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Introduction
Water pollution, the release of substances into subsurface
groundwater or into lakes, streams, rivers, estuaries, and oceans to
the point where the substances interfere with bene cial use of the
water or with the natural functioning of ecosystems. In addition to
the release of substances, such as chemicals or microorganisms,
water pollution may also include the release of energy, in the form
of radioactivity or heat, into bodies of water.

AP

Sewage and other water pollutants 

Water bodies can be polluted by a wide variety of substances, including pathogenic

microorganisms, putrescible organic waste, plant nutrients, toxic chemicals, sediments, heat,
oil, and radioactive substances.

Domestic sewage is the primary source of pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms) and

putrescible organic substances. Because pathogens are excreted in feces, all sewage from cities
and towns is likely to contain pathogens of some type, potentially presenting a direct threat to
public health. Putrescible organic matter presents a di erent sort of threat to water quality. As
organics are decomposed naturally in the sewage by bacteria and other microorganisms, the
dissolved oxygen content of the water is depleted. This endangers the quality of lakes and
streams, where high levels of oxygen are required for sh and other aquatic organisms to

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survive. Sewage-treatment processes reduce the levels of pathogens and organics in

wastewater, but they do not eliminate them completely.

Domestic sewage is also a major source of plant nutrients, mainly

nitrates and phosphates. Excess nitrates and phosphates in water
promote the growth of algae, sometimes causing unusually dense
and rapid growths known as algal blooms. When the algae die, they
add to the organic substances already present in the water;
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eventually, the water becomes even more de cient in oxygen.
Anaerobic organisms (organisms that do not require oxygen to live)
then metabolize the organic wastes, releasing gases such as methane and hydrogen sul de,
which are harmful to the aerobic (oxygen-requiring) forms of life. The process by which a lake
changes from a clean, clear condition—with a relatively low concentration of dissolved
nutrients and a balanced aquatic community—to a nutrient-rich, algae- lled state and thence
to an oxygen-de cient, waste- lled condition is called eutrophication. Eutrophication is a
naturally occurring, slow, and inevitable process. However, when it is accelerated by human
activity and water pollution (a phenomenon called cultural eutrophication), it can lead to the
premature aging and death of a body of water.

Sources of toxic chemicals include improperly disposed wastewater from industrial plants and
chemical process facilities (lead, mercury, chromium) as well as surface runo containing
pesticides used on agricultural areas and suburban lawns (chlordane, dieldrin, heptachlor).

Sediment (e.g., silt) resulting from soil erosion can be carried into water bodies by surface
runo from construction sites. Suspended sediment interferes with the penetration of sunlight
and upsets the ecological balance of a body of water. Also, it can disrupt the reproductive
cycles of sh and other forms of life, and when it settles out of suspension it can smother
bottom-dwelling organisms.

Heat is considered to be a water pollutant because it decreases the capacity of water to hold
dissolved oxygen in solution, and it increases the rate of metabolism of sh. Valuable species of
game sh (e.g., trout) cannot survive in water with very low levels of dissolved oxygen. A major
source of heat is the practice of discharging cooling water from power plants into rivers; the
discharged water may be as much as 15 °C (27 °F) warmer than the naturally occurring water.
This is called thermal pollution.

Oil pollution occurs when oil from roads and parking lots is carried in surface runo into water
bodies. Accidental oil spills are also a source of oil pollution—as in the devastating spill from
the tanker Exxon Valdez that occurred o the coast of Alaska in 1989. Oil slicks eventually move
toward shore, harming aquatic life and damaging recreation areas.

Groundwater and oceans 

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Groundwater—water contained in underground geologic formations

called aquifers—is a source of drinking water for many people. For
example, about half the people in the United States depend on
 groundwater for their domestic water supply. Although groundwater
1:59 may appear crystal clear (due to the natural ltration that occurs as
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it ows slowly through layers of soil), it may still be polluted by
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dissolved chemicals and by bacteria and viruses. Sources of chemical
contaminants include poorly designed or poorly maintained subsurface sewage-disposal
systems (e.g., septic tanks), industrial wastes disposed of in improperly lined or unlined land lls
or lagoons, leachates from unlined municipal refuse land lls, and mining and petroleum
production activities. In coastal areas, increasing withdrawal of groundwater (due to
urbanization and industrialization) can cause saltwater intrusion: as the water table drops,
seawater is drawn into wells.

Although estuaries and oceans contain vast volumes of water, their

natural capacity to absorb pollutants is limited. Contamination from
sewage outfall pipes, from dumping of sludge or other wastes, and
from oil spills can harm marine life, especially microscopic
phytoplankton that serve as food for larger aquatic organisms.
Donald Miralle/Getty Images Sometimes, unsightly and dangerous waste materials can be washed
back to shore, littering beaches with hazardous debris. It is
Paci c Ocean: plastic estimated that roughly 25,000 metric tons (55 million pounds) of
debris  discarded bottles, cans, and plastic containers are dumped at sea
3:26
Contunico © ZDF Enterprises each year. (In the United States the dumping of sludge and solid
GmbH, Mainz waste has been banned in all coastal areas.)

Another ocean pollution problem is the seasonal formation of “dead

marine debris  2:02
zones” (i.e., hypoxic areas, where dissolved oxygen levels drop so
National Oceanic and
low that most higher forms of aquatic life vanish) in certain coastal
Atmospheric
areas. The cause is nutrient enrichment from dispersed agricultural
Administration/Department of
runo and concomitant algal blooms. Dead zones occur worldwide;
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one of the largest of these (sometimes as large as 22,000 square km,
or 8,500 square miles) forms annually in the Gulf of Mexico,

marine debris: prevention 2:02
beginning at the Mississippi River delta.
National Oceanic and

Atmospheric

Administration/Department of

Commerce

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Sources of pollution 

Water pollutants come from either point sources or dispersed sources. A point source is a pipe
or channel, such as those used for discharge from an industrial facility or a city sewerage
system. A dispersed (or nonpoint) source is a very broad, uncon ned area from which a variety
of pollutants enter the water body, such as the runo from an agricultural area. Point sources
of water pollution are easier to control than dispersed sources because the contaminated
water has been collected and conveyed to one single point where it can be treated. Pollution
from dispersed sources is di cult to control, and, despite much progress in the building of
modern sewage-treatment plants, dispersed sources continue to cause a large fraction of water
pollution problems.

Water quality standards 

Although pure water is rarely found in nature (because of the strong tendency of water to
dissolve other substances), the characterization of water quality (i.e., clean or polluted) is a
function of the intended use of the water. For example, water that is clean enough for
swimming and shing may not be clean enough for drinking and cooking. Water quality
standards (limits on the amount of impurities allowed in water intended for a particular use)
provide a legal framework for the prevention of water pollution of all types. There are several
types of water quality standards. Stream standards are those that classify streams, rivers, and
lakes on the basis of their maximum bene cial use; they set allowable levels of speci c
substances or qualities (e.g., dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH) allowed in those bodies of water,
based on their given classi cation. E uent standards set speci c limits on the levels of
contaminants (e.g., biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, nitrogen) allowed in the
nal discharges from wastewater-treatment plants. Drinking-water standards include limits on
the levels of speci c contaminants allowed in potable water delivered to homes for domestic
use.

See also wastewater treatment.

Jerry A. Nathanson

Article Contributors

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