The effects of water pollution
Pollution is not always visible. A river or lake may seem clean, but still be polluted. In groundwater, on which over one quarter of all Canadians rely for their water supply, pollution is especially difficult to discern. Nor are the effects of pollution necessarily immediate; they may take years to appear.
When pollution makes water unsuitable for drinking, recreation, agriculture and industry, it eventually also diminishes the aesthetic quality of lakes and rivers. Even more seriously, when contaminated water destroys aquatic life and reduces its reproductive abilities, it eventually menaces human health. Nobody escapes the effects of water pollution.
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