WATER QUALITY

STANDARDS
 Types of water ?

• Rain water
• Storm water
• River water/ Lake water
• Ocean water
• Domestic water
• Industrial water
• Drinking water
• Agricultural water
• Irrigation water
• Sewage etc.
Blue water = good quality water
Green water = nutrient-enriched water
Brown water comes from swamps & forests
Water pollution from poor land use practices
Algal bloom – sign of eutrophication
Weed infestation of water bodies is driven by
nutrient enrichment
 Setting the WQ standards
• Water quality criterion (water quality guideline) –
Needed to support and maintain a designated water use.

• Water Quality Objective ( water quality goal)- Needed

to support and to protect the designated uses of water at a
specific site.

• Water quality standard – An objective that is

recognised in enforceable environmental control laws or
regulations of a government.
 Water quality objectives
• Water quality objectives are the measures that
specify the concentrations of substances permissible
for all intended water uses at a specific location on a
lake, river, or estuary.
• The objectives are based on the water quality
guidelines for the uses at that location, as well as on
public input and socio-economic considerations.
• The objectives not only protect water users and the
environment, but they also promote sustainable
water management strategies.
 Cont..
• Water Quality Objectives are intended to provide guidance
in making water quality management decisions such as the
designation of the surface waters which should not be
further degraded.
• They are often used as the starting point in deriving waste
effluent requirements included in Certificates of Approval
and other instruments issued to regulate effluent discharges.
• They are used to assess ambient water quality conditions,
assist in assessing spills and monitoring the effectiveness of
remedial actions.
 Advantages of Water Quality Objectives
• Focuses on solving problems caused by conflicts
between the various demands placed on water
resources, particularly related to assimilated
pollution.
• Enables an overall limit on levels of contaminants
within a water body to be set according to the
required uses of the water.
• It treats industry equitably requiring the use of best
available technology for treating hazardous, as well
as a number of conventional water pollutants
whenever the industry is located.
 Primary drinking water standards criteria

• Microorganisms – • Inorganic Chemicals –

• Virus; Arsenic, barium, fluoride,
Legionella;Turbidity copper, lead,
• Disinfection Byproducts- • Organic Chemicals –
bromate, chlorite, Benzine; Carbon
trihomethanes; haloacetic tetrachloride;
acids Dichloromethane
• Disinfectants- • Radionuclides –
chloramines, chlorine and Uranium; Alpha particles;
chlorine dioxides Beta particles and photon
emitters
 Secondary - Drinking water standards
Contaminant Secondary Standard
Aluminum 0.05 to 0.2 mg/L
Chloride 250 mg/L
Color 15 (color units)
Copper 1.0 mg/L
Corrosivness noncorrosive
Fluoride 2.0 mg/L
Foaming Agents 0.5 mg/L
Iron 0.3 mg/L
Manganese 0.05 mg/L
Odor 3 threshold odor number
pH 6.5-8.5
Silver 0.10 mg/L
Sulfate 250 mg/L
Total Dissolved Solids 500 mg/L
Zinc 5 mg/L
Irrigation water quality – salinity and sodium
hazards
• the total concentration of soluble salts (TDS or EC)
• the relative proportion of sodium to the other cations,
• the bicarbonate concentration as related to the
concentration of calcium and magnesium, and
• the concentrations of specific elements and compounds.
• Sodium adsorption ratio is given
• SAR = [sodium]/[calcium][magnesium]
 Others standards

• Domestic Wastewater effluent standards- pH,

mercury, cyanide, turbidity, DO level
• Industrial water standards – Varies with type of
goods being manufactured
• Industrial waster water effluent – Heavy metals
• Bathing water – swimming pools etc
• Nb: Standards can be national (WRMA), regional
(EAC) or international (WHO, EPA)
WATER QUALITY
INTERVENTIONS
 Recall the causes of water pollution

• Sewage and organic waste.

• Chemical pollutants and other toxic materials from
industrial processes.
• Fertilizers and other nutrients that cause eutrophication
(a process where water bodies such as lakes become
concentrated with nutrients leading to growth of algae
and other organisms).
• Bacteria and other microbiological agents.
• Silts and other solids that do not easily dissolve in water
and which obstruct water flow.
• Pesticides and other agricultural processes.
1. Identify the sources of water pollution (
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterquality.html)
Choosing Water resources – Starting point of
WQ interventions

• Water Quality - How good is it?

• Affordability - What does it cost?
• Adequacy – Can it supply enough water?
• Reliability - How long will it last?
• Convenience - How far away is it from
homesteads?
 General information of water sources
Sources Quality Quantity Accessibility Reliability Cost

Good,
Depends on the
maintenance on
Good quality for deep best location of
Good with little pump required Moderate if need
Groundwater aquifers; poor to fair well; pumping
variation regularly, must to pump
for shallow aquifers required unless
not over pump the
artesian well
aquifer

Good with little Good for artesian

Storage necessary
variation for flow and gravity
Good quality; for community
artesian flow overflow; fair for
disinfection water supply; Fairly low cost;
Springs and springs; variable gravity
recommended after gravity flow with piped system
Seeps with seasonal depression; little
installation of spring delivery for easy costs will rise.
fluctuations likely maintenance
protection. community
for gravity flow needed after
access.
springs. installation.

Fair to good; need

Fair to good in large Very accessible for a good
ponds and lakes; poor Good available using intakes; program of Moderate to high
Ponds and to fair in smaller quantity; decrease pumping required operation and because of need to
Lakes water bodies; during dry for delivery maintenance for pump and treat
treatment generally season. system; storage pumping and water.
necessary. required. treatment
systems.
 Information of water sources

Sources Quality Quantity Accessibility Reliability Cost

Maintenance
Moderate: required for both Moderate to high
Good for mountain Generally good;
seasonal variation type systems; depending on
streams; poor for need intake for
Streams and likely; some rivers much higher for method;
streams in lowland both gravity flow
Rivers and streams will pumped system; treatment and
regions; treatment and piped
dry up in dry riverside well is a pumping
necessary. delivery.
season. good reliable expensive.
source.

Moderate and Good; cisterns Low-moderate

Must be rain;
Fair to poor; variable; supplies located in yards for roof
Rain some
disinfection unavailable during of users; fair for catchments; high
Catchments maintenance
necessary dry season; storage ground for ground
required.
necessary. catchments. catchments
 Community actions to improve WQ
Source of pollution What the communities can do
Agricultural: from o Managing pastures to maintain vegetative cover and stable soils
both agriculture o Employing conservation farming technique
practices and o Minimizing stock access to streams and damage to stream banks
livestock rearing.

Storm water: o Actively controlling erosion problems Constructing farm dams to

Generated by encourage water plant growth so that they act as filters for run-off
rainfall storms

Sewer o Maintaining and operating on-site household wastewater systems

(septic tanks and aerated wastewater treatment units) to prevent
nutrients getting into streams or groundwater

Industrial o regulating industrial activities, as well as controlling diffuse sources, to

prevent water pollution
o Protecting local wetlands for their role in filtering sediment and
nutrients and providing a diversity of wildlife habitat
o Reusing effluent where possible
 3. Holistic Catchment management
•Area
•Length
Y
P (mm) •Slope
•Forests
•Farms
Rainfall station
•Industries
•Dwelling houses
•Rivers
•Lakes
•Reservoirs

Gauging station •Wildlife

•Soil types
Divide
•Geology
•Climate

Q(m3/s) X

Z
4. ECOSAN: Use of new technology
WATER QUALITY
ECOSAN and the linkage to IWRM
INTEGRATED APPROACH (MULTISECTOR)
ECOSAN and the linkage to IWRM
INTEGRATED APPROACH (MULTISECTOR)
Need for institutional Coordination
 6. Improvement on;
1. Strong Information Baseline
• Poor pollution monitoring by effluent dischargers
2. Create high Compliance to Regulations mechanisms
• Low priority by industry on wastewater treatment
• Ignorance on existing regulations
• Historically weak enforcement
3. Develop adequate Infrastructure
• Inadequate capacity of treatment plants
• Frequent sewerage bursts / sewer spills
• Poor management of dumping sites
• Poor disposal of wastes especially in informal settlements
• Storm water drainage
• Expansion of Juakali Industry
WRMA initiatives on Effluent Dischargers
1. To develop an Effluent Discharge Control Plan (EDCP).
2. To have a valid effluent discharge permit before
discharging into the water resources.
3. To maintain records of effluent discharge in terms of
quantity and quality.
4. To install a controlling and measuring device to ensure
water abstracted or effluent discharged is accurately
measured
5. WRMA monitors resource & enforces compliance to WRM
Rules
Observations/recommedations
 Carry out Pollution assessment & Monitoring
• Extent of industrial, domestic, agricultural etc wastes
• How many permits issued and are standards adhered to
• Are there legislation to prevent littering
• What are the distribution of land use in the catchments
• What is the population growth rate
• What is the attitude of local people towards pollution
• Are there water borne diseases
• Are there changes in animal and plant communities with
time..
• Are polluters punished
 Strengthen the Guiding Principles for Water
Pollution Control
• Prevent pollution rather than treating symptoms
of pollution
• Use the precautionary principle
• Apply the Polluter Pays Principle
• Apply realistic standards and regulations
• Balance economic and regulatory instruments
• Apply water pollution control at the lowest
appropriate level
• Establish mechanisms for cross -sectoral
integration
 Guiding Principles cont;
• Encourage participatory approaches with
involvement of all relevant stakeholders
• Give open access to information on water
pollution
• Promote international cooperation on water
pollution control
HOW DO WE OVERCOME ?:
WATER TREATMENT
 Reasons for treatment
1. Remove smells and odors,
2. Dissolved gases (Ammonia, hydrogen sulphide)
3. Kill germs, pathogens, bacteria and viruses
4. Water hardness
5. Portable and safe water
 Where do we start?
• Water samples – from sources (borehole)
• Water examination
• Water analysis – Water laboratory
• Re-samplying every three months
• Checking on transmission lines for
infiltration of sewage water
 Methods for purification

• Simplest is boiling
• Filtration
• Chlorination
• Ozone
• UV treatment
• Water guard (Sodium hypo chlorite)
• Distillation
 Filters
• Sand filters for large communities
• Gravity filters for small communities
• Domestic household filters
• Filter cartridges ( for many types of ions)
• Activated carbon or charcoal filters
• Fluoride filters – CDN as a leader
• Reverse osmosis – More advanced
 The working principles of some specific
filters
1. Ozone filters – Through oxidation process, all organic,
inorganic and biological substances are destroyed
2. Steam distillation – Natural methods which is able to
remove Biological Entities, Heavy Metals, Organic
Chemicals, Inorganic Chemicals & Radioactive Material
3. Carbon filters (Charcoal) – A good media for a wide
range of contaminant like chlorine, pesticides, herbicides
and inorganic materials
4. Far Infrared Light (FIR) - Very suitable for toxin
removal
5. Ultraviolet Light – Very cheap to use – Deactivates the
DNA of bacteria, virus and other pathogens
 Working principles Cont;

6. The ceramic water filters – Very cheap and

affordable- removes dirt, microbes, virus
and bacteria
7. CDN Fluoride filters- Single and combined

“These two filters are cheap and wananchi

friendly”
Sand filters
UV filters
Ceramic water filters
CDN Single and combined Fluoride filters
 Observations and conclusions

1. Pollution Prevention should Prevails

2. Water sources like Wells or boreholes should be properly
protected and maintained
3. For water supply check pipes and pumps regularly and
seal pipe joints properly
4. Investigate any change in water quality at the earliest
possible time
5. Any change in land use should warrant a water analysis
 Observations
• That cheap and affordable WQ filters are can be
available. The government through its appropriate
organs and mechanism should create an enabling
environment for the production and distribution of
these filters to the vulnerable communities
• Education and training on WASH should be
accelerated and taken down to the communities
• Universities, NGO’s, CDN and others should
continue carrying out research on cheaper and
affordable filters made from local material
• Treat NOT ONLY the drinking water but also the
wastewater