* Environmental Impacts of

wastewater
*Environmental
Impact
 *Environmental Impacts……
*  contamination and destruction of natural
habitats and the wildlife (Chemicals).
*Acute and chronic toxicity for plant and
animal life
*Chronic degradation effect on soil
*Generates methane (21 times more
powerful than CO2) and nitrous oxide (310
time more powerful than CO2).
*CH4 & NO2 will rise 25% and 50%
respectively in just few decades.
*Increased direct and indirect cost caused by
increased mortality and illness
*Loss of income from fisheries and
aquaculture
*Poor water quality
*Loss of valuable diversity
*Loss in real state values when the quality of
surroundings deteriorate.

*Environmental
Impacts….
*Dissolved Solids (salinity)
*Induce problems for the crop
yield selection and quantity
*Accumulation in soil
*Effect on soil permeability
*Clogging drip Irrigation system
*Environmental
impacts
*Environmental
Impacts
 * Environmental Impacts….
*Eutrophication (excessive richness of
nutrients in a lake or other body of water,
frequently due to run-off from the land,
which causes a dense growth of plant
life).
*Too much nitrogen and phosphorus in the
marine environment
*Massive growth of nutrient-feeding algae
which consume oxygen in the water
column and, in extreme cases, create a
dead water zone or hypoxia.
 * Algal blooms
*The depleted oxygen levels impare or could kill fish
in large numbers and change species composition.
Eutrophication can contaminate water, decreasing
seashore recreational opportunities.
*Some algal blooms contain toxins and bacteria.
These harmful algal blooms (HABs) are commonly
called red tides. Increase in sea temperatures from
global warming can accelerate eutrophication,
increasing the frequency of red tides.
*Water and seafood contaminated by HABs are
odourless and tasteless and the toxin cannot be
destroyed by cooking or freezing.
* Eutrophication
* Eutrophication
*Water Born Diseases
 * Water Born Diseases
*More than 3.4 million people die each
year (WHO)
*Pathogens/Microbes
*Gastroenteritis due to pathogens in
wastewater, parasitic protozoa Giardia
lambia and Cryptosporidium 
* Hepatitis A,
* typhoid, polio, cholera & dysentery.
*Heavy Metal Toxicity
* Sources of Heavy Metals
* Heavy metal Toxicity
*Heavy Metals in
cosmetics
*Arsenic Toxicity
 * Nutrients
*Nutrients (N & P):
*Ammonia in the form of N toxic to aquatic
organisms.
*Nitrate cause methemoglobinemia, also
called blue babies syndrome in infants and
other susceptible individuals.
*Phosphorus, essential element for plant
life, but excess of it in water, speed up
eutrophication.
*Phosphate in the form of Orthophosphate
*Soil Degradation
 * Soil Degradation

*Decline in soil productivity through adverse changes in

the nutritional status, soil organic matter and conc. of
electrolyte and toxic elements
*Due to interactive anthropogenic effects and
biophysical effects on soil properties, leads to adverse
effects on soil properties, agriculture productivity and
sustainablity.
*Chemicals that are harmful to crops may find their
way to the soil when the wastewater isn’t properly
treated. These chemicals will cause the soil to yield
fewer crops at a slower rate. Consider also the fact
that these crops will eventually be eaten, which can
also harm humans.
*Soil Degradation
 * Ground water and water table
*  When wastewater is discharged on these
dry lands, it can seep into the
underground water tables and well
sources.
*we need to draw from these natural
bodies of water for generations to come,
this can render entire water supplies
useless for people in multiple locations.
 * Natural Ecosystem

*when water is contaminated

by sewage, toxic chemicals,
or any number of other man-
made forms of waste, those
ecosystems are put at
serious risk
*Researchers have recently found that 
microscopic plastic fibres, released when
certain clothes are washed, can make it
through wastewater treatment plants and
into marine ecology systems. Like the
more common contaminants, they can
harm animals and damage the food chain.

*Microscopic Plastic
Fibers