What is the Best Way to Clean Polluted Water?

When we talk about our water, we always ask: "What is the best way to clean polluted water?" The ideal answer is by controlling the pollution source. What does that mean? Nature has ability to purify itself, however, this ability will not work if we put more waste into it than it can actually sustain.

Let say river water. Our river can purify or lower the concentration of biological oxygen demand (BOD). BOD may represent the presence of organic pollutants. However, if we discharge more quantity of waste water than what the nature can do, then the quality of river will then get deteriorated.

It has been public secret that many companies especially in developing countries discharge waste water above the threshold level that the river can handle. This of course will harm our water environment, inhabitants, ecosystem etc. Regulation has to be made and implemented very tight to prevent such kind of action from irresponsible companies or factories.

Another alternative is to force factories to install adequate wastewater treatment plant to ensure that the water discharged meet the threshold level set by the law. Generally, the ideal plan to minimize the cost of the building of wastewater treatment plant is to build an industrial complex or area. Factories and business offices are located on that place. The waste water is then collected and treated in one single plant.

There is no such perfect plan to fix what we have caused to our environment. The only thing we can do is to prevent and minimize the water pollution in the future. And that will not happen without everyone's support in over the world. Therefore, the question "what is the best way to clean polluted water" can be answered "do something first with the waste water source". Then we can discuss more about how we can treat the waste water before it is released into the body water.