INTRODUCTION

Over two thirds of Earth's surface is covered by water; less than a third is taken up by
land. As Earth's population continues to grow, people are putting ever-increasing pressure on
the planet's water resources. In a sense, our oceans, rivers, and other inland waters are being
"squeezed" by human activitiesnot so they take up less room, but so their quality is
reduced. Poorer water quality means water pollution.
WHAT IS WATER POLLUTION?
Water pollution can be defined in many ways. Usually, it means one or more
substances have built up in water to such an extent that they cause problems for animals or
people. Oceans, lakes, rivers, and other inland waters can naturally clean up a certain amount
of pollution by dispersing it harmlessly [2].
Thus, water pollution is all about quantities: how much of a polluting substance is
released and how big a volume of water it is released into. A small quantity of a toxic
chemical may have little impact if it is spilled into the ocean from a ship. But the same
amount of the same chemical can have a much bigger impact pumped into a lake or river,
where there is less clean water to disperse it. Water pollution almost always means that some
damage has been done to an ocean, river, lake, or other water source. A 1969 United Nations
report defined ocean pollution as:
"The introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the
marine environment (including estuaries) resulting in such deleterious effects as harm
to living resources, hazards to human health, hindrance to marine activities,
including fishing, impairment of quality for use of sea water and reduction of
amenities."
Fortunately, Earth is forgiving and damage from water pollution is often reversible.
EFFECT OF WATER POLLUTION
Water pollution is very harmful to humans, animals and water life [5]. The effects can
be catastrophic, depending on the kind of chemicals, concentrations of the pollutants and
where there are polluted. Below, we shall see a summary of the effects of water pollution.

The effects of water pollution are varied and depend on what chemicals are dumped and in
which locations.
Many water bodies near urban areas (cities and towns) are highly polluted. This is the
result of both garbage dumped by individuals and dangerous chemicals legally or illegally
dumped by manufacturing industries, health centers, schools and market places.
Death of aquatic (water) animal
The main problem caused by water pollution is that it kills life that depends on these
water bodies. Dead fish, crabs, birds and sea gulls, dolphins, and many other animals often
wind up on beaches, killed by pollutants in their habitat (living environment).
Disruption of food-chain
Pollution disrupts the natural food chain as well. Pollutants such as lead and cadmium
are eaten by tiny animals. Later, these animals are consumed by fish and shellfish, and the
food chain continues to be disrupted at all higher levels.
Diseases
Eventually, humans are affected by this process as well. People can get diseases such
as hepatitis by eating seafood that has been poisoned. In many poor nations, there is always
outbreak of cholera and diseases as a result of poor drinking water treatment from
contaminated waters.
Destruction of ecosystems
Ecosystems (the interaction of living things in a place, depending on each other for
life) can be severely changed or destroyed by water pollution. Many areas are now being
affected by careless human pollution, and this pollution is coming back to hurt humans in
many ways.
HOW CAN WE STOP WATER POLLUTION (SOCIETY AND GOVERNMENT)?

There is no easy way to solve water pollution; if there were, it wouldn't be so much of
a problem. Broadly speaking, there are three different things that can help to tackle the
problemeducation, laws, and economicsand they work together as a team [4].

Education
Making people aware of the problem is the first step to solving it. In the early 1990s,
when surfers in Britain grew tired of catching illnesses from water polluted with sewage, they
formed a group called Surfers Against Sewage to force governments and water companies to
clean up their act. People who've grown tired of walking the worlds polluted beaches often
band together to organize community beach-cleaning sessions. Anglers who no longer catch
so many fish have campaigned for tougher penalties against factories that pour pollution into
our rivers. Greater public awareness can make a positive difference.
Laws
One of the biggest problems with water pollution is its transboundary nature. Many
rivers cross countries, while seas span whole continents. Pollution discharged by factories in
one country with poor environmental standards can cause problems in neighbouring nations,
even when they have tougher laws and higher standards. Environmental laws can make it
tougher for people to pollute, but to be really effective they have to operate across national
and international borders. This is why we have international laws governing the oceans, such
as the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (signed by over 120 nations), the
1972 London (Dumping) Convention, the 1978 MARPOL International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships, and the 1998 OSPAR Convention for the Protection of
the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic. The European Union has waterprotection laws (known as directives) that apply to all of its member states. They include the
1976 Bathing Water Directive (updated 2006), which seeks to ensure the quality of the waters
that people use for recreation.
Many governments have very strict laws that help minimize water pollution. These
laws are usually directed at industries, hospitals, schools and market areas on how to dispose,
treat and manage sewage.

Economics
Most environmental experts agree that the best way to tackle pollution is through
something called the polluter pays principle. This means that whoever causes pollution
should have to pay to clean it up, one way or another. Polluter pays can operate in all kinds of
ways. It could mean that tanker owners should have to take out insurance that covers the cost
of oil spill clean-ups, for example. It could also mean that shoppers should have to pay for
their plastic grocery bags, as is now common in Ireland, to encourage recycling and minimize
waste. Or it could mean that factories that use rivers must have their water inlet pipes
downstream of their effluent outflow pipes, so if they cause pollution they themselves are the
first people to suffer. Ultimately, the polluter pays principle is designed to deter people from
polluting by making it less expensive for them to behave in an environmentally responsible
way.
SUGGESTION FOR ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION
There are many ways/solution to overcome water pollution. In this era of technology,
anything is possible. The SeaBin isnt a new invention but it is not yet implement in our
country. Currently, marinas, ports and yacht clubs are the ideal place to start cleaning up the
ocean because they combined high levels of human activity with oil and fuel pollution.
Built from recycled materials, the Seabin is fixed to a dock with water pump running
on shore power. The pump creates a flow of water that sucks all floating rubbish and debris
into a natural fibre bag, before pumping the water back out. It catches everything floating
from plastic bottles to paper, oils, fuel and detergent. Seabin spokesman Richard Talmage
said the concept was simple but effective [6]. "It essentially works as a similar concept to a
skimmer box from your pool filter. But it's designed on a scale to work and essentially attract
all that rubbish within a location within a marine harbour," he said. The SeaBin also has low
maintenances since its maintenance is only for pump and changing the filters once it is full
with rubbish [6].
CHALLENGE FOR IMPLEMENTATION
Challenges that might occur when implementing this is we have to deal is with the
marina/harbours owners. In order to keep their profit high, they might as well doesnt want to
buy SeaBin since they have many workers that keep the ocean around the marina clean. But

the workers didnt clean it 24 hours. The SeaBin clean the ocean area near marina all the
times.

Figure Basic operations of SeaBin

REFERENCES
[1]

http://www.water-pollution.org.uk/

[2]

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/pollution/

[3]

http://www.australiaunlimited.com/environment/australian-invention-seabin-tacklesocean-pollution

[5]

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/sources-and-causes-of-water-pollution.php

[6]

http://www.seabinproject.com/