Water

Pollutants
Sources
Oxygen Demanding
Materials
• Anything that can be oxidized in the receiving
consumption of dissolved molecular oxygen.
water with the

• The consumption of dissolved oxygen (DO) poses a threat to fish and

other higher forms of aquatic life that must have oxygen to live.

• Oxgen-demanding materials in domestic sewage come primarily from

human waste and food residue.

• A l m o s t a n y n a t u r a l l y o c c u r r i n g o rg a n i c m a t t e r, s u c h a s a n i m a l
droppings, crop residues, or leaves that get into the water from non-
point sources contribute to the depletion of DO
Nutrients
• Nitrogen and phosphorus, two nutrients of primary concern, are
considered pollutants because they are too much of a good thing.

• All living things require these nutrients for growth. Thus, they must be
present in rivers and lakes to support the natural food chain.

• Excessive nutrients often lead to large growths of algae, which in turn

become oxygen-demanding material when they die and settle to the
bottom.

• Some major sources of nutrients are phosphorus-based detergents,

fertilizers, and food-processing wastes.
Pathogenic Organism
• Microorganisms found in wastewater include bacteria, viruses, and
protozoa excreted by diseased persons or animals. When discharged into
surface waters, they make the water unfit for drinking (that is,
nonpotable).

• If the concentration of pathogens is sufficiently high, the water may

also be unsafe for swimming and fishing. Certain shellfish can be toxic
because they concentrate pathogenic organisms in their tissues, making
the toxicity levels in the shellfish much greater than the levels in the
s u r r o u n d i n g w a t e r.
Suspended Soids
• Organic and inorganic particles that are carried by the wastewater into a
receiving water

• The word sediment also includes eroded soil particles that are being
carried by water even if they have not yet settled. Colloidal particles
that do not settle readily cause the turbidity found in many surface
waters.

• As excessive sediment loads are deposited into lakes and reservoirs, the
usefulness of the water is reduced. Even in rapidly moving mountain
streams, sediment from mining and logging operations has destroyed
many living places (ecological habitats)for aquatic organisms.

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Salts
• All water contains some salt. These salts are often measured by
evaporation of a filtered water sample. The salts and other things that
don’t evaporate are called total dissolved solids (TDS).

• High concentrations of salts are discharged by many industries. Of

particular concern in arid regions, where water is used extensively for
irrigation, is that the water picks up salts every time it passes through
t h e s o i l o n i t s w a y b a c k t o t h e r i v e r. T h e s a l t c o n c e n t r a t i o n
continuously increases as the water moves downstream.

• If the concentration gets too high, crop damage or soil poisoning can
result.
Pharmaceutical and Personal
Care Products
• A class of compounds that are applied externally or ingested by humans,
pets, and other domesticated animals.

• Released to the environment through the disposal of expired, unwanted,

or excess medications to the sewage system by individuals, pharmacies,
or physicians.

• Another source is through metabolic excretion—the excretion of the

chemically unaltered parent compound and metabolized by-products in
urine and feces. PCPs, such as deodorants and sunscreens, can be
washed into our waterways during bathing, washing, and swimming.
Pharmaceutical and Personal
Care Products
• Examples of pharmaceuticals that have been detected in wastewater are
common prescription and veterinary drugs such as beta-blockers (e.g.,
metoprolol, propranolol), analgesics (e.g., ibuprofen, naproxen), and
antibiotics (e.g., erythromycin, trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin,
tetracycline, clindo-mycin, sulfonamides, tetracycline, fluoroquinolone,
macrolides, and trimethoprim)
Endocrine Disrupting
Compounds
• EDCs, alters the normal physiological function of the endocrine system
and can affect the synthesis of hormones. Some naturally occurring EDCs,
such as 17 b-estradiol that is both a naturally occurring estrogen and a
synthetic estrogen used as a method of birth control, are excreted into
w a s t e w a t e r.

• Other EDCs include polychlorinated biphenyls, commonly used pesticides

such as atrazine and other triazine chemicals, and phthalates.

• They can also interfere with the regulation of reproductive and

developmental processes in mammals, birds, reptiles and fish.

• The chemicals can also alter the normal physiological function of the
e n d o c r i n e s y s t e m a n d c a n a f f e c t t h e s y n t h e s i s o f h o r m o n e s i n t h e b o d y.
Pesticides
• The major classes of pesticides are herbicides, insecticides, and
fungicides.Herbicides are used to kill weeds.

• T h e m o s t c o m m o n l y u s e d h e r b i c i d e s a r e a t r a z i n e , m e t o l a c h l o r, a n d
a l a c h l o r. C h l o r o p y r i f o s , d i a z i n o n , a n d m a l a t h i o n a r e t h e t y p i c a l
insecticides used to kill insects that would otherwise destroy crops,
gardens, or structures.
Effects of Oxygen-Demanding
Waste in Rivers
• The introduction of oxygen-demanding material, either organic or
inorganic, into a river causes depletion of the dissolved oxygen in the
w a t e r. T h i s p o s e s a t h r e a t t o f i s h a n d o t h e r h i g h e r f o r m s o f a q u a t i c l i f e i f
the concentration of oxygen falls below a critical point.

• Because oxygen is continuously being replenished from the atmosphere

and from photosynthesis by algae and aquatic plants, as well as being
consumed by organisms, the concentration of oxygen in the river is
determined by the relative rates of these competing processes.

• Organic oxygen-demanding materials are commonly measured by

determining the amount of oxygen consumed during degradation in a
manner approximating degradation in natural waters.
Oxygen Demand
• Theoretical oxygen demand (ThOD) is the amount of oxygen required to
o x i d i z e a s u b s t a n c e t o c a r b o n d i o x i d e c a l c u l a t e d b y s t o i c h i o m e t r y.

• The chemical oxygen demand, COD, is a measured quantity that does not
depend on knowledge of the chemical composition of the substances in the
w a t e r.

• If the oxidation of an organic compound is carried out by microorganisms

using the organic matter as a food source, the oxygen consumed is known
as biochemical oxygen demand or BOD.
ThOD
calculation
• Compute the ThOD of 108.75 of glucose
(C6H12O6).
Oxygen Consumption vs.
Time
Oxygen Consumption vs.
Time
Oxygen Consumption vs.
Time
Sample Problem
Temperature
• Most biological processes speed up as the temperature increases and slow
down as the temperature drops. Because oxygen utilization is caused by
the metabolism of microorganisms, the rate of utilization is similarly
affected by temperature.
Sample Problem
Nitrogen Oxidation
• Up to this point, an unstated assumption has been that only the carbon in
organic matter is oxidized.
• A c t u a l l y, m a n y o r g a n i c c o m p o u n d s , s u c h a s p r o t e i n s , a l s o c o n t a i n n i t r o g e n
that can be oxidized with the consumption of molecular oxygen.

• Carbonaceous BOD
⚬ Oxygen consumption due to oxidation of carbon

• Nitrogenous BOD
⚬ Oxygen consumption due to oxidation of nitrogen
Nitrogen Oxidation
• The organisms that oxidize the carbon in organic compounds to obtain
energy cannot oxidize the nitrogen in these compounds.

• Instead, the nitrogen is released into the surrounding water as ammonia

(NH3). At normal pH values, this ammonia is actually in the form of the
ammonium cation NH4+. The ammonia released from organic compounds,
plus that from other sources such as industrial wastes and agricultural
runoff (that is, fertilizers), is oxidized to nitrate (NO3-) by a special
group of nitrifying bacteria as their source of energy in a process called
nitrification.
Nitrogen Oxidation
• The overall reaction for ammonia oxidation:

• From this reaction, the theoretical NBOD can be calculated as follows:

Sample Problem
BOD Analysis
• It is a laboratory method used to measure the amount of oxygen consumed
b y m i c r o o r g a n i s m s i n t h e p r o c e s s o f d e c o m p o s i n g o r g a n i c i n w a t e r.

(BOD)s * (V)s + (BOD)blank * (V)blank = (BOD)loaded * (Vblank +

Vsample)
Sample Problem
A 300-mL BOD bottle has a BOD5 of 4.78 mg/L. A 5.34 mL sample of
domestic wastewater source at 28 degC was analyzed, and the bottle with the
sample was found to contain dissolved oxygen of 5.94 mg/Li after 5 days.
What is the ultimate BOD of the sample if the rate constant in the
laboratory(20degC) is 0.145/day?
Assignment
• Problem Set Notebook
• Have the student complete 30 hand-written problems on the topic of
discussion, with 5 given by the professor and 25 to be searched and
a n s w e r e d b y t h e s t u d e n t a s i n d e p e n d e n t s t u d y.
• The goal of the problem set notebook is to instill practice on
computational habits so that the students can understand the concepts
a n d p r i n c i p l e s e v e n b e t t e r.
• Specifications of the Notebook:
• Spiral Notebook
• Corona
• Size: 152 x 216 mm
• 100 sheets
• 40 percent of your Class Standing
Assignment
2. Problem Set topic
• Searched and answered the 25 different problems with the following topics
we had discussed:
⚬ BOD analysis
⚬ CBOD and NBOD
⚬ Te m p e r a t u r e
⚬ Wa t e r C h e m i s t r y
⚬ BOD computation

• A d v a n c e S t u d y f o r D . O S a g E q u a t i o n i n R u n n i n g Wa t e r