Can water pollution be cleaned up naturally?

Question

Can water pollution be cleaned up naturally?

Answer 1

I prefer the term natural recycling. The water evaporates and falls some place as rain, natures recycling system.

Can we clean up the place the original water was, so that it will not be recontaminated? yes, but it may not be totally naturally. This will depend on the nature of the pollutants.

In most cases we can force it downstream to teh ocean where heavy materials may sink and cause some harm, but will eventually be covered by silt and sand, gone for millenia at least.

Most materials that float on water will also oxidize in time.

Materials that dissolve in water will mostly be precipitated eventually.

So, yes, eventually the contamination will be hidden, dilluted, oxidized.

Answer 2

Probably Not.

Answer 3

For those who said NOT!!!

Nature is a system.

Nature has its own way to equilibriate everything.

Answer 4

heavy metals and bioaccumulative chemicals stick about for years, but yes, nature is tough and theres something that eats practically anything.

reed bed systems and peat bogs release extremely pure water, and various plants and fungi are used on land for bioremediation, so sounds a good bet in water too. maybe they could develop 'just add water' bags of dried organisms to tip in on top of the polluted area, like the bokashi activator bran.

Answer 5

Sometimes it needs help.  If the bulk of contaminants can be somehow leached out nature will often do the rest.

In the Wichita area we have industrial solvents that have gotten in the ground water.  Since these evaporate, cleanup sites consists of ponds with fountains spraying.  Most of the chemicals escape and the water is returned to the ground in a much cleaner state.

Answer 6

Yes, Water pollution can also be cleaned naturally but it depends what kind of pollutant the water has, for example, if the water is polluted with human waste or other biological wastes, i can be planted with or spawned with water hyacinths, since these palnts are able to convert the materials to nutriens they need, and these plants acn also be used for fiber production (i just dont what fiber can be derived from this). Presently, water haycinths are now used in sewage treatment plants in the US and other parts of the worls to control or perhaps clean the water, what you get is clear but not really free form harmful microorganism though but at least the visible pollutants are taken and the water can be ready for sterilizatio or other filtering process, but in case the water is contaminated or polluted with Heavy metals such as arsenic, or mercury, it is an irriversible process, beacsue they toxic materials will stay in the water and must be cleaned chemically so as to obtain and recover the toxic matter.  One of the good example of toxicly polluted water are those waters found nearby landmines, gold smelting plants and other factories that employ the use of heavy metals and these materials are highly poisonous. I hope i have answered your question

Answer 7

Yes - With mushrooms and bacteria.  Both fungi and bacteria break down complex substances into their basic components.

That's their job.

Answer 8

Yes.   If it has enough time and nothing more is added to it.   The millions of gallons of oil still stuck in Alaska from the spill in 1989 (?) will eventually be eaten by bacteria.