Water pollution control refers to the general practice of monitoring, observing, and regulating the injection of hazardous waste or other undesirable elements into public water. Pollution prevention initiatives can be undertaken relative to a body of water or a groundwater area. Governments on federal, state, and local levels make decisions about water pollution monitoring and other environmental pollution issues.
In the U.S., the Federal Water Pollution Control Act provides direction for water pollution oversight and control at a federal level. This law sets out standards and water quality programs, and it also provides funding for some pollution control programs. It is better known as the Clean Water Act.
Some grassroots activists actively canvas neighborhoods to promote clean water issues related to this and other environmental legislation. Many different parties can refer to the language of the act, which shows that the general aim of the legislation is to improve the quality of all public water, including waterways and groundwater areas. The act has been amended routinely to help provide adapted responses to changing water pollution problems.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is active in water pollution prevention work at the federal level. The agency provides specific forms of oversight for all kinds of environmental pollution. It also provides a lot of consumer information, as well as information for businesses, on their web site, where users can see more about what this federal agency does in each state or region.
Agencies that deal with this problem look at various sources of water pollution, such as chemical elements coming from industrial facilities. Another common source of water pollution is nitrates and other elements coming from the fertilizers used in various agricultural projects. Other forms of water pollution may come from households, small businesses, or larger corporate facilities. They may be constant or variable sources that require vastly different responses.
Government entities treat water pollution control on a case-by-case basis. In local communities, municipal government boards may look at a specific control issue, and its particular impact on the properties in proximity to it. Local boards can often make temporary or even permanent rulings on land uses, but in some cases, they may refer a pollution issue to the state or federal department. Different prevention programs work together to get out accurate information about a pollution issue and then regulate it through legislation as necessary.
