by Thokozile Gurganious

Created on: July 29, 2009   Last Updated: July 31, 2009

A case study of some of the world's rivers shows the culprits in their contamination: Governments, multinational corporations (especially those in the mining industry), other manufacturing and industrial companies, commercial agriculture and to a very minimal extent individuals.

Governments are to blame for the contamination of the world's rivers for two reasons: First, governments are responsible because they fail to regulate the disposal of industrial and other waste by individuals, multi-national companies and other companies. For, example, in Nigeria, Shell was able to dump oil waste without any regulation from the government, and people are able to dump dead human bodies in the Ganges River because the government of India is failing to stop that.

Governments are also responsible for the contamination of the world's rivers because some governments to not have the money to built and/or maintain sewage treatment plants. When this is the case, the financially strapped municipalities dump the sewage of their ballooning populations into the world's rivers. This has been done by cities along the River Nile in Egypt.

Multi-national companies are also responsible for the contamination of the world's rivers in that they dump mining (e.g. oil waste) into rivers either deliberately, accidentally or negligently.

Individuals also play a role in the contamination of the world's rivers as shown by the contamination of the Ganges by people dumping the bodies of their loved ones into the river because of the belief that the river is holy and if dead people are thrown into it they will be purified and will go to heaven.

Commercial agriculture is also responsible for the contamination of the world's rivers because the phosphorus and nitrogen in the fertilizers, and chemicals in pesticides, all eventually find their way into the world's rivers.

The Rio del Plata River is one of the world's contaminated rivers. The coastal parts of this river have suffered from oil spills, industrial waste water pollution and pesticide pollution from horticulture and floriculture farms where the utilization of pesticides is rigorous.

After water privatization in 1993, the company that took over water management failed to deliver the promises that it had made, including building sewage treatment facilities. The company dumped 95% of sewage waste into the Rio Del Plata instead.

Another contaminated world river is the Niger River in Nigeria. To get a glimpse of the extent of the contamination

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