60 Health Problems from Unsafe Water
Preventing toxic pollution
The only way to make sure water is free of toxic chemicals is to prevent
pollution at the source. If you think your water is contaminated, you can
organize your community to map water sources and find problems with your
water supply (see pages 68 to 70), and then to take steps to stop the pollution.
But the only way to know for certain what chemicals are in water is to test it
at a laboratory (see page 70).
Important: Remember: making water safe from worms and germs will
NOT make it safe from chemicals. And protecting water from chemicals
will NOT make it safe from germs and worms.
To prevent contamination from toxic chemicals:
• Roads and bridges can be planned with drainage channels to carry
pollution from cars and trucks away from waterways.
• Planting trees along roadways will also prevent some pollution of water
sources because the trees will absorb some pollution from the air.
• Industry must pollute less. Factories can treat their wastes, and large
and small businesses can use clean production methods (see page 458).
• Mining and oil drilling should not be done where they will place water
quality at risk (see Chapters 21 and 22).
• Farmers need to reduce or eliminate their use of chemical pesticides and
fertilizers, and make sure chemicals do not enter water sources. They
can replace chemicals with natural pest controls and natural fertilizers
(see Chapter 15).
• Governments can make and enforce laws to prevent water pollution.
Also see Appendix B for international laws protecting water.
Preventing toxic pollution of water requires action by communities,
governments, and industry. For more information
on preventing and reducing harm from
toxic chemicals, see Chapter 20.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012