Water crisis - poor health

Deficit of fresh clean water is а cause of many diseases and even of people' s deaths. As а result of illnesses caused by dirty water а child dies every eight seconds. In the developing countries 80 %of all diseases are spread because of consumption of dirty water. Disease-causing microorganisms living in the water and pollution annually kill 25 million people. The highest rate of deaths from lethal illnesses related to dirty water, such as dysentery, cholera, typhus is registered in tropical countries. However, developed countries also suffer from water pollution. In 1993, in the city of Milouwakee, Wisconsin, 400000 people became sick because of drinking water filled with chlorine-resistant micro organisms. After that people started to boil water. Industry uses much less water, but consequences of the use can be much more dangerous because of the following reasons. First of all, the use of water for industrial needs is not regulated by the governments and this may result in abuses. Second, industrial wastes thrown into the water can make on-the-ground and underground waters dangerous for people' s health.

The consequences of the irrational use of water resources are especially harmful if we consider the fact that it is not always ассоmpanied by increase in agricultural productivity. The unwillingness to create appropriate draining systems at the crop lands (immediate saving of funds) results in expansion of swamps and increase in the level of salt on the crop lands, which in turn leads to loosing productivity of the lands.

 

Text 6

Translate into English:

В нашей стране большое внимание уделяется вопросам охране вод. В 15 крупных городах, расположенных в бассейнах рек Волги и Камы, вводятся в эксплуатацию городские сооружения по очистке воды (treatment plants). Предусмотрено, что сброс сточных вод во всех городах, расположенных в бассейнах рек Волги и Урала, будет полностью прекращён.

Проводятся крупные мероприятия по охране водных ресурсов и животного мира в Каспийском море, озере Байкал и др.

Самое крупное озеро в нашей стране – Байкал. Оно содержит 20% всей пресной воды планеты. В прибрежных районах сосредоточены большие массивы леса, минеральные ископаемые. На предприятиях, сбрасывающих промышленные воды в реки, были построены очистительные сооружения.

Учёные за последние годы создали эффективные сооружения для очистки промышленных водных стоков. Через них сбрасываются в реки и озёра воды, пригодные для нормального развития природных процессов в водоёмах.

 

UNIT IV.

CHEMICALS IN THE ENVIRONMENT

 

Vocabulary

Chemicals химикалии

Stem from происходить из

Sustain поддерживать

Lane тропинка, улица

Emission control контроль за выбросами

 

Text 1

Read the text below and render it in Russia or English, as you like.

Do you agree with the idea that some environmental problems have arisen from poorly controlled discharges of wastes or chemicals?

 

In recent years there has been increasing concern around the world over chemicals in the environment. Such concern has arisen in response to information on the widespread distribution of chemicals stemming from human activities and the potentially harmful effects of those chemicals on humans or on the ecological systems which sustain humans. Some environmental problems, such as contaminated lane, have arisen from poorly controlled discharges of wastes or chemicals whilst others, such as air pollution, have arisen from poor emission controls on energy generation and motor vehicles.

 

Other problems have arisen from the release of chemical into the environment over many years where insufficient attention had been given to an analysis of their behavior in soils, air and water and to their effects on humans and other species. Chlorinated organo-compounds illustrate this problem. For example, groups of chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodyphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) were developed as relatively stable substances so it is not surprising today that as a result of their widespread use and release into the environment they can be detected in Arctic and Antarctic snow and surrounding ecosystems.

 

Read the text and make the resume of it:

Text 2