Water Pollution is a very pressing ocean water resource issue. This paper aims to describe this issue briefly and will also present a management and sustainment plan which might help improve the situation. In conclusion, I would discuss the possible limitations of this plan and also how it would affect the community. Main Body Seventy percent of the earth’s surface may be covered with water, but only a fraction of this is fresh and useable. Fresh water is definitely one of the most important natural resources necessary for survival of mankind.
Nonetheless, if we do not stop taking it for granted, clean water may eventually exhaust. The Oxford Dictionary defines Pollution as ‘the process of making something dirty or impure by adding harmful or unpleasant substances to it’ (Hornby, A. S. , 1995). This definition helps us explain the meaning of water pollution very clearly. The harmful substances are either from direct or indirect sources. A few major sources of water pollution are oil spills, dumping of industrial waste, sewerage, solid garbage in water reserves and fertilizers (WWF, 2008).
The basic problem of water pollution is that the rising population and increasing industrial activity has resulted in degradation of this resource. Because of this, we are not only running out of fresh water but also causing many other problems. Water pollution is responsible for countless deaths every year, poisoning of the marine life, deforestation through acid rain and unbalanced river and lake ecosystems. (Rubin, K. 2000) Water Pollution is a global problem therefore it requires global governance.
It calls for everyone to join hands and work together. No one community or individual can do anything about it, except maybe start promoting the importance of water. Therefore, in order to alleviate the problem of water pollution, the first step is to stop people from taking it for granted just because of its availability. We need to protect the quality and availability of fresh water; otherwise, it is a major threat to mankind. My management and sustainment plan will ensure two things.
Firstly, it will make sure that people understand the importance of fresh water and the threat from water pollution. This will discourage people from misusing and abusing it. Secondly, my management and sustainment plan would include contacting the government and non governmental organizations who can arrange a large scale program of cleansing and purification of the already polluted water reserves. Since execution of this plan requires a lot of funds and other complexities, my management plan only involves convincing these organizations to plan for such large scale programs.
This will create a need for action and will be the first step of implementing it. This sustainment and management plan will benefit the community by not only improving the present water condition but also guaranteeing future preservation. In order for this plan to be a success, it requires the people to change their lifestyle for the best. However, this plan is only in theory yet and there are many factors that may affect the expected outcome of it. We do not as yet know the kind of people we will be dealing with.
One limitation of this plan is that it only involves informing people of the need for action. It does not involve any solid steps that will cover up for the damages that have already been caused. For example, a water purification set up. The following table shows summarizes my sustainment and management plan. It shows the action items, what steps will be taken to complete that action and also an estimate of how long it will take for it to be completed.
References
1. Hornby, A. S. (1995) Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Fifth Edition. Oxford University Press 2. (2008) Water Pollution Factsheet. Retrieved June 28 2008, from WWF Pak. Web site: http://www. wwfpak. org/factsheets_wps. php 3. Rubin, K. (2000) Sources of Water Pollution. Retrieved June 28 2008, from School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. Web site: http://www. soest. hawaii. edu/GG/ASK/waterpol3. html 4. (2008) Problems: Ocean pollution. Retrieved June 28 2008, from Panda. Web site: http://www. panda. org/about_wwf/what_we_do/marine/problems/pollution/index. cfm