After attending the United States Air Force Academy, Luca Simmons entered the John Hopkins Carey School of Business, where he is studying for a bachelor of business administration degree. In his spare time, Luca Simmons enjoys volunteering as an assistant baseball coach and engaging in initiatives to curb water pollution.
Now more than ever, Americans are deeply concerned about water pollution. A 2017 Gallup poll revealed that 63 percent of Americans were worried about pollution in drinking water, and 57 percent had concerns about pollution in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. And they are right to be worried, according to recent studies on water pollution in the country.
A 2017 report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that most of the rivers in the country were unsafe for aquatic life. The report rated 55 percent of rivers and streams as “poor,” 23 percent as “fair,” and only 21 percent as “good” and “healthy.” The areas with the worst cases of water pollution were the northeast and south. The principal cause of pollution was traced to nitrogen and phosphorus present in fertilizers and waste water runoffs. This pollution affects humans, too, since this is the water Americans drink.
A report by the Natural Resources Defense Council revealed that in 2015, 77 million Americans lived in areas with violations of drinking water safety regulations. Out of the 80,000 violations reported that year, over 12,000 were health based. These included high levels of lead, arsenic, nitrates, and other pollutants in tap water. With numbers like these, water pollution should be a top concern for all Americans.
