Unit 3.

Environmental Pollution

• Undesirable change in the physical, chemical or biological characteristics of any

component of the environment (air, water, soils) which can cause harmful effects on
various forms of life or property.

Natural sources---

• Volcanic eruptions

• Forest fires

• Sea salt spray,pollen grains

• Biological decay,marshes, radioactive minerals

Man-made/ anthropogenic sources---

• Thermal power plants

• Industrial units

• Fossil fuels, vehicular emissions.

• Primary pollutants

• Secondary pollutants

CO,SO2, soot, HCHO,BAP(cigar) – toxic, harmful for health.

• Human health- respiratory system, lung cancer, Emphesema, asthma , bronchitis

(suspended particulates)

• SO2,CO,NO2 -- cause dizziness, affect oxygen transport, suffocation and death.

• Air pollutants- C6H6 (unleaded petrol), PCB, Dioxins(burning of polythene) cause

gene mutations.

• Plants – destroys chlorophyll, affects photosynthesis

• Causes necrosis( dead areas of leaves), chlorosis(loss of chlorophyll), epinasty

(curling of leaves), abscission (dropping of leaves)

• AQUATIC LIFE - High acidity, low pH values in fresh water lakes causing death of
fish.

• MATERIALS – corrosion of metals, fabric, leather, paint, paper, marble and lime
stone.(SO2,NO2,NO,O3)

• Siting of Industries after proper envtl. Impact assessment studies.

• Using low sulphur coal in industries.

• Removing sulphur from coal and oxides of nitrogen

• Removing particulates from exhaust gases using pollution control equipments.

(electrostatic precipitators, bag house filters, cyclone separators, scrubbers)

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 • Vehicular pollution –tune-up of engines, installing catalytic converters, engine
modification for fuel efficiency

Gravitational Settling Chamber:

• For removal of particles exceeding 50 µm in size from polluted gas streams,

gravitational settling chambers are put to use.

• This device consists of huge rectangular chambers. The gas stream polluted with
particulates is allowed to enter from one end. The horizontal velocity of the gas
stream is kept low (less than 0.3 m/s) in order to give sufficient time for the particles
to settle by gravity.

• The particulates having higher density obey Stoke’s law and settle at the bottom of
the chamber from where they are removed ultimately. The several horizontal shelves
or trays improve the collection efficiency by shortening the settling path of the
particles.

Gravitational Settling Chamber

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 Cyclone separators

• Instead of gravitational force, centrifugal force is utilized by cyclone separators, to

separate the particulate matter from the polluted gas. Centrifugal force, several times
greater than gravitational force, can be generated by a spinning gas stream and this
quality makes cyclone separators more effective in removing much smaller parti-
culates than can possibly be removed by gravitational settling chambers.

A simple cyclone separator consists of a cylinder with a conical base. A tangential

inlet discharging near the top and an outlet for discharging the particulates is present at the
base of the cone

Fabric filter

• In a fabric filter system, a stream of the polluted gas is made to pass through a fabric
that filters out the particulate pollutant and allows the clear gas to pass through.

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 • The particulate matter is left in the form of a thin dust mat on the insides of the bag.
This dust mat acts as a filtering medium for further removal of particulates increasing
the efficiency of the filter bag to sieve more sub micron particles (0.5 µm).

• A typical filter is a tubular bag which is closed at the upper end and has a hopper
attached at the lower end to collect the particles when they are dislodged from the
fabric.

• Many such bags are hung in a baghouse. For efficient filtration and a longer life the
filter bags must be cleaned occasionally by a mechanical shaker to prevent too many
particulate layers from building up on the inside surfaces of the bag.

Electrostatic precipitator

• The electrostatic precipitator works on the principle of electrostatic precipitation i.e.

electrically charged particulates present in the polluted gas are separated from the
gas stream under the influence of the electrical field.

• The polluted gas enters from the bottom, flows upwards (i.e. between the high
voltage wire and grounded collecting surface). The high voltage in the wire ionises
the gas. The negative ions migrate towards the grounded surface and pass on their
negative charge to the dust particles also. Then these negatively charged dust
particles are electrostatically drawn towards the positively charged collector surface,
where they finally get deposited.

• The collecting surface is rapped or vibrated to periodically remove the collected dust-
particles so that the thickness of the dust layer deposited does not exceed 6 mm,
otherwise the electrical attraction becomes weak and efficiency of the electrostatic
precipitator gets reduced.

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 • As the electrostatic precipitation has 99 + percent efficiency and can be operated at
high temperatures (600°C) and pressure at less power requirement, therefore, it is
economical and simple to operate compared to other devices.

Wet collectors

• In wet collectors or scrubbers, the particulate contaminants are removed from the
polluted gas stream by incorporating the particulates into liquid droplets.

• Common wet scrubbers are:

• (i) Spray Tower

• (ii) Venturi Scrubber

• (iii) Cyclone Scrubber

Spray tower:

Water is introduced into a spray tower by means of a spray nozzle (i.e. there is
downward flow of water). As the polluted gas flows upwards, the particulates (size
exceeding 10 µm) present collide with the water droplets being sprayed downward
from the spray nozzles. Under the influence of gravitational force, the liquid droplets
containing the particulates settle to the bottom of the spray tower.

Other methods:

• Using mass transport system, bicycles

• Shifting to less polluting fuels (H2 gas)

• Using non-conventional sources of energy

• Using biological filters and bio-scrubbers

• Planting more trees

WATER POLLUTION

DEFINITION: Alteration in physical, chemical or biological characteristics of water making it

unsuitable for designated use in its natural state.

Sources of water pollution:

1. Point sources

Specific sites near water which directly discharge effluents into them.

e.g power plants, industries, coal mines, oil wells.

2. Non-point sources

Scattered sources which individually or collectively pollute water

e.g fields, drains, rain water sweeping roads and fields, atmospheric deposition

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 • Ground water pollution

-- forms 6.2% of total water available

-- less prone to pollution due to cation exchange capacity of soil

-- potential sources are septic tanks, industries, deep well mining, chemicals – As,
flouride, nitrate

• Surface water pollution

-- Major sources – sewage, industrial effluents, synthetic detergents, agro chemicals, oil
spillage and waste heat from industries.

• Biological Oxygen Demand - BOD is defined as the amount of DO required to

aerobically decompose biodegradable organic matter of a given volume of water over
a period of 5 days at 200 C. (permissible

• 1. Oxygen demanding wastes value prescribed by WHO - BOD = 5 ppm).

• 2. Chemical Oxygen Demand – COD is defined as the amount of oxygen required

to oxidise all the oxidisable chemicals in water. (permissible value COD = 4 ppm)

Effects of water pollution:

Degradation of wastes - oxygen dissolved in water is consumed by micro organisms

present in water for decomposition

DO is the amount of oxygen dissolved in a given quantity of water at a particular T,P. It

depends on aeration, photosynthetic activity in water, respiration of animals and plants and
ambient temp.

• The saturation value of DO varies from 8 to 15 mg/l. For active fish species 5 -8 mg/l
and less desirable species 3 mg/l of DO is required.

• Lower DO is harmful to aquatic living things. Oxygen depletion (deoxygenation) helps

in release of phosphates from bottom sediments and causes Eutrophication

• 2. Nitrogen and phosphorous compounds:

-- helps in growth of algae and plants which on decomposition consume oxygen of water
which produces foul smelling gases

-- changes the conc. of CO2, pH, oxygen, temp - changes the physico - chemical
characteristics of water.

• 3. Pathogens

-- sewage contains pathogenic and non-pathogenic micro organisms and viruses

which cause water borne diseases. Eg: cholera, dysentery, typhoid, jaundice.

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 • 4.Toxic compounds

-- heavy metals, pesticides, cyanides, organic and inorganic compounds are aquatic
pollutants.

-- demand of DO increases with addition of bio- degradable organic matter which is

expressed as BOD (BIOLOGICAL OXYGEN DEMAND)

-- more BOD values are associated with poor water quality

-- bio-accumulation – substances like DDT are not water soluble and have affinity for
body lipids which tend to accumulate in the organisms body.

-- bio-magnification – building up of conc. of toxic substances at successive levels of

a chain.

ILLUSTRATION
• Bio-magnification of DDT in aquatic food chain
Component DDTconc.ppm

Birds 10.00
needle fish 1.0
minnows 0.1
zooplankton 0.01

water 0.000001

• Minamata disease

1953- Japan- numbness of body parts, vision and hearing problems,

abnormal mental behavior – due to consumption of methyl mercury contaminated fish caught
from Minamata bay – claimed 50 lives, paralysed 700 persons.

Reason: Hg dumped into water is transformed into water soluble methyl mercury by
bacterial action which accumulates in fish.

• Itai-Itai

Disease caused by Cd contaminated rice due to irrigation with effluents of

zinc smelters and drainage water from mines.

• Impacts:

It affects bones, liver, kidney, lungs, pancreas, thyroid.

• Blue baby syndrome (methaemoglobinemia)

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 Presence of excess nitrate in drinking water causes this disease. A part of Hb
is converted into non functional oxidised form.

• FLUOROSIS

Excess of fluoride in drinking water causes defects in teeth and bones

Control measures:

I.NON-POINT SOURCES

• Judicious use of agro chemicals on sole lands to avoid surface run off and leaching.

• Use of N2 fixing plants to supplement the use of fertilisers.

• Adopting integrated pest management to reduce dependance on pesticides.

• Prevent run-off manure & plant more trees.

• Separate drainage of sewage and rain water.

II.POINT SOURCES

• Treatment of waste water before being discharged. (primary and secondary

treatments)

• Parameters for reduction- total solids, BOD, COD, nitrates, phosphates, oil, grease,
toxic metals.

• Treatment for removal of nitrates and phosphates prevents eutrophication.

• Proper Chlorination to prevent formation of chlorinated hydrocarbons or disinfection

should be done by O3 or UV.

SEWAGE WATER TREATMENT

Objectives:

• To convert harmful compounds into harmless compounds

• To eliminate offensive smell
• To remove solid content of the sewage
• To destroy disease producing microorganisms
I. Preliminary treatment
- coarse solids, suspended impurities are removed by passing water through mesh,
screens.

II. Primary treatment – Settling process

- settling and coagulation – coagulants – alum, ferrous sulphate are added
- gelatinous precipitate formed entrap finely divided impurities.

III. Secondary or Biological treatment

• Biodegradable organic impurities are removed by aerobic bacteria.
• It removes 90% of oxygen demanding wastes – done by a Trickling filter

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 Trickling filter

THERMAL POLLUTION

Definition

Presence of waste heat in water which causes undesirable changes in natural

environment, harmful to man, animal or aquatic life.

Causes:
• Thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, refineries, steel mills, industrial effluents
and domestic sewage.

• The heat dissipated from the power plants(2/3rd) lost in the form of heat to the water
used for cooling.

• Cold water is drawn from nearby water body and returns to the same with 10 -

16 0 higher temp causing thermal pollution.

Effects:

• Reduction in DO:

DO of water decreases as the solubility of oxygen in water decreases at high temp.

• High temperature is barrier for O2 penetration.

• Toxicity of pesticides, detergents and chemicals increases with increase in temp.

• Composition of flora and fauna changes.

• Metabolic activities of aquatic organisms increases and requires more oxygen.

• Migration of fish is affected – direct mortality of aquatic animals.

Disturbance in biological activities of water animals - reproduction.

Control measures: Diagrams – given in class notes

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 Generally, the cooling towers are of two types. This includes the wet cooling
tower and the dry cooling tower.

• In wet cooling tower, the heated water gets spread upon the flow-directing panels.
Afterwards, the high-speed cold air is passed upon it. Henceforth, the hot water gets
cooled down.

• In dry cooling tower, the heated water is made to flow in circular elongated pipes.
Again, the cold air blows are passed upon these pipes that help in bringing down the
temperature of hot water.

• Cooling ponds – Draw diagram.

• Spray ponds – draw diagram.

• Artificial lakes – draw diagram.

NOISE POLLUTION

• Unwanted, unpleasant and disagreeable sound that causes discomfort for all living
beings. UNIT : dB, 125 dB - permissible noise

• CPCB NOISE STANDARDS:

• Industrial - 75 dB (day) 70 dB (night)

• Commercial - 65 dB (day) 55 dB (night)

• Residential - 55 dB (day) 45 dB (night)

• Silence zone - 50 dB (day) 40dB (night)

• SILENCE ZONE – Place where Colleges, Universities, training institutes and other
educational institutions, All Government and private hospitals, nursing homes, clinics,
All courts, including tribunals are situated.

Soures of npoise pollution:

• Outdoor noise: Largest noise- automobiles on road, railways, loud speakers ,

factory noise, constructional activities, celebrations – social, religious

Main noise creators

• Loudspeakers
• Fire crackers
• Horns of vehicles
• Machineries
• Vehicular Movements
• Construction activities

• Indoor noise : baby crying, radio, home theatres, banging doors, moving the
furnitures, kitchen noises, typewriter, etc.

Effects:

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 • Affects auditory system- (partial or permanent deafness) 10% of urban
and 7% of rural population are affected by partial deafness.
• Globally, some 120 million people are estimated to have disabling hearing difficulties.
Noise above 80 dB may increase aggressive behavior.

• Interferes man’s communication. Noise can cause hearing impairment, interfere with
communication, disturb sleep, cause cardiovascular and psycho-physiological
effects, reduce performance, and provoke annoyance responses and changes in
social behavior.

• Stimulates Nervous System, causes irregular heart beats, increases heart beat of
fetus in pregnant women.

Control measures:

• By Absorbing Reflected Noise – large ceiling, screens, wooden boards.

• Proper design of building.

• Sound insulation -For example, interior walls that have layers of plasterboard with
sound-control material in the cavity can be very effective in reducing noise.

• Heavy, dense materials such as brick walls are better for sound reduction.

• Planting trees with broad leaves , use of ear protection aids

• Better structure and tight fixing

• Glass windows provide sound insulation

• Noise control by proper town planning & legislation.

SOIL POLLUTION

• Soil – upper layer of earth’s crust – formed by weathering of rocks.

Definition: The build up in soils of persistent toxic compounds, chemicals, salts,

radioactive materials or disease causing agents which have adverse effects on living
beings.

Causes of soil pollution:

• Industrial wastes – paper mills, chemical industries, oil refineries, sugar factories,
tanneries, textiles, steel, fertilizers, pesticides, drugs, glass, cement, petroleum and
engineering industries.

• Urban wastes – domestic waste and commercial waste including dried sludge of
sewage.

• Agricultural practices – fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, weedicides, farm wastes,

manure, debris, soil erosion.

• Radioactive pollutants – wastes from nuclear testing labs and industries penetrate
soil and accumulate.

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 • (Sr-90,C -14, I – 129,I -131, Cs – 137, Cs – 144)

• Biological agents – Human, animal and bird’s excreta, faulty sanitation, erratic
agricultural practices induce heavy soil pollution.

Effects:

• Industrial wastes - affect and alter the chemical and biological properties of
soil. Glass industry uses arsenic – carcinogenic. Hazardous chemicals
enter into food chain – disturb biochemical process – serious effect on
living organisms. Chemical effluents – cause changes in physical,
chemical and biological properties. Cadmium – in rice – removal of
essential nutrients in bones – Itai – Itai disease.
• Urban wastes – serious threat - non biodegradable – plastics, glasses, metal cans,
fibres, rubbers, abandoned vehicles, discarded manufactured products. Sewage –
pollute soil , ultimately affect human health. Decomposing organic matter produces
toxic vapours.

• Agricultural practices – to increase crop yield – inorganic chemicals – cause soil

pollution. DDT – used as insect poison – causes thinning of egg shells in birds -
causes endangerment of species and biomagnification. N, P fertilisers – causes
Eutrophication.

• Radioactive wastes - Sr-90 – affect bones. All radio nuclides U, Th, Ra, I , Cs and
Sr –emit gamma radiations. Cs, Sr - 28-30 yrs- half life periods. Sr-90 – bones
brittle.

• Chemicals and their degradation products from soil may percolate and contaminate
ground water resources.

• Na, Mg, K – causes Ca deficiency in soil.

• Increased concentration of soluble salts – salination of soils.

• High concs of Cu, Fe, Zn – makes the land unsuitable for plant growth.

Control measures:

• Control of soil erosion – tree cultivation on barriers and contours – substituting

chemical manures by animal wastes.

• Proper dumping of wastes.

• Use of natural fertilisers – animal dung – compost them – manure and biogas.

• Recycle and reuse – paper, glass, plastics

• Ban on toxic chemicals – DDT, BHC, nuclear explosions and improper disposal of
radioactive wastes.

• Public awareness on proper hygiene.

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 NUCLEAR POLLUTION

• Radiation hazard in the environment comes from UV, visible, cosmic rays and
microwave which produce genetic mutations in man. X-rays are more hazardous
than cosmic rays.

• Fuel and waste materials in nuclear power plants are hazardous.

• Leakage may occur from several points – chroniclly radioactive.

• Causes:

• Natural sources – cosmic rays

- soil, rocks - U-238,Th – 232, K-40, C-14.
- air, water, food.
• Man-made sources – nuclear power plants, mining of Pu,Th, nuclear accidents,
bombs, diagnostic x-ray, radiation therapy for cancer, etc.
Effects:

• Genetic damage: Inactivate DNA, RNA. Affects genes and chromosomes.

Transmitted to offspring and to several generations.

• Somatic damage: includes burns, miscarriages, cataract, cancer of bone, thyroid,

lung, skin, etc. Small dose – long period, large dose – short period – both are
dangerous.

• Short term effect – burns, dead tissues, impaired metabolism, death of organisms.

• Long term effect – tumour, cancer, shortening of life span.

• I-131 in thyroid gland and causes cancer.

• Sr – 90 – accumulates – affects bone marrow – Leukemia.

• C-14, I-125, P -32 – used in scientific research.

• Radio isotopes enter the environment. Milk products are contaminated. Fish – Fe 55,
marine animals – Sr 90, oysters – Zn 65.

Control measures:

• 1. Installation of nuclear power plants after properly studying the environmental

impact.

• 2. Ensure proper disposal of nuclear waste – lead box, concrete box – sealed and
buried.

• 3. Delay and decay - based on half life period.

• 4. Minimum number of nuc.installations should be commissioned.

• 5. Use of tall chimneys and ventillations at the working place where radioactive
contamination is high.

Case studies: 1. Hiroshima Nagasaki bomb blast – Japan – Aug 6th 1945.

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 • 2. Chernobyl nuclear disaster – Ukraine, USSR, April 26th 1986. Fume rich in I, Cs,
Cr isotopes – people suffered from ulcerating skin, loss of hair, nausea, anaemia,
blood abnormalities, eye problems. Agricultural production is very much affected.

Solid waste management

 Sources from urban and industrial wastes:

 Urban wastes:

 Waste from homes – discarded polythene bags, metal cans, paper, cloth rags, food
wastes.

 Waste from shops – packing materials, cans, bottles, egg shells, tea leaves.

 Biomedical wastes – anatomical wastes, pathological wastes, infectious wastes.

 Wastes from offices, cottage units, orchards, horticultural wastes, slaughter houses.

 Biodegradable wastes – urban waste that can be degraded by microorganisms.

Veg.waste, egg shells, etc.

 Non-biodegradable wastes – wastes that cannot be degraded.

 Industrial wastes

 Heavy metals, radioactive wastes, scrap leather, scrap metals, Organic wastes,
acids, alkalies, oils, paints, dyes, ceramics, asbestos, batteries etc.

 Municipal solid waste heap on roads due to improper disposal.

 Dumping wastes – foul smell – mosquitoes, insects and infectious organisms breed.

 Segregation becomes difficult if all mixed.

 Burning of materials – produce dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)–

cause diseases like cancer.

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 Solid waste generation

Collection of wastes

Transportation

Storage

Segregation of wastes

Disposal methods

Land fill Incineration Composting

For Waste management, we stress on 3 R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle.

 1. reduction in use of raw materials – decrease mining – reduced demand for metals
– less production of wastes.

 2. reuse of waste materials – refillable containers reduce wastes.

 3. recycling of wastes – reprocessing of discarded materials into new useful

products. Recycling paper- saves trees.

 3R – Saves money, energy, raw materials, land space and reduces pollution.

 Disposal methods:

1. Sanitary land fills

 Alternate layers of sand and garbage – spread out into thin layers – compacted –
covered with clay or plastic foam.

 In modern land fills – bottom is covered with an impermeable liner – clay, thick plastic
and sand. Liner protects ground water from contamination.

 Methane produced by anaerobic decomposition is collected and burnt as fuel.

2.Incineration

 Incinerators – burning plants – converts large amount of material at high temp into
small amount of ash.

 During incineration - dioxins, furans, Pb, Cd emitted into fly ash.

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  Before burning, remove batteries – as they contain heavy metals and plastics.

 Prior removal of plastics will reduce emission of dioxins, PCB – carcinogenic.

3.Composting:

 Shortage of space for landfills in cities – biodegradable waste is allowed to degrade

in an oxygen rich medium.

 Alternate layers of soil, leaves, wastes, cow dung – compacted – water is sprayed –
within 2-3 days biological action starts. In about 45 days - a good quality nutrient rich
environment friendly manure is formed which improves the soil conditions and
fertility. Heat around 750 C- liberated. Vermi composting- culture of earth worms.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Disaster/calamities is a geological process resulting in an event of significant physical

damage or destruction, loss of life and physical property, or drastic change to
the environment.

1. Natural disasters:

• Landslides

• Tsunamis

• Floods

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