Potable Water and Ways to Prevent Water Pollution

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What is Potable Water?

Water that is fit and safe for drinking is known as potable water.

How can Water be Purified?

• Filtration: Filtration of polluted water can be done at the household as well as at the city level. The most basic filtration is the use of alum in households. Small candle type filters are also used in
• Boiling: This is the most common way of purifying Boiling kills most of the disease- causing microbes present in it. It is the most effective way to purify water at a household level.
• Chlorination: This method is used to purify water which is stored in huge water tanks to supply to the city. Adding chlorine to water can kill harmful pathogens, bacteria, and viruses in drinking water. Chlorine is also added to pools for the same

How can We Prevent Water Pollution?

We can prevent water pollution at the community level as well as at an individual level. Let us look at both one by one

Community-level

• Create awareness programs
• Host exhibitions on the ways to save water
• Laws for industrial units should be strictly implemented so that polluted water is not disposed of directly into rivers and lakes
• Installation of water treatment plants in all industrial areas

Individual-level

Practise 3 R’s

• Reduce water consumption
• Reuse water whenever possible
• Recycle water

Summary