Oil spills can devastate our oceans. The irreversible effects of such damage can have a lasting impact on nature. There are many problems caused by ocean oil spills and they raise some important questions: Can oil spills wash up on shore? And how long would it take for the environment affected by the oil spill to recover? The relevant question, of course, is why oil spills are so dangerous. Oil spills can easily hit coastlines and beaches if not addressed quickly, making the aftermath of the tragedy worse. The time it takes for the environment to recover from an oil spill depends on the extent of the damage. It can take 15 years for the effects of a small spill to completely disappear and for a larger oil spill it can take much longer.
Sometimes oil spills can also be responsible for the collapse and instant mortality of a wide variety of aquatic organisms, as well as years of water pollution that restrict reproduction and habitat restoration.
Why is oil spill harmful to the environment?
Oil spills are dangerous to the environment in the following ways:
- Natural hazardous wastes (oil and grease) cause environmental damage to marine species, plants and animals, including mutagenic and carcinogenic damage to humans.
- Discharges from numerous sources form a coating that lowers dissolved oxygen on the surface of the water.
- The oil and fat layer reduces the biological activity of the treatment phase, when microbes form an oil film in suspended solids and water.
- There are lower concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the water.
How can we fix an oil leak?
In such a tragedy, rapid action is required. Because of this, most oil companies, port managers, marinas, manufacturing companies, and other companies working in ports and on the coast tend to take precautionary measures. There are different solutions depending on the location, shape and extent of the leak. However, oil spills do not only occur at sea. They can even appear in your office, on your construction site, or even at home. And guess what the result of so-called "innocent" oil spills? Well, the results and environmental impact of such incidents are the same, although the scale of the disaster may be less. But there is just no reason why you should take oil spills lightly. As mentioned earlier, the oil spill takes thousands of years to wash off completely.
When you encounter such a problem, make sure that you opt for one of the following remedies to get rid of the accidental oil spill:
- Spill the containment by using booms to contain the oil
- Mechanical recovery with skimmers
- Use towable bubbles
- Final storage of the recovered oil or its removal
- Using Oil removal wipes
Benefits of removing oil from bodies of water
There are many benefits to removing oil from any body of water. While a majority of the profits are lifesaving, there are also several industrial benefits. Here are some of the key benefits of removing oil from water:
- Improving the ability to reuse water for industrial processes
- Reduction of the total water consumption by extending the life cycle
- Extension of the service life and reduction of maintenance requirements for devices for water and coolant filtration
- Reducing the number of chemicals required for water treatment or sanitation
- Reducing wastewater treatment costs
Necessity of the hour
A full clean-up of the contaminated areas is of the utmost importance and proactive action in such situations is the best approach. Remember, the longer the delay, the more likely the oil will pollute and affect the ecosystem.
