Groundwater monitoring and remediation is an essential service that is provided to protect the Earth’s water supply. Furthermore, this service is also vital to ensure that there will be enough water that is suitable for drinking and other important purposes. Given groundwater depletion, just 3% of the planet’s water is fresh. Furthermore, only 1% is considered to be safe to drink.
Contributing Causes to Water Pollution
Chemical spills, industrial waste, and hazardous waste sites have all been responsible for contaminating the Earth’s available water supply. On an annual basis, there are roughly 16,000 chemical spills that occur, particularly when these substances are being transferred. Trucks, trains, and storage tanks are each prone to become damaged should an accident, negligence, or foul play occur. As a result, these chemicals are released into the environment all too often.
Recent data shows that about 70% of the world’s industrial waste continues to be dumped into various water bodies. This causes the water supply to be further polluted in those regions.
The prevalence of hazardous waste sites has also severely impacted the ground water near these locations. In the United States alone, this is the case with more than 80% of the most-hazardous sites.
The Water Treatment Process
Industrial wastewater, for example, undergoes a specific process prior to being released into local waterways. In order to disinfect wastewater before being releases, it receives both primary and secondary waste treatments. It’s important to note that these treatments are able to remove approximately 85% to 95% of the pollutants within the water.
The Importance of Groundwater Monitoring and Remediation
Ground water is the source for more than 95% of the United States’ fresh water resources. Furthermore, it is the primary drinking water source for 50% of the population. Due to this, the importance of groundwater monitoring and remediation cannot be stressed enough.
While more measures can and should be taken to reduce chemical spills and industrial waste dumping, groundwater mediation systems can nevertheless be employed. Hazardous waste sites continue to be a source of concern, and this issue can be further addressed with conscientious hazardous waste management.