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Effect of Water Pollution on Lake Huron

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According to Wikipedia the definition of water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and ground water). Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds. # During the 18th and 19th centuries it was believed that water could dilute any substance and people would use the rivers and lakes as dumping ground for waste. Without thinking about contamination and their downstream neighbors animal carcasses, industrial effluent and raw sewage were often dumped into waterways. The main ways that pollutants enter the Great Lakes region are point source pollution, non point source pollution and atmospheric pollution. Point source pollution is when pollutants enter through a specific point such as a drainage pipe. This can be traced back to a specific owner and point. Non point source pollution such as sediment from construction sites and eroding shorelines; fertilizer and pesticides from homeowners and farms; human and animal waste; and oil, grease and salt from highways are harder to trace to a specific owner or entry point. This is usually when rain or snowmelt move over the land which picks up pollutants and dumps them into water bodies. Atmospheric pollution is when the pollution falls form the sky and is another form of non point pollution. Waste incinerators and coal burning energy plants are a major cause of atmospheric pollution. Waste from hospitals and burning of fossil fuels produces large amounts of mercury in the air. This happens as the pollution moves through the air and is deposited by rain or snow such as acid rain. Lake Huron is 850 cubic miles or water, has 3,827 miles of lakeshore, it is 206 miles across, 183 miles north to south and has an average depth of 195 feet. Lake Huron’s 23,000 square

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