Water Pollution

Water pollution refers to degradation of

water quality.

Water pollutants include heavy metals,

sediment, certain radioactive isotopes,
heat, fecal coliform bacteria,
phosphorus, nitrogen, sodium, as well as
certain pathogenic bacteria and viruses
Sources
Sources of water pollution are either point sources
or non-point sources.
 Point sources have one identifiable cause of the
pollution or refers to contaminants that enter a
waterway from a single, identifiable source such
as a storm drain or a wastewater treatment
plant.
 Non-point sources are more diffuse or refers to
diffuse contamination that does not originate
from a single discrete source such as agricultural
runoff
 This type of pollution is often the cumulative
effect of small amounts of contaminants
gathered from a large area.
Water Pollution Scenario
Sustainable Development Goal target 6.1 calls
for universal and equitable access to safe and
affordable drinking water. The target is tracked
with the indicator of “safely managed drinking
water services” – drinking water from an
improved water source that is located on
premises, available when needed, and free from
faecal and priority chemical contamination.
It has been suggested that water pollution is the
leading worldwide cause of death and diseases.
Water pollution accounted for the deaths of 1.8
million people in 2015.
Water Pollution Scenario
In 2017, 5.3 billion people used safely managed drinking-water
services – that is, they used improved water sources located on
premises, available when needed, and free from contamination. The
remaining 2.2 billion people without safely managed services in 2017
included:

 1.4 billion people with basic services, meaning an improved water

source located within a round trip of 30 minutes
 206 million people with limited services, or an improved water
source requiring more than 30 minutes to collect water
 435 million people taking water from unprotected wells and
springs
 144 million people collecting untreated surface water from lakes,
ponds, rivers and streams.
 By 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-
stressed areas.
Scenario In Pakistan
In Pakistan, about 50% of diseases and 40% of
deaths occur due to poor drinking water quality
reported in community health studies.
About 20% of the whole population of Pakistan has
access to safe drinking water. The remaining 80%
of population is forced to use unsafe drinking water
due to the scarcity of safe and healthy drinking
water sources.
In most of the cities of Pakistan, the elementary
source of provision is ground water supply, which
contains various pathogens including many viral,
bacterial, and protozoan agents causing 2.5 million
deaths from endemic diarrheal disease each year.
Effect of Water Pollutants
 The main effects of water pollutants are:
 Compounds of mercury, arsenic and lead are
poisonous and chemically harmful as they
even affect water treatment plants e.g. organic
sulphur compounds interfere with nitrification
 Mercury when dissolved in water is absorbed
by aquatic plants and enters the food chain.
Lead impairs metabolism and brings about
congenital deformities, anemia etc.
 Cadmium damages kidneys and liver.
 Inorganic nitrates and phosphates promote
growth of oxygen-consuming algae, which
result in the death of fishes and other aquatic
animals (Eutrophication).
 Presence of dyes and compounds in the
discharged water changes the color of water.
 Soap, detergents and, alkalis result in foam
formation.
 Industrial effluents containing iron, free
chlorine, phenol, manganese, oils,
hydrocarbons, ammonia, algae and
microorganisms impair the taste and odours of
water.
BOD & COD
 Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is the amount of
dissolved oxygen (DO) needed (i.e. demanded) by aerobic
biological organisms to break down organic material
present in a given water sample at certain temperature
over a specific time period.
 BOD is commonly used in water-quality management
 Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is the amount of oxygen
required for the chemical oxidation of total organic matter
in water.
 The basis for the COD test is that nearly all organic
compounds can be fully oxidized to carbon dioxide with a
strong oxidizing agent under acidic conditions.
 Potassium dichromate is a strong oxidizing agent under
acidic conditions.
 Biomagnifications.
For example, DDT after reaching a water
system is absorbed by the microorganisms on
which smaller fishes feed. From them, DDT
reaches the carnivorous animals. Since bigger
fishes consume more food, large amounts of
DDT accumulates in their body.
Water Pollution Analysis
Water pollution may be analyzed through several
broad categories of methods: physical, chemical and
biological. Most involve collection of samples, followed
by specialized analytical tests.
Physical
Colour, turbidity, suspended solids, odour and taste are
recorded
Chemical
pH, TDS, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical
oxygen demand (COD), nutrients (nitrate and
phosphorus compounds), metals (including copper,
zinc, cadmium, lead and mercury), oil and grease, total
petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), and pesticides.
Biological
Microbial content
CONTROL OF WATER POLLUTION

 Separate ponds and tanks to be used for cattle

and animals.
 Use of pesticides, insecticides and fertilizers
should be done judiciously. Rapid
biodegradable substitutes for pesticides should
be employed.
 Rivers and lakes should not be used for
bathing or washing as it contaminates water. .
 Domestic sewage and industrial wastes should
be treated before discharging them into drains.
Wastewater Treatment
Wastewater treatment is a process used to
remove contaminants from wastewater or
sewage and convert it into an effluent that can
be returned to the water cycle with acceptable
impact on the environment, or reused for
various purposes (called water reclamation).
The processes involved in waste-water
treatment include physical processes such as
settlement or flotation and biological processes
such as aerated lagoons, activated sludge, or
bio-films in trickling filters.
Treatment of waste Water

 Domestic sewage and industrial wastes should

be properly treated before these are drained in
the mainstream water. Treatment involves the
following two steps:
1. Primary Treatment
2. Secondary Treatment
3. Tertiary Treatment
Primary treatment
It involves physical processing of sedimentation,
flotation and filtration where sewage water is
passed through screens to remove larger
particles and then through grinding mechanism
to reduce the larger particles to smaller size.
The sewage is finally passed through settling
tanks to remove suspended impurities.
Primary Treatment
 The primary level of treatment uses screens
and settling tanks to remove the majority of
solids.
 This step is extremely important, because
solids make up approximately 35 percent of
the pollutants that must be removed.
 The screens usually have openings of about
10 millimetres, which is small enough to
remove sticks, garbage and other large
materials from the wastewater.
 This material is removed and disposed of at
the landfill.
Primary Treatment
 The water is then put into settling tanks (or
clarifiers), where it sits for several hours,
allowing the sludge to settle and a scum to
form on the top.
 The scum is then skimmed off the top, the
sludge is removed from the bottom, and the
partially treated wastewater moves on to the
secondary treatment level.
Secondary treatment
 Sewage obtained after primary treatment is
sent to aeration tank where it is mixed with air
and sludge laden with bacteria and algae. The
algae provide oxygen to the bacteria and
decompose organic matter into simple
compounds.
 The water is then taken to settling tanks where
the sludge again settles, leaving the water 90 to
95 percent free of pollutants.
 The water is then disinfected with chlorine,
ozone, or ultraviolet light, and then discharged.
Activated Sludge Treatment
 The sludge that is removed from the settling
tanks and the scum that is skimmed off the top
during the primary steps are treated separately
from the water.
 Anaerobic bacteria feed off of the sludge for 10
to 20 days at temperatures around 38 degrees
Celsius. This process decreases the odour and
organic matter of the sludge, and creates a
highly combustible gas of methane and carbon
dioxide, which can be used as fuel to heat the
treatment plant.
 Finally, the sludge is sent to a centrifuge forcing
the liquid to separate from the solid. The liquid
can then be processed with the wastewater and
the solid is used as fertilizer on fields.
Tertiary treatment

Tertiary (or advanced) treatment removes

dissolved substances, such as colour, metals,
organic chemicals and nutrients like phosphorus
and nitrogen.
There are a number of physical, chemical and
biological treatment processes that are used for
tertiary treatment. One of the biological
treatment processes is called Biological Nutrient
Removal (BNR).
Treatment of industrial effluents
 Treatment of industrial effluents involves
neutralization of acids and bases, removal of
 toxic compounds, coagulation of colloidal
impurities, precipitation of metallic
compounds
 and reducing the temperature of effluents to
decrease thermal pollution.
Three zones are identified:
1. A pollution zone, where a high BOD exists. As waste
decomposes, microorganisms use the oxygen,
decreasing the dissolved oxygen content of the water.
2. An active decomposition zone, where the dissolved
oxygen reaches a minimum owing to rapid biochemical
decomposition by microorganisms as the organic waste
is transported downstream.
3. A recovery zone, where dissolved oxygen increases
and BOD is reduced because most of the oxygen
demanding organic waste from the input of sewage
has decomposed and natural stream processes are
replenishing the water’s dissolved oxygen. For
example, in quickly moving water, the water at the
surface mixes with air, and oxygen enters the water.