• Waterdoc@lemmy.caEnglish
    34·
    9 months ago

    Clean is relative, there are lots of contaminants in wetland water that make it unsafe. They are incredibly important and very useful for naturally cleaning water, but please don’t drink the swamp water.

    • dumpsterlid@lemmy.worldEnglish
      43·
      9 months ago

      Who put those contaminants there though?

      Swamp creatures didn’t, the swamp didn’t, we did.

      • Waterdoc@lemmy.caEnglish
        14·
        9 months ago

        Not not contaminants are anthropogenic. Decomposing organic matter, heavy metals from soil and rock erosion, microorganisms and microbial by-products all naturally occur in wetlands and are dangerous to us. There’s nothing wrong with that, just don’t drink it or get it in open wounds :)

        • Tar_AlcaranEnglish
          9·
          9 months ago

          There are some Dutch wetlands where the natural arsenic levels are high enough that by picking up a bucket of dirt and then placing it back down, you are technically committing an environmental crime.

          There’s so much arsenic in the ground, it’s killing the beavers who chew on the trees that grow there (birches don’t care, beavers do).

          And it’s been there since before humans even lived there. Just naturally occurring pollution.