Water pollution - Nicolle Tenorio

 WATER POLLUTION 

Colombia is one of the richest countries in fresh water, yet it is grapping with a water crisis, the conta,mination in the water of colombia can be dated where the process of expanssion of cities of south america began for economic and industrial development. Rivers such as bogota, medellin, cali, pasto and pamplonita which are part of the most important resources of water in the country, are highly contaminated due to direct discrage of untreated effluents, phatogens and various others toxic substances primarily done by the agricultural sector.

 Right now te country is one of the largest producers of gold in latin america, it has recently increased it’s production specially in the departments such as bolivar and cordoba whih in 2014 produced the 90% of colombia’s gold. The impact of gold mining in the enviroment mainly depends on the methods used to extract it. Aditionally this kind of activities demand high volumes of water. Therefore informal mining operations adds pollutions to the water by directly discharging many oils and fuels, studies in cordoba city showed that mercury levels in fishin the baisin of san jorge river exceed the specified threshold 200g, the porcent stablished the world health oganization.

 By all counts when humans consume contaminated fish in the long term they suffer neurological demage and autoimmune dissorders. As another way to see the pollution is the bojaca river which was contaminated with toxic wasting causing an incontriable foam that expanded reaching civilizacion who discribed it smells as something awful and rotten.

 Farming is one of the biggest creators of pollution not only in colombia also in the rest of the world, but from colombia’s point of view theres a lot of breeding centres mostly with cows which contributes to climate change and finally as a result water pollution. Water pollution and rainfall uncertainties are also affecting the stability of agricultural incomes, which are fundamental for thriving rural and remote areas of the country. 

In la guajira For nearly 40 years, conflicts have persisted between the companies involved in the contract and the Wayuú indigenous people, who have denounced, above all, the disappearance and contamination of their water sources. 

The Magdalena River in Colombia is another hreat example, is one of the world's largest tropical rivers, hosting around 170 aquatic vertebrate species. However, concise synthesis of the current ecological and environmental status is lacking. By documenting the anthropogenic stressors impacting the river on time scales ranging from centuries to decades, we found that the river system is subject to the compounding impacts of climate change, river impoundment, invasive alien species (IAS), catchment deforestation, and water pollution. 

While rural communities bear the biggest brunt, urban areas are also heavily affected. According to a report by the World Bank, one third of its population is living under water stress, meaning that they might experience water shortages at some point. Communities have historically used rain water for consumption, but the dry tropical zone is experiencing longer and more intense dry periods, making it harder to rely on this system. Fertilisers used in the palm oil plantations are also polluting the water, causing significant skin and other health problems for those exposed.

Currently colombia’s goverment has been putting effort to reduce mercury levels, for example cali’s mayor service are working hard doing campains to protect the enviroment, then some companies have joined and started to reevaluating gravity as they are relatively simple and they produce little enviromental pollution and also due to the increased costs of flotation reagents. Besides to the awareness miners should be introduce to the new techniques that minimize mercury used or provided with safer alternatives and also the goverment are provining them with technical support.