Environmental Criminology Law Essay Research Paper

Student Name
Environmental Criminology
Institution
Date
Introduction
The availability of freshwater has presented one of the greatest challenges to the modern world; approximately one-third of drinking water as required by the world comes from surface sources such as rivers, lakes, dams as well as canals. Such water sources also act as preferable sinks where domestic and industrial wastes are discharged. One of the biggest challenges and threats to a sustainable supply of water in many regions results from the contamination of available water through industrial actions and pollution. There is still a high percentage of people from different regions of the world that rely on surface water from rivers and lakes for daily supply. Such action exposes them to high risks of contracting waterborne diseases. The surface water has been utilized by humans for several uses especially in developing countries. The same waters have been used for irrigation purposes with fishermen drawing their livelihood from harvesting fish from these freshwater sources. In some instances, the surface water serves as centers for tourist attraction and at the same time utilized for swimming purposes (Bundschuh et al., 2011).
However, the release of industrial wastewater has increased the cases of freshwater pollution, and ultimately decreases in clean water resources. In developing countries, most of the industrial wastewater is not undertaken through any form of treatment. In urban centers, there exist wastewater treatment facilities. However, some of these facilities produce ill-treated effluents that are ultimately disposed of onto freshwater surfaces. The existence of strict environmental laws alongside monitoring for compliance acts as a means of preventing the undue level of pollution to freshwater bodies. Such presence of good wastewater management technologies, as well as improvement in the awareness on environmental protection, contributes adequately towards success resulting in fewer cases of waterborne diseases especially in developed countries as compared to developing countries.
Statement of the problem
A significant percentage of the population in the world, especially in developing countries, still relies on the untreated surface water as the basic source for several purposes. The issues are more pronounced within the rural areas since there are cases of incessant supply or inadequate systems that can supply sufficient water (Bundschuh et al., 2011). Therefore, due to the fact that surface water can easily be accessed, they consider it as the immediate option for the satisfaction of their daily livelihood. However, the ease with which the surface water can easily be accessible makes them the easiest place for industrial wastewater discharge. Such wastewater comprises of several contaminants such as the presence of microorganisms, radionuclides, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals as well as other personal care products. All these contaminants are discharged into the surface water resources, therefore, causing some level of irreversible damage to the aquatic ecosystem. Such a level of pollutants leads to a decrease in the supply of useable water, contaminates different aquatic resources as well as increasing the cost of purification. In this case, the high level of pollution from the industrial wastewater coupled with demand for human for water leads to adverse effects on the biodiversity, functioning of the ecosystem as well as the natural services of the aquatic systems where the society draws its dependence.
As previously mentioned in this paper, the urban areas in many countries have built several wastewater management systems that in some cases prove to be very effective to international standards. However, some of the management systems are plagued with design issues as well as maintenance issues. This study tends to examine the impact of numerous cases of effluents from both large and small industries being channeled to these surface watercourses that eventually result in widespread pollution, loss of biodiversity as well as causing a health risk to human beings.
Control
These cases that touch industrial wastewater pollution can be controlled through advocating for environmental quality as well as instituting antipollution legislation. These interventions are the most widely used for the purposes of reducing the impacts of effluents on the environment.
Study aim
The aim of this study is to determine the impact of the wastewater discharge from the industries on the quality of surface water such as rivers, lakes, streams, and the ocean. At the same time, the study seeks to identify other anthropogenic variables that evidently influence the quality of surface water.
Objectives
The research objectives seek to:
* Identify the level of compliance thereto and influence of water quality legislation on industrial wastewater discharge
* Conduct an assessment on the level of industrial activities along the surface watercourses to identify the point source and impact on water quality
* Propose the potential rehabilitative measures that can redeem the quality of the surface water
Scope of the study
The study by the use of the LCA approach will target different industries with varying treatment capacities alongside technologies applicable within different urban centers.
Literature Review
Wastewater
The term wastewater is used to refer to contaminated water that originates from commercial, domestic as well as industrial sources. In other words, it’s a reference made to any form of water that its quality has been compromised through anthropogenic influences. Wastewater comprises varying degrees of potential contaminants that include sand, industrial process waters, chemical residues, silt, heavy metals, microorganisms, biodegradable organic wastes, pesticides, and solvents amongst other contaminants (Ujang and Henze, 2006). According to Tempelton and Butler (2011), wastewater primarily comprises of approximately more than 95% pure water and less than just 5% impurities. Therefore, different processes exist which can easily be utilized for the purposes of treating the water but this depends entirely on the extent or level of contamination.
It is important to note that the process of wastewater treatment ...