Thermal Pollution

Done By : Shinu K P Roll no.32 S9 B.Arch

Introduction
Thermal Pollution is the harmful increase in water temperature in
streams, rivers, lakes, or occasionally, coastal ocean waters.
It is the degradation of water quality by any process that changes
ambient water temperature.
A temperature increase as small as 1 or 2 Celsius degrees (about 2
to 4 Fahrenheit degrees) can kill native fish, shellfish, and plants,
or drive them out in favor of other species, often with undesirable
effects.

Causes
The major sources of thermal pollution are electric power plants
and industrial factories.
Another cause is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and
industrial manufacturers. When water used as a coolant is
returned to the natural environment at a higher temperature, the
change in temperature decreases oxygen supply, and affects
ecosystem composition.
When a power plant first opens or shuts down for repair or other
causes, fish and other organisms adapted to particular
temperature range can be killed by the abrupt change in water
temperature known as "thermal shock."

Causes
Streams and small lakes are naturally kept cool by trees and other
tall plants that block sunlight. People often remove this shading
vegetation in order to harvest the wood in the trees, to make
room for crops, or to construct buildings, roads, and other
structures.
Even the removal of vegetation far away from a stream or lake can
contribute to thermal pollution by speeding up the erosion of soil
into the water, making it muddy.

Source : https://escambia.ifas.ufl.edu/blog/category/water-quality/

Dissolved Oxygen vs Temp

Source : http://www2.sluh.org/bioweb/apbio/labs/apl12.htm

CONTROLS
Thermal pollution from power plants and factories is relatively
easy to control. Instead of discharging heated water into lakes and
streams, power plants and factories can pass the heated water
through cooling towers or cooling ponds, where evaporation cools
the water before it is discharged.
Alternatively, power plants can be designed or refitted to be more
efficient and to produce less waste heat in the first place.

CONTROLS
In the United States, about 75 to 82 percent of thermal pollution is
generated by power plants. The remainder is from industrial
sources such as petroleum refineries, pulp and paper mills,
chemical plants, steel mills and smelters. Heated water from
these sources may be controlled with:
cooling ponds, man-made bodies of water designed for cooling by
evaporation, convection, and radiation
cooling towers, which transfer waste heat to the atmosphere
through evaporation and/or heat transfer
cogeneration, a process where waste heat is recycled for
domestic and/or industrial heating purposes.

CONTROLS
Thermal pollution from devegetation is quite hard to control
because it is caused by the cumulative effect of many peoples
actions, most of which are individually minor.
There should be implemented laws that will help control,
conserve, and protect resources to counter thermal pollution.
To prevent thermal pollution due to devegetation, the prescription
is simple: do not devegetate. All efforts to control erosion also
have the effect of keeping water clearer and, thus, cooler.

References:

http://thermal.unl.edu/dm

www.thermaleffects.com

http://thermalpollution.usda.edu/dt

https://escambia.ifas.ufl.edu/blog/category/water-quality

http://www2.sluh.org/bioweb/apbio/labs/apl12.htm