MODULE -3

WATER POLLUTION
SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION
The principal sources of water are:
a) Domestic sewage
Domestic sewage contains human excreta, kitchen waste, soaps and detergents, waste from
streets, organic wastes from trees and plants. The release of these wastes through drainage into
canals, lakes and rivers cause major water pollution.
b) Industrial sewage
Industrial sewage contains a variety of pollutants like acids, alkalis, soaps, detergents, grease,
pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, metal salts, animal body wastes, heavy metal salts from
tanneries, organic pollutants from breweries and distilleries, oil refineries, chemical and
pharmaceutical industries, etc.
c) Farm sewage: (agricultural sewage)
Farm sewage includes excreta of animals, fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, silt,
organic wastes from trees and plants, etc.
d) Other polluting agents
Oil from oil spills, washing of automobiles is another major pollutant. Radioactive pollutants
arise from wastes of atomic power plants, radioactive mineral processing units, minerals, fine
soil particles, clay and other organic wastes from forests throw the river flows make another
polluting system.

SEWAGE AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS

a) PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
 Colour and odour
Any fresh sewage is usually green or yellow in colour, but it darkens with time due to
decomposition.
Fresh sewage is odourless, but when it becomes stale it develops offensive smell due to the
evolution of gases like H2S, phosphine, etc.
 Turbidity: Sewage water is normally turbid due to the presence of suspended matter.
 Temperature: The temperature of the sewage is slightly higher than ordinary water.
 b) CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS
It contains more than 99 % of water and remaining potion is a solid in the suspended or
dissolved form. It contains complex organic compounds. These compounds can be classified
as nitrogen containing and those without nitrogen containing compounds. Urea, proteins, etc.
are nitrogenous compounds, while fats, soaps, carbohydrates, etc. are non-nitrogen compounds.
It also contains inorganic salts and alkalis from bathrooms, kitchens, etc.
Normally fresh sewage is alkaline in nature, but after a few days it becomes acidic.
c) BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Sewage also contains pathogenic bacteria (disease producing) and non-pathogenic bacteria
(harmless).
There are two types of non- pathogenic bacteria
a) Aerobic bacteria: which live and grow on free oxygen or dissolved oxygen.
b) Anaerobic bacteria: which live and grow in the absence of oxygen. They extract
oxygen from oxygen containing radicals of organic compounds and minerals such as
nitrates, nitrites and sulphates.
In the presence of oxygen, organic compounds are oxidized (decomposed) by aerobic bacteria’s
and the oxidation products are nitrates, nitrites, sulphates, phosphates, etc., which don’t
produce any offensive smell. This kind of oxidation is known as aerobic oxidation.
When the oxygen content is below a certain value, the sewage is said to be stale and the organic
compounds are decomposed by anaerobic bacteria’s, producing CH4, H2S, phosphine etc.,
which give offensive odour. This type of oxidation is called anaerobic oxidation. When the
anaerobic decomposition is continuing, the sewage is known as septic sewage.

SOURCES AND ILL EFFECTS OF HEAVY METALS

Various heavy metals get dissolved in water and cause ill effects. The important heavy metals
that cause maximum damage are as follows:

LEAD
Sources: - Leaded petrol emissions, extensive use of lead acid batteries, etc.
Ill effects: Acute lead poisoning in human beings causes severe dysfunction of the kidneys,
reproductive systems and liver, etc.
CADMIUM
Sources: Extensive use of Ni-Cd batteries, mining wastes and effluents from plating industries,
etc.
Ill effects : It leads to ill effects such as high blood pressure, kidney damage, destruction of
RBC’s, destruction of tissue lining of lungs, etc,.

MERCURY
Sources : Thermometer industries, pharmaceutical industries, discarded batteries, Amalgam
and tooth fillings, mercury vapour lamp manufacturing industries, etc.
Ill effects : Mercury can cause neurological damage including paralysis, depression, irritability,
blindness, chromosome brakeage and birth defects.

SOURCES AND ILL EFFECTS OF INORGANIC SPECIES

Pollution due to inorganic chemicals such as cyanide, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide is of
great concern because of their high toxic effects even in small quantities, on living beings.
CYANIDE
Sources
A deadly poisonous substance exists in water as hydro cyanic acid, HCN, a weak acid. It is
used in industry for metal cleaning and in electroplating, many metallurgical operations like
gold and silver refinery, heat treatment industries, etc.
Ill effects
Exposure to small quantities over longer periods causes loss of appetite, headache, weakness,
dizziness, irritation of the upper respiratory tracks and eyes.
Even a small dosage of cyanide (very few ppm) cause formation of cyano-hemoglobin in
blood, which destroys the oxygen carrying capacity of blood and lead to death. As you are
aware, a few micro grams of cyanide is enough to cause instant death.
AMMONIA
Sources
Many fertilizer industries and biological degradation of vegetable matter add ammonia to
water.
Ill effects
Ammonia in water increases PH value, and when consumed produces high alkalinity, causing
stomach disorder. In ponds, increase in ammonia produces algae bloom, which intern reduces
dissolved oxygen, causing damages to aquatic life.
HYDROGEN SULPHIDE
Sources: it is product of the anaerobic decay of organic matter contains sulphide (vegetable
matter), wastes from chemical plants, paper mills, textile mills, detergent industries, etc.
Ill effects: it is toxic in nature and causes harmful effects to human beings. It produces bad
odour (rotten egg odour), it is highly corrosive to metals.

SEWAGE TREATMENT
Domestic sewage contains colour, bad odour, organic and inorganic impurities, pathogenic
bacteria etc. If this sewage (raw wastewater) is discharged into natural water bodies like
rivers, lakes and sea; they get contaminated and cause several harmful effects:
a) Depletion of dissolved oxygen or destruction of fishes and other aquatic life.
b) Colour and smell affecting the quality of water.
c) Pathogenic bacteria causing water borne diseases.
Domestic sewage therefore needs proper treatment before it is discharged into natural water
bodies. The treatment of sewage involves removal of organic impurities, suspended and
floating materials, inorganic salts, pathogenic bacteria, etc.
Sewage treatment is carried out in three stages,
a) Primary treatment
b) Secondary treatment and
c) Tertiary treatment.
1. Primary treatment
It is used to remove suspended and floating matter from wastewater by physical and
chemical methods. It involves the following steps.
a) Screening: it is a physical process, which removes large suspended and floating matter
in the sewage. This is accomplished by using bar screens and mesh screens, which
retain the floating and suspended course particles when sewage water is passed through
it.
b) Silt and grit removal: grit i.e., sand, broken glass, etc., are removed by slowly passing
sewage water through grit chambers (in which velocity of flow is reduced). Being
heavier, silt and grit particles settle down at the bottom by gravity.
c) Removal of oil and grease: oil, grease, etc, are removed in skimming tanks. They are
converted into a soapy mixture by blowing compressed air through sewage water in
 skimming tanks. Oil and grease form froth and float on the surface. The floating is
skimmed off.
d) Sedimentation process: in this process fine suspended particles which don’t settle
down by gravity are coagulated by the addition of coagulating agents like alum, FeSO4,
etc, the sedimented particles are filtered off.
2. Secondary treatment:
The wastewater after the primary treatment (sedimentation) is allowed to flow into large
tanks where biological treatment is carried out.
This stage can be accomplished by any two methods of the following,
(a) Trickling filter method (or)
(b) Activated sludge method
TRICKLING FILTER METHOD
Trickling filter consists of a rectangular or circular vessels with a filter bed made up of
broken bricks or crushed rock. Sewage water is sprayed over this bed by means of
rotating arm distributor. As the sewage trickles or percolates downwards through the
filter bed. Micro-organisms grow on the surface of aggregates using organic materials
of the sewage as food. Aerobic conditions are maintained and purified; sewage is
removed from the bottom. The process removes 90% of biologically oxidizable
impurities.
 ACTIVATED SLUDGE METHOD
In this method, sludge containing microorganisms and aerobic bacteria is mixed with
the sewage water and the mixture is send to aeration tank, in which the mixture is
aerated and agitated for several hours. Air is passed vigorously to bring good contact
between organic waste and bacteria in presence of air and sunlight. Under these
conditions, aerobic oxidation of organic matter occurs. After the process is complete,
the effluent is send to a sedimentation tank, where sludge is deposited. The sludge
formed is removed by settling or filtration. A part of the sludge is reused and the rest is
used as fertilizer. The residual water is chlorinated to remove bacteria and finally
discharged into running water (lakes, river and sea) or used for watering plants.

3. TERTIARY TREATMENT:
Tertiary treatment involves further purification of sewage water. The tertiary treatment
consists of
a) Removal of phosphate (not in syllabus)
b) Coagulation and sedimentation
c) Filtration (not in syllabus)
d) Degasification (not in syllabus)
e) Disinfections.
a) Removal of phosphate:
The phosphates are removed by adding lime, Ca (OH) 2. A precipitate of calcium phosphate
is formed at a PH of 10. At this PH, ammonium salts are converted into ammonia.
 Ca (OH) 2+ 2PO43- Ca (PO4) 2

b) Coagulation and sedimentation:

Colloid ally dispersed fine particles are coagulated in a sedimentation tank by the addition
of alum or FeSO4. The highly charged Al+3 ions neutralize the charge on the colloidal
particles and make them to coagulate and settle down.
c) Filtration:
The water is passed through conventional filter beds filled with gravels, coarse sand and
fine sand to remove last traces of suspended matter.
d) Degasification:
Dissolved gases are removed by trickling the water through tall tower filled with a number
of perforated hot plates. Large surface area and heat liberates the dissolved gases like NH3,
CO2, H2S, etc.
e) Disinfection:
Harmful pathogenic bacteria are removed by passing chlorine gas or ozone or UV light
through the water. The treated water has clarity, free from odour, low BOD and therefore,
it is nearly equivalent to drinking water and can be recycled.
Disinfection: The chemicals which are used to killing or destroying the microorganism are
called disinfectants. The process of killing the microorganisms using chemicals is called
disinfection.
1. By chlorination
2. By using chloramine
3. Disinfection by UV light
4. Disinfection by Ozone

By Chlorination: Disinfection is achieved by the addition of chlorine to water. Chlorine can

be used directly as gas or in concentrated solution form. Added chlorine reacts with water,
liberates hypochlorous acid, which is a powerful germicide.

By using chloramine(ClNH ) : Nowadays chloramine is used as disinfection of water, because

2
its excess does not produces any irritating odour, it imparts a good taste to treated water.

ClNH2 +H2O HOCl + NH3

 Biological oxygen demand (BOD)
Natural water contains dissolved oxygen (8.7 ppm/dm3) and the dissolved oxygen is
capable of oxidizing organic wastes such as dead plant matter and animal wastes. In this
way the dissolved oxygen is consumed. As a result, the dissolved oxygen content decreases.
As the amount of biologically oxidizable organic impurities increases in water, the
dissolved oxygen content decreases. Therefore, the amount of organic matter present in a
sample of natural water is measured in terms of the amount of dissolved oxygen required
by the microorganisms to oxidize the organic matter. This is called the biological or
biochemical oxygen demand.
Definition:
Biological oxygen demand of sewage is defined as “the amount of oxygen required for
biological oxidation (by the microorganisms to oxidize) of organic matter under
aerobic conditions at 200C and for a period of five days”.
BOD is a water quality parameter for organic matter in water. It is experimentally
determined by finding dissolved oxygen content of the water sample and determining the
same after keeping for five days in a sealed bottle at 200C.
The BOD is equal to the amount of oxygen consumed in this period as a result of the
oxidation of organic matter in the wastewater sample.

Characteristics of BOD parameters:

 The unit of BOD is mg/dm3 or ppm.
 It represents only biodegradable organic matter in the sewage.
 Strictly aerobic conditions are needed.
 It represents oxygen requirement of sewage water for the oxidation of organic
impurities.
 It also indicates the amount of clean water required for disposal of sewage.
 It is important to know BOD of sewage before it is discharged into rivers or lakes. If
BOD is high the discharge of wastewater may endanger the aquatic life.
 Chemical oxygen demand (COD)
BOD refers to biologically oxidisable impurities and does not account for non-oxidisable
and slowly oxidisable impurities. Therefore, COD parameter is introduced to measure the
total oxidisable impurities present in the sewage. This includes both biologically oxidisable
and biologically inert but chemically oxidisable organic matter present in the sewage.
Definition:
Chemical oxygen demand is defined as “the amount of oxygen used while oxidizing the
total organic load of the sample with a strong oxidizing agent, K 2Cr2O7 in acid
medium. It is represented in mg/dm3”
Characteristics of COD parameter:
 It is a satisfactory, qualitative method for measuring total oxygen load.
 It is preferable to BOD as the results are reliable.
 Rapidly measurable parameter and needs about 3 hrs. for completion.
 In general, COD> BOD since both biologically oxidisable and biologically inert
organic matter such as cellulose are completely oxidized.
 The difference in COD and BOD is equivalent to the quantity of biologically resistant
organic matter.

DETERMINATION OF COD OF INDUSTRIAL

WASTE WATER
Substitute all the values in the following equation to get COD of Industrial Sewage water

WATER FOR MUNICIPAL SUPPLY

Water for drinking and domestic purpose is supplied by municipalities. Water supplied by the
municipalities should be potable water. Water which is safe for drinking is called potable
water. Most of the deadly diseases like cholera, typhoid, jaundice, etc. are caused by drinking
unsafe water.

Standards of water for municipal supply / Potable water

Drinking water or potable water, fit for human consumption should satisfy the following
requirements or standards,

1. Drinking water should be clear, colorless and odourless.

 2. It should have pleasant taste (sweet taste).

3. It should not contain excess of dissolved salts.

Turbidity should not exceed 10 ppm and

Dissolved salts should not exceed 500 ppm.

4. It should be free from harmful and poisonous chemicals like lead, arsenic, chromium
and manganese salts.

5. It should be free from harmful gases like H2S, NH3, etc.

6. It should be free from disease causing microorganisms.

7. Its alkalinity should not be high. Its pH range should be around 6 - 8.5.

Treatment of water for municipal supply

The sources of water for municipal supply are rivers, lakes, wells, canals, etc. Natural water
from these sources doesn’t meet the standards for human consumption. These are treated to
make it potable and fit for consumption.
The treatment of water for municipal supply involves.
a) Screening
b) Sedimentation with coagulation
c) Filtration and
d) Sterilization
Screening
The natural water obtained from rivers, lakes, etc is passed through steel screens having
large number of holes. The screening removes solid floating materials such as dead fish,
animals, wood pieces, leaves, etc. present in water. All these floating materials are simply
retained by the screens.
Sedimentation with coagulation
In this method, the screened water is allowed to stand in large tanks for 4-12 hours. The
suspended particles heavier than water settle down to the bottom due to force of gravity. The
very fine suspended particles are not easily removed by sedimentation. But these fine
suspended particles are removed by coagulation.
Coagulation is the process of adding certain coagulants, which helps in removing the
very fine and colloidal suspended particles from the water under sedimentation process. The
important coagulants used are alum, sodium aluminate etc. They form an insoluble gelatinous
precipitate, which absorbs and entangles very fine particles forming bigger particles and settle
down easily.

Filtration

It is the process of removal of suspended impurities from water by passing it through

the filter tanks. The filter tanks are packed with several layers of gravel, coarse sand and fine
sand. On passing the water through filter tank, all the suspended particles and some of the
bacteria are retained by the fine sand bed. Filtration removes the suspended matter completely
and to some extent bacteria.

Disinfection

Water purified by sedimentation, coagulation and filtration removes suspended impurities and
reduces the number of bacteria in water. The water still contains many microorganisms like
pathogenic bacteria. Such water is not fit for drinking purpose. Bacteria present in water are
completely eliminated by disinfection. A chemical that effectively kills bacteria in water is
called disinfectant like Chlorination, Chloramine, Bleaching powder, etc.

Disinfection of drinking water is usually achieved by chlorination (adding chlorine to water).

Chlorine is one of the best and most widely used disinfectants. Chlorine dissolves in water
forming hypochlorous acid.

Cl2 + H2O HOCl + HCl

HOCl is a powerful germicide and kills all the bacteria in water. The quantity of Cl2 should not
exceed 0.1 to 0.2 ppm and excess of Cl2 gives unpleasant taste and may leads to irritating smell.

NUMERICAL PROBLEMS ON COD

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF WATER
Determination of total hardness, alkalinity, nitrate, sulphate, chloride, fluoride and total
dissolved solids (TDS).