Point-source pollution — Science definition
Pollution that enters the environment from a single, identifiable location, such as a factory's discharge pipe or a power plant's smokestack.
Where it is taught
- Pollution — Pollution, Carbon & Climate Evidence, Physics & Environmental Science, Grade 12
In use
Point-source pollution has an identifiable outlet, such as a discharge pipe.
Pollution
Questions using point-source pollution
Problem 1
Why is nonpoint-source pollution generally harder to control than point-source pollution?
- It comes from many scattered, diffuse sources spread across the landscape, so there is no single pipe or stack to regulate
- It only occurs indoors, where it cannot be measured
- It is always invisible, while point-source pollution can always be seen
- Nonpoint pollution is always chemically more toxic than point-source pollution
Answer and explanation
It comes from many scattered, diffuse sources spread across the landscape, so there is no single pipe or stack to regulate
Point sources can be sampled and regulated at one outlet, but nonpoint pollution seeps in from countless diffuse locations at once, making it far harder to pinpoint and fix.
Problem 2
Which of the following is an example of point-source pollution?
- Runoff from many farm fields after a rainstorm
- A single pipe carrying waste from one factory into a river
- Exhaust from all the cars across a city
- Pesticides drifting off thousands of separate lawns
Answer and explanation
A single pipe carrying waste from one factory into a river
Point-source pollution comes from one identifiable outlet you can point to and regulate — like a single factory's discharge pipe. The others are diffuse, nonpoint sources.