Classification of Water pollutants

The following are the some of the important sources (9 categories) which cause water pollution
1. Oxygen demanding wastes
2. Synthetic organic compounds
3. Pesticides
4. Metals
5. Detergents
6. Radioactive materials
7. Oils
8. Heat
9. Disease causing agents

1. Oxygen demanding waste:

Dissolved Oxygen (DO) is a basic requirement to maintain life of all living organisms in water.
Water body is polluted when the DO level falls below a certain minimal concentration of oxygen needed
for sustaining life. The DO level required for most of the aquatic organisms will be in the range of 4-6
ppm. Domestic and animal sewage, biodegradable organic compounds and industrial wastes, paper,
pulp mills and tanneries are the oxygen demanding wastes which consume large amounts of DO from
water. With the result the available dissolved oxygen is thus depleted.
2. Synthetic organic compounds:
Since the 2nd World War the production of synthetic organic chemicals like plastics, pesticides,
paints, food additives and pharmaceuticals has increasing rapidly. Some of these compound are highly
toxic to fish and other aquatic life even at low concentrations. The presence of synthetic organic
compounds include detergents, herbicides, pesticides, oils in water body causes water pollution leading
to form health hazards.
3. Pesticides:
Pesticide is a material capable of selectively killing a pest in the biological community. Global
population growth demands increase in food production for which fertilizers and pesticides utility
become inevitable in the agricultural segment. The pesticides like DDT, endrin, dieldrin, carbaryl
endosulfan etc, are both toxic and persistent. The presence of the above said pesticides in water cause
water pollution.

4. Metals:
About one-third of the available elements are metals. Water pollution arised due to the
increased and diversified uses of various metals. Toxic metals have been identified as more dangerous
class of environmental contaminants. They are As. Hg, Pb, Sb, Be, Co, Cr, Cd, etc.

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5. Detergents:
Detergents are surface active agents and builders. Surface active agents (Surfactants) are
organic compounds having polar or hydrophilic groups such as –COOH, SO3H, NH4+ or lyophylic groups
soluble in water. Surfactants are not decomposed by the micro organisms and hence large volumes of
detergent foams are collected in the lakes and rivers. Such foams make water polluted.

6. Radioactive substances:
Nuclear weapons testing, nuclear power plants operations, applications of radio isotopes in
agriculture, industries, medicine, hospitals burning of coal which contains significant concentrations of
K40, U238, Th232 in thermal power stations are the artificial man made sources for the radioactive
materials cause water pollution.

7. Oils:
Now-a-days rapidly growing population largely depends on the oil based technology. This is an
inevitable consequence leads to oil pollution. The production, distribution and usage of large quantities
of oil results in the contamination of marine environment. Oil tanker accidents and off shore oil
production are the main causes for oil pollution of the oceans. Many cases of oil spillages are observed
on oceans from oil tankers. A large quantity of crude petroleum oil is spilled accidentally or intentionally
into the sea water from the tankers or ships during the war or drilling and shipping operations. Such
type of oil pollutes sea water.

8. Heat (Thermal pollution):

Addition of excess heat to a body of water causing adverse effect is called ‘thermal pollution’.
Thermal pollution is caused by using water as coolant in power plants, industries and in nuclear reactors.
This type of phenomenon provides artificial changes in the water temperature which causes health
hazards. The hot water from industries enter into the rivers, lakes, sea and also into the other water
reservoirs, cause health hazards to the living organisms present at such areas. Thermal pollution alters
the DO percentage in water and so affects living organisms.

9. Disease causing agents:

Water is a potential carrier of various disease causing agents namely pathogenic micro-
organisms. They cause danger to health and life. The pathogens spread through water and induce
water- born disease like cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever, para-typhoid fever, polio, malaria, hepatitis
etc. Waste water released from municipalities, sanitaria, tanning are the sources of bacteria or other
micro organisms which are capable of producing diseases in man and animals.

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 Hardness of water
Hardness of water was originally defined as the soap consuming capacity of water. “The
hardness of water is due to the presence of bicarbonates, chlorides and sulphates of Calcium and
Magnesium in the dissolved state”. Hard water does not easily lather with soap. In other words, the
water which gives lather easily with soap is called soft water. The water which does not give lather
easily with soap is called hard water.
Types of Hardness: Hardness of water is of two types they are
i) Temporary hardness: Temporary hardness is due to the presence of bicarbonates of
Calcium and Magnesium in water
ii) Permanent hardness: Permanent hardness is due to the presence of chlorides and sulphates of
Calcium and Magnesium in water.

Methods to convert temporary hard water into soft water:

Hard water can be converted into soft water by a number of methods depending upon the
substances present in it in the dissolved state.
1. Boiling method:
When temporary hard water containing bicarbonates of Calcium and Magnesium is boiled, the
dissolved salts decomposed to insoluble carbonates, which settle to the bottom as precipitates.
Insoluble salts are removed by filtration. The remaining water (filtrate) becomes soft water and can be
decanted off.
Ca(HCO3)2 CaCO3 + H2O + CO2
Temportary precipitate Soft water
hard water

Mg(HCO3)2 MgCO3 + H2O + CO2

Temportary precipitate Soft water
hard water

2. Clark’s method (Addition of lime):

When calculated quantity (requisite quantity) of lime is added to temporary hard water, the soluble
bicarbonates convert into insoluble carbonates. Then the water becomes soft water.

Ca(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3 + 2H2O

Temportary lime water precipitate Soft water
hard water

Mg(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 MgCO3 + CaCO3 + 2H2O

Temportary lime water Soft water
precipitates
hard water

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Methods to convert permanent hard water to soft water

1. Washing soda method:

Requisite quantity of sodium carbonate (washing soda) is added to the permanent hard water
and stirred well. With the result, calcium and Magnesium salts present in the hard water gets
precipitated as their corresponding insoluble carbonates. The water obtained after the removal of
precipitates is soft water.

CaCl2 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + 2 NaCl

CaSO4 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + Na2SO4

MgCl2 + Na2CO3 MgCO3 + 2 NaCl

MgSO4 + Na2CO3 MgCO3 + Na2SO4

2. Permutite process or Zeolite process :

Hydrated sodium aluminum silicate (NaAlSiO4) is called permutit or zeolite. This compound is not soluble
in water. If zeolite is added to hard water the Ca and Mg present in the hard water will get exchange with the
Sodium ions present in it zeolite and remove the Ca and Mg ions thereby removes hardness of water.
2 NaZ (S) + M2+ (S) + 2Na+
Zeolite

Where Z- = AlSiO4-, M2+ = Ca2+ or Mg2+

3. Calgon method :
Industrially the Sodium hexa metaphosphate (Na6P6O18) is called ‘Calgon’ . When the calgon is added to
the hard water the Ca and Mg ions present in the hard water will form water soluble complex ions. Even if these
complex ions present in the water they can not cause any hardness to the water.

Na6P6O18 2Na+ + Na4P6O182-

2-
M2+ + Na4P6O182- Na2MP6O18 + 2Na+

M2+ = Ca2+ or Mg2+

4. Artificial Resin method:

When the hard water is passed through artificial resin having Na+ ions, the Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions
exchange with the Na+ ions and gives soft water.
2RNa (S) + M2+ R2M + 2Na+
Resin 2+ 2+
(Ca or Mg ) Resin

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 Waste water treatment:
The water treatment is based on the end use of water. For removing various impurities the
following methods are employed. The water treatment consists of the following two major steps Viz.
I) Removal of suspended impurities.
II) Removal of micro-organisms

I) Removal of Suspended impurities:

The following are the different steps employed in order to remove the suspended impurities present in
the municipal waste water.

1. Screening: In this method the waste water is passed through screens having large number of holes
which removes large floating substances. The water then flows into a grit removal chamber, where grit
(particles of sand or gravel), cinder (a solid piece of coal) and sand are screened off and any pebbles
(small smooth round stones) in it are allowed to settle down.

2. Sedimentation: Sedimentation is a process in which the solid impurities are separated from the
water. In this method the water is allowed to settle in; bigger tanks at about 5 m deep. The suspended
solid particles will settle down at the bottom due to the gravitational force. The clear supernatant water
is then drawn from the tanks by using pumps. The water should be retained in the tank for 2-6 hours.
In this process the color of water is also removed.

3. Coagulation: If water contains fine clay particles and colloidal particles as impurities, the treatment
of coagulation followed by sedimentation should be employed. In this process before sedimentation
requisite amount of chemical coagulants should be added to the water by using mixers. With the result
an insoluble gelatinous flocculate (coagulant) precipitate is formed which contains coagulant associated
with fine suspended impurities.
For example
When ‘Alum’ coagulant [K2SO4Al2(SO4)324H2O] is added to the water, the coagulant will absorb all the
suspended impurities and precipitated as an insoluble material.
Al2(SO4)3 + Ca(HCO3)2 2Al(OH)3 + 3CaSO4 + 6CO2
Coagulant water impurity

4. Filtration: It is the process of removing colloidal matter and most of bacterial micro-organisms by
passing sedimented water through a fine sand bed and other proper-sized granular materials. Filtration
process is carried out by using sand filter.
A sand filter consists of a thick top layer of fine sand placed over coarse sand layer and gravels.
It is provided with an inlet for water and an under drain channel at the bottom for exit of filtered water.

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II) Removal of Micro-organisms: Even after conducting screening, sedimentation, coagulation
and filtration operations with waste water still it may contain disease causing pathogenic micro-
organisms. The process of destroying or killing the diseases – producing pathogenic micro-organisms
from waste water to make it for safe use is named as disinfection. The chemicals that are added to
water during disinfection process are called disinfectants. The following various methods are employed
for the disinfection of water.

1. By boiling: When the waste water obtained after screening, sedimentation, coagulation and
filtration operations is boiled for 10-15 minutes, the pathogenic micro-organisms if any are killed and
the water is obtained is valid for domestic use.
Ca(HCO3)2 CaCO3 + H2O + CO2
Temportary precipitate Soft water
hard water

Mg(HCO3)2 MgCO3 + H2O + CO2

Temportary precipitate Soft water
hard water

2. By adding bleaching power: In small scale water work industries about 1 Kg of bleaching powder
is added to 10,00.000 liters of water stirred well and allowed to stand for several hours with the result
hypochlorous acid a powerful germicide is produced which can kill all the germs present in the water
taken.
CaOCl2 + H2O Ca(OH)2 + Cl2

Cl2 + H2O [HCl + HOCl]

Chlorine water

Germs + HOCl [ Germs + (O)] + HCl

killed germs
3. By Chlorination: In this process chlorine water or liquid chlorine having concentration rage (0.3 -
0.5 ppm) is added to the filtered water. With the result the hypochlorous (HOCl) acid produced acts as
powerful germicide and kills the entire bacterial organisms present in the water. This is because the
HOCl will inhibit the enzyme activity during metabolic process.
In the chlorination process the apparatus employed is called as chlorinator. It is a big tower
containing a number of baffle plates as shown below.

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 Short Notes

What are the Unique Physical and Chemical properties of water?

The quality of water can be ascertained by the physical and chemical characteristics as specified below:
Physical Characteristics: The following are the certain important physical properties of water to be
considered to account for its purity.

1. Colour: Colour of the water is due to the presence of minute materials developed by the decay of
vegetable matter and also due to the presence of industrial wastes.

2. Conductivity: The conductance is the measure of concentration of mineral constituents present in

water. The water which is free from ionic impurities will have low conductivity. Such water is less
polluted. In other words unpolluted pure water acts as a non-electrolyte.

3. Temperature: The degree of hotness is called the temperature. The temperature of water will be in
the range of 0o to 30oC, an average of 20oC. So, normally 20oC is considered as a room temperature.

4. Odour: The odour of water is determined by threshold odour number (TON).

5. Turbidity: Turbidity is the measure of light absorbing properties of the water sample. Turbidity is
called by the suspended matter. It shows the optical quality of water.

6. pH: pH may be defined as the negative logarithm of H+ ion concentration present in the solution. The
pH of water will be in the rage of 6.0 to 9.0 which denotes an average of 7.5

7. Dielectric constant: Water has dielectric constant 82.0. The high dielectric constant of water denotes
that it can able to dissolve as many number of salt as possible. Hence, water is considered to be the
universal solvent.

Chemical Characteristics of water: Chemical characterization of water is the most important part of
water quality assessment. The following are some of the chemical characteristics possessed by water.

i) Hardness dof water: “The hardness of water is due to the presence of bicarbonates, chlorides and
sulphates of Calcium and Magnesium in the dissolved state”. Hard water does not easily lather with
soap. In other words, the water which gives lather easily with soap is called soft water. The water which
does not give lather easily with soap is called hard water.

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ii) Various Chemical constituents present in water: The concentrations of chemical constituents or
components which can represent the water quality was given by Indian Standard Institution (ISI) is as
follows

Nature water/
S.No. Chemical ISI Standard value
components
1 pH 6.0 to 9.0
2 DO 3.0 ppm
3 Ca2+ 150 mg/lit
4 Mg2+ 15 mg/lit
5 Na+ 41.5 mg/lit
6 CO32- 5 mg/lit
7 HCO3- 100 mg/lit

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What is COD and BOD?

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD):

The amount of Oxygen equivalent to that of organic matter present in the waste water sample
that is susceptible to oxidation by acidified potassium dichromate in the presence of Ag 2SO4, HgSO4
catalysts is termed as ‘Chemical Oxygen Demand’ COD. The Chemical Oxygen Demand is expressed in
mg/lit or in ppm units. For the given organic pollutant the COD will always greater than that of its BOD
values. This is because in COD both the biologically oxidisable and the biologically inert matter are
oxidized. COD is an important and quickly measured parameter for stream, sewage and industrial waste
water samples to determine their pollution strength.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD):

This is also a water quality parameter for organic matter in water, which is empirical in nature.
It is measured by the quantity of oxygen utilized by suitable aquatic microorganisms during a five-day
period. The DO content of the sample is determined before and after five day incubation at 20oC. BOD
is calculated on the basis of the amount of oxygen depleted.

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What is “EUTROPHICATION”?
The phenomenon in which nutrient enrichment takes place in natural water bodies when solids
in sewage, domestic waste, organic matter, agricultural runoff which contains fats, carbohydrates,
phosphates and proteins etc., will enter into the natural water bodies is termed as ‘Eutrophication’.

Effects of Eutrophication:
1. Eutrophication stimulates the production of phyto plalnkton, algal booms, bacteria, virus, protozoa,
aquatic weeds and water fern. The excessive plant growth spoils the natural water and generate bad
odour. With the result disease producing micro organisms will be developed. The oxidation of organic
matter provides food material to the micro organism which contains mainly bacteria, virus, algae and
protozoa.

2. Due to Eutrophication depletion of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) takes place and the water pool will become
a dead pool.

3. Many pathogenic microbes, viruses, protozoa and bacteria etc grow on sewage products under
aerobic conditions. They cause water-born diseases such as dysentery, diarrhea, typhoid and viral
hepatitis.