Water

Pollution
 Water pollution
The dissolved of
suspended substances
which deteriorate the
quality of water and
make it unfit for human
consumption are called
water pollution.
Did You Know?
 The adult human body is about 50 to
65 percent water. A child’s body is
approximately 75 percent water. The
human brain is about 75 percent
water.
 While the human body can live for
weeks without food, it can only
survive a few days without water.
 220 million urban residents in the
developing world lack a source of safe
drinking water near their homes.
Did You Know?
 Ninety percent of urban sewage in the
developing world is discharged into
rivers, lakes, and coastal water ways
without any treatment.
 Agriculture consumes 60 to 80
percent of the fresh water resources
in most countries, and as much as 90
percent in others.
Did You Know?
 Under the belief that water could
dilute any substance, industries and
individuals during the 18th and 19th
centuries often used rivers and lakes
as garbage cans. Industrial effluent,
raw sewage and animal carcasses
would often be dumped into
waterways, without much thought of
contamination and downstream
neighbors.
Sources of water
Pollution
 Point source pollution
 Non point source pollution
 Atmospheric pollution
Point source pollution
 1. Sewage and other oxygen
demanding wastes:
These are largely organic materials as wall as
sewage materials like human excreta, dung
and urine of animals, some dissolved
proteins, carbohydrates, fats and a variety
of inorganic wastes such as nitrites,
nitrates, phosphates, chlorides, sulphates
and mineral elements like sodium,
potassium etc
That can be oxidized by micro-organisms to
carbon dioxide and water. When the amount
of sewage discharged is relatively small, the
river will not become badly polluted. So the
biological degradation will soon remove
most of the wastes but if not so it makes the
water pollute very soon
 If a question like this---

Why sewage and other oxygen

demanding wastes are classified as
water pollutants?
 Answer will be like this---
Because of the following
reasons:

A. Their degradation leads to

oxygen depletion which
affects or even kills fish
and other aquatic life.
B. They produce foul odor
and undesired colors.
C. They may lead to scam
and sludge that render
water unfit for
recreational use.
2. Biopollutants:
Micro-organisms such as algae, fungi, bacteria, viruses,
protozoa etc. often reach to water bodies through
surface runoff, domestic wastes and sewage.

These microbes produce several undesirable and

harmful effects in water. Many of them cause
diseases in human beings and aquatic animals
through contacts.

Cholera, typhoid and many skin diseases are

transmissible though polluted water.
Non Point source pollution
1. Plant nutrients:

Surface runoff from agricultural fields carries

nitrogenous and phosphate nutrients that
increase the growth of aquatic plants and later
undergo decomposition adding to organic loading
of the streams.
Excess algal growth has been of particular concern
since algae lead to depletion of oxygen in water,
create problems for municipalities and industries
and make water unfit for recreational uses.
2. Exotic organic chemicals:

These include surfactants, detergents pesticides,

various industrial products, oils and decomposition
products of other organic compounds. Good amount
of oil along with waste products of industry reaches
the sea and rivers. Oil discharged from costal
industries is most likely to be responsible for tainting
of fishes and sea animals.
The most important groups of compounds which are
both toxic and persistent are the chlorinated
hydrocarbons including organochlorine pesticides
such as DDT, Dieldrin, BHC and benzene products
3. Inorganic minerals and chemical
compounds:
Inorganic chemicals of many types find their way
into waters though municipal and industrial
wastes and the urban runoff. These pollutants
can kill and injure fishes and other aquatic life
and they can interfere with the suitability of
water for drinking and industrial purposes.
Mercury, lead, cadmium and copper are the
important metals that cause most concern. Other
metals reaching the rivers and sea in substisntial
quantities are zinc and chromium.
Cyanides, thiocyanates, chromates acids, alkalis
organic solvents and several other industrial
wastes are causing serious concern to general
public.
Atmospheric pollution:
Atmospheric pollution (or air deposition) is another
form of non point source pollution; Acid rain is
the most well-known form of atmospheric
pollution.
The major sources of atmospheric pollution include
coal-burning energy plants and waste
incinerators. The combustion of fossil fuels and
waste (such as from hospitals) produces large
amounts of mercury in the air
Effects of water pollution
1. Aquatic diseases and deformities:
Heavy metals such as mercury and lead, and
human-made organic chemicals such as
pesticides, biomagnifies as they move up the food
chain, resulting in tumors and death for predatory
animals, such as lake trout, herring gulls, and
even humans.
Toxic pollutants can also alter the genetic makeup
of an organism, resulting in either death or
extreme deformities like large fish tumors and
three-legged frogs.
Effects of water pollution
2. Human health issues:
Persistant Organic Pollutants (POPs), such as
dioxin, PCBs and DDT, are chemical substances
that persist in the environment and
bioaccumulate through the food web; therefore,
POPs can also cause sickness and disease in
humans, who are at the end of the food chain.
People who regularly consume a lot of fish will
have larger levels of toxic chemicals in their
bodies than those who only eat fish occasionally.
.
 While scientists are still studying the effects of
high chemical levels in humans, studies have
suggested that toxic chemicals can lead to
reproductive problems, cancer and neurological
disorders

 Other human health issues related to water

pollution include drinking water contamination
and skin infection, caused by bacterial
contamination.
Effects of heavy metals and
pesticides
a. Mercury :
Occurs naturally in the sea as the result of weathering of
mercury bearing rocks. It is also present in fossil fuels, coal
and oils and reaches the sea by serial transport.
It is highly persistent and said to be converted into a highly
toxic mono methyl mercury MeHg (methyl mercury) and
dimethyl mercury which produce nervous disorders in marine
animals at an ordinarily low level of dietary intake.
Normal level of Hg in fish probably ranges between 0.02 to 0.2
ppm. In situations exposed to industrial discharges containing
Hg wastes in Japan, Sweden and North America, Hg levels
above 1.0 ppm have been found.
Effect of Hg:
Monomethylmercury causes damage to the brain
and the central nervous system, while foetal and
postnatal exposure have given rise to abortion,
congenital malformation and development
changes in young children.
Consumption of Hg contaminated fishes may be
hazardous to man. Human beings feeding on
such poisoned animals develop a genetic
deformity called minamuta disease. Mercury
inhibits chromosomal disjunction during gamete
formation and brings about genetic changes
(Ramel, 1974).
b. Lead:
Lead is the natural pollutant of water, air and
biosphere. Lead is accumulating in the marine
environment as a result of drainage from rocks
bearing this metal, industrial and domestic sources
particularly the use of anti-knock motor fuels
containing lead compounds. It has been calculated
that motor vehicle exhausts contribute up to 2X105
tones of lead annually to the ocean through
atmospheric transport. Much of this accumulated in
the surface layer of sediments.
One study based on geochemical relationships and
material balances suggest that modern man
absorbs daily

20 mg lead from food,

1 microgram lead from water and
10 microgram lead form urban air.

Average daily lead intake for adults in the UK is

estimated at 1.6µg from air, 20µg from drinking
water and 28µg from food.
Effect of Lead:

Hickey et al.(1971) said that lead has

mutagenic effects and it may cause
congenital deformities. It disturbs
metabolism through its effect in
enzymes. Symptoms of lead poisoning
include loss of appetite, appearance of
bluish lines round the gums, anemia
etc.
c. Effect of Pesticides
In terms of general human health effects,
pesticides can ...
 affect and damage the nervous system;
 cause liver damage;
 damage DNA and cause a variety of cancers;
 cause reproductive and endocrine damage;
 cause other acutely toxic or chronic effects