WATER POLLUTION

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• Water pollution: any chemical, biological or

physical change in water quality that has a harmful
effect on living organisms or makes water
unsuitable for use
• It occurs when pollutants (particles, chemicals or
substances that make water contaminated) are
discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies
without enough treatment to get rid of harmful
compounds
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How do we measure Water Quality?

• 1) Measure number of coliform bacteria present in 100-
mL sample
• WHO recommends: 0 colonies/100mL drinking water
• EPA max level of swimming: 200 colonies/100mL

• 2) Measure oxygen demanding waste

• Determined by measuring biological oxygen demand (BOD): the amount of
dissolved Oxygen needed by decomposers to breakdown waste
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Sources
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Sources
• Point Sources: discharge at specific locations, from a
single traced source
Factories, sewage treatment, mines, oil tankers
Sources are discrete and identifiable so easy to identify,
monitor and regulate

• Nonpoint Sources: can’t be traced to any single site of

discharge
Acid deposit, runoff of chemicals, pesticides,
fertilizer/manure
Multiple sources and scattered location makes them
difficult to monitor, regulate and treat
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Classification of water pollutants

• Water pollutants are classified into following major
categories
Oxygen demanding wastes
Pathogens
Synthetic organic compounds
Plant nutrients
Inorganic chemicals and minerals
Radioactive substances
Thermal discharges
Oil
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Oxygen Demanding Wastes

• The Oxygen Demanding Wastes (organic matter) are oxidized by
bacteria or microorganisms consuming dissolve oxygen in water
to CO2 and water
• When large populations of decomposing bacteria are converting
these wastes it can deplete oxygen levels in the water. Thus
Dissolve oxygen level drops and this causes other organisms in
the water, such as fish, to die
• These substances produce undesirable odour, tastes and reduce
the acceptability of water as a domestic supply
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Oxygen Demanding Wastes

• Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a measure of the
oxygen used by microorganisms to decompose organic waste. If
there is a large quantity of organic waste in the water supply,
there will also be a lot of bacteria present working to
decompose this waste
• Low BOD is an indicator of good quality water
• High BOD indicates polluted water
• Biochemical Oxygen Demand is an important water quality
parameter because it provides an index to assess the effect
discharged wastewater will have on the receiving environment.
The higher the BOD value, the greater the amount of organic
matter or “food” available for oxygen consuming bacteria
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Pathogens
• Pathogens are disease causing organisms that grow
and multiply within the host
• Water is a potential carrier of pathogenic
microorganisms
• Source: human/animal faecal waste and sewage
• Contaminated water caused by poor sanitation can
lead to both:
• Water borne diseases
• Water contact diseases
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• Waterborne Diseases are acquired by ingestion of

pathogens not only by drinking contaminated or dirty
water but also from water that makes it into a person's
mouth from washing food, utensils and hands.
Contaminated water can cause many types of diarrheal
diseases, including Cholera, and other serious illnesses
such as Hepatitis, Typhoid, and Dysentery
• Water Contact Diseases donot even require that
individuals ingest the water. Just contact with water
may cause disease.
• Schistosomiasis is the most common water contact
disease in the world, spread by free swimming larva in
water, called cercaria. These larva attach themselves to
human skin, penetrate it and enter blood stream.
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Synthetic organic compounds

• These include Pesticides, Synthetic organic chemicals and
Detergents
• These are not biodegradable and persist for longer periods
• The term "pesticide" is a composite term that includes all
chemicals that are used to kill or control organisms that
human consider undesirable. In agriculture, this includes
herbicides (weeds), insecticides (insects), fungicides (fungi),
nematocides (nematodes), and rodenticides (vertebrate
poisons), acaricides (mites)
• Pesticides can reach water bodies from applications onto crop
fields, seepage of contaminated surface water, accidental spills
and leaks, improper disposal, and even through injection
waste material into wells
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Plant Nutrients
• Nutrients are chemicals such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P),
potassium (K), calcium (Ca), sulfur (S), magnesium (Mg),
carbon (C), oxygen(O), hydrogen (H)etc that are essential to
growth of living things
• 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
• This process is also known as eutrophication
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Eutrophication/ Hypertrophication
“Eutrophication is an enrichment of water by nutrient
salts that causes structural changes to the ecosystem such
as: increased production of algae and aquatic plants,
depletion of fish species and general deterioration of
water quality”
• Severe algal growth blocks light that is needed for
plants, such as sea grasses, to grow
• When the algae and sea grass die, they decay. In the
process of decay, the oxygen in the water is used up and
this leads to low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water.
This, in turn, can kill fish, crabs, oysters, and other
aquatic animals
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Inorganic Chemicals and Minerals

• Inorganic chemicals and minerals include mineral acids,
inorganic salts, trace elements, metals, metals compounds,
complexes of metals with organic compounds, cyanides,
sulphates, etc.
• The accumulation of heavy metals may have adverse effect on
aquatic flora and fauna and may constitute a public health
problem where contaminated organisms are used for food
• Soluble salts in water

• Table: National Environmental Quality Standards (PAK EPA)

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Radioactive substances
• Radioactive materials originate from the following:
Mining and processing of ores,
Use in research, agriculture, medical and industrial
activities, such as I131, P32, Co60, Ca45, S35, C14, etc.
Radioactive discharge from nuclear power plants and
nuclear reactors, e.g., Sr90, Cesium Cs137, Plutonium
Pu248, Uranium-238, Uranium-235,
Uses and testing of nuclear weapons
• These isotopes are toxic to the life forms; they
accumulate in the bones, teeth and can cause serious
disorders
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Thermal discharges
• Thermal pollution results due to discharge of hot water from
thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, and industries
where water is used as coolant
• As a result of hot water discharge, the temperature of water body
increases. Rise in temperature reduces the DO content of the
water, affecting adversely the aquatic life. This alters the
spectrum of organisms, which can adopt to live at that
temperature and DO level.
• The discharge of hot water leads to the thermal stratification in
the water body, where hot water will remain on the top
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Oil
• Oil is a natural product which results from the plant remains
fossilized over millions of years, under marine conditions
• Oil enters in to water through oil spills, leak from oil pipes, and
wastewater from production and refineries
• Being lighter than water it spreads over the surface of water,
separating the contact of water with air, hence resulting in
reduction of DO
• This pollutant is also responsible for endangering water birds and
coastal plants. It penetrates the feathers of the birds and affects
their insulation and buoyancy. Thus birds feel difficulty in floating
and flying. The birds may ingest oil when they dive to feed. This
ingestion may produce toxic effects
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Oil
• It also results in reduction of light transmission through
surface waters, thereby reducing the photosynthetic activity
of the aquatic plants
• Oil includes polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), some
of which are known to be carcinogenic