Pollution

Investigation of water pollution; comparison of water entering and

leaving Newquay zoo.

Many causes of pollution contain nutrients such as nitrates and

phosphates. In excess levels, nutrients over stimulate the growth of

aquatic plants and algae. Excessive growth of these types of organisms

consequently clogs our waterways, use up dissolved oxygen as they

decompose, and block light to deeper waters.

This is harmful to aquatic organisms as it affects the respiration

ability or fish and other invertebrates that reside in water.

Pollution is also caused when silt and other suspended solids, such as

soil, wash off ploughed fields, construction and logging sites, urban

areas, and eroded riverbanks when it rains. Under natural conditions,

lakes, rivers, and other water bodies undergo Eutrophication, an aging

process that slowly fills in the water body with sediment and organic

matter. When these sediments enter various bodies of water, fish

respiration becomes impaired, plant productivity and water depth

become reduced, and aquatic organisms and their environments become

suffocated.

Pollution in the form of organic material enters waterways in many