Water pollution is a large set of adverse effects upon water bodies such as lakes, rivers,

oceans, and groundwater caused by human activities.

Although natural phenomena such as volcanoes, algae blooms, storms, and earthquakes
also cause major changes in water quality and the ecological status of water, these are not
deemed to be pollution. Water is only called polluted when it is not able to be used for
what one wants it to be used for. Water pollution has many causes and characteristics.
Increases in nutrient loading may lead to eutrophication. Organic wastes such as sewage
impose high oygen demands on the receiving water leading to oygen depletion with
potentially severe impacts on the whole eco!system. Industries discharge a variety of
pollutants in their wastewater including heavy metals, resin pellets, organic toins, oils,
nutrients, and solids. "ischarges can also have thermal effects, especially those from
power stations, and these too reduce the available oygen. #ilt!bearing runoff from many
activities including construction sites, deforestation and agriculture can inhibit the
penetration of sunlight through the water column, restricting photosynthesis and causing
blanketing of the lake or river bed, in turn damaging ecological systems.
$ollutants in water include a wide spectrum of chemicals, pathogens, and physical
chemistry or sensory changes. %any of the chemical substances are toic. $athogens can
produce waterborne diseases in either human or animal hosts. Alteration of water&s
physical chemistry include acidity, conductivity, temperature, and eutrophication.
'utrophication is the fertilisation of surface water by nutrients that were previously
scarce. 'ven many of the municipal water supplies in developed countries can present
health risks. Water pollution is a major problem in the global contet. It has been
suggested that it is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and diseases,
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and that it
accounts for the deaths of more than ),,--- people daily.
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Sources of water pollution
#ome of the principal sources of water pollution are.
/eology of aquifers from which groundwater is abstracted
Industrial discharge of chemical wastes and byproducts
"ischarge of poorly!treated or untreated sewage
#urface runoff containing pesticides or fertili0ers
#lash and burn farming practice, which is often an element within shifting
cultivation agricultural systems
#urface runoff containing spilled petroleum products
#urface runoff from construction sites, farms, or paved and other impervious
surfaces e.g. silt
"ischarge of contaminated and1or heated water used for industrial processes
Acid rain caused by industrial discharge of sulphur dioide 2by burning high!
sulphur fossil fuels3
'cess nutrients are added 2eutrophication3 by runoff containing detergents or
fertili0ers
4nderground storage tank leakage, leading to soil contamination, and hence
aquifer contamination
Inappropriate disposal of various solid wastes and, on a locali0ed scale, littering
Oil spills
Contaminants
5ontaminants may include organic and inorganic substances.
#ome organic water pollutants are.
Insecticides and herbicides, a huge range of organohalide and other chemicals
6acteria, often is from sewage or livestock operations
7ood processing waste, including pathogens
8ree and brush debris from logging operations
9O5s 29olatile organic compounds3, such as industrial solvents, from improper storage
$etroleum :ydrocarbons including fuels 2gasoline, diesel, jet fuels, and fuel oils3 and
lubricants 2motor oil3 from oil field operations, refineries, pipelines, retail service
station&s underground storage tanks, and transfer operations. ;ote. 9O5s include
gasoline!range hydrocarbons.
#ome inorganic water pollutants include.
:eavy metals including acid mine drainage
Acidity caused by industrial discharges 2especially sulfur dioide from power plants3
$re!production industrial raw resin pellets, an industrial pollutant
5hemical waste as industrial by products
7ertili0ers, in runoff from agriculture including nitrates and phosphates
#ilt in surface runoff from construction sites, logging, slash and burn practices or land
clearing sites
Transport and chemical reactions of water pollutants
%ost water pollutants are eventually carried by the rivers into the oceans. In some areas
of the world the influence can be traced hundred miles from the mouth by studies using
hydrology transport models. Advanced computer models such as #W%% or the "##A%
%odel have been used in many locations worldwide to eamine the fate of pollutants in
aquatic systems. Indicator filter feeding species such as copepods have also been used to
study pollutant fates in the ;ew <ork 6ight, for eample. 8he highest toin loads are not
directly at the mouth of the :udson =iver, but )-- kilometers south, since several days
are required for incorporation into planktonic tissue. 8he :udson discharge flows south
along the coast due to coriolis force. 7urther south then are areas of oygen depletion,
caused by chemicals using up oygen and by algae blooms, caused by ecess nutrients
from algal cell death and decomposition. 7ish and shellfish kills have been reported,
because toins climb the foodchain after small fish consume copepods, then large fish eat
smaller fish, etc. 'ach successive step up the food chain causes a stepwise concentration
of pollutants such as heavy metals 2e.g. mercury3 and persistent organic pollutants such
as ""8. 8his is known as biomagnification which is occasionally used interchangeably
with bioaccumulation.
8he big gyres in the oceans trap floating plastic debris. 8he ;orth $acific /yre for
eample has collected the so!called Great Pacific Garbage Patch that is now estimated at
two times the si0e of 8eas. %any of these long!lasting pieces wind up in the stomachs of
marine birds and animals. 8his results in obstruction of digestive pathways which leads to
reduced appetite or even starvation.
%any chemicals undergo reactive decay or chemially change especially over long periods
of time in groundwater reservoirs. A noteworthy class of such chemicals are the
chlorinated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene 2used in industrial metal degreasing
and electronics manufacturing3 and tetrachloroethylene used in the dry cleaning industry
2note latest advances in liquid carbon dioide in dry cleaning that avoids all use of
chemicals3. 6oth of these chemicals, which are carcinogens themselves, undergo partial
decomposition reactions, leading to new ha0ardous chemicals 2including
dichloroethylene and vinyl chloride3.
/roundwater pollution is much more difficult to abate than surface pollution because
groundwater can move great distances through unseen aquifers. ;on!porous aquifers
such as clays partially purify water of bacteria by simple filtration 2adsorption and
absorption3, dilution, and, in some cases, chemical reactions and biological activity.
however, in some cases, the pollutants merely transform to soil contaminants.
/roundwater that moves through cracks and caverns is not filtered and can be transported
as easily as surface water. In fact, this can be aggravated by the human tendency to use
natural sinkholes as dumps in areas of >arst topography.
8here are a variety of secondary effects stemming not from the original pollutant, but a
derivative condition. #ome of these secondary impacts are.
#ilt bearing surface runoff from can inhibit the penetration of sunlight through the water
column, hampering photosynthesis in aquatic plants. 8hermal pollution can induce fish
kills and invasion by new thermophyllic species
Sources of Water Pollution
What are the sources of water pollution?
What are the effects of water pollution?
What are the ways we can take to decrease those problem?
a)What are the sources of water pollution?
8here are many causes for water pollution but two general categories eist. direct and
indirect contaminant sources.
"irect sources include effluent outfalls from factories, refineries, waste treatment plants
etc.. that emit fluids of varying quality directly into urban water supplies. In the 4nited
#tates and other countries, these practices are regulated, although this doesn&t mean that
pollutants can&t be found in these waters.
Indirect sources include contaminants that enter the water supply from soils1groundwater
systems and from the atmosphere via rain water. #oils and groundwaters contain the
residue of human agricultural practices 2fertili0ers, pesticides, etc..3 and improperly
disposed of industrial wastes. Atmospheric contaminants are also derived from human
practices 2such as gaseous emissions from automobiles, factories and even bakeries3.
#ource. Our Planet, 9ol @, ;o.A, )BBC.
5ontaminants can be broadly classified into organic, inorganic, radioactive and acid1base.
'amples from each class and their potential sources are too numerous to discuss here.
b)What are the effects of water pollution?
8he effects of water pollution are varied. 8hey include poisonous drinking water,
poisionous food animals 2due to these organisms having bioaccumulated toins from the
environment over their life spans3, unbalanced river and lake ecosystems that can no
longer support full biological diversity, deforestation from acid rain, and many other
effects. 8hese effects are, of course, specific to the various contaminants.
c)What are the ways we can take to decrease those problem?
#cience provides many practical solutions to minimi0ing the present level at which
pollutants are introduced into the environment and for remediating 2cleaning up3 past
problems. All of these solutions come with some cost 2both societal and monetary3. In our
everyday lives, a great deal can be done to minimi0e pollution if we take care to recycle
materials whose production creates pollution and if we act responsibly with household
chemicals and their disposal. Additionally, there are choices we make each day that also
can affect the quantity of pollutants our actions will introduce into the environment.
:eavily packaged foods, for instance, contain boes, cartons, bottles etc.. made with
polluting dyes, many of which are released from groundwater at municipal land fills.
Whether we choose to drive to the corner store rather than walk or ride a bicycle will
determine how much we personally contribute to acid and hydrocarbon emissions to the
atmosphere 2and ultimately to global fresh water supplies3.
In the end, there are many choices on the personal and societal level that we must make
2consciously or not3 that affect the amount of pollution our town or country will be forced
to live with. Our standard of living and very way of life is based upon practices which are
inherently DdirtierD than those of our distant ancestors, although they too polluted their
environment to some etent. Without taking a step backward in terms of our standards of
living, the answer seems to lie in a combination of many small changes in our daily
practices and paying more for goods and services, so that manufacturers of various
materials and drivers of automobiles 2for instance3 will have cleaner devices with which
to conduct their activities.
Pollution control:
8he first defense against pollution involves public education and Industrial %onitoring.
8his is called $retreatment. 8he 7ederal /overnment&s role in pretreatment began with
the passage of the 5lean Water Act in )BE+. 8he Act required the 4.#. '$A to develop
national standards to control industrial discharges into sewer systems. 8he standards are
uniform national requirements which restrict the level of certain pollutants in the sewage
from industries. All $ublicly Owned 8reatment Works must enforce the federal standards.
Treatment
Waste is treated at the $lant in a similar manner to that which occurs in nature. 8he
objective in preliminary treatment is to remove the large debris, sand, and grit. "uring
primary treatment, we remove a large percentage of the floatable and settleable material
by physical methods. With secondary treatment we remove, and convert , biologically,
contaminants remaining in the wastewater. 8he flow is then treated with chlorine to
disinfect our effluent prior to discharge to the =iver.
"uring primary and secondary treatment, the removed solids 2biosolids3 are further
processed by anaerobic digestion and prepared for land application. After a period of )F !
A- days in the digester, the biosolids are forwarded to holding tanks and await land
application.