecosystem in some selected areasrnof Bahirdar satellite towns, the Abbay river basins. Both qualitative and quantitative data wererncollected from primary and secondary data sources using a structured questionnaire, interviewrnguides and thematization, and analyzed by using the latest SPSS software. From the study, it wasrnfound that the Bahirdar satellite town, Abbay river basin was highly polluted. Accordingly,rndischarge of domestic and industrial effluent wastes, leakage from water tanks, unlawfulrndumping, radioactive waste and agricultural deposition are major causes of water pollution.rnAgricultural pesticides and fertilizers that disposed off and industrial waste can accumulate in tanrnlakes and the Abbay river basin, proving harmful to humans and animals. Toxic effluents inrnindustrial wastes of the ‘Poly’ and ‘Peda’ campuses of Bahirdar University were also the majorrncause of water pollution. Infectious diseases, like cholera, typhoid fever and other diseasesrngastroenteritis, diarrhoea, vomiting, skin problems, reproductive failure, acute poisoning andrnkidney problem are spreading through polluted water. Human health is affected by the directrndamage of plants and animal nutrition. The pollutants were killing useful plants, molluscs,rnaquatic birds, fishes, crustaceans and other aquatic organisms that serve as food for human.rnInsecticides and other chemical waste concentration were increasing along the food chain. Theserninsecticides were harmful for humans. Based on the findings of the research it werernrecommended to enhance public awareness, preventive enforcement and legislative measuresrnand carryout mechanical and biological soil and water conservation measures so as to improvernriver water quality in Abbay River basins.

Get Full Work

Report copyright infringement or plagiarism