Republic of the Philippines

National Capital Region

College of Engineering

ESENVI30 MEC 191-ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Water Pollution
Final Period Lecture # 2

DR. EUGENIA L. LAGMAY

CE, SE, MSSE, EDD
Professional Lecturer

1st Term AY 2021-2022

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OUTLINE

I. INTRODUCTION

II. SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION

III. RECEIVING WASTE CHARACTERISTICS

IV. WATER QUALITY STANDARDS (Pls. see DAO 34 & 35, and DAO No.2016-08)

V. WASTEWATER TREATMENT

I. INTRODUCTION

Definition of terms
1. Water is a binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless
tasteless liquid.
2. Oxygen (O) oxygen is a very pale blue, odorless gas.
3. Hydrogen (H) is lightest chemical element. A colourless, odourless, tasteless, flammable
gas.
4. Vapor is moisture or another type of matter visible in the air as mist, clouds, fumes, or
smoke.
5. Pollution is the undesirable state of the natural environment being contaminated with
harmful substances as a consequence of human activities.
6. Water Pollution is the alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties of
water rendering harmful or detrimental effects to public health, safety and welfare.
7. Coastal Water is an open body of water along the country’s coastline starting from the
shoreline.
8. Influent is a raw water or wastewater to be treated.
9. Effluent is a wastewater, partially or completely treated.

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10. Inland Water means an interior body of water or watercourse such as lakes, reservoirs,
rivers, streams, creeks, etc. That has beneficial use other than public water supply or
primary contact recreation.
11. Biological Analysis is the analysis of a substance in order to ascertain its influence on
living organisms.
12. Heavy metals are metals that is poisonous, such as lead or mercury, etc.
13. Wastewater disposed into a body of water undergoes a natural decomposition process
and may be termed as “Disposal by Dilution”.
14. Water contamination is the presence in water of harmful or objectionable material.
15. Eutrophication is the accumulation of nitrogen and phosphorous compounds can lead to
the growth of microorganisms, some are toxins which are responsible for the mysterious
death of fish in river and lakes.
16. Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of
weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or
ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself.
17. Sludge refers to the residual, semi-solid material left from industrial wastewater,
or sewage treatment processes.
18. River is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater flowing towards, an ocean, a sea, or
another river.
19. Tributary is stream feeding larger body of water: a stream, river, or glacier that joins a
larger stream, river, or glacier, or a lake.
20. Estuary is a section of a river meeting the sea or the wide lower course of a river where
the tide flows in, causing fresh and salt water to mix.
21. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is the amount of oxygen required by aerobic
microorganisms to decompose the organic matter in a sample of water, such as that
polluted by sewage.
It is used as a measure of the degree of water pollution. Also called Biological Oxygen
Demand (BOD).
22. Dissolved oxygen (DO) or Oxygen Saturation is a relative measure of the amount
of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium or the oxygen freely available in
water, vital to fish and other aquatic life and for the prevention of odors.

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 It can be measured with a dissolved oxygen probe such as an oxygen sensor or
an optode in liquid media, usually water. The standard unit is milligrams per litre (mg/l) or
parts per million (ppm).

Properties of Water
Water has three states:
Below freezing water is a solid (ice or snowflakes), between freezing and boiling water is a
liquid, and above its boiling point water is a gas.

Water changing from one state to another:

1. Water changing from solid to liquid is said to be “melting”.
2. When it changes from liquid to gas it is “evaporating”.
3. Water changing from gas to liquid is called “condensation” (An example is the 'dew' that
forms on the outside of a glass of cold soda).
4. “Frost formation” is when water changes from gas directly to solid form. (frozen)
5. When water changes directly from solid to gas the process is called “sublimation”.

Importance of Water
Water is important
Without water, no man, animal or plant can live.
The human body is 70 per cent water.
It must maintain the proportion or the human body cannot continue to function properly.

Uses of Water
1. Liquid of rain and rivers.
2. An area of water or body of water.
3. Surface of water.
4. Transportation over water.
5. Water irrigation.
6. Water supply.
7. Solution of substance in water.

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8. Body fluid.
9. Fluid surrounding fetus.
10. For brightness of gems.

II. SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION

A. Domestic wastes
Household wastewaters (from washing dishes, and to an extent, bathing and washing
clothes). usually referred to as “greywater” or “sullage” is simply disposed of around the
house and allowed to soak into the ground.
Wastewater from the toilet is termed as ‘blackwater’.

Sources, Characteristics and Nature of Domestic Wastes

Natural waters are polluted by domestic sewage and solid wastes.

B. Industrial wastes
The food industry uses large quantities of water mainly for processing/washing raw materials
(foods) and cleaning of equipment. Said wastes are generally organic in nature.

C. Agricultural wastes
Fertilizers applied to the soil are often washed into rivers by rain.

D. Other sources
“Stormwater” in a community settlement is produced from house roofs, paved areas and
from roads during rainfall events.

Effects of Water Pollution

To health
* Industrial and domestic wastes are disease causing bacteria and viruses. Heavy metals
i.e. mercury, copper, zinc, cadmium and silver; i.e.
• kanemi yusho disease - (skin disease) caused by food contaminated by PCBs.
• itai-itai disease - known to be caused by cadmium poisoning.

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 • Minamata disease - disease known to be caused by ingestion of food contaminated
with methyl mercury.

• Gastrointestinal Diseases

* Agricultural waste are also toxic elements from pesticides and herbicides, phosphorous
from fertilizers, detergent, and other harmful organic and inorganic chemicals.

III. RECEIVING WASTE CHARACTERISTICS

A. Domestic sewage
Organic Matter the most important polluting constituent of sewage in respect of its effects
on receiving water bodies.
Suspended Solids - a small solid particles which remain in suspension in water as a
colloid or due to the motion of the water.
Bacterial Parameter (Fecal Coliform) very important when human health is the prime
concern.

Total Coliforms, Fecal Coliforms and E. Coli

 Total coliforms include bacteria that are found in the soil, in water that has been
influenced by surface water, and in human or animal waste.

 Fecal coliforms are the group of the total coliforms that are considered to be present
specifically in the gut and feces of warm-blooded animals.

 Because the origins of fecal coliforms are more specific than the origins of the more
general total coliform group of bacteria, fecal coliforms are considered a more accurate
indication of animal or human waste than the total coliforms.

 Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the major species in the fecal coliform group. Of the five
general groups of bacteria that comprise the total coliforms, only E. coli is generally not
found growing and reproducing in the environment. Consequently, E. coli is considered

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 to be the species of coliform bacteria that is the best indicator of fecal pollution and the
possible presence of pathogens.

B. Industrial wastewater
Refinery produces big amount of BOD load in dissolved salts, odor, phenol, and sulphur
compounds.
Food processing industries has a high level of organic matter.
Chemical industries produce less amount of BOD load

C. Agricultural wastewater
Brackish water is a marginal quality water for agricultural use because of its high
dissolved salt content.

IV. WATER QUALITY STANDARDS (Pls. see DAO No. 34 & No. 35 and DAO No. 2016-08)

VI. WASTEWATER TREATMENT

Wastewater Treatment Methods

Conventional wastewater treatment methods are generally classified in two ways:
1. Based on dominant mechanism involved in the treatment process classified as
physical, chemical and biological;

2. Based on the degree achievable for the process and treatment process are termed
primary, secondary and tertiary.

Classification of Treatment Process

a. Physical Treatment is a treatment involves physical and mechanical processes. Means
pollutants do not undergo any chemical or biological process.

b. Chemical Treatment is a treatment that will undergo chemical process.

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 Methods includes: pH adjustment, coagulation,flocculation, precipitation, chemical
oxidation, chemical reduction, and emulsion breaking.

c. Biological Treatment is a treatment that is nothing but a duplication of nature’s self

purification process under contained, concentrated and controlled conditions. It can be
aerobic (needing oxygen), and anaerobic conditions (not needing oxygen).

Treatment of Wastewater or sewage

Three stages of treatment
1. Preliminary steps (Primary treatment) - Include screening to remove large solids grit
removal.

2. Secondary treatment - is by aeration in open basins with return biological solids, or

fixed media (trickling) filters, followed by final settling.

3. Tertiary treatment - lagoons are classified as facultative, tertiary aerated, and anaerobic
according to the type of activity that takes place in them.

Types of discharges: Influent, Effluent discharge and By-pass discharge.

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VI. SAMPLING, TESTING AND TREATMENT OF INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENT
Different types of wastewater sampling
1. Split Sampling is use in case of in-doubt.
2. Composite samples are use mainly in evaluating the efficiency of wastewater
treatment facilities.
3. Grab samples are those sample taken more or less instantaneously and analyze
separately.

Testing and treatment of industrial effluent

Water pollution may be analyzed through several broad categories of methods: physical,
chemical and biological.

Sampling of water for physical or chemical testing can be done by several methods,
depending on the accuracy needed and the characteristics of the contaminant.

1. Physical testing that includes temperature, solids concentration like TSS and turbidity.

2. Chemical testing a test using the principles of analytical chemistry, include pH, BOD,
COD, nutrients, metals, oil and grease and pesticides, total petroleum hydrocarbons
(TPH).

3. Biological testing involves the use of plant, animal, and/or microbial indicators to
monitor the health of an aquatic ecosystem.

Wastewater management maybe dealt with:

1. introduce treatment upon release on the environment from the source, such as the
household, or

2. adopt measures within the source in order not to produce a wastewater, or reduce the
additional treatment, costs, and consequently impacts on the environment.

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Approved Methods of Analysis:

Pls. see DAO No. 34 and No. 35 and DAO No. 2016-08
EFFLUENT MONITORING

IMPORTANCE OF SAMPLING PROTOCOL

➢ Sampling is the most critical stage of effluent quality monitoring.
➢ The samples, therefore, must be truly representative of the waste streams whose
quality is being monitored.
➢ A sufficient amount of samples must be taken using proper sampling techniques from
appropriate sampling stations.

Specific Objective Water (Effluent) Sampling

➢ Evaluate performance efficiency of WTP
➢ Compliance to Regulatory Agency requirements

Sampling Techniques
Selection of sampling station/points

Factors to be considered in selecting effluent station

• Flow rate
• Representativeness
• Accessibility and Safety
• Homogeneity (uniform composition)

Collection of Effluent Samples

Types of Sampling Methods
➢ Grab is the collection of a single sample at any time and flow condition.

Grab sampling is applicable for the following condition:

• The effluent discharge is not continues
• The effluent characteristics are relatively constant

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 • There is a need to determine extreme conditions of effluent
➢ Composite Sampling is the collection of individual effluent samples which are then mixed

to become a single sample.

• Individual samples are collected based on either time or flow

Labeling and Documentation of Water (influent or effluent) Samples

• Container of grab or composite samples must be properly labeled prior to sampling
• Labels may be written directly on the container itself or on waterproof labeling tape
using water resistant marking the sample number and the sampling station.
• The sampling must be documented prior to transport of sample to the laboratory. The
following information corresponding to each sample number must be recorded in field
inspection notebooks:
• Date and time sampling
• Name of person who collected the sample
• Source and location of sample
• In the case of DENR personnel performing effluent quality monitoring activities in line
with their regulatory functions,
• sampling from the influent and effluent streams of WTP will be enough.
• Samples must also be taken from outfalls suspected of discharging pollutive
wastewater.
• Sampling stations for raw wastewater should always be above plant return lines and
sampling equipment should be positioned such that it does not interfere with flow
measuring devices.

WATER SAMPLING REPORTING

• Date and time of sampling
• Sampling Station Identification
• Type of Sample
• Flow Rate
• Results of Analyses
• Data Interpretation

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 • Recommendation
• The Industry as required by the DENR to submit its periodic report on self-monitoring
report (DAO 2003-27) by the PCO and CEO quarterly
• The DENR in its task of compliance monitoring must use the standard Inspection
Report Form which contains information on the results of effluent quality monitoring.

TABLE 1 RECOMMENDED VOLUME, CONTAINER TYPE, PRESERVATIVE AND

HOLDING TIME FOR EFFLUENT ANALYSES.
Volume
Required Required
Holding Time
Parameter Required
Container Preservative
(ml)

Acidity 100 Plastic, Cool, 4ºC 24 Hrs.

Glass

Alkalinity 100 Plastic, Cool, 4ºC 24 Hrs.

Glass

Arsenic 100 Plastic, HNO3 to pH 6 Mos.

Glass <2

BOD 1,000 Plastic, Cool, 4ºC 6 Hrs.

Glass

Bromide 100 Plastic, Cool, 4ºC 24 Hrs.

Glass

COD 50 Plastic, H2SO4 to 7 Days

Glass pH 2

Chloride 50 Plastic, None 7 Days

Glass

Chlorine 50 Plastic, Cool, 4ºC 24 rs.

Required Glass

-end lecture ELL 2021-

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