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Water Pollution

Chapter 7
ENVR200
Fall 2020-2021

Major types of water pollutants and their

effect

The various types of water pollutants can be classified in to following major

categories:
1) Organic pollutants
2) Pathogens
3) Nutrients and agriculture runoff
4) Suspended solids
5) Inorganic pollutants (salts and metals)
6) Thermal Pollution
7) Radioactive pollutants

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1. Organic pollutants

Organic pollutants can be further divided in to following categories:

 a) Oxygen Demanding wastes:
 The wastewaters such as, domestic and municipal sewage, wastewater from food
processing industries, slaughter houses, etc. have considerable concentration of
biodegradable organic compounds.
 These wastes undergo degradation and decomposition by bacterial activity.
 The dissolved oxygen available in the water body will be consumed for aerobic
oxidation of organic matter present in the wastewater. Hence, depletion of the DO
will be a serious problem adversely affecting aquatic life.
 This decrease of DO is an index of pollution.

b) Synthetic Organic Compounds

 These include synthetic pesticides, synthetic detergents, food additives,
pharmaceuticals, insecticides, paints, synthetic fibers, plastics, solvents and
volatile organic compounds(VOCs).
 Most of these compounds are toxic and non-biodegradable i.e., they are resistant to
microbial degradation
 The detergents can form foams and volatile substances may cause explosion in
sewers.

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c) Oil:
Oil enters in to water through oil spills, leak from oil pipes, and wastewater from
production and refineries. This pollutant is also responsible for endangering water
birds and coastal plants due to coating of oils and adversely affecting the normal
activities.
It also results in reduction of light transmission through surface waters, thereby
reducing the photosynthetic activity of the aquatic plants.

2. Pathogens: (disease causing organisms)

The pathogenic microorganisms enter in to water body through sewage discharge as a

major source or through the wastewater from industries like slaughterhouses.
Viruses and bacteria can cause water borne diseases, such as cholera, typhoid,
dysentery, polio and infectious hepatitis in human.

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3. Nutrients:

The agriculture run-off, wastewater from fertilizer industry and sewage contains
substantial concentration of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous. These waters
supply nutrients to the plants and may stimulate the growth of algae and other aquatic
weeds in receiving waters.
Thus, the value of the water body is degraded.
In long run, water body reduces DO, leads to eutrophication and ends up as a dead
pool of water.
People swimming in eutrophic waters containing blue-green algae can have skin and
eye irritation, gastroenteritis and vomiting.

4. Suspended solids or particles:

 These comprise of silt, sand and minerals eroded from land. These appear in the
water through the surface runoff during rainy season and through municipal
sewers. This can lead to the siltation, reduces storage capacities of reservoirs.
 Presence of suspended solids can block the sunlight penetration in the water,
which is required for the photosynthesis by bottom vegetation.
 Deposition of the solids in water affects the normal aquatic life and affects the
diversity of the aquatic ecosystem. Fine suspended solids such as silt and coal dust
may injure the gills of fishes and cause asphyxiation.

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5. Inorganic pollutants:

 These compounds are non-biodegradable and persist in the environment. These

pollutants include mineral acids, inorganic salts and heavy metals.
 Metals in high concentration can be toxic to biota e.g. Hg, Cu, Cd, Pb, As, and Se.

6. Thermal pollution:

 Considerable thermal pollution results due to discharge of hot water from thermal
power plants, nuclear power plants, and industries where water is used as coolant.
 As a result of hot water discharge, the temperature of water body increases; which
reduces the DO content of the water and adversely affecting the aquatic life. This
alters the spectrum of organisms, which can adopt to live at that temperature and
DO level. The bacterial action increases due to rise in temperature; hence, resulting
in rapid decrease of DO.
 The discharge of hot water leads to the thermal stratification in the water body,
where hot water will remain on the top.

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7. Radioactive pollutants:

 Radioactive materials originate from the following:

 Mining and processing of ores, use in research, agriculture, medical and industrial
activities.
 Radioactive discharges from nuclear power plants and nuclear reactors, uses and
testing of nuclear weapons.
 These isotopes are toxic to the life forms; they accumulate in the bones, teeth and
can cause serious disorders.

Solutions to water pollution

There is no easy way to solve water pollution; if there were, it wouldn't be so much of a problem.
 Reducing Nutrient and Pesticide Pollution: Solutions to water pollution caused by excess nutrients and
chemical pesticides can be found in following broad categories:
 Encourage smart agricultural practices...
 Reduce urban/suburban runoff of lawn fertilizers and pesticides...
 Prevent further destruction wetlands, and reestablish them wherever possible..
 .Improve sewage treatment
 -Reducing Sewage Pollution
 -Eliminate "straight pipes."
 Conserve water
 Reducing Pollution from Oil and Petroleum Liquids
 Cleaning Up Chemical Pollution: Chemicals are everywhere, in everything—"better living through
chemistry" has turned out to have a serious pollution downside.