Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)


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7413260 
Journal Article 
Primary Water Quality Challenges, Contaminants and the World’s Dirtiest Places 
du Plessis, A; , 
2019 
79-114 
Water has beenplaced on the forefront of some global goals, numerous agendas and been recognised as vital resource.However it is still being widely degraded at different intensities and rates and remains a significant globalchallenge in terms of availability but also quality. Poor water quality directly translates into decreasing the availability of the world’s water resources and attributes to water scarcity. Water scarcity caused by increased poor water quality has been exacerbated by increased pollution mainly caused by the disposal of large quantities of insufficiently treated or untreated wastewater. Emerging pollutants in combination with future changes in climate patterns will also exacerbate current and create new water quality challenges, which still have unknown long-term impacts on the world’s ecosystems and human health. The world’s water resources are being degraded by numerous factors. Surface and groundwater resources as well as the environment and human population as a whole are becoming more and more threatened by numerous types of contaminants as well as toxic pollution problems which may have immediate as well as significant long-term effects.