Effects of water pollution

Presented by :
Nidhi Dhaka
Marine pollution

• Oceans are the ultimate sink of all natural and manmade pollutants.
• The sewerage and garbage of coastal cities are also dumped into the sea.
• The other sources of oceanic pollution are navigational discharge of oil, grease,
detergents, sewage, garbage and radioactive wastes, offshore oil mining, oil
spills.
• Oil Spills
• The most common cause of oil spill is leakage during marine transport and
leakage from underground storage tanks.
• An oil spill could occur during offshore oil production as well.
Impact of oil spill on marine life
• Oil being lighter than water covers the water surface as a thin film cutting off
oxygen to floating plants and other producers.
• Within hours of an oil spill, the fishes, shellfish, plankton die due to suffocation
and metabolic disorders.
• Birds and sea mammals that consume dead fishes and plankton die due to
poisoning
Underground water pollution
• In India at many places, the groundwater is threatened with contamination due
to seepage from industrial and municipal wastes and effluents, sewage
channels and agricultural runoff.
• Pollutants like fluorides, uranium, heavy metals and nutrients like nitrates and
phosphates are common in many parts of India.
• Nitrates
• Dissolved nitrates commonly contaminate groundwater.
• Excess nitrate in drinking water reacts with haemoglobin to form non-
functional methaemoglobin and impairs oxygen transport. This condition is
called methemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome.
• Methaemoglobin is a form of the oxygen-carrying metalloprotein haemoglobin.
Methaemoglobin cannot bind oxygen, unlike oxyhaemoglobin.
• High level of nitrates may form carcinogens and can accelerate eutrophication
in surface waters.
Trace metals
• Include lead, mercury, cadmium, copper, chromium and nickel.
• These metals can be toxic and carcinogenic.(having the potential to cause cancer.)
Arsenic
• Seepage of industrial and mine discharges, fly ash ponds of thermal power
plants can lead to arsenic in groundwater. Overexploitation of groundwater may
lead to leaching of arsenic from soil and rock sources and contaminate
groundwater.
• In India and Bangladesh (Ganges Delta), millions of people are exposed to
groundwater contaminated with high levels of arsenic, a highly toxic and
dangerous pollutant.
• Chronic exposure to arsenic causes black foot disease. It also causes diarrhoea
and also lung and skin cancer.
Fluoride
• Excess fluoride in drinking water causes neuromuscular disorders,
gastrointestinal problems, teeth deformity, hardening of bones and stiff and
painful joints (skeletal fluorosis).
• Pain in bones and joint and outward bending of legs from the knees is
called Knock-Knee syndrome.
• Fluorosis is a common problem in several states of the country due to the
intake of high fluoride content water.
Effects of Water Pollution
Effects of Water Pollution on Human Health

• Domestic and hospital sewage contain many undesirable pathogenic

(Pathogenic: Capable of causing disease), microorganisms, and its disposal into
water without proper treatment may cause an outbreak of serious diseases,
such as typhoid, cholera, etc.
• Metals like lead, zinc, arsenic, copper, mercury and cadmium in industrial
wastewaters adversely affect humans and other animals.
• Consumption of such arsenic polluted water leads to accumulation of arsenic
in the body parts like blood, nails and hairs causing skin lesions (A skin lesion is
a part of the skin that has an abnormal growth or appearance compared to
the skin around it), rough skin, dry and thickening of the skin and ultimately skin
cancer.
• Mercury compounds in wastewater are converted by bacterial action into
extremely toxic methyl mercury, which can cause numbness of limbs, lips and
tongue, deafness, blurring of vision and mental derangement.
• Pollution of water bodies by mercury causes Minamata (neurological
syndrome) disease in humans.
• Lead causes lead poisoning (Lead interferes with a variety of body processes
and is toxic to many organs and tissues).
• The compounds of lead cause anaemia, headache, loss of muscle power and
bluish line around the gum.
• Water contaminated with cadmium can cause itai itai disease also
called ouch-ouch disease (a painful disease of bones and joints) and cancer of
lungs and liver.
Effects of Water Pollution on the Environment
• Micro-organisms involved in biodegradation of organic matter in sewage waste
consume a lot of oxygen and make water oxygen deficient killing fish and other
aquatic creatures.
• Presence of large amounts of nutrients in water results in algal
bloom (excessive growth of planktonic algae. This leads to ageing of lakes).
• A few toxic substances, often present in industrial wastewaters, can undergo
biological magnification (Biomagnification) in the aquatic food chain. This
phenomenon is well-known for mercury and DDT.
• High concentrations of DDT disturb calcium metabolism in birds, which causes
thinning of eggshell and their premature breaking, eventually causing a decline
in bird populations.
Biomagnification
Effects of Water Pollution on Aquatic Ecosystem
• Polluted water reduces Dissolved Oxygen (DO) content, thereby,
eliminates sensitive organisms like plankton,fish etc.
• However, a few tolerant species like Tubifex (annelid worm) and some
insect larvae may survive in highly polluted water with low DO content.
Such species are recognized as indicator species for polluted water.
• Biocides (a poisonous substance, especially a pesticide),polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals directly eliminate sensitive aquatic
organisms.
• Hot waters discharged from industries, when added to water bodies,
lowers its DO content.
An indicator species is an organism whose presence, absence or abundance reflects
a specific environmental condition. Indicator species can signal a change in the
biological condition of a particular ecosystem, and thus may be used as a proxy to
diagnose the health of an ecosystem. Tubifex worms indicate oxygen-poor and
stagnant water unfit to drink.
Tubifex also called the sludge worm, or sewage worm, is a
species of tubificid segmented worm that inhabits the
sediments of lakes and rivers on several continents.
Eutophication:
Effects of Eutrophication
• Loss of freshwater lakes: Eutrophication eventually creates detritus layer in lakes and
produces successively shallower depth of surface water.
• Eventually, the water body is reduced into marsh whose plant community
is transformed from an aquatic environment to a recognizable terrestrial environment.
• Algal Blooms restrict the penetration of sunlight resulting in the death of aquatic
plants and hence restricts the replenishment of oxygen.
• New species invasion: Eutrophication may cause the ecosystem competitive by
transforming the normal limiting nutrient to abundant level. This cause shifting in species
composition of the ecosystem.
• Loss of coral reefs: Occurs due to decrease in water transparency
• Affects navigation due to increased turbidity-(the quality of being cloudy, opaque, or thick with
suspended matter) ,creates colour (yellow, green, red), smell and water treatment problems;
increases biomass of inedible toxic phytoplankton, and bloom of gelatinous zooplankton.
Gelatinous zooplankton are fragile animals that live in the water column in the ocean. They have
very delicate bodies that are easily damaged or destroyed.
Prevention
• The best way to prevent large-scale water pollution is to try and reduce its
harmful effects. There are various small changes we can make to protect
ourselves from a scary future where water is scarce.
• Save Water: Conserving water is our first aim. Water wastage is a major
problem globally and we are only now waking up to the issue. Simply small
changes you can make domestically will make a huge difference.
• Better treatment of sewage: So treating waste products before disposing of it in
a water body helps reduce water pollution on a large scale. Agriculture or other
industries can reuse this wastewater by reducing its toxic contents.
• Use environmentally friendly products: By using soluble products that do not go
on to become pollutants, we can reduce the amount of water pollution caused
by a household.
Water Pollution in India: Causes, Effects and
Solutions
Following are some other important reasons of increasing levels of water pollution in India:
•Industrial waste
•Improper practices in agricultural sector
•Reduction in water quantity in rivers in plains
•Social and religious practices like dumping dead bodies in water, bathing, throwing waste in
water
•Oil leaks from ships
•Acid rain
•Global warming
•Eutrophication
•Inadequate industrial treatment of wastes
Effects of water pollution in India
• Water pollution can have some tremendously-adverse effect on the health of
any and every life form living in the vicinity of the polluted water body or using
water that has been polluted to some extent. At a certain level polluted water
can be detrimental to crops and reduce the fertility of soil thus harming the
overall agricultural sector and the country as well. When sea water is polluted it
can also impact oceanic life in a bad way. The most fundamental effect of
water pollution is however on the quality of the water, consuming which can
lead to several ailments.
• In fact as far as India is concerned polluted water is one of the major factors
behind the general low levels of health in India, especially in the rural areas.
Polluted water can lead to diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, dysentery,
jaundice, diarrhoea, etc. In fact, around 80% stomach ailments in India happen
because of consuming polluted water.
Solution of water pollution in India
• The best way to solve these issues is to prevent them. The first major solution
in this context is conservation of soil. Soil erosion can contribute to water
pollution. So, if soil can be conserved we can prevent water pollution too. We
can follow measures such as planting more trees, managing erosion in a better
way, and use farming methods that are better for the soil. In the same vein it is
also important to follow the right methods in disposing toxic waste. For
starters, we can use products that have lesser amounts of volatile organic
compounds in them. Even in cases where toxic material like paints, cleaning
supplies, and stain removers are used, they need to be disposed off in the right
way. It is also important to look into oil leaks in one’s cars and machines.
• It is said that leaked oil – even from cars and machines – is one of the principal
contributors to water pollution. Hence, it is important to look at cars and
machines, which run on oil, on a regular basis, to check them for any possible
oil leak. It is important after work – especially in factories and production
units where oil is used – to clean up the wasted oil and either dispose it
properly or keep it for later use.
Following are some other ways in which this problem can be addressed
adequately:
• Cleaning up waterways and beaches
• Avoiding the usage of non-biodegradable material like plastic
• Being more involved in various measures pertaining to preventing water
pollution.
Important legislations in India :

• National River conservation plan,1995

• National plan for conservation of Aquatic Ecosystem (NPCA)
• Water (Prevention and Control of pollution) Act 1974
• Namami Gange programme -2014-15
MCQ s
1. What is thermal water pollution?
a. Colour of the water is changed
b. A change in Water pressure
c. Change in temperature of water
d. pH of water changes
2. Which of the following pairs are correctly matched?
Pollutant Disease
1. Arsenic Skin Cancer
2. Lead Itai – Itai
3. Cadmium displexia

Select the correct answer from the following codes

a. Only 1
b. Only 1 and 2
c. Only 2 and 3
d. 1,2 and 3
• Ans: d

Pollution of water bodies by mercury causes Minamata disease in humans and

Dropsy in fishes. Lead causes displexia, cadmium poisoning causes Itai – Itai
disease. Accumulation of arsenic in the body parts like blood, nails and hairs
causing skin lesions, rough skin, dry and thickening of skin and ultimately skin
cancer.
3. Blue baby syndrome is due to the presence of :
a. Excess sulphate in drinking water
b. Excess chorine in drinking water
c. Excess heavy metals in drinking water
d. Excess nitrates in drinking water
4. Which of the following are effects of water pollution?

1) Eutrophication
2) Biomagnification
3) Water borne diseases
4) Thermal stress
5) Biochemical oxygen demand decreases

a. Only 1, 3, 4 and 5
b. Only 1, 2, 3 and 4
c. Only 1, 3 and 4
d. All of the above