surface water pollution & restoration

MALIK M.A.FAKRON1,2
UNIVERSITY OF CALABARIA1 ,RENDE,ITALY
UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHT STAR2,LIBYA
malikfakron@protonmail.ch

Abstract:

Coastal seawater, rivers, and lakes are natural surface waters and highly productive areas
that consist of different types of aquatic life . It has a diverse biodiversity, ranging from
simple organisms to advanced organisms such as whale fish. Pollution of surface water is
increasing due to several human activities. There is a demand for restoration, and treatment
of surface water is required for public health. Restoring environmental damage is very
costly, expensive, and compulsory for future generations. The main types of pollutants are
domestic waste, agricultural waste, oil, and waste plastic. Domestic waste and solid waste
plastics are significant polluters of surface water. The zero liquid discharge process is the
best solution for removing industrial contamination and domestic waste water. removing
Oil leakage is based on the physical separation process by a towed separator based on the
difference in density of oil and water.

Keywords: human activities,domestic,wastewater,mining,industrial,zero liquid discharge

1. Introduction:

The pollution of natural surface water is defined as the introduction of natural

compounds from other layers of the earth's crust like oil and heavy metals or
synthetic compounds contaminated by industrial processes into surface water
.Human activities are significantly affecting the surface water quality due to the
growing pollutant loads of different origins introduced to surface water. The
negative effects of different human activities are accumulating pollutants into
surface water. Demanding solutions must be the leading industrial sector. The main
source of pollution in seawater is human activities. These activities are divided
into two main types: service activities , which are attributed to the service
economic sector, and industrial activities . These activities are due to the industrial
economic sector. The pollution from service activities due to the wastewater from
city residents and from hotels,hospitals , restaurants, and bars is discharged into
surface water. The pollution due to industrial activities and nuclear weapon testing
includes discharged heavy metals and radioactive isotopes. There is a new type of
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pollution . This pollution is due to the earth's increasing temperature. This type is
responsible for changing seawater temperature and seawater salinity ,which have
negative effects on aquatic life. Various contaminants into surface water are
responsible for selecting appropriate treatment for every type of contaminant to
achieve a sustainable natural water environment. There are two types of pollution
in natural surface water. The first type is caused by discharging materials into the
environment, and the second by discharging energy into the environment. Thermal
pollution is due to discharging energy into seawater by outlets cooling seawater
from condensers in thermal power plants as hot seawater to natural seawater
,which generates environmental problems for aquatic life due to the difference in
temperature. Stopping environmental degradation is the main goal for all
environmental scientists . The sources of pollutants vary widely depending on the
type of human activities. A cocktail of contaminants is produced by domestic
wastewater, mining wastewater, oil and gas waste, and industrial waste.

2.types of pollution in surface water :

• pollution due to discharging wastewater into natural surface water:

Pollution in natural surface water is caused by a lack of wastewater treatment. In

untreated and treated domestic wastewater, there are increased concentrations of P,
N, and C,pathogens, endocrine disruptors, heavy metals, and pharmaceuticals into
natural surface water ecosystems. Even in many countries with modern sanitation
facilities, poor treatment plant design and a lack of optimum operation to maintain
infrastructure generate domestic wastewater pollution in natural surface water.
Most countries are damaged by surface water due to sewage. Partially treated
wastewater is caused by deteriorated surface water. The contamination of surface
waters by wastewater is a global threat to public health and the aquatic life
environment. Wastewater contains a cocktail of pollutants. [10,11,16]These
pollutants are different types of P, N, and C pathogens, endocrine disruptors, heavy
metals, and pharmaceuticals. Plants and wildlife live in contaminated water.
Toxins and pathogens accumulate. Most cities are located near to these ecosystems
and often use them for wastewater disposal, freshwater systems, or seawater
systems for waste-water pollution disposal. Many countries all over the world
discharge wastewater directly into natural surface water bodies. This problem of
discharging heavy loads of P, N, and C from wastewater is generating
environmental degradation for natural surface water. The environment was
affected by this type of pollution a long time ago. Due to this type of pollution,
there are huge problems for public health. Every cubic meter of raw domestic
wastewater discharged into the seawater can carry millions of doses of pathogenic
microorganisms . This type of pollution generates eutrophication of natural surface
water bodies in freshwater or saltwater. In freshwater, it is caused by excess
phosphorus. In salt water, it is caused by excess nitrogen. The general effect of
eutrophication is harmful algal blooms. Algal blooms can either be just a nuisance
to those wanting to use a body of water or cause substantial ecological degradation
in water bodies .The excessive growth of algae in eutrophicated waters is
accompanied by the generation of a large biomass of dead algae. These dead algae

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sink to the bottom of the body of water where they are broken down by bacteria,
which consume oxygen in the process. The overconsumption of oxygen leads to
the eventual death of larger life forms such as fish. depletion of dissolved oxygen
in the water body . Frequent fish kill incidents occur, and many desirable fish
species are removed from the body of water. The populations of shellfish and
harvestable fish are lowered,The aesthetic value of the body of water diminishes
significantly. Due to discharging heavy wastewater into natural surface water,
there are huge effects on nature. [7,8,9,10]

Fig.1[13]

Fig.2[15]
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Restoration and treatment of pollution due wastewater :
measuring quantity of pollutants concentrations and the amount of polluted water
and comparing to an acceptable level of concentrations. Implementing a zero
liquid discharge process is the best solution for wastewater pollution . multi-step
treatment (sedimentation, coagulation, flotation, sedimentation, aeration, and
trickling reactor filter), and then a solar distillation dome for reclaiming
wastewater and reusing it for agricultural purposes or industrial purposes . This
solution is integrated with a small ,compact treatment system for every household,
such as the Fuji system Fig.2. Then distillation treated wastewater by a solar
distillation dome at the central plant .The restorating of polluted lakes or seawater
by using a towed reactor, ROBC, or waterfall to reduce concentrations of
phosphate, nitrogen, and organic carbon. controlling the effects of algae blooms in
natural surface water[18,19,20].A zero liquid discharge process is a very effective
solution for preventing wastewater pollution and reusing treated water for safe
agricultural or industrial use. The A Zero liquid discharge process is the most
advanced wastewater treatment technology currently available. With an increasing
focus on environmental and social issues as well as cost effectiveness, the ZLD
process is expanding to an increasing number of applications. Generally, the ZLD
process is dependent on high-pressure membrane processes such as reverse
osmosis (RO), or thermal membrane processes such as membrane distillation or
thermal evaporation technology. A ZLD process is designed for removing certain
types of pollutants and combines a number of wastewater treatment technologies,
including lime softening, biological treatment, MF/UF, and evaporation ponds.
Wastewater reclamation processes provide numerous economic and environmental
benefits for the environment. First, water is recycled and reused, saving on the cost
and treatment of raw water. In addition, in ZLD units, all water is reclaimed; thus,
no effluent is discharged from the plant, avoiding the cost of environmental
impact. ZLD technology is appropriate and expanding for all types of waste water.
The use of a full-scale ZLD wastewater treatment plant, which was operating
under ZLD conditions, was the wastewater treatment plant in the city of Modugno
(BA), in South Italy fig.3. Municipal wastewater is treated after biological
treatment. From treated wastewater, ultra-pure demineralised water is produced for
use in thermal power plants.

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 Fig.3[17]

• pollution due to discharging oil and gas contaminants into natural

surface water:

The main source of oil pollution in coastal waters is leakage of oil or gas from oil
tankers, ships, or pipelines, as shown in fig.4 [15], which causes environmental
problems, ecological problems, economic problems, and other consequences.
Refineries and pipelines are major contributors to surface water pollution by oil. If
the oil is leaked, a large oil film on surface seawater is formed. If oil pollution is
not cleaned up in time, the oil film on surface seawater is sustained for a long time.
This layer isolates seawater from air, which affects the oxygen exchange between
seawater and air, preventing sunlight from penetrating into the seawater. The
photosynthesis of plankton declined, making it impossible to survive. Plankton are
at the lowest end of the marine ecological food chain and are the main force
behind the primary productivity of marine organisms, accounting for about 90% of
it. Its reduction will affect the organisms in the upper layer of its food chain, and
the influence of the chain relationship will eventually affect the organisms at the
top of the marine food chain, resulting in the reduction of the entire marine life.

fig.4[15]

Restoration and treatment of pollution due to oil , gas :

The first step is to measure the quantity of pollutant concentration and amount of
polluted water and compare them to an acceptable level of concentration. As a
large number of pollutants, petroleum hydrocarbons are more toxic and have a
long-term pollution effect, and their harm has spread all over the world. To
maintain a good marine ecological environment, we should minimize oil pollution
to the marine environment, particularly coastal waters, and the best solution is to
pump all polluted seawater into towed physical treatment methods and mechanical
devices. mechanical devices with higher separation efficiencies. for removing oil
and aerating seawater for restoring the seawater environment. The physics-based
separation method is based on the difference in density between seawater and oil.
Mobile separator tanks and pumps towed by ships of different sizes are a key
solution for removing oil pollution from seawater. The other type of mechanical
device is a rotating wheel towed by ships to increase oxygen in polluted areas by
gas. The other chemical methods or biological methods are very inefficient. Only
aerated seawater by mechanical devices such as towed wheels by ships for

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removing natural gas and increasing oxygen concentration in seawater is used for
gas leakage.

• pollution due to discharging solid synthetic compounds, polymers, and

plastics into natural surface water:

Plastics are polymers, long chains comprised of linked repeated units called
"monomers." Since the industrial production of plastics began in the 1950s, There
is a huge amount of plastic in the environment. Polyethylene (PE), Polyamides
(PA), Polypropylene (PP), Polycarbonate (PC), Polystyrene (PS), Polystyrene
(EPS), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are some
of the common polymers. This material is not biodegradable. but accumulating in
nature's surface water bodies such as seawater,lakes,rivers, The leakage of plastic
waste into the environment, including terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, is
occurring at an unprecedented rate. Plastic pollution is recognized as a severe
anthropogenic issue in coastal and marine ecosystems across the world.
Unprecedented and continuous accumulation of growing plastic contaminants into
any respective aquatic ecosystem causes direct and/or indirect interruption to
ecosystem structure, functions, and, consequently, services and values . A huge
amount of floating waste plastic in seawater is generated The formation of a solid
barrier between seawater or lakes and air reduces the concentration of oxygen in
natural surface water. The surface of floating waste plastic is placed to prevent
undesirable natural changes in surface water. Most plastics do not degrade.
Instead, they slowly fragment into smaller particles, referred to as microplastics
and, probably, nanoplastics. These particles, whether in the form of larger or
smaller plastics, have profound detrimental consequences for ecosystems, biota,
and the environment, but also for the economy and human health. Plastics have
been found in the stomach contents of numerous organisms, including earthworms,
birds, turtles, dolphins, and whales. Smaller particles may be even more pervasive,
as they may be ingested by organisms that are at the basis of different food webs.
One such example is the recently discovered new species of plastics.,It is an
amphibious found at a depth of 6,900 meters and is named after the plastic found
to contaminate its gut. Before we even knew it, we had already contaminated it.

Restoration Pollution due to floating waste plastic in natural surface

water:the best solution to this problem is to use mechanical devices for separating
solid waste plastic from natural surface water. The development of new
mechanical devices for waste plastic is important to the reduction and elimination
of this amount of waste plastic pollution . The mechanical devices are used to be
towed and automated with small ships to remove waste plastic from lakes and
seawater.

• pollution due to discharging mining contamination from industry

into natural surface water.

Ore is a rock containing valuable salt metals such as uranium, gold, copper, or
other mineral substances such as coal. In Fig.4, waste-water for mining involves

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the excavation of large quantities of waste rock (material not containing the target
mineral) in order to extract the desired mineral ore. The ore is then crushed into
finely ground tailing for processing with various chemicals and separating
processes to extract the final product . Mining wastewater pollutes surface water
and groundwater supplies.

Types of surface water pollution due to mining activities:

• Acid mine drainage :

Acid mine wastewater is a natural process in metal mines or coal mines. Sulfuric
acid is produced due to the reaction of sulfide minerals in rocks when they are in
contact with air and water The acid mine wastewater is what happened. When
large quantities of rocks containing sulfide minerals are drilled and removed from
an open pit mine or opened up in an underground mine, they are reacted with
water and oxygen to create sulfuric acid. When the water reaches a certain level of
acidity, a bacteria called Thiobacillus ferroxidans accelerates the oxidation
processes, leaching more trace metals from the rock wastes. The acid will leach
from the rocks as long as their source rocks are exposed to air and water and until
the sulfide minerals are leached out . Acid is carried by rainwater or surface
drainage and deposited into nearby streams, rivers, lakes and groundwater. Acid
mine drainage has degraded water quality in surface water, killing aquatic life and
destroying surface water. .

• Heavy Metal Contamination:

There are three major types of Heavy metals are toxic metals (such as Hg, Cr, Pb,
Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, As, Co, Sn, etc.), precious metals (such as Pd, Pt, Ag, Au, Ru, etc.)
and radionuclides (such as U, Th, Ra, Am, etc.) Heavy metal pollution is caused
when such metals as arsenic, cobalt, copper, cadmium, lead, silver, and zinc in
excavated rock are contacted with water. Metals are leached out and carried
downstream as water washes over the rock surface. Although metals can become
mobile in neutral pH conditions, leaching is particularly accelerated in low pH
conditions such as those created by acid mine drainage.

• Processing Chemical Pollution:

This kind of pollution occurs when chemical agents (such as cyanide or sulfuric
acid, used by mining companies to separate the target mineral from the ore) leak,
or leach, from the mine site into nearby water bodies. These chemicals are highly
toxic to humans and wildlife.

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 Fig.5[21]

Restoration and treatment of pollution caused by industrial mining

contamination discharged into natural surface water:

applying zero liquid discharge for mining wastewater to recover heavy metals as
salt and distillation contamination water to remove all contamination. This policy
is achieved by using different types of technologies such as membrane distillation
coupled with crystallization . or solar distillation or EDR, and heavy metal salts
are separated by crystallization and collected together. Furthermore, the ion
exchange process is extremely effective at removing all heavy metals [18,19,20].

• pollution due to discharge contamination from industry into natural

surface water:

The pollutants from chemical industries are mainly salts of heavy metals. The
industries that produce waste are the steel and iron production plants,paper
making,industrial laundries, power plants, metal finishers, and the food and
beverage industry. The various contaminants commonly found in industrial water
outlets are chemicals, heavy metals, oils, pesticides, silt, pharmaceuticals, and
other industrial by-products. In general, it is difficult to treat industrial waste as
individual examination of the set-ups and specific treatment plants is required on
an industry-based level. Therefore, to deal with this, on-site filter presses are
installed to treat the effluent wastewater. Industrial wastewater from various
industrial sectors contains many pollutants that are toxic and have hazardous
effects on human and aquatic life as well as on agriculture. Such pollutants include
heavy metals like chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), iron (Fe),
cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), arsenic (As), and mercury (Hg) .

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 Restoration and treatment of pollution caused by industrial discharge
contamination into natural surface water :

applying zero liquid discharge for industrial wastewater to recover heavy metals as
salt and distillation contamination water to remove all contamination. This policy
is achieved by using different types of technologies such as membrane distillation
coupled with crystallization . or solar distillation or elector-dialysis and
crystallization and heavy metal salts are separately crystallized and collected
together. The ion exchange process is very effective for removing all heavy metals
[18].

pollution due to discharge contamination from the agricultural field into

natural surface water:

The problem of water contamination by agrochemicals is huge. The use of

agrochemicals is a hazard for surface water ecosystems. Agrochemicals exist in
surface water and groundwater. Nitrogenous fertilizers are considered the most
significant cause of water pollution. Agriculture plays a major role in water
pollution. Farms were discharging large quantities of agrochemicals into surface
water bodies. The main pollutants are nutrients, pesticides, and herbicides.
Fertilizers and pesticides are moved across the landscape by runoff and infiltration,
transporting these contaminants into local streams, rivers, and lakes. Agriculture is
the leading source of pollution in rivers and lakes. About a million tons of
pesticides, millions of tons of nitrogen, and a million tons of phosphorus fertilizer
are applied annually to crops. The more alarming concern is the contamination of
groundwater rather than surface water.
Restoration and treatment of pollution caused by agricultural discharge
contamination into natural surface water:Adsorption by activated charcoal
Activated charcoal is considered to be a very efficient adsorbent and has been
found to be its application for the removal of several chemical compounds. Using
activated carbon in soil, land boundaries and as a sub layer for soil reduces
contamination in surface water or groundwater . A constructed wetland (CW) is an
artificial wetland that has a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water. Wastewater
nitrogen removal is important because of ammonia’s toxicity to fish if discharged
into watercourses. Physical, chemical, and biological processes are combined in
wetlands to remove contaminants from agricultural wastewater. Agricultural
wastewater treatment within a constructed wetland occurs as it passes through the
wetland medium and the plant rhizosphere. A thin film around each root hair is
aerobic due to the leakage of oxygen from the rhizomes,roots,and rootlets. .

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Conclusions:

• Any human activities that generate different types of contaminants are

prohibited by law (conservation of mass and energy).

• The planning for any industrial activities ,agricultural activities, or mining

activities must include environmental restoration and treatment .

• Applying a zero liquid discharge policy for the treatment of any type of
waste is the best solution for sustainable environmental concepts .

• Soil using activated carbon in soil land boundaries and as a sub layer for
soil is reduced Agrochemical contaminants in surface water or
groundwater

• Solar distillation coupled with the crystallization process is a very

effective solution to recover heavy metal salts.

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