ABSTRACT

Water runs over the steepest precipice and blinks not a lash. The term “Sick Water” was coined by the United Nations in a 2010 press release addressing the need to recognize that it is time to arrest the global tide of sick water. Water that is sick is actually a filthy medium or wastewater—a cocktail of fertilizer runoff and sewage disposal alongside animal, industrial, agricultural, and other wastes. Nutrients are present in animal and human waste and chemical fertilizers. All organic material such as leaves and grass clippings contains nutrients. Sewage treatment plants, industries, and factories are the major point sources. The largest source of nutrients dumped into the Bay are nonpoint sources. Water covers almost three-quarters of earth’s surface. Most human settlements evolved and continue to develop along the shores of many freshwater bodies, mainly rivers.