Running head: CRYSTAL CLEAR 1

Crystal Clear
Katarzyna Gawor
PHIL 447

CRYSTAL CLEAR 2
Crystal Clear
Step 1: State the problem. Water covers around 70% of the planet’s surface and it is a home for ¾ of all life on planet Earth. Out of such a large amount of water, only a few percent is drinkable for humans, known as sweet waters. We do not think about how little it really is; because we see it everywhere. Therefore, we would like to think we have a lot of it, and that we will never run out. We go to kitchen sinks, we turn the knob and water comes out. It is very simple. Unfortunately, this easy access might die out soon if humans do not change their habits. Soon, drinkable water might turn into a very rare item to have, and a battle for survival will begin.
Step 2: Cause of the problem. Over a period of time, the image of water as we know has been changing. The waters are now largely polluted and to cleanse these waters, stronger and stronger chemicals are developed. One of the greatest factors to play a role in this new image is humans. Over the last few decades, humans entered into a technological revolution, where these technologies substituted old-fashioned techniques to reduce the costs and increase the production of products. People were fascinated with the innovations and they could only see the new rewards such as owning a car, or using new chemicals to clean their house because it is cheaper and, supposedly, better. However, with a great, new, easy lifestyle, also came a compromise. Many chemical companies are creating toxic products to clean houses with. They advertise with sparkly commercials, telling you how good the product works, and how cheap it is. What they don not tell you is that after you are done cleaning, and you pour the dirty water down the drain, it travels to a river where it infects the clean water. Most of the time rivers are,

CRYSTAL CLEAR 3 where vulnerable marine life and plants live and become exposed to these chemicals. They either die or are left with serious side effects.
Some other chemical companies such as Round-Up are using chemicals to kill pests and weeds. They promote how well it works, how little work needs to be done and how safe it is to use. The problem is that soil absorbs the chemical, which then travels to the rivers when it rains. Many weeds are evolving to become resistant to these chemicals as they fight for survival, and super weeds are becoming a reality, which will become a danger to all living plants. For example, in Wisconsin between 2007- 2010, testing was done on water quality. The author of this laboratory’s finding found that 47% of the private wells had exceeded one or more health-based water quality standards. Waters were tested for coliform bacteria, fluoride, nitrate-nitrogen, and 13 more metals. The reason behind this pollution is vulnerable groundwater that was contaminated by natural minerals, agricultural chemicals, and household products (Knobeloch, Christenon, Anderson, & Gorski, 2013).
Other non-chemical companies, such as food companies, produce tons of plastic, glass, and paper to wrap their food in. Every year 180 million tons of toxic waste is dumped into world’s water. (Sampat, 2012). This leaves defenseless animals at risk, and pollutes the water that is so valuable to us. Many animals such as turtles get stuck in plastic wrappers and are unable to grow the way nature intended them to thus, growing abnormal body parts that have a serious toll on their health. Other marine life such as fish can swallow the waste which cannot be digested and are