Have you ever
thought about what happens when you pour your can of soda out in the grass? What happens to it? Where does it go? The answer is: In our drinking water. Yes, the can of soda that is in your hand can make its way back into your house if you expose it to soil.
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Soda can in the grass (1) |
So what does happen
when we pour our
sodas
in the grass?
Well, once your can of soda is poured onto the grass it begins to seep through the dirt hundreds of feet and eventually it reaches the ground water. Once it has entered the ground water it can make its way into water wells, which many families use as their main sources of water. Also, our groundwater is connected to rivers which causes further water pollution as.
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The Water Cycle (2) |
In the picture shown above, you can see how the contaminated groundwater is
connected to the river and water supply wells. This type of water pollution is
called non-point source pollution, and this occurs a lot more than one may
think.
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Oil on the road (3) |
Non-point source pollution is almost impossible to avoid.
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Oil leaking from a car(4)
|
Where does it come from?
Non-point source pollution comes from things that are commonly used by people every day such as
-septic tanks
-cars
-trucks
-boats
which are shown above and to the right. Millions of motor vehicle engines drop small amounts of oil every day onto roads and parking lots and much of it makes its way to the ground, rivers, and oceans (5).
WATER POLLUTION IS EVERYWHERE
Believe it or not, contaminated drinking water can lead to terrible
illnesses, including cancer. It’s a scary thought because “a known carcinogen
found globally in groundwater supplies due to natural geological occurrence is arsenic (6)." A carcinogen is anything that may cause cancer. You will not find arsenic in your drinking water because of a spilled can of soda only because arsenic is naturally occurring, but drinking contaminated water that has not been filtered can make you very sick... Especially if you drink water with motor oil contamination, yuck!
People don't really think about what happens to their soda once
it's spilled onto the ground when in reality, it's getting absorbed into the
earth and potentially ending up in our water supply wells. Who wants to bathe
in or drink old soda that has been passed through the ground? Not me!
So next time, think twice before dumping your soda in the grass!
References
1)Flickr. Jordan Hampton. Retrieved from
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jordanhampton/5877859268/
2) EC.GC. Retrieved from
https://www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=En&n=6A7FB7B2-1
3) Flickr. David Ambridge. Retrieved from
https://www.flickr.com/photos/89076857@N00/6838120426
4) Huffington Post. Retrieved from
6) Chappels, H.,
Perker, L., C. V., Conrad, C., Drage, J., O’Toole, G., & Dummer, T.B.
(2014). Arsenic in private drinking water wells: An assessment of
jurisdictional regulations and guidelines for risk remediation in North America.
Journal of Water & Health, 12(3),
372-392. Doi:10.2166/wh.2014.054