WATER

POLLUTION
BY GROUP 3
WHAT IS WATER POLLUTION?

WATER POLLUTION HAPPENS WHEN TOXIC SUBSTANCES ENTER WATER

BODIES SUCH AS LAKES, RIVERS, OCEANS AND SO ON, GETTING DISSOLVED
IN THEM, LYING SUSPENDED IN THE WATER OR DEPOSITING ON THE BED.
THIS DEGRADES THE QUALITY OF WATER.

NOT ONLY DOES THIS SPELL DISASTER FOR AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS, THE
POLLUTANTS ALSO SEEP THROUGH AND REACH THE GROUNDWATER,
WHICH MIGHT END UP IN OUR HOUSEHOLDS AS CONTAMINATED WATER
WE USE IN OUR DAILY ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING DRINKING.
WATER POLLUTANTS
AND THEIR SOURCES
 MUNICIPAL SEWAGE
• SEWAGE IS THE TERM USED FOR WASTEWATER THAT
OFTEN CONTAINS FAECES, URINE AND LAUNDRY
WASTE.
• SEWAGE DISPOSAL IS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AS MANY PEOPLE IN THESE
AREAS DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO SANITARY
CONDITIONS AND CLEAN WATER.
• SEWAGE IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES IS CARRIED
AWAY FROM THE HOME QUICKLY AND HYGIENICALLY
THROUGH SEWAGE PIPES.
• SEWAGE IS TREATED IN WATER TREATMENT PLANTS
AND THE WASTE IS OFTEN DISPOSED INTO THE SEA.
• SEWAGE IS MAINLY BIODEGRADABLE AND MOST OF
IT IS BROKEN DOWN IN THE ENVIRONMENT.
 INFECTIOUS AGENT
THE NUMEROUS INFECTIOUS
AGENTS (BACTERIA, VIRUSES, AND
PARASITES) THAT CONTAMINATE
THE WATER THROUGH SEWAGE, HUMAN
WASTE, AND ANIMAL EXCRETA.
THIS WASTE IS A MAJOR WATER
POLLUTANT RESULTED FROM MINING
ACTIVITIES, POWER PLANTS OR NATURAL
SOURCES. THE CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES
THAT CONTAMINATE THE WATER.
 PLANT NUTRIENTS
NUTRIENT POLLUTION IS THE PROCESS
WHERE TOO MANY NUTRIENTS, MAINLY
NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS, ARE ADDED TO
BODIES OF WATER AND CAN ACT
LIKE FERTILIZER, CAUSING EXCESSIVE
GROWTH OF ALGAE.
IT IS A PRIMARY CAUSE OF EUTROPHICATION
OF SURFACE WATERS, IN WHICH EXCESS
NUTRIENTS, USUALLY NITROGEN OR
PHOSPHORUS, STIMULATE ALGAL GROWTH.
 TOXIC CHEMICALS
METALS AND SOLVENTS FROM
INDUSTRIAL WORK CAN POLLUTE RIVERS
AND LAKES. THESE ARE POISONOUS TO
MANY FORMS OF AQUATIC LIFE AND MAY
SLOW THEIR DEVELOPMENT, MAKE
THEM INFERTILE OR EVEN RESULT IN
DEATH.
PESTICIDES ARE USED IN FARMING TO
CONTROL WEEDS, INSECTS AND FUNGI.
RUN-OFFS OF THESE PESTICIDES CAN
CAUSE WATER POLLUTION AND POISON
AQUATIC LIFE.
PETROLEUM IS ANOTHER FORM OF
CHEMICAL POLLUTANT THAT USUALLY
CONTAMINATES WATER THROUGH OIL
SPILLS WHEN A SHIP RUPTURES. OIL SPILLS
USUALLY HAVE ONLY A LOCALISED AFFECT
ON WILDLIFE BUT CAN SPREAD FOR MILES.
THE OIL CAN CAUSE THE DEATH OF MANY
FISH AND STICK TO THE FEATHERS OF
SEABIRDS CAUSING THEM TO LOSE THE
ABILITY TO FLY.
 PERSISTENT SUBSTANCES
PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS (P
OPS) ARE TOXIC CHEMICALS THAT
ADVERSELY AFFECT HUMAN HEALTH
AND THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND THE
WORLD. BECAUSE THEY CAN BE
TRANSPORTED BY WIND AND WATER,
MOST POPS GENERATED IN ONE
COUNTRY CAN AND DO AFFECT PEOPLE
AND WILDLIFE FAR FROM WHERE THEY
ARE USED AND RELEASED.
 RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
NATURALLY OCCURRING RADIOACTIVE
MATERIALS (NORM)AND
TECHNOLOGICALLY ENHANCED
NATURALLY OCCURRING RADIOACTIVE
MATERIALS (TENORM) CONSIST
OF MATERIALS, USUALLY INDUSTRIAL
WASTES OR BY-PRODUCTS ENRICHED
WITH RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS FOUND IN
THE ENVIRONMENT, SUCH AS URANIUM,
THORIUM AND POTASSIUM AND ANY OF
THEIR DECAYL.
TWO SOURCES OF RADIOACTIVE CONTANMINATION:
• NATURALLY OCCURRING RADIONUCLIDES THAT ARE
CONTAINED IN THE SOIL THAT WATER MOVES THROUGH. SOME
AREAS ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO CONTAMINATION FROM
PHOSPHATE RICH SOILS AND ROCK.
• THE SECOND SOURCE OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION
COMES FROM MAN-MADE SOURCES. RADIONUCLIDES FOUND IN
DRINKING WATER ARE MEMBERS OF THREE RADIOACTIVE
SERIES, URANIUM, THORIUM, AND ACTINIUM AND INCLUDE
THE NATURALLY OCCURRING ELEMENTS RADIUM, URANIUM,
AND THE RADIOACTIVE GAS RADON.
 THERMAL POLLUTION
THERMAL POLLUTION IS DEFINED AS SUDDEN
INCREASE OR DECREASE IN TEMPERATURE OF A
NATURAL BODY OF WATER WHICH MAY BE
OCEAN, LAKE, RIVER OR POND BY HUMAN
INFLUENCE. THIS NORMALLY OCCURS WHEN A
PLANT OR FACILITY TAKES IN WATER FROM A
NATURAL RESOURCE AND PUTS IT BACK WITH AN
ALTERED TEMPERATURE. USUALLY, THESE
FACILITIES USE IT AS A COOLING METHOD FOR
THEIR MACHINERY OR TO HELP BETTER
PRODUCE THEIR PRODUCTS.
SEDIMENTS, SAND AND SILT
SEDIMENT POLLUTION
SEDIMENT ENTERING STORMWATER DEGRADES THE QUALITY OF
WATER FOR DRINKING, WILDLIFE AND THE LAND SURROUNDING
STREAMS IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:
• SEDIMENT IN STREAM BEDS DISRUPTS THE NATURAL FOOD CHAIN
BY DESTROYING THE HABITAT WHERE THE SMALLEST STREAM
ORGANISMS LIVE AND CAUSING MASSIVE DECLINES IN FISH
POPULATIONS.
• SEDIMENT INCREASES THE COST OF TREATING DRINKING WATER
AND CAN RESULT IN ODOR AND TASTE PROBLEMS.
• SEDIMENT CAN CLOG FISH GILLS, REDUCING RESISTENCE TO
DISEASE, LOWERING GROWTH RATES, AND AFFECTING FISH EGG
AND LARVAE DEVELOPMENT
INORGANIC SUBSTANCES
INORGANIC CONTAMINANTS. INORGANIC CONTAMINANTS (IOCS) ARE
ELEMENTS OR COMPOUNDS FOUND IN WATER SUPPLIES AND MAY BE
NATURAL IN THE GEOLOGY OR CAUSED BY ACTIVITIES OF MAN THROUGH
MINING, INDUSTRY OR AGRICULTURE. IT IS COMMON TO HAVE TRACE
AMOUNTS OF MANY INORGANIC CONTAMINANTS IN WATER SUPPLIES.
THE MOST COMMON INORGANIC POLLUTANTS FROM WATER ARE
AMMONIUM, PHOSPHORUS, ARSENIC, CADMIUN, ZINC, LEAD ETC.
INORGANIC POLLUTANT SUCH AS AMMONIA AND PHOSPHORUS PROMOTE
EUTROPHICATION, WHICH EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF THESE INORGANIC
POLLUTANT RELEASING INTO THE WATER CAN ACCELERATE THIS
PHENOMENA IN A FEW YEARS
EFFECTS OF WATER
POLLUTION
• HUMAN HEALTH
• ECOSYSTEM
HUMAN HEALTH
DISEASES: IN HUMANS,
DRINKING OR CONSUMING
POLLUTED WATER IN ANY
WAY HAS MANY DISASTROUS
EFFECTS ON OUR HEALTH. IT
CAUSES TYPHOID, CHOLERA,
HEPATITIS, DIARRHEA AND
VARIOUS OTHER DISEASES.
 ECOSYSTEM
• DESTRUCTION OF ECOSYSTEMS: ECOSYSTEMS ARE EXTREMELY
DYNAMIC AND RESPOND TO EVEN SMALL CHANGES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT. WATER POLLUTION CAN CAUSE AN ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM
TO COLLAPSE IF LEFT UNCHECKED.
• EUTROPHICATION: CHEMICALS IN A WATER BODY, ENCOURAGE
THE GROWTH OF ALGAE. THESE ALGAE FORM A LAYER ON TOP OF THE
POND OR LAKE. BACTERIA FEED ON THIS ALGAE AND THIS DECREASES
THE AMOUNT OF OXYGEN IN THE WATER BODY, SEVERELY AFFECTING
THE AQUATIC LIFE THERE.
• EFFECTS THE FOOD CHAIN: DISRUPTION IN FOOD CHAINS HAPPENS
WHEN TOXINS AND POLLUTANTS IN THE WATER ARE CONSUMED BY
AQUATIC ANIMALS (FISH, SHELLFISH ETC) WHICH ARE THEN CONSUMED
BY HUMANS.
 TREATMENT OF WATER
• WATER HARDNESS
• PURIFICATION OF
DRINKING WATER
• SEWAGE TREATMENT
 LAWS OF GOVERNMENT
• THE PHILIPPINE CLEAN WATER ACT OF 2004
(REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9275) AIMS TO PROTECT THE
COUNTRY'S WATER BODIES FROM POLLUTION FROM LAND-
BASED SOURCES (INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCIAL
ESTABLISHMENTS, AGRICULTURE AND
COMMUNITY/HOUSEHOLD ACTIVITIES).
• REPUBLIC ACT NO. 3931 “AN ACT CREATING THE NATIONAL
WATER AND AIR POLLUTION CONTROL COMMISSION”