UNIT-III
WATER POLLUTION
Prepared by
Dr G. Ram Reddy
Assistant Professor
GITAM School of Pharmacy
Hyderabad
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• It is defined as the addition of some substance (organic, inorganic, biological, or
radiological) or factor (heat) which degrades the quality of water.
• Water pollution is serious health hazard in India, particularly in villages.
• It is estimated that 50-60% of Indian population suffers from diseases caused by it.
• 30-40% of all deaths are due to water pollution.
• Pollutants produce 5 types of effects:
i) addition of suspended particles
ii) addition of nontoxic salts
iii) water deoxygenation
iv) addition of poisonous substances
v) heating
• A pollutant may cause one or more of these effects.
I. Sources of Surface (Inland) Water Pollution
• Surface water sources are ponds, lakes, tanks, streams and rivers.
• The main sources of water pollution are;
1. Domestic Wastes and Sewage :
• Untreated sewage of municipalities poured into water bodies.
• Many organic wastes are added from tanneries, slaughter houses and canning industries.
• Village pond water get contaminated with infectious agents for cholera, typhoid,
dysentery, jaundice and skin diseases.
2. Industrial Effluents :
• Industrial effluents contain;
– Heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, nickel),
– Inorganic pollutants (cyanides, acids, alkalies)
– Organic pollutants (oil, phenol, fats, fatty acids, sulphonated hydrocarbons,
cellulose fibers, wood, organic acids, etc.).
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3. Surface Run-off (Farm Run-of) :
• It brings fertilizers (urea, potassium, phosphates, nitrates), insecticides (DDT, B.H.C.,
Copper sulphate, aldrin), fungicides, nematicides, rodenticides and soil fumigants.
4. Solid Particles (Silt) :
• Wrong agricultural and foresty practices cause soil erosion during rain and make the
water muddy.
• Silt and mud may choke water courses, cause turbidity (reduce light to water plants) and
suffocate the organisms living at the bottom.
5. Oil:
• Effluents of refineries discharge a lot of oil in the rivers that destroy aquatic life.
6. Thermal Pollution (Heat) :
• It is caused by addition of hot effluents into water bodies from thermal power plants,
refineries, etc.
• Warmer water contains less oxygen that harms aquatic life.
II. Underground water Pollution Sources :
• The common sources are;
1. Sewage and industrial effluents spilled over the ground.
2. Fertilizers and pesticides used in fields.
3. Refuse dumps, septic tanks, seepage pits, mining activities, etc.
III. Marine Water Pollution Sources:
• The main sources of pollution are;
– Dumping industrial wastes into the rivers by industries.
– Discharge of fertilizers and pesticides from farm run-off through rivers.
– Discharge of sewage of coastal cities via rivers.
– Discharge of oil, grease, petroleum products, garbage, sewage and detergents
from ships.
– Accidents during transport, spread oil over many hundred kilometers.
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– Over 10 million tonnes of oil is spilled into the ocean annually.
IV. Consequences of Fresh Water Pollution
1. Effects of Organic Wastes and Domestic Sewage:
a) Deoxygenation:
• Micro-organisms causing decomposition of sewage take up most of the dissolved oxygen
present in water, causes deoxygenation.
b) Diseases:
• Raw sewage contaminates water with pathogens causing a number of infectious diseases
like cholera, jaundice, typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis, etc.
c) Sewage produces foul odour and makes the water brown and oily.
d) Organic wastes form a scum and sludge that makes the water unfit for recreational and
industrial use.
e) Sewage and detergents stimulate algal growth called blooming or eutrophication.
– This adds to depletion of oxygen.
f) Anaerobiosis or deoxygenation gives rise to many secondary pollutants (H2S, ammonia,
organic sulphides, methane) that make water brownish or blackish.
2. Effects of Farm Run-off
a) Eutrophication:
• Fertilizer rich water into streams and lakes gives rise to blooming (increased growth) of
aquatic plants, generally on surface.
• This cuts off light for submerged plants which generally produce oxygen inside water.
• This reduces dissolved oxygen and aquatic animals die.
b) Biological Magnification (Biomagnification): is increase in the concentration of
nonbiodegradable toxic materials e.g., chorinated hydrocarbons like DDT.
The harmful effects of biomagnification are:
i) DDT accumulates in predatory birds (eagles, hawks) and cause thin shells, that easily break by
the bird's weight during incubation.
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ii) According to WHO, more than 50,000 people in developing countries are annually poisoned
and 5,000 are die due to toxic chemicals used in agriculture.
iii) Chlorinated hydrocarbons are known to produce cerebral haemorhage, hypertension, cancer,
liver cirrhosis, etc.
3. Effects of Industrial Wastes :
Mercury :
• Dimethyl form of mercury undergoes biomagnification in fish.
• Human beings feeding on poisoned animals develop minamata disease (appeared in
Japan, 1952, from fish of Minamata Bay).
• It leads to;
– numbness of lips and limbs,
– impaired speech, sense and hearing,
– meningitis,
– blurred-vision and death.
– Mercury also causes genetic changes.
• Lead: is mutagenic and causes anemia, headache, irritability, colic, paralysis, bluish lines
around the gums.
• Cadmium undergoes biomagnification and causes renal damage, emphysema,
hypertension, anemia, testicular necrosis.
• Arsenic causes mental disturbance, liver cirrrhosis, ulcers in gastro-intestinal tract, lung
cancer.
• Selenium causes fever, nervousness, vomitting, dental caries.
• Nitrates cause cyanosis (blue-baby syndrome).
• Liquid effluents kill fish and other aquatic life.
4. Effects of Silt: Water becomes muddy, shuts light, reduces plant growth causing depletion of
animal population and chokes water ways due to silting.
5. Effect of Thermal Pollution: Green algae are replaced by less desirable blue-green algae and
many animals fail to multiply.
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• Trout eggs fail to hatch and salmon fish does not spawn (does not release eggs) at high
temperature.
V. Control of Water Pollution
• Avoiding bath and washing clothes directly in ponds, tanks and streams that supply
drinking water.
• Separate ponds and tanks should be reserved for cattles.
• Treatment of domestic, farmyard and industrial wastes should be done before releasing
them into water bodies.
• Avoiding overuse of fertilizers and pesticides reduces water pollution.
• Cooling hot water that is released from industries.
• Recycling of the solid wastes wherever possible.
• Growing water hyacinth in polluted waters purifies it by taking heavy metals (lead,
mercury, cadmium and nickel) and toxic materials.
VI. Treatment of Sewage
• It is treated in Effluent Treatment Plant (EFT) before its discharge in water bodies.
• It involves following three steps primary, secondary and tertiary.
1) Primary (Physical) Treatment :
• It involves removal of grit and larger pieces by the following steps;
a) Shredding or cutting large pieces of organic matter into smaller ones by machines.
b) Churning or mixing of all constituents by churning machines.
c) Screening through stationary or moving screens or skimmers that remove large pieces of
organic matter.
d) Sedimentation involves setting down of insoluble or suspended material under the influence of
gravity.
– Layers of settled heavy material at the bottom of tank are called sludge.
– Remaining water is passed for secondary treatment.
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(2) Secondary (Biological) Treatment :
• In this, organic matter is decomposed by microbes and treated water is sterilized by
different methods called disinfection.
(a) Decomposition of Organic Matter:
• Two important methods are as follows.
i) In trickling filter method:
• Sewage is passed through a thick layer of gravel (small stones) having sewage fungus or
bacteria.
• Organic matter is completely decomposed while passing slowly.
• Clean water that trickles down is sent for disinfection.
ii) In activated sludge method:
• Waste water is passed through a series of 4 tanks where anaerobic and aerobic
decomposition are carried out by sludge of algae and bacteria.
• The almost clear water is then disinfected.
b) Disinfection:
• It is done to kill all the microbes and germs.
The common methods in disinfection are as follows:
Chlorination :
• It kills sewage fungus, bacteria and pathogens.
• Chlorinated water is rich in minerals like nitrates, ammonia and phosphates.
• It can be used for irrigation and recharging of ground water.
• It is the cheapest method but it forms organo-chloride by-products which can cause
cancer.
Ozone Treatment:
• Injection of ozone into water destroys all microorganisms and removes bad odour and
colour.
• It also eliminates manganese and iron.
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• It is better than other cleaning processes but the gas cannot be transported from one place
to another.
• It is produced near the place of treatment.
• The other methods of disinfection are use of ultraviolet radiations, iodine resin and
activated carbon (obtained from coal).
3) Tertiary (Chemical) Treatment :
• Costly and rarely undertaken, when the water has to be recycled.
• Various steps are as follows;
a) Precipitation with the help of chemicals (alum, ferric chloride and lime ; caustic soda, ferrous
sulphate and lime; or zirconium).
– Precipitates settle down.
b) Filtration for removing any precipitates left in the water.
C) Aeration by passing air to oxidise any of the remaining impurity (e.g.. iron and manganese)
and to make it fit for any use.
VII. Treatment of Industrial Effluents:
• It involves following steps;
1) Neutralisation: After testing pH, they are neutralized either with acid (if pH > 8.0) or
with alkali (if pH <6.0).
2) Precipitation: The effluent chemicals are precipitated either electrostatically or with the
help of known chemical reactions.
3) Adsorption: for removing coloured impurities and toxic chemicals.
4) Photocatalysis It is a recent technique of splitting of toxic chemicals into harmless ones.
5) Ion Exchange and Reverse Osmosis: The remaining ions are removed by these techniques.