Water Pollution

River Ravi
 WATER POLLUTION
• Water pollution refers to the contamination or
degradation of water bodies such as lakes,
rivers, oceans, groundwater, and even smaller
bodies of water like ponds and wetlands.
• It occurs when harmful substances, pollutants,
or excessive quantities of natural substances
are introduced into the water, rendering it
unfit for its intended use or harmful to aquatic
ecosystems and the environment.
Composition and Properties of Water Pollutants

• The U.S. Public Health has classified water

pollutants in eight categories by composition:
1. Oxygen demanding wastes
2. Infectious agents
3. Plant nutrients
4. Organic chemicals
5. Inorganic chemicals
6. Sediment from land erosion
7. Radioactive substances
8. Heat from industry
 Oxygen Demanding Wastes
• Include materials produced by plants and animals
 Body wastes in sewage and unused body parts
from food preparation
• Low levels of plant and animal matter provide
food for the microbes in natural waters
 Too much of such wastes lead to a rapid increase
in the rate of decomposition
 As decomposition requires O₂ , the BOD increases
in water bodies
Continued..

• Absorption, dissolution and movement of O₂

through water takes longer than air
∴ Large + sudden demand for O₂ in an aquatic
system→ depleted local O₂ supply
• BOD from decomposition > Local DO→ Not
enough O₂ for other organisms
 Leads to death of aquatic organisms
 Dead organisms then add to the BOD as they
decompose → death of more organisms
 Infectious Agents
• There are four major kinds of disease causing agents:
1. Bacteria
2. Viruses
3. Protozoa
4. Parasitic worms
• These agents are usually found in association with O₂
demanding wastes in sewage + human wastes
• Poor sanitation: Cholera, typhoid fever & diphtheria
• Addition of Cl₂: Removal of pathogens
 Protozoa (Giardia) + kinds of hepatitis viruses: resistant
to Cl₂
 Associated with human feces→ Cause diarrhea, cramps
and other illnesses
 Plant Nutrients
• Too much of a good thing can be a major
pollutant
• Plants in water: Adopted to a fairly narrow set of
environmental conditions
• Limiting nutrient: Limits plant growth
• Large amounts of limiting nutrient→ plant
population will increase rapidly
 Results in algal bloom (green/red scum on water)
 Abundant plant growth: Eutrophication
 Plants die→ increased microbial decomposition→
increased BOD → animal suffocation
 Limiting Nutrient
• Phosphorous is the limiting nutrient in
freshwater lakes, rivers and streams
• Nitrogen is the limiting nutrient in marine waters
• Fertilizers and human sewage are rich in both ‘P’
and ‘N’
 Pollution of fresh and salt water by either of
these causes eutrophication
 Eutrophication: Greatest in standing waterbodies
→ water circulation is slow
 Organic Chemicals
• Natural carbon containing chemicals:
Petroleum and coal
 Can be toxic to many species
• Synthetic organic chemicals: Used in industry,
agriculture, etc.
 Most abundant and most toxic pollutants
• Common organic pollutants: organochlorines
(pesticides)
 Inorganic Chemicals
• Two categories→ most destructive
1. Metals
2. Acids
Metals:
• Naturally occurring elements (As, Zn, Pb, Hg)
• High concentration: toxic effects on living organisms
 Metal atoms chemically bind to protein molecules and
interfere with their functioning
• Hg poisoning incident in Japan (1950s): 3500 residents
of Minimata were affected by consuming Hg
contaminated fish
 Chronic illness, deaths and birth defects were reported
Continued..

• Common heavy metal that causes health is Pb

 Carried in tap water with old plumbing
 It affects the nervous system
Acids:
• Occurs through acid rain/discharge of acid
waters including drainage of coal and metal
mines
• Aquatic organisms vary greatly in their
tolerance to acidity
 Sediment Pollution
• Sediment from erosion is the 6th major type of
pollution
• Anthropogenic activities can cause sediment
introduction in natural waters
• Sediments have many detrimental effects to
human use→ murky and aesthetically
unappealing water
 It fills in channels and reservoirs & damages
power generating equipment
 Detrimental to aquatic organisms
 Impair gills of fishes & reduce amount of sunlight
availability to plants
Industries polluting Pakistan’s Chenab river
 Radioactivity
• Nuclear power plants discharge radioactive
substances into natural waters
• Detrimental effects on living organisms:
immediate death→ cancer, mutations, and
sterility.
 Thermal Pollution
• Heat (as water pollutant) comes from hot industrial
waters (e.g power generating plants)
• Heated waters: disturb aquatic ecosystems
• Fishes have distinct temperature tolerances for
spawning, egg development and growth
 Change in water temperature→ certain organisms
eliminated
 Temperature changes of a few degrees → completely
exclude a species from its breeding grounds
• Plant, plankton and shellfishes are highly sensitive to
temperature changes
 Green algae grow best between 86°F and 95°F
 Blue green algae grow best between 95°F and 104°F
Continued…
• Blue green algae is a poorer source of food than green
algae
∴ Increase in water temperature and the resulting shift
from green to blue algae will have a big impact on animal
higher on food web
 Heated water can also effect large organisms
• Heated water also affects O₂ supply
 Warmer water is able to hold less O₂ than cooler water
 Ability to dissolve O₂ decreases exponentially with
increasing temperature
 Some organisms are indirectly affected as they cannot
tolerate lower O₂ content in water
 Sources of Water Pollutants
• All human activities can produce some kind of
environmental disturbance that can contaminate
surrounding waters
• Eating, gardening, and many other activities create
byproducts that can find their way into water cycle
• There are three broad categories of wastes for 8
pollutant groups:
1. Industrial waste (Point source)
2. Domestic waste (Point source)
3. Agricultural waste (Non-point source)
 Industrial Waste
• Major sources for all eight types of pollutants
• Some major industries contributing to water
pollution are:
1. Manufacturing
2. Power generating
3. Mining and construction
4. Food processing industries
 Manufacturing Industries
• Contribute many most highly toxic pollutants
 Organic chemicals (paints, pesticides)
 Heavy metals
• Billions of pounds of waste are produced each
year
• Chemical and metal industries are the largest
producers of toxic and hazardous wastes by far
• Power generating industries are the major
contributors of heat and radioactivity
Continued..

• Power plants→ Major sources of thermal

pollution
• Radioactivity from nuclear power plants →
pollute waters in variety of ways:
1. Discharge of mildly radioactive waste water
2. Groundwater pollution by buried radioactive
waste
• Mining and construction industries are major
contributors of sediment and acid drainage
 Sediment pollution occurs as both industries
replace the land of vegetation
 Construction→ Drastic increase in rate of land
erosion and transportation of sediments into
streams
• Acid drainage: Product of mining coal and
metallic ore minerals
• Food processing industries: Slaughter houses,
canning factories and plants that produce
large amounts of animal and plant parts that
become O₂ demanding waste
 Sources of waterborne diseases
 Agricultural Wastes
• Generated by cultivation of crops and animals
• Agriculture is the leading source of sediment
pollution worldwide
 Also a major contributor of organic chemicals
• Three major agricultural pollutants have
biological aspects:
1. O₂ demanding wastes: livestock
2. Infectious wastes: livestock
3. Plant nutrient pollution: fertilizers
 Domestic Wastes
• Produced by households
• Originates from sewage or septic tank leakage
 Dumping of untreated or barely treated sewage
into rivers, lakes or coastal waters
• Bulk of domestic waste pollution: Body wastes &
O₂ demanding wastes
• Major contributors of:
 Infectious agents→ Common hazard of all human
waste
 Plant nutrients→ Occur in the form of ‘N’ & ‘P’
 Fate of Water Pollutants
• Most of the pollutants find their way into natural
waters because of:
1. Dissolving power of water
2. Tendency to flow toward rivers and basins
• Natural waters absorbing pollutants can be
divided between freshwater and marine water
 Freshwater:
1. Surface water (rivers and streams)
2. Groundwater
 Freshwater: Rivers and streams
• Rivers and streams drain water that falls on
upland areas
• Moving water dilutes & decomposes pollutants
more rapidly than standing water
• Industries & cities are located along rivers as:
 Provide transportation
 They are convenient place to discharge wastes
• Agricultural activities are concentrated near the
rivers
• River floodplains are exceptionally fertile due to
the many nutrients that are deposited in the soil
when river overflows
• Unique aspect of river pollution:
‘everyone is downstream from someone else’
 If a city or factory discharges waste, it is sure
to find its way into someone’s drinking water
downstream
• Many types of pollutants discharged into
rivers are purified at varying speed
 Heavy metals are removed relatively quickly→
suspended clay & organic particles have slight
charge that adsorbs metal atoms
 Lakes
• Lakes are more easily polluted than rivers
because:
1. Lake water circulates slowly
 Deep water circulates only during
seasonal temperature changes
2. Lakes are often dead ends
3. Lakes contain less water than rivers
 Groundwater
• Most of the freshwater is groundwater
• Its demand is increasing with the increasing
population
 Rapid increase in pollution with increasing
population
• Pollutes easily as it moves slowly
• Water must migrate through pores in aquifer rock
• Flow rate varies= few inches per day (average)
• Slow movement→ Water shortages as long time
is required to recharge aquifers
• Natural purification (aeration & dilution) is slow
 Marine water: Chemical and Sediments
• Group of scientists (1990): Major report
issued
 Oceans have contamination and litter that can
be observed from the beeches to the deep sea
Pollution is not evenly distributed
Coastal areas are polluted, open oceans are
relatively unpolluted
Most ocean pollution comes from land based
activities
• Coastal waters: Most productive ecosystems
 Agricultural runoff: Major source for sediment,
plant nutrients and pathogens
 Industry: Synthetic organic chemicals
 Domestic waste: O₂ demanding waste
• To save money, many coastal municipalities
discharge raw waste directly into the sea
• Rapid growth of coastal population has begun to
overwhelm the purifying abilities of many local
marine waters
 Currents often bring polluted waters back to the
shore
 Oil and Litter
• Most oil pollution does not come from spills
 Half of it comes from the land based sources such
as:
1. Atmospheric pollution
2. City and industry waste
3. Runoff
4. Marine transportation (45%)
• Despite of their little contribution to overall oil
pollution, oil spills can cause massive devastation
 In some cases, highly sensitive fishes to oil spills
have never returned
The Maltese tanker TASMAN SPIRIT grounded at the entrance to Karachi Port, Pakistan in
the early hours of 27th July 2003. The vessel was carrying 67,800 tons of Iranian Light
crude oil destined for the national refinery in Karachi. In total, it is estimated that some
30,000 tons of oil was spilled from the TASMAN SPIRIT.
Continued..

• Long term impacts: Decline in tourism and

fishing
 Fishing losses: Death, decline in breeding,
fishes and shell fishes contain high conc. Of oil
in their tissues
• Marine litter: Major form of water pollution
 Litter: Discarded from boats
• Millions of tons of shipboard litter are tossed
into the sea each year
 Made worse by widespread use of plastic
 Impacts of Plastics
• Upto 2 million seabirds and 100,000 marine
mammals die each year from eating or being
entangled in plastics
• Birds, mammals and turtles can be killed when
discarded plastic bands encircle their bodies
and strangle them as they grow
• Discarded fishing nets have also become a
major cause of death, entangling and
strangling the animals
According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan, almost 250 million tons of garbage in
Pakistan primarily consists of plastic bags, pet bottles and food scraps. Similarly, it is
estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish.
 Water Purification in Nature
• Water cycle:
 Driven by Sun energy purifies water in many
ways
 Two basic categories:
1. Physical processes (removal of bulk of the
material)
2. Chemical processes
 Physical Processes
1. Dilution: Reduction in conc. of a pollutant
• Increases as one moves away from the point of pollutant
discharge
• The faster the water moves, the more effective the dilution
is
2. Sedimentation: Settling out of suspended particles
• Varies with particle size and water velocity
3. Filtration: Percolation of water through sand and other
settled sediment to remove suspended particles
4. Aeration: Release of gaseous impurities into the
atmosphere
• Greatly accelerated when water is exposed to the air
• More effective in warm and fast moving waters
 Chemical Processes
• Dissolved minerals and gases in natural waters
chemically interact in complex ways
 Such reactions involve enzymes and many other
chemicals produced by organisms (microbes)
 Microbes: Major degraders of waste in sewage
treatment plants
 No. of inorganic chemical reactions are also
important in purifying water
 Element (such as Fe and P) may react with one
another to form insoluble molecules
 These molecules precipitate out and settle on the
bottom
 Waste Water Treatment
• Most efforts at pollution control have neglected the
generally more effective and less costly methods of
source reduction
• Pollution control has emphasized output controls
 Emphasis on water treatment by industry, cities and
household
• Inadequate water sanitation accounts for much
sickness and deaths worldwide
• Realization by early civilization: Human waste
accumulated under crowded conditions lead to rapid
disease transmission
• Mesopotamia (5000ya): First known sewer system
 Made of clay pipes used to carry wastes away from
cities
First known sewer system
Continued…

• Flush toilets: Invented inn late 1800s

 Honeywagons: Carts that carry waste buckets
to the sewer canals
 Early sewer systems relieved the health
problems of urban populations
Damaged the health of local aquatic
ecosystems
Contaminated drinking water downstream
• Modern treatment became widespread in
North America and Europe
 Primary Treatment
• Uses physical processes especially screening and
settling
• Three basic steps:
1. Bar screen removes branches, garbage and
other large objects
2. Grit chamber holds wastewater for a few
minutes
 Sand and other coarse sediments settle out
3. Primary Settling tank holds wastewater for
about 2 to 3 hours
Continued..

 Finer sediments and organic solids settle out

Settled sediments and solids are called sludge
Contain large no. of bacteria, fungi, protozoa
& algae
 The settling tanks are piped into a sludge
digester (bacterial decomposition of sludge)
 Removal of water in the sludge drying bed→
digested sludge is taken to a landfill
 Primary treatment removes 60% of the
suspended solids & 35% of the O₂ demanding
wastes
 Secondary Treatment
• Uses biological processes to remove 90% of the
suspended solids & O₂ demanding wastes
• Water discharged from primary treatment is subjected
to three basic steps:
1. Mixing of O₂, wastewater and bacteria by aeration
tank
 Bacteria digests the sewage
2. Fine organic particles in the digested wastewater
forms sludge in secondary settling tank
 This sludge is piped back to the sludge digester
3. Addition of chlorine to water in chlorination tank
 Cl₂ kills disease causing microorganisms
 Advanced Treatment
• 50% “N” and 70% “P” remains in the wastewater
after secondary treatment
• Advanced treatments are used to treat these
nutrients before discharging them into sensitive
ecosystems
 They use wide variety of physical and chemical
processes
 Physical processes: Microfiltration, heating,
electricity and evaporation
 Chemical processes: Oxidation and precipitation
 Physical Process
• Carbon adsorption:
 Used to remove synthetic organic molecules
(PCBs/Pesticides)
 Wastewater goes through filters of fine carbon
particles
Finely ground carbon
It has large surface area allowing organic
molecules to adsorb to carbon
 Chemical Process
• Chemical Precipitation:
 Used to remove metals
 Metals precipitate out into solid mass by
lowering the acidity of wastewater
Can be removed easily
• Advanced treatment is used as a part of
closed loop wastewater reclamation
 Septic Tanks
• In areas where there are no sewer systems, septic
tanks are used
 Usually made of watertight concrete
 Capacity=1000 gallons
 Buried underground to receive household sewage
 Household waste undergoes settling in the tanks
for several days
 Sludge forms at the bottom
• Liquid part of the flow passes across the top of
the tank into the absorption field
 Polluted water diffuses outward into the soil
Continued..
• Waste is decomposed by bacteria in the tank & soil
bacteria in the absorption field
• Soils with finer sediment are most suitable for septic
tanks → Slow down the rate of diffusion
 Bacteria gets:
1. More time to work
2. More surface area
• Septic tanks should not be built on land with coarse
sediment/ underlain by fractured rocks
 Rapidly moving water will pollute the groundwater
• Sludge must be pumped out after about 3 years
• Absorption field usually becomes saturated in a decade