Question

Briefly explain the difference between point source and nonpoint source water pollution? Provide one example each

Answer 1

Point source pollution can be defined as any contaminant that enters the environment from an easily identified and confined place.As the name suggests it comes from a single point.Examples include smokestacks, discharge pipes, and drainage ditches.

Factories and power plants can be a source of point-source pollution, affecting both air and water.Municipal wastewater treatment plants are another common source of point-source pollution. Effluent from a treatment plant can introduce nutrients and harmful microbes into waterways. Nutrients can cause a rampant growth of algae in water.

Nonpoint-source pollution is the opposite of point-source pollution, with pollutants released in a wide area. As an example, picture a city street during a thunderstorm. As rainwater flows over asphalt, it washes away drops of oil that leaked from car engines, particles of tire rubber, dog waste, and trash. The runoff goes into a storm sewer and ends up in a nearby river. Runoff is a major cause of nonpoint-source pollution.

In rural areas, runoff can wash sediment from the roads in a logged-over forest tract. It can also carry acid from abandoned mines and flush pesticides and fertilizer from farm fields. All of this pollution is likely to wind up in streams, rivers, and lakes.