Water quality – taking care of our rivers and streams

Abstract

Water Kidz South Africa is a water scarce country. Since we don’t have a lot of water to go around we have to take care of the little water we have. Unfortunately, human activities have polluted many of our rivers and streams. Rivers are often seen as the mirrors of the environment. They reflect whatever is going on in the catchment that they drain. Everything that happens in a catchment area is reflected in the quality of the water that flows through it, because the results of human activity and lifestyle ultimately end up in rivers, through runoff. Healthy streams, wetlands and rivers support a great variety of water life. All life in the water is dependent on the interaction within the river itself and in the surrounding catchment. These processes can either maintain a healthy ecosystem or disrupt ecological processes and degrade the water supply. Changes in water quality occur naturally along the length of a river; however, these changes may be significantly influenced by human activities.

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