What causes Ground Water Pollution?
States report that most pollution is caused by gasoline and other fuels that leak from tanks buried underground. Gas stations aren’t the only places with buried tanks. People who use oil for heat in the winter often have tanks buried in their backyards. Other potential pollution sources that you can’t see include leaky septic systems and leaky landfills. Ground water pollution can also begin above ground. If man-made ponds that are used to treat wastewater are not properly installed and maintained, they can leak polluted water into the ground. Pollution such as chemicals spilled on the ground, bacteria and nutrients from livestock areas, and pesticides and nutrients from farmland can also seep down to the ground water. Can We Fix the Problems? Sometimes ground water pollution is caused by different types of sources that slowly leak a little pollution. Because the sources are spread out, environmental managers have a difficult time finding and controlling the pollution. In other cases,
