Impurities in the water, both natural and artificial, all pose potential health hazards. Tremendous amounts of toxic substances are produced every day from various sources such as industry, agriculture, and even residential homes. These toxic materials must be removed from the water before being discharged into the water system. It is for this reason that effective treatment of wastewater is extremely important. Before any polluted water is discharged into the ocean, it needs to pass through a series of steps to remove as many disease-causing pathogens from the water as possible. Proper control of wastewater is important as well. Optimally, as much wastewater as possible is purified locally and discharged naturally into the ground rather than releasing the wastewater into the ocean. If proper filtration of the water is not performed, a tremendous health hazard exists in the nearby area of effluent water. Any organism that comes in direct contact with the polluted water can contract any number of diseases. Though most illnesses are relatively mild, some bacteria and viruses found in unfiltered wastewater are potentially fatal. Often times, people infected with a waterborne illness show few or even no symptoms until the person has progressed to a more advanced state of sickness, making treatment even more difficult.

"Out of sight, out of mind has been a familiar attitude toward waste disposal, especially when it comes to dumping all kinds of unwanted material into the ocean. For centuries, the oceans have been the final destination for much of humanity's garbage, but until the twentieth century, the worst effects of this practice were mostly localized. As it becomes increasingly difficult to dispose of wastes on land, however, using oceans as a dumpsite has been an attractive option and the consequences have become more widespread" (MacInnis, 1).

All wastewater entering the ocean must be properly purified in order to minimize contamination of the surrounding ecosystem. Not only are high levels of impurities in the water dangerous to nearby marine life, humans can be directly affected by prolonged contact with water. Contaminated water is extremely dangerous to all living organisms. The world does not give enough attention to properly cleaning the water that enters the ocean. "Water is essential and precious, yet often undervalued and wasted. Its abundance and our long experience with managing its fluctuations can make us complacent about our ability to meet demand for this critical resource in the future" (Moss, 6). If the discharging of polluted water into the ocean continues at its current rate, disease and death of humans and marine life will only increase.

Perhaps the most effective way to control wastewater flow is to localize all purification of contaminated water when possible, rather than dump it into the ocean. There are several different ways to do this, depending on the number of houses and businesses located on the system. Among these systems are onsite, cluster, and centralized systems. Onsite systems, or septic systems, purify the wastewater from only one individual area. Septic systems are very common in suburban and rural areas that are some distance away from a water treatment facility. Septic systems utilize a tank that contains wastewater solids and a leaching field where liquids are discharged into the ground. Waste liquid is then naturally purified by percolating down through layers of sand and gravel. Septic tanks are must effective in areas with easily permeable soils in order to facilitate easy percolation of liquid wastewater. Cluster systems are often used in neighborhoods with small lot areas. These systems collect wastewater from a number of homes, and discharge it into the ground. Cluster systems are usually nothing more than large versions of the onsite system. Centralized wastewater systems are a safe and effective way of disposing wastewater into the ocean.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3252
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)