Determining Causes and Effects - Essay Example

Water quality has become a crucial issue along the southern shores of Lake Huron in recent years with levels of pollution both non-point and point source pollution increasing in intensity and wrecking untold havoc on the lake’s ecosystem (The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation, 2004). The lake has been plagued by different forms of water pollution, which have seriously jeopardized the lives and health of the animals, and humans depending on the water as well as the community who may use it for swimming or boating.

This paper aims at examining the main causes of pollution on the lake as well as the social economical effect they have on the surrounding areas and it inhabitants. The main cause of pollution in Lake Huron is direct discharge of pollutant matter including, chemicals and microbial substances through a number of channels, which may fall under non-point or point pollution. The main pollutants in Huron originate from a number of sources, including runoff from industries, storm and drainage pipes or polluted water from rivers, other non-point sources are run off from road construction sites as well as oil and grease and similar runoff from urban energy production (Human Health and the Great Lakes, 2003).

This is enhanced further by the considerable size of the drainage area of the lake, exposing it to material from an expansive area which increases the possibility of channeling contaminant matter. In addition, soil erosion, excess fertilizers from farms and herbicides have contaminated the lake water. While much of these pollutants have been managed today, sediments from such run off in retrospect are considered the main cause of pollution today. Bacteria and other nutrients from animals which end up in the lake after they are washed in by rainwater, these are found in pathogens which re organisms mostly found in the intestinal tracts of mammals often originated from sewerage and septic tank systems (Crowe, n.d.).

This has resulted to a