What is Pollution—An Engineer's Viewpoint

Water pollution manifests itself in the form of water quality changes. The writer defines pollution as the impairment of water quality with resultant significant interference with beneficial water use. Pollution control laws recognize the necessity of discharging waste water into the natural drainage; and, in general, these laws do not prohibit the discharge of sewage or industrial wastes. It is the damage that such discharges can cause that is forbidden. In understanding and using the self-purification capacity of natural waters it should be remembered that the words use and abuse are not synonomous. The best talent from many disciplines will be required to cope with present and future water pollution control problems.