Lecture 8: Midterm

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 Causes of Water Pollution Lecture 9

• The specific contaminants leading to pollution in water include

a wide spectrum of chemicals, pathogens, and physical or
sensory changes.

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 1. Pathogens
• Coliform bacteria are a commonly used bacterial indicator of
water pollution, although not an actual cause of disease.
• Other microorganisms sometimes found in surface waters
which have caused human health problems include:
• Burkholderia
• Cryptosporidium
• Giardia
• Salmonella
• Novovirus and other viruses
• Parasitic worms (helminths)
Pathogen can produce waterborne diseases in either human or
animal hosts.

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 Cont.
• High levels of pathogens may result from inadequately treated
sewage discharges……only secondary treatment remove them

• In developed countries, older cities with aging infrastructure

may have leaky sewage collection systems (pipes, pumps,
valves), which can cause sanitary sewer overflows.

• Some cities also have combined sewers, which may discharge

untreated sewage during rain storms.

• Pathogen discharges may also be caused by poorly managed

livestock operations.
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 2. Oil Pollution

• Every year there are about 3,000 pollution incidents involving

oil and fuels.
• Oil spillages affect water quality in a number of ways.
• Oil can make drinking water unsafe to drink.
• A substantial amount of oil released into oceans and seas will
destroy wildlife and the ecosystems that sustain them.
• Oil spills also reduce oxygen supplies within the water
environment.
• The main causes of oil related water pollution are:
a. Loss from storage facilities
b. Spillage during delivery
c. Deliberate disposal of waste oil to drainage systems

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 Oil pollution

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 3. Thermal Pollution

• Thermal pollution is the rise or fall in the temperature of a

natural body of water caused by human influence.

• A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a

coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers.

• Elevated water temperatures decreases oxygen levels (which

can kill fish) and affects ecosystem composition, such as
invasion by new thermophilic species.

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 4. Agricultural Pollution
• The agriculture industry covers 76% of the land area
• Agricultural processes such as uncontrolled spreading of
manure, disposal of sheep dip, ploughing of the land, use of
pesticides and fertilizers can cause water pollution.
• Accidental spills from milk dairies can also affect the quality
of water.
• Health Problems due to fertilizer and ammonia
• Agrochemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers can be absorbed by
the aquatic life affecting their reproductive cycles
• Eutrophication: Algal bloom in water bodies due to N and P in
fertilizers….oxygen depletion …..death of marine life

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 Cont.
• Eutrophication is an increase in the concentration of chemical
nutrients in an ecosystem.
• Negative environmental effects such as anoxia (oxygen
depletion) and severe reductions in water quality may occur,
affecting fish and other animal populations

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 5. Radioactive Substances

• Radioactive waste is another source of water pollution.

• Radioactive substances are used in nuclear power plants,
industrial, medical and other scientific processes.
• They can be found in watches, luminous clocks, television sets
and x-ray machinery.
• There are also naturally occurring radioisotopes from organisms
and within the environment.
• If not properly disposed of, radioactive waste can result in
serious water pollution incidents.

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6. Macroscopic Pollution /Suspended matter

• Large visible items …….. termed "floatables"

• Marine debris when found on the open seas
• Trash (e.g. paper, plastic, or food waste) discarded by people on
the ground, and that are washed by rainfall into storm drains and
eventually discharged into surface waters
• Plastic pellets
• Shipwrecks from ship breaking industry

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 7. Industrial waste

• Industries produce huge amount of waste which contains toxic

chemicals and pollutants which can cause water pollution and
damage our environment.
• They contain pollutants such as lead, mercury, sulphur,
asbestos, nitrates and many other harmful chemicals.
• Many industries do not have proper waste management system
and drain the waste in the fresh water which goes into rivers,
canals and later in to sea.
• The toxic chemicals have the capability to change the color of
water, increase the amount of minerals, also known as
Eutrophication, change the temperature of water and pose
serious hazard to water organisms.

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 8. Chemical and other contaminants
a. Organic Water Pollutants
• Detergents
• Disinfection by-products such as chloroform
• Food processing waste, which can include oxygen-demanding
substances, fats and grease
• Insecticides and herbicides, organo-halides and other chemical
compounds
• Petroleum hydrocarbons, including fuels (gasoline, diesel fuel, jet
fuels, and fuel oil) and lubricants (motor oil), and fuel combustion by-
products
• Tree and bush debris
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as industrial solvents
• Chlorinated solvents
• Various chemical compounds found in personal hygiene and cosmetic
products

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 b. Inorganic Water Pollutants
• Acidity caused by industrial discharges (especially sulfur dioxide
from power plants)
• Ammonia from food processing waste
• Chemical waste as industrial by-products
• Fertilizers containing nutrients--nitrates and phosphates--which
are found in storm water runoff from agriculture as well as
commercial and residential use.
• Heavy metals from motor vehicles (via urban storm water runoff)
• Runoff from construction sites or land clearing sites

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 9. Sewage and wastewater

• The sewage and waste water that is produced by each household is

chemically treated and released in to sea with fresh water.
• The sewage water carries harmful bacteria and chemicals that can
cause serious health problems.
• Pathogens are known as a common water pollutant; The sewers of
cities house several pathogens and thereby diseases.
• Microorganisms in water cause very deadly diseases and become the
breeding grounds for other creatures that act like carriers.
• These carriers inflict these diseases via various forms of contact
onto an individual.
• A very common example of this process would be Malaria.

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 10. Mining activities
• Mining is the process of crushing the rock and extracting coal
and other minerals from underground.
• These elements when extracted in the raw form contains
harmful chemicals and can increase the amount of toxic
elements when mixed up with water which may result in
health problems.
• Mining activities emit several metal waste and sulphides from
the rocks and is harmful for the water.

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 11. Marine dumping

• The garbage produce by each household in the form of paper,

aluminium, rubber, glass, plastic, food collected and deposited
into the sea in some countries.
• These items take from 2 weeks to 200 years to decompose.
• When such items enters the sea, they not only cause water
pollution but also harm animals in the sea

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 12. Burning of fossil fuels
• Fossil fuels like coal and oil when burnt produce substantial
amount of ash in the atmosphere.
• The particles which contain toxic chemicals when mixed with
water vapour result in acid rain.
• Carbon dioxide is released from burning of fossil fuels which
result in global warming.

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 13. Global warming

• An increase in earth’s temperature due to greenhouse effect

results in global warming.
• The gases responsible for green house effect are carbon
dioxide (CO2), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methane (CH4),
nitrous oxide(N2O) , ozone (O3), and water vapours. These
gases are released into the atmosphere by different human
activities.
• It increases the water temperature and result in death of
aquatic animals and marine species which later results in water
pollution.

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 14. Urban development

• As population has grown, so has the demand for housing, food

and cloth.
• As more cities and towns are developed, they have resulted in
increase use of fertilizers to produce more food, soil erosion
due to deforestation, increase in construction activities,
inadequate sewer collection and treatment, landfills as more
garbage is produced, increase in chemicals from industries to
produce more materials

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 15. Leakage from the landfills
• Landfills are huge pile of garbage that produces awful smell
and can be seen across the city.
• When it rains, the landfills may leak and the leaking landfills
can pollute the underground water with large variety of
contaminants.

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 16. Animal waste

• The waste produce by animals is washed away into the rivers

when it rains.
• It gets mixed up with other harmful chemicals and causes
various water borne diseases like cholera, diarrhoea, jaundice,
dysentery and typhoid.
• Animal farming and aquaculture

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 17. Other Contaminants

• Oxygen-depleting substances may be natural materials, such as

plant matter (e.g. leaves and grass) as well as man-made
chemicals.

• Other natural and anthropogenic substances may cause

turbidity (cloudiness) which blocks light and disrupts plant
growth, and clogs the gills of some fish species.

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