Water Pollution Through Historical Lens

Research question: To what extent is water pollution solvable?
Lens: Historical

Evaluating Water Pollution Through a Historical Lens

With the start of the 20th century, the United States has become aware of the seriousness of today’s environmental issues. Today, countries with a rapid course of innovation, such as China, India and even the US struggle to supply their population with the basic necessities, like clean water. According to Lian-Jun Bao, graduate of the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, roughly half of China’s rural residents lack access to drinking water that meets the universal standard of cleanliness. For all the success that is equated with such countries, their water supply cannot keep up with their innovation and modernity.
From an evolutionary perspective, humans have moved from adapting to conditions of nature towards a lifestyle that manipulates it for needs of comfort. According to Adi Ferrara, a member of the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences, humans have moved from “nomadic to settled societies”, where we now rely on the efforts made as a community, rather than those of our close, secular families (1). Is it a coincidence that the most alarming cases of water pollution are found in cities, where conditions are cluttered and busy? Environmental historian Dr. Jan Oosthoek, a graduate from the National Australian University, says the development of cities in 18th century Europe is one of the main causes behind the increase of water pollution in modern times. He defines a city as an artificial environment; just like any other environment, cities require nutrition and energy in order to sustain a human population. Especially today, the nutrition that cities require is collected from natural resources found in surrounding areas, and often removed in dangerous amounts. In other words, this leaves the area defenseless against disease and other harmful toxins that could enter in the future. With a larger population comes a larger amount of waste, of which has been commonly disposed in harmful manners. If this pattern of disposing waste into bodies of water goes on, then so will
Instead of containing waste in a manner that won’t interfere with sources of water, businesses repeat history by continuing to dispose waste into sources of water. The New York Times published a first-hand report on the Kalamazoo river oil spill from 2010. One-million gallons of diluted bitumen were released into the river, causing the population of Michigan to experience headaches and nausea for weeks. Although this event is quite recent when compared to the Industrial Revolution, it continues to be an essential aspect of history because it demonstrates how the careless practices from the past have affected the health and condition of the environment in the future. The priority of a business is to generate as much profit as possible. Getting rid of waste by dumping it into bodies of water is simply cheaper and easier when compared to creating a safer, more cautious manner of disposing waste, which could cost millions. For businesses, it’s convenient to utilize bodies of water as disposal grounds, but it’s not to the health of water resources, especially the population. Such effects of polluted water seen during the Industrial Revolution are experienced today, yet this isn’t enough of a reason for most businesses to become eco-conscientious. Even with the advancements in technology and scientific evidence, businesses today repeat the practices