Why is oil bad for the environment

Effects of oil spills

Oil spills can contaminate streams, rivers and, if it seeps into soil and rocks, groundwater.

In South-Africa, our drinking water supplies come from rivers and groundwater. We must protect them both from pollution.

Oil is toxic and harmful to plants and animals and a threat to their habitats.

Environmental impact of oil

For the last five years, oil has consistently been one of the top three polluters in South-Africa.

Many drains flow directly into rivers. Streams or lakes, and pouring the oil down a drain can have the same effect as pouring it directly into a watercourse.

A single liter of oil can contaminate 1 million liters of water.

Oil pollution can wreak havoc on the aquatic environment by spreading across the surface in a thin layer
that prevents oxygen from reaching plants and animals that live in the water. Oil pollution:

Wild birds are particularly vulnerable, both from damage to the waterproofing of their plumage and from eating the oil while preening.

Mammals such as water voles may also be affected.

In the soil and soil oils, organisms necessary to maintain the environmental balance are enveloped or killed.

Human Impact

It's not just the effect that oil has on wildlife; Oil spills can render water unsuitable for irrigation and affect the operation of water treatment plants.

Oil spills can render drinking water sources unsuitable and very expensive to repair.

If oil spills Near a building could Oil vapors entering the building and making it unsafe to stay. This can mean that the building becomes unusable until the costly restoration work is completed or, in extreme cases, has to be demolished. If this is your home or place of work, this can be devastating.

Insurance Tips

Cleaning up oil spills is difficult and can be very expensive; the cost can be thousands of pounds. Dealing with a spill will cause you and perhaps your neighbors a great deal of inconvenience, so having insurance is important. Make sure your policy includes:

See what could happen to you if you don't take care of your oil.

It is against the law to cause contamination, so you must take action to clean up any serious spill or leak. Your insurance company may not pay if the leak has been going on for a while or is because you didn't follow best practice guidelines.

We recommend that you regularly check your tank and lines and monitor the amount of oil used so you can spot sudden changes and take action.

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