Illuminating the 'invisible water crisis' to address global water pollution challenges.

In the face of intermeshed phases of pollutants, we need compressed and overlapping solutions that: Integrate understanding of human activity into holistic water management To address complex water quality challenges, rivers and their hinterlands must be managed as connected systems. We propose river pollution can be conceptualized in three historical "Phases", characterized by distinct contaminant types and mitigation methods: Phase 1. FROM CRISIS TO SOLUTIONS The last two centuries of water problems and solutions (Figure 2) demonstrate that we must be proactive in managing river pollution rather than create new pollution legacies for future generations. Growing pollutant knowledge has improved regulation with more stringent standards Although the widespread detection of long-banned pollutants such as Polychlorinated biphenyls could signal worsening pollution, often it reflects improved measurement capabilities. [Extracted from the article]