International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD)

Volume 6 Issue 6, September-October 2022 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470

Analysis of Water Pollution

Dr. Shruti Gupta
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, BBD Government College, Chimanpura, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

ABSTRACT How to cite this paper: Dr. Shruti Gupta

A practical definition of water pollution is: "Water pollution is the "Analysis of Water Pollution" Published
addition of substances or energy forms that directly or indirectly alter in International
the nature of the water body in such a manner that negatively affects Journal of Trend in
its legitimate uses".  Therefore, pollution is associated with concepts Scientific Research
and Development
attributed to humans, namely the negative alterations and the uses of
(ijtsrd), ISSN:
the water body. Water is typically referred to as polluted when it is 2456-6470,
impaired by anthropogenic contaminants. Due to these contaminants Volume-6 | Issue-6, IJTSRD51834
it either does not support a human use, such as drinking water, or October 2022,
undergoes a marked shift in its ability to support its biotic pp.106-112, URL:
communities, such as fish. www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd51834.pdf

KEYWORDS: pollution, water, analysis, diseases, human, community, Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and
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INTRODUCTION
The study shows that the values of four parameters Hardness are increasing yearly, whereas the values of
namely, Temperature, Total Coliform, TDS, and pH and DO are not rising heavily.

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The considered physicochemical parameters for the study are TDS, Chlorides, Alkalinity, DO, Temperature,
COD, BOD, pH, Magnesium, Hardness, Total Coliform, and Calcium. As per the results and trend analysis, the
value of total coliform, temperature, and hardness are rising year by year, which is a matter of concern. The
values of the considered physicochemical parameters have been monitored using various monitoring stations
installed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India. Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the
contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses.[1]
Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water pollution results when
contaminants are introduced into these water bodies. Water pollution can be attributed to one of four sources:
sewage discharges, industrial activities, agricultural activities, and urban runoff including stormwater.[2] It can
be grouped into surface water pollution (either fresh water pollution or marine pollution) or groundwater
pollution. For example, releasing inadequately treated wastewater into natural waters can lead to degradation of
these aquatic ecosystems. Water pollution can also lead to water-borne diseases for people using polluted water
for drinking, bathing, washing or irrigation.[3] Water pollution reduces the ability of the body of water to
provide the ecosystem services (such as drinking water) that it would otherwise provide.

Sources of water pollution are either point sources or non-point sources. Point sources have one identifiable
cause, such as a storm drain, a wastewater treatment plant or an oil spill. Non-point sources are more diffuse,
such as agricultural runoff.[4] Pollution is the result of the cumulative effect over time. Pollution may take the
form of toxic substances (e.g., oil, metals, plastics, pesticides, persistent organic pollutants, industrial waste
products), stressful conditions (e.g., changes of pH, hypoxia or anoxia, increased temperatures, excessive
turbidity, unpleasant taste or odor, and changes of salinity), or pathogenic organisms. Contaminants may include
organic and inorganic substances. Heat can also be a pollutant, and this is called thermal pollution. A common
cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers.
Control of water pollution requires appropriate infrastructure and management plans as well as legislation.
Technology solutions can include improving sanitation, sewage treatment, industrial wastewater treatment,
agricultural wastewater treatment, erosion control, sediment control and control of urban runoff (including
stormwater management). Effective control of urban runoff includes reducing speed and quantity of flow.[4]

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Discussion
Pollutants and their effects (sources of these pollutants are municipal and industrial wastewater,
urban runoff, agricultural and pasture activities).
Main representative
Pollutant Possible effect of the pollutant
parameter
Aesthetic problems
Sludge deposits
Suspended solids Total suspended solids
Pollutants adsorption
Protection of pathogens
Oxygen consumption
Biodegradable organic Biological oxygen
Death of fish
matter demand
Septic conditions
Excessive algae growth
Toxicity to fish (ammonia)
Nitrogen
Nutrients Illnesses in new-born infants (Blue baby
Phosphorus
syndrome from nitrate)
Pollution of groundwater
Coliforms, such as E.
Pathogens Coli Waterborne diseases
Helminth eggs
Toxicity (various)
Pesticides Foam (detergents)
Non-biodegradable
Some detergents Reduction of oxygen transfer (detergents)
organic matter
Others Non-biodegradability
Bad odors (e.g.: phenols)
Excessive salinity – harm to plantations
Inorganic dissolved Total dissolved solids (irrigation)
solids Conductivity Toxicity to plants (some ions)
Problems with soil permeability (sodium)
Pollutants and their effects (sources of these pollutants are municipal and industrial wastewater, urban runoff,
agricultural and pasture activities). [5]

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The major groups of pathogenic organisms are: (a) bacteria, (b) viruses, (c) protozoans and (d) helminths. In
practice, indicator organisms are used to investigate pathogenic pollution of water because the detection of
pathogenic organisms in water sample is difficult and costly, because of their low concentrations. The indicators
(bacterial indicator) of fecal contamination of water samples most commonly used are: total coliforms (TC),
fecal coliforms (FC) or thermotolerant coliforms, escherichia coli (EC).   Pathogens can produce waterborne
diseases in either human or animal hosts. Some microorganisms sometimes found in contaminated surface
waters that have caused human health problems include: Burkholderia pseudomallei, Cryptosporidium parvum,
Giardia lamblia, Salmonella, norovirus and other viruses, parasitic worms including the Schistosoma type. The
source of high levels of pathogens in water bodies can be from human feces (due to open defecation), sewage,
blackwater, manure that has found its way into the water body. The cause for this can be lack of sanitation or
poorly functioning on-site sanitation systems (septic tanks, pit latrines), sewage treatment plants without
disinfection steps, sanitary sewer overflows and combined sewer overflows (CSOs) during storm events and
intensive agriculture (poorly managed livestock operations).
Solid waste can enter water bodies through untreated sewage, combined sewer overflows, urban runoff, people
discarding garbage into the environment, wind carrying municipal solid waste from landfills and so forth. This
results in macroscopic pollution– large visible items polluting the water– but also microplastics pollution that is
not directly visible. The terms marine debris and marine plastic pollution are used in the context of pollution of
oceans.
Microplastics persist in the environment at high levels, particularly in aquatic and marine ecosystems, where
they cause water pollution.[3] 35% of all ocean microplastics come from textiles/clothing, primarily due to the
erosion of polyester, acrylic, or nylon-based clothing, often during the washing process.[6]

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Results
Nutrient pollution, a form of water pollution, refers to contamination by excessive inputs of nutrients. It is a
primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters (lakes, rivers and coastal waters), in which excess nutrients,
usually nitrogen or phosphorus, stimulate algal growth. Sources of nutrient pollution include surface runoff from
farm fields and pastures, discharges from septic tanks and feedlots, and emissions from combustion. Raw
sewage is a large contributor to cultural eutrophication since sewage is high in nutrients. Releasing raw sewage
into a large water body is referred to as sewage dumping, and still occurs all over the world. Excess reactive
nitrogen compounds in the environment are associated with many large-scale environmental concerns. These
include eutrophication of surface waters, harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, acid rain, nitrogen saturation in forests,
and climate change.

Groundwater pollution (also called groundwater contamination) occurs when pollutants are released to the
ground and make their way into groundwater. This type of water pollution can also occur naturally due to the
presence of a minor and unwanted constituent, contaminant, or impurity in the groundwater, in which case it is
more likely referred to as contamination rather than pollution. Groundwater pollution can occur from on-site
sanitation systems, landfill leachate, effluent from wastewater treatment plants, leaking sewers, petrol filling
stations, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) or from over application of fertilizers in agriculture. Pollution (or
contamination) can also occur from naturally occurring contaminants, such as arsenic or fluoride. Using polluted
groundwater causes hazards to public health through poisoning or the spread of disease (water-borne
diseases).[7]

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In many areas of the world, groundwater pollution poses a hazard to the wellbeing of people and ecosystems.
One-quarter of the world's population depends on groundwater for drinking, yet concentrated recharging is
known to carry short-lived contaminants into carbonate aquifers and jeopardize the purity of those waters.
Industrial processes that use water also produce wastewater. This is called industrial wastewater. Using the US
as an example, the main industrial consumers of water (using over 60% of the total consumption) are power
plants, petroleum refineries, iron and steel mills, pulp and paper mills, and food processing industries. Some
industries discharge chemical wastes, including solvents and heavy metals (which are toxic) and other harmful
pollutants.
Industrial wastewater could add the following pollutants to receiving water bodies if the wastewater is not
treated and managed properly:
Heavy metals, including mercury, lead, and chromium
Organic matter and nutrients such as food waste: Certain industries (e.g. food processing, slaughterhouse
waste, paper fibers, plant material, etc.) discharge high concentrations of biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD), ammonia nitrogen and oil and grease.
Inorganic particles such as sand, grit, metal particles, rubber residues from tires, ceramics, etc.;
Toxins such as pesticides, poisons, herbicides, etc.
Pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds, hormones, perfluorinated compounds, siloxanes, drugs of
abuse and other hazardous substances
Microplastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene beads, polyester and polyamide
Thermal pollution from power stations and industrial manufacturers
Radionuclides from uranium mining, processing nuclear fuel, operating nuclear reactors, or disposal of
radioactive waste.
Some industrial discharges include persistent organic pollutants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
(PFAS).
Water pollution may be analyzed through several broad categories of methods: physical, chemical and
biological. Some methods may be conducted in situ, without sampling, such as temperature. Others involve
collection of samples, followed by specialized analytical tests in the laboratory. Standardized, validated
analytical test methods, for water and wastewater samples have been published.[8]

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Common physical tests of water include temperature, schemes, the creation of a market in pollution credits,
Specific conductance or electrical conductance (EC) and enforcement incentives
or conductivity, solids concentrations (e.g., total Moving towards a holistic approach in chemical
suspended solids (TSS)) and turbidity. Water samples
pollution control combines the following approaches:
may be examined using analytical chemistry methods. Integrated control measures, trans-boundary
Many published test methods are available for both
considerations, complementary and supplementary
organic and inorganic compounds. Frequently used control measures, life-cycle considerations, the
parameters that are quantified are pH, biochemical
impacts of chemical mixtures.
oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand
(COD), dissolved oxygen (DO), total hardness, Control of water pollution requires
nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, e.g. appropriate infrastructure and management plans. The
nitrate and orthophosphates), metals (including infrastructure may include wastewater treatment
copper, zinc, cadmium, lead and mercury), oil and plants, for example sewage treatment plants and
grease, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), industrial wastewater treatment plants. Agricultural
surfactants and pesticides. wastewater treatment for farms, and erosion control at
construction sites can also help prevent water
The use of a biomonitor or bioindicator is described
pollution. Effective control of urban runoff includes
as biological monitoring. This refers to the reducing speed and quantity of flow.
measurement of specific properties of an organism to
obtain information on the surrounding physical and Water pollution requires ongoing evaluation and
chemical environment. Biological testing involves the revision of water resource policy at all levels
use of plant, animal or microbial indicators to monitor (international down to individual aquifers and
the health of an aquatic ecosystem. They are any wells).[10]
biological species or group of species whose function, References
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