water

pollution
 what is water
pollution?
Water pollution is any change in water quality that can harm
living organisms or make the water unfit for human uses
such as irrigation and recreation. It usually involves
contamination by one or more chemicals or excessive heat
(thermal pollution).

water pollution sources

• Point sources

• Nonpoint sources
 water pollution
sources
Point sources (single source):
• Point sources discharge pollutants into bodies of
surface water at specific locations through drain
pipes, ditches, or sewer lines.

• Point sources are located at specific places, they are

fairly easy to identify, monitor, and regulate.

Examples include factories, sewage

treatment plants (which remove
some, but not all, pollutants),
underground mines, and oil
tankers.
 water pollution
sources
Nonpoint sources:
• Nonpoint sources are broad and diffuse areas, rather
than points, from which pollutants enter bodies of
surface water or air.

• We have made little progress in controlling water

pollution from nonpoint sources because of the difficulty
and expense of identifying and controlling discharges
from so many diffuse sources.
Examples include runoff of
chemicals and sediments
from cropland, livestock
feedlots, logged forests,
urban streets, parking lots,
lawns, and golf courses.
 Water pollution
causes
• Agricultural
activities

• Industrial facilities

• Mining

• Plastics
 water pollution
causes
• Agricultural activities are by far the leading cause of
water pollution. Sediment eroded from agricultural lands
is the most common pollutant.

•Other major agricultural pollutants

are fertilizers and pesticides

bacteria from livestock

food-processing wastes

excess salts from soils of irrigated

cropland.
 water pollution
causes
• Industrial facilities, which emit a variety of harmful
inorganic and organic chemicals, are a second major
source of water pollution.

Coal industry contribution:

A growing problem of great concern is that of coal ash, an
indestructible waste created by the burning of coal in power
plants. Some power utilities store the ash on land in slurry
ponds that can leak and pollute nearby bodies of water
Other utilities dump the toxic ash and associated
wastewater into nearby lakes and rivers.

Oil industry contribution:

In addition, some oil and natural gas drilling operations
inject large volumes of water at high pressure into shale
rock deposits to release trapped natural gas or oil. This
process can contaminate aquifers that are used as sources
of drinking water with various chemicals.
 water pollution
causes
• Mining
Mining is the third biggest source of water pollution. Surface mining
disturbs the land creating major erosion of sediments and runoff of
toxic chemicals.

Wastes from existing and abandoned mines can also pollute

streams and lakes.
 water pollution
• Plastics causes
water pollution is caused by the widespread use of human-
made materials such as plastics that make up millions of
products, all of which eventually end up in the environment.

The polymers that make up the plastics break down very

slowly and, in the process, pollute many waterways and the
oceans where
they have been improperly discarded
Major Water Pollutants and Their Sources
 Effects of water
pollution
Common Diseases Transmitted to Humans through Contaminated Drinking
Water
Water pollution
problems

• Streams and
lakes

• Ground water

• Oceans
 Water pollution problems in streams and
lakes
Flowing rivers and streams can recover rapidly from moderate
levels of degradable, oxygen-demanding wastes through a
combination of dilution and bacterial breakdown of such
wastes.

But this process does not work when streams become

overloaded with such pollutants or when drought, damming,
or water diversion reduce their flows.

This process (dilution and bacterial breakdown) does not

eliminate slowly degrading or nondegradable wastes.
 Water pollution problems in streams and
lakes
Lakes and Reservoirs Vulnerable to Water Pollution

• Lakes and reservoirs are generally less effective at

diluting pollutants than streams are, for two reasons.

• First, lakes and reservoirs often contain stratified layers

that
undergo little vertical mixing.

• Second, they have little or no flow.

• The flushing and changing of water in lakes and large artificial

reservoirs can take from 1 to 100 years, compared with several
days to several weeks for streams.

• As a result, lakes and reservoirs are more vulnerable than

streams are to contamination by runoff or discharge of plant
nutrients, oil, pesticides, and non-degradable toxic substances,
such as
lead and mercury.
 Water pollution problems in streams and
lakes
Cultural Eutrophication

• Eutrophication is the name given to the natural nutrient

enrichment of a shallow lake, estuary, or slow moving stream. It
is caused mostly by runoff of plant nutrients such as nitrates and
phosphates from surrounding land.

• Near urban or agricultural areas, human activities can

greatly accelerate the input of plant nutrients to a lake—a
process called cultural eutrophication.

• Sources for cultural

eutrophication farms,
feedlots,
chemically fertilized lawns,
mining sites,
sewage treatment plants.
 Water pollution problems in streams and
lakes
Cultural Eutrophication-effects

Effects fish growth by disturbing photosynthesis

• Nutrient overload produces dense growths of organisms such as
algae and cyanobacteria and thick growths of water hyacinth
duckweed, and other aquatic plants. These dense colonies of
plant life can reduce lake productivity and fish growth by
decreasing the input of solar energy needed for photosynthesis
by the phytoplankton that support fish populations
 Water pollution problems in streams and
lakes
Cultural Eutrophication-effects

Depletes oxygen levels in water

• When the algae die, they are decomposed by swelling

populations of aerobic bacteria, which deplete dissolved
oxygen in the surface layer of water near the shore as well as
in the bottom layer of a lake. This can kill fish and other aerobic
aquatic animals;
 Major Pollution Problems Affecting
Groundwater
• According to many scientists, groundwater pollution is a
serious threat to human health.

Common pollutants that can contaminate ground water

are

fertilizers

pesticide

gasoline
(or crude
oil) spills,

Paint
 Major Pollution Problems Affecting
Groundwater
• When groundwater becomes contaminated, it cannot cleanse
itself of degradable wastes as quickly as flowing surface
water can.

Reasons

(a)Groundwater flows so slowly—usually less than 0.3 meter (1

foot) per day—that contaminants are not diluted and dispersed
effectively.

(b)Groundwater usually has much lower concentrations of

dissolved oxygen (which helps decompose many
contaminants) and smaller populations of decomposing
bacteria.

(c) The usually cold temperatures of groundwater also slow

down
chemical reactions that decompose wastes.
 Major Pollution Problems Affecting
Groundwater
Nitrate and nitrite ions contamination

• In agricultural areas where nitrates in fertilizer can leach into

groundwater. Nitrite ions (NO2–) in the stomach, colon, and
bladder can convert some of the nitrate ions in drinking water
to organic compounds that have been shown in tests to cause
cancer in more than 40 animal species.

• The conversion of nitrates in tap water to nitrites in infants

under 6 months old can cause a potentially fatal condition
known as “blue baby syndrome,” in which blood lacks the
ability to carry sufficient oxygen to body cells.
 Major Pollution Problems Affecting
• Groundwater
Ground pollution is a serious threat

Arsenic contamination

• According to a 2007 study by the WHO, more than 140 million

people in 70 countries are drinking water with arsenic
concentrations of 5– 100 times the accepted safe level of 10
parts per billion (ppb).

• The WHO estimates that long-term exposure to nondegradable

arsenic in drinking water is likely to cause hundreds of
thousands of premature deaths from cancer of the skin,
bladder, and lung.
Figure 20: Natural capital degradation:╇ These are the principal sources of
groundwater contamination in the United States. Another source in coastal areas is
saltwater intrusion from excessive groundwater withdrawal. (Figure is not drawn to
scale.) Question: What are three sources shown in this picture that might be affecting
Figure 20: The LifeStraw™, designed by Torben Vestergaard Frandsen, is a
personal water purification device that gives many poor people access to safe
drinking water. Here, four young men in Uganda demonstrate its use.
Question: Do you think the development of such devices should make
prevention of water pollution less of a priority? Explain.
 Major Pollution Problems Affecting
Oceans
Ocean Pollution Is a Growing and Poorly Understood
Problem Coastal ocean water pollution: (viruses and
bacteria growth)

• The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report says

that 80–90% of the
municipal sewage from most coastal areas of less-developed
countries, and in some such areas of more-developed countries,
is dumped into oceans without treatment.

•Recent studies of some U.S. coastal waters have found vast

colonies of viruses thriving in raw sewage and in effluents from
sewage treatment plants (which do not remove viruses) and leaking
septic tanks.

According to one study, one-fourth of the people using coastal

beaches in the United States develop ear infections, sore throats,
eye irritations, respiratory disease, or gastrointestinal disease from
swimming in seawater containing infectious viruses and bacteria.
 Major Pollution Problems Affecting
Oceans
Ocean Pollution Is a Growing and Poorly Understood
Problem Coastal ocean water pollution: (harmful algae
growth)

• Runoffs of sewage and agricultural wastes into coastal waters

introduce large quantities of nitrate(NO3–) and phosphate
(PO43–) plant nutrients, which can cause explosive growths of
harmful algae.

• Contamination of seafood: Harmful algae can release

waterborne and airborne toxins that poison seafood, damage
fisheries, kill some fish- eating birds.

• oxygen depleted zones: When the algae die, they are

decomposed by colonies of oxygen-consuming bacteria.
Evidence indicates that oxygen-depleted zones are caused
mostly by excessive inputs of nitrates and phosphates from
runoff of fertilizers and animal wastes and by deposition of
nitrogen compounds from the atmosphere.
 Major Pollution Problems Affecting
Oceans
Ocean Pollution Is a Growing and Poorly Understood
Problem Ocean Pollution from Oil

Crude petroleum and refined petroleum reach the ocean from a

number of sources and become highly disruptive pollutants

• Tanker accidents and blowouts at offshore drilling rigs

• The largest source of ocean pollution from oil is urban and

industrial runoff from land

At least 37% of the oil reaching the oceans is waste oil,

dumped,
spilled, or leaked onto the land or into sewers by cities and
industries,
 Major Pollution Problems Affecting
Oceans
Ocean Pollution Is a Growing and Poorly Understood
Problem Ocean Pollution from Oil-Effects

• Volatile organic hydrocarbons in oil kill many aquatic

organisms
immediately upon contact.

• Other chemicals in oil form tar like globs that float on the
surface and coat the feathers of seabirds and the fur of
marine mammals. This oil coating destroys their natural heat
insulation and buoyancy, causing many of them to drown or
die of exposure from loss of body heat.

• Heavy oil components that sink to the ocean floor or wash

into estuaries can smother bottom-dwelling organisms
such as crabs, oysters, mussels, and clams, or make them
unfit for human consumption. Some oil spills have killed
coral reefs.
 Dealing with water
pollution
Reducing Surface Water Pollution from Nonpoint Sources
• Farmers can reduce soil erosion by keeping cropland
covered with vegetation and using other soil conservation
methods.

• They can also reduce the amount of fertilizer that runs off into
surface waters by using slow-release fertilizer, using no fertilizer
on steeply sloped land, and planting buffer zones of vegetation
between cultivated fields and nearby surface waters.

• Organic farming can also help to prevent water pollution caused by

nutrient overload because it does not use commercial inorganic
fertilizers and pesticides.

• By applying pesticides only when needed and relying more on

integrated pest management farmers can also reduce pesticide
runoff.

• control runoff and infiltration of manure from animal feedlots by

planting buffer zones and by locating feedlots, pastures, and animal
 Dealing with water
Sewage Treatment
pollution
In developed countries, raw sewage reaching a treatment plant
typically undergoes one or two levels of wastewater treatment.

The first is primary sewage treatment—a physical process that

uses screens and a grit tank to remove large floating objects and
to allow solids such as sand and rock to settle out. Then the waste
stream flows into a primary settling tank where suspended solids
settle out as sludge.

The second level is secondary sewage treatment— a biological

process in which aerobic bacteria remove as much as 90% of
dissolved and biodegradable, oxygen-demanding organic wastes

A third level of clean-up, advanced or tertiary sewage treatment,

uses a series of specialized chemical and physical processes to
remove specific pollutants. In its most common form, advanced
sewage treatment uses special filters to remove phosphates and
nitrates from wastewater before it is discharged into surface
waters
 Dealing with water
pollution
Sewage Treatment
water from sewage treatment plants usually undergoes
bleaching, to remove water coloration, and disinfection to kill
disease-carrying bacteria and some (but not all) viruses. The
usual method for accomplishing this is chlorination.
Dealing with water
pollution
Dealing with water
pollution
It is a hard truth to swallow, but
nature does not care if we live or die.
We cannot survive without the
oceans, but they can do just fine
without us.

Roger Rosenblatt