CHAPTER 5

POLLUTION ENVIRONMENT - WATER ENVIRONMENT

POLLUTION - Is the introduction of harmful substances or products into the environment.

WATER POLLUTANTS

 Toxics
 Nutrients
 Suspended matter
 Pathogens
 Thermal pollution
 Dissolved gases

CAUSES OF WATER POLLUTION

CATEGORY:

 POINT SOURCES – easiest to identify and control

 Waste products from factories
 Waste from sewage systems
 Waste from power plants
 Waste form underground coalmines
 Waste from oil wells
 NON-POINT SOURCES – are ambiguously defined and harder to control
 Runoff of fertilizers
 Air pollutants washed or deposited to earth
 Water drainage

TYPES OF WATER POLLUTION

 Infectious agents – untreated and improperly treated human waste

 Organic materials
 Plant nutrients
 Metals – such as mercury and lead, highly toxic and persistent and tend to bioaccumulate
in food chains
 Non-metallic salts
 Acids and bases – often released as by-product of industrial processes
 Organic chemicals – used to make pesticides, plastics, pharmaceuticals, etc.
 Sediments
 Thermal pollution