Phy 227

Physics for Environmental Issues

2020
Contents

Chapter 1: Environment ............................................................................................................................. 4

1.1 Environment.................................................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Environment Quality ....................................................................................................................... 6
1.3 Environmental problems ......................................................................................................... 6
1.4 Environmental Control and Policy........................................................................................ 7
1.5 Environmental Sciences............................................................................................................ 7
Chapter 2: Environmental Physics ......................................................................................................... 9
2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 9
2.2 The Role of Physical Philosophy ................................................................................................. 9
2.3 Energy Conservations ................................................................................................................... 11
2.4 Distribution of Pollution .............................................................................................................. 14
2.5 Sound and Noise .............................................................................................................................. 16
2.6 Electromagnetic Radiation .......................................................................................................... 18
2.7 Radioactive Radiation ................................................................................................................... 20
Chapter 3: Environment and Technology ......................................................................................... 22
3.1 What is Environmental Technology? ...................................................................................... 22
3.2 Classification ..................................................................................................................................... 23
3.2.1 Prevention of the Formation of Pollution ..................................................................... 23
3.2.2 Prevention of Emission ........................................................................................................ 23
3.2.3 Prevention of Distribution .................................................................................................. 24
3.2.4 Sanitation, Cleaning ............................................................................................................... 24
3.3 Physical Methods ............................................................................................................................ 24
3.3.1 Separation of Heterogeneous Solutions ........................................................................ 25
3.3.2 The Separation of Homogeneous Mixtures .................................................................. 27
3.4 Wastewater Disposal ............................................................................................................... 28
3.4.1 Primary Treatment .......................................................................................................... 28
3.4.2 Secondary Treatment ........................................................................................................... 29
3.4.3 Advanced Wastewater Treatment ................................................................................... 30
Chapter 4: Atmospheric Physics ........................................................................................................... 31
4.1 The Atmosphere......................................................................................................................... 31
4.2 The Carbon Cycle ....................................................................................................................... 32
4.3 Air Pollution ................................................................................................................................ 34
4.4 Acid Rain ....................................................................................................................................... 35
4.5 The Ozone Layer ........................................................................................................................ 36
4.6 Radioactive Fallout ................................................................................................................... 36

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 4.7 Action by Governments ........................................................................................................... 39
Chapter 5: Water in the Environment................................................................................................. 39
5.1 Hydrologic Cycle.............................................................................................................................. 40
5.1.1 The Hydrosphere .................................................................................................................... 40
5.1.2 Evaporation .............................................................................................................................. 40
5.1.3 Transpiration ........................................................................................................................... 40
5.1.4 Condensation ........................................................................................................................... 40
5.1.5 Precipitation ............................................................................................................................. 40
5.1.6 Interception .............................................................................................................................. 41
5.1.7 Percolation ................................................................................................................................ 41
5.1.8 Runoff .......................................................................................................................................... 41
5.2 Water Resources ............................................................................................................................. 41
5.3 Groundwater .................................................................................................................................... 42
5.3.1 Aquifers ...................................................................................................................................... 42
5.3.2 Groundwater link in the Hydrologic Cycle ................................................................... 43
5.3.3 Residence Time ....................................................................................................................... 43
5.3.4 Amount of Groundwater ...................................................................................................... 44
5.3.5 Groundwater and Engineering .......................................................................................... 44
5.4 Pollution: Surface Water .............................................................................................................. 44
5.4.1 Chemical Pollution ................................................................................................................. 45
5.4.2 Accelerated Aquatic Plant Growth ................................................................................... 45
5.5 Water Quality Pollutants.............................................................................................................. 45
5.5.1 Non-Persistent (degradable) ............................................................................................. 45
5.5.2 Persistent (degrade slowly) ............................................................................................... 45
5.5.3 Other ............................................................................................................................................ 46
5.6 Pollution: Groundwater................................................................................................................ 46
5.6.1 Point Sources............................................................................................................................ 46

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Chapter 1: Environment

1.1 Environment

Environment and environment science.

Ecology: Relationship between organisms and their environment.

Environment Science: Specific reference to one organism i.e humans.

Not just biological type, but more on social aspects.

Society – environment relationship.

However, not just the central role of humanity and its environment, and the practical use or relevance, but
also nature with it’s own right of existence.

This definition is still very broad, and a further confinement is made, i.e. limited to physics (living and non-
living) environment. The social environment is not include, i.e. bad neighbours is not an environmental
problem.

Environment is then described as: the physical, living and non-living surroundings of society, to which it is in a
reciprocal relationship.

This relationship contains the influence of society on its environment, but also the importance of the
environment for society.

In earlier times this relation poorly developed a superficial and the natural state of the environment was the
only important factor. Recently this has been inverted: human intervention is of large scale and irreversible,
and the direct dependents on the environment is less of an issue.

We discriminate between the environment as shaped by man, environment as influenced by man and
environment that is self-ordered, independent of man.

Environment Influenced by man:

Landscapes/ Compartments Factors and

ecosystems Compartments

Industrai Area Materials

Buildings
Urban Area Raw components

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 Soil
Physical and
Air
Chemical factors
Cultured Area Water
Semi Wet Landscape
Natural Area
Wilderness
Vegetation Organisms, organs
Animal Life cells

A separate more confined definition: environment only refers to compartments and factor.
Also “natural environment” and “rural environment”.

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1.2 Environment Quality

It is not only the state of the environment that interests us, but more the importance of the environment for
society.
This includes:
1. Human health and safety
2. Material prosperity
3. Immaterial prosperity
4. Value of Nature.
Value of Nature refers to the intrinsic value (determined by society) of nature, independent of its practical
use. These can be actual or potential use.
Value of environment can be determined by 1. Financial Terms or 2. Energy Terms.
More Practical: 1. Agricultural function 2. Housing Function 3. Nature function.
The concept quality differs in society: from group to group, and also from person to person.
Clean/Dirty, Rich/Poor, Improvement/Degradation.

Effects 
Society Causes  Environmental Effects  Society Effects
 Norms
Example:
Requirement for food  Higher Concentration Fertiizers  Damage to environment  clean air, clean
water, fauna and flora

Basic norm:
The sustainable existence of usable functions of the environment and its basic values.
Particular norms and functions.

1.3 Environmental problems

When the quality of the environment is adversely affected, or will be adversely affected.
Disruption in the society-environment relationship.

Environmental health problems can be classified in different types

Social causes:
Population growth, economical growth, technological development, etc.
Also; production, consumption and waste processing.
Production can be split into sectors: agriculture,
Transport,
Energy, etc
Specific causes: social dilemmas, investment dilemmas.

Social Interventions:
Pollution- introducing something to the environment
Exhaustion – removing something from the environment
Disturbing- changing the structure of the environment

Themes:
Climate changes, Acidification, Drying, Disturbance.

Compartments:
Buildings, raw materials, soil, water, air, biotic.

Social Aspects:
Human health, human safety, material prosperity, immaterial prosperity, nature value.

Space and Time:

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Local, regional, continental, global.
Short and Long term.

Societal Causes Environmental Effects Social Effects

Base Causes Interventions Processes Objective Variable

 Population Growth  Climate Change  Human health and
 Economic Growth  Pollution  Acidification safety
 Technological  Exhaustion  Distribution  Material prosperity
development  Effecting  Disruption  Immaterial prosperity
 etc  Drying out  Nature valve
 Splitting
 etc

Major Sectors Compartments

 Production  Raw material
 Consumption  Soil
 Waste Processing  Water
 Air
 biota
Sectors/Activities Aspects
 Agriculture/ land  Amount of pollution
displacement  Biological diversity
 Transport/traffic  etc
 Energy provision
 Power Stations
 Etc
Mechanisms
 Societal Dilemmas
 Investment
Dilemmas

1.4 Environmental Control and Policy

Referring to rules and regulations conducted to prevent or solve environmental problems.

Effect Directed:
Address the effect on the environment.

Cause Directed:
Address the (social) causes.

Social causes  Environmental Effect  Social effect

Source ↑ directed Effect ↑ Directed

Environmental Policy
Policy aimed at the sustainability of the environment.

1.5 Environmental Sciences

Subsystems society and environment forms one total system with mutual interactions.

Base Sciences:
On society side: economy, social geography, psychology, law and history.

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On side of environment: Physics, chemistry and biology

These do not operate in isolation.

Different specialist fields: environmental economy, Environmental Law, Environmental management,

environmental sociology, etc.
Environmental biology, environmental chemistry, environmental toxicology environmental physics, etc.

Environmental technology, which concentrates on industrial processes.

Environmental science is the interdisciplinary science that keeps itself busy with the relation between society
and the environment and with potential and actual problems in this relationship, with the purpose to indicate
way and means of solving or preventing these problems.

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Chapter 2: Environmental Physics

2.1 Introduction

Physical knowledge and insight have found applications in many areas in the recent industrial and social
developments (energy conservation and use, information technology and microelectronics, nuclear
technology, transport, etc.) In many cases these developments go together with a number of unwanted
results, also for the environment. The same physics however can also be useful for the prevention and
reparation thereof. For environmentalists, certain aspects of physics are thus relevant. In this chapter, some
of these aspects will be discussed.

Physics has however another aspect of indirect importance to environmentalists. Physics is in some cases
one of the most developed scientific fields. Since the beginning of this century, the relativity theory and
quantum theory have drastically influenced the insight of modern physics is of great importance for several
other disciplines and specifically needed for understanding the present “ecological crisis” and the indication
of possible routes for solutions. Although questions can be asked about this idea, the physical way of solving
problems can be extremely useful for the study of complex reactions and the interaction with human
actions. The following paragraph will continue with this idea, and develop a relation with a recent
development in mathematics, namely the theory of chaos.

2.2 The Role of Physical Philosophy

The philosophy of physics is to a large extent marked by the context of abstraction. Although everyone has
an own intuitive meaning of a concept such as energy, this concept as used in physics does not coincide with
general experience. In physics an observable phenomena is translated into a mathematical formula that is
used to forecast the result of a new experiment. As long as this forecast is correct, the formula is accepted as
a good and useful model of the phenomena.

This procedure has proven to be very successful and has lead to one dominant mechanical worldview. In
this worldview it is supposed that when you have enough exact information over the reality, you can predict
the future completely. Reality is seen as a complex mechanistic system, metaphorically comparable to
clockwork.

Within environmental studies, this strategy is frequently used. One aspect of reality is translated into a
model, one connected system of formulae and equations. Such a model is then used to evaluate the effects of
changes in specific processes or parameters on the resultant consequences for that system.

In physics, this mechanistic worldview has expired under influence of the relativity theory and quantum
theory. A complete new insight into measurement and knowledge has been developed:
The relativity theory makes it clear that the perspective of the observer has an influence on an observation
made. The observations of time, and simultaneously, of length and velocities, are noted to be dependent on
properties of the observer.
The quantum theory does not refer to facts, but to probabilities of fact and put a limit to the accuracy with
which physical dimensions can be determined simultaneously.

Capra1 (1984) argued for the introduction of these ideas into other scientific fields of study. In classical
physics, assumptions are made from equilibrium situations, in which changes occur, that are slow compared
to the establishment of the new equilibrium. In the physics of non-equilibrium processes however, very
interesting new phenomena can be explained. Prigogine and Stengers2 (1984) showed that the role of

1 Capra, F. Het Keerpunt, translated from The Turning Point, Amsterdam 1984
2 Prigogine, I and Stengers, I, Order out of Chaos. Toronto 1984

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coincidence then becomes very important. One accidental fluctuation can, for example, be sufficient to
explain the development of cities at the cost of the rural areas, or the building of a termite hill. With this
model, Prigogine showed that a non-equilibrium approach, together with accidental fluctuations can lead to
quite another perspective than traditional, mechanistic approach: the predicted process becomes
irreversible (see de Vries3 1989)

The Chaos Theory

The recent development of the chaos theory has a comparable influence on reasoning (Gleick 41988). Some
time ago in meteorology, where you are working with extremely complex systems, it was realized that
increasing the accuracy of measurements and calculations does not lead to better weather forecasts on the
longer term. People realized that this could be a fundamental controlling factor.

Figure 2.1 Propagation of a small inaccuracy in the position of a small ball colliding with several
larger balls.

A first description of such a non-prediction can be found from the classical approach of a many particle
system. Assume that you have a number of solid stationary balls in space (eq billiard balls on a pool table)
and one small moving ball (say, a ping pong ball). The smaller ball follows a solid line route as it bounces off
each ball in turn. When the initial direction of the small ball is slightly different, it follows a completely
different route. After only a few collisions, the route has changed so much that other balls are now touched.
A quantitative analysis shows that for a prediction of 7 to 10 collisions, the accuracy needed is greater that is
prescribed by quantum mechanics. (see Prigogine and Stenders2 1984, Smith 51989). An accurate prediction
of the movement of the smaller ball is thus not possible after a certain amount of collisions. The
mathematical model that describes the movement of the balls in space makes it possible to understand the
phenomena. It can however not predict the exact movements within the system

A second description is based on the conduct of non-linear systems. Here we shall also use a simple example,
namely logistic growth (see also De Vries3 1989):
𝑥𝑡−𝑖
𝑥𝑡 = 𝑥𝑡−𝑖 + Φ𝑥𝑡−𝑖 (1 − ) (2.1)
𝐾

Where, Xt number of population at time t

Xt-I number of population at time t-i
Φ speed of growth: natural number of descendants per individual
K capacity of system for number of individuals

In this model, the increase of the population is proportional to the size of the population and the remaining
capacity. In figure 2.2 the development of the population size in time is given for different values of growth
speed. It shows that the system for different values of Φ behaves essentially different:

a. At small Φ, the population took up the precise capacity of the system,

b. When Φ is between 2 to 3, the size oscillates with a period of 2, the system continues to exceed their
capacity, which leads to an extra death in the next generation.
c. At large Φ, a chaotic process results. The size of the population seemed to be completely
unpredictable. With an infinite accuracy, this is not strictly true, but here it also shows that with a very small
non-accuracy in the initial conditions, it will have a large effect on the result after a certain time.

Figure 2.2 Changes in the population as a function of time at different values for the growth speed

3 de Vries HJM, Sustainable Resource use, an enquiry into modeling and planning. Thesis RU Groningin
1989
4 Gleick, J. Chaos de derde wetenschappelijke revolutie. (translation of chaos), Amsterdam, 1988
5 Smith Ph.B, Determinisme en de onzekerheidsrelatie. Departure lecture 12 Dec 1989, R U Groningin

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 At complex situations, where either several substantial steps are taking place, or there are no linear
relations applicable, chaotic processes are predicted and thus non-predictable results will be found. In other
words: deterministic systems can show chaotic behavior.

The Importance for Environmental Studies

In environmental studies, the use of models is increasing. The many reactions in one model are frequently
linear. For example, in the case of system-dynamic models or (cybernetic) rule models linear relations do
not appear. This resulted, on the one hand, in that small variations of the starting conditions or parameters
of the model could lead to completely different results, or on the other hand, that seemingly chaotic
phenomena in one system can quite well be described by, in simple, deterministic relations.

2.3 Energy Conservations

The First Law

Many people will relate the concept of energy with heating, or motion without being able to provide a
clear definition of concept. “Energy” is an intellectual abstraction. Energy is a unit that can only be
detected by its result, by doing some work and is thus defined as the potential to do work. It can be
described in many different ways. Mostly, not always, does this happen in matter. Doing work however
is not necessary. This brings us to the context of an important law for energy, the law of conservation
of energy, also known as the 1st law of Thermodynamics, which states:
In a complete isolated system, the total energy is constant

In other words: what ever happens in a closed system, the total energy as confined to all possible ways
inside the system does not change. The only process that could occur in this system is transformation
of one form of energy to another. This means that concepts such as loss of energy, energy use, or
energy saving in an isolated system have no physical meaning, but only a technological or even political
one. After one or another process of a certain amount of energy is tied up in one format that is not any
more useful for a certain number of applications.
Energy can thus be tied up in a number of different kinds of ways, which is more convenient to the
general terminology; there exists several “forms of energy”:

a. Kinetic Energy
Energy of the motion of a body with mass: running water, moving air or wind, rotating flywheel, etc.

b. Potential Energy
When one object is moved to a certain position or place into a certain state, from where the object, if
released, can return to its original position by itself.
Examples such as a tensioned spring, water in a reservoir. In most cases, it is required to change
potential energy to kinetic energy before the work can be done.

c. Chemical Energy
In this case, energy is tied up in chemical bonds. Examples are a match or fossil fuels. Chemical energy
can be released by a chemical reaction of the energetic bonds with oxygen in the air.

d. Electromagnetic Radiation
This is a pure form of energy that is not tied up in matter. Sunlight, x-rays or radio waves are examples
of this. EM radiation is created by changes in the kinetic or potential energy of charged particles such
as protons or electrons.

In the above, concepts such as electrical energy or nuclear energy are not mentioned. These forms of
energy can be fitted in the above four types. The energy in electrical current is feed from the over
supply of electrons at the end of a current carrying wire and a shortage at the other end (potential
energy) and is carried across by the motion of electrons in the metal. Nuclear energy has the same
meaning as electrical energy, created by making use of the potential energy stored in the atomic
nucleus.

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In the second half of the previous century, people realized that heat is also a form of energy. Heat
consists of the motion of atoms or molecules from which matter is constructed and is thus a form of
kinetic energy. In liquids or gases, this applies to nearly free movement. In solids, this refers to
vibrations around an equilibrium position.

The law of conservation of energy allows that each form of energy can be converted to any other form.
In practice however, it is not possible for more than about 30% of chemical energy in a barrel of oil to
convert to kinetic energy of a moving train. There are thus other limits to the conversion from one
energy form to another. There does appear to exist a hierarchy of energy forms. Kinetic energy, for
example, can be completely converted into heat, but the inverse, complete conversion from heat to
kinetic energy, is not possible. A second difference between heat and other forms of energy is that
energy cannot be extracted or converted into other energy forms from one heat source alone. For that
one or other form of work is necessary, or a second heat source with a lower temperature. If it was
possible, then using only the heat in seawater could move a ship forward.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics

The hierarchy of energy forms is the result of what is known in physics as the second law of
thermodynamics. This law determines the direction in which energy conversion takes place. When
changing energy types into the opposite direction, a certain amount of energy will be changed into a
non-usable form (i.e heat).

When comparing between an object with a certain amount of kinetic energy and the same matter with
the same amount of thermal energy, it will be seen that kinetic energy represents a more ordered type
than thermal: all atoms and molecules of that object move (on average) in the same direction at the
same speed. With thermal energy, this is not so: they stay at the same place with chaotic movements.
Something similar applies to the chemical energy in a barrel of oil and the thermal heat that appears on
burning the oil. When burned, the hydrogen-, oxygen- and carbon molecules are separated in a chaotic
non-ordered process to form smaller less-structured molecules. In this case, the energy in the oil is
contained in a more ordered manner than in the hot gases and smoke after burning.

The hierarchy within the energy form therefore consists of the amount of ordering in the system. By
using this concept we can formulate the second law of thermodynamics as follows:

In an isolated system, the amount of ordering cannot be increased and can only be maintained or
reduced.

One result of this is that a system completely isolated from its environment will eventually change to
become maximum chaotic. Bringing order back into the system requires that work needs to be done on
it from outside the system (energy must be introduced). In physics, this amount of chaos is described
by the concept of entropy.

From the second law of thermodynamics, it follows that the best theoretical value that can be reached
during the exchange of one form to another is where the entropy remains constant. A process where
the entropy does not increase should also be reversible; as soon as the entropy increases, then during
the reverse process the entropy will increase again. According to the second law, energy will have to be
added and the process does not occur by itself. In thermodynamics, it can be proven that for an ideal
reversible process, an upper limit is set to the amount of heat that can be exchanged into work:
𝑄(𝑇−𝑇 )
𝑊𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑇 0 (2.2)

Where Wmax is the maximum work that can be done

Q is the amount of heat extracted from the object
T is the absolute temperature of the object
T0 is the lowest absolute temperature that is available to the system

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The maximum work that can be extracted at a certain temperature from a source is called the exergy.
Using equation (2.2) the losses of, for example, an oil-burning electrical power station can be
estimated. Say the oil is burned at a temperature of 1 500 K, and the temperature of the steam is 800 K
that cooled after expansion in the turbine to 300 K. from the hot steam only 62.5% of the available heat
can be exchanged into work:

Wsteam = Q(800-300)/800 = 0.625Q

Where Wsteam is the maximum work done by the steam and Q is the heat content of the flames
(chemical energy in the oil)

The exergy has dropped to 62.5%. Thus, from the exchange of the thermal energy in the steam, not
more than 62.5% of the energy capacity of the steam could become available as useful work. In theory,
a larger amount of work could be produced by increasing the temperature of the steam to the
temperature of the flame at 1500K.

Wflame = Q(1500–300)/1500 = 0.8Q

Where Wflame is the maximum work extracted from the burning oil and Q is the chemical energy in the
oil.

Due to material and technical reasons, the increase has not yet been realized.

This description gives us an upper limit to the amount of useful work that can be found in a steam
power station by burning oil. The work consists of the turning of the turbine that is directly coupled to
the electric generator. The rotation represents a kinetic energy of value maximal 62.5% of the chemical
energy in the oil. The second law does not limit the exchange of the rotation energy into electrical
energy (which is also kinetic energy). In practice, the efficiency of a large electrical power station is
about 40%. Due to several imperfections of the process, the thermodynamic theoretical maximum
efficiency is still not achievable.

In summary, it can be shown that the losses are due to two reasons:
a. Due to the thermodynamically unavoidable exchange of a certain part of the chemical energy in
the fuel to heat,
b. The losses that appear due to imperfections in the power station.

The first kind of losses can only be reduced by a substantial increase of the steam and, in the second
instance, of the flame temperature or the decrease in the cooling temperature. Without the dissipation
of a part of the chemical energy in the form of heat loss, a steam turbine, in principle, cannot function.
The second kind of losses is also unavoidable, but due to such practical reasons as the need to remove
the burned gases or the need to use bearings at any turning axis.

In the above, it is shown that the principle loss at the supply of electrical energy is cause by using heat
from a certain high temperature somewhere in the chain of fuel to electrical energy. This is
independent of the source of fuel used (fossil fuels such as coal, oil or gas, uranium in a nuclear reactor
or solar heating). There are two possibilities of reducing these losses:
a. Making use of the heat lost,
b. Using energy conservation processes where heat is not an intermediate step.

The first possibility is known as heat-power coupling, or total energy. With this concept, the energy lost
is used for example to heat buildings or cabinets. To make this viable, the temperature of the cooling
water had to be increased to about 350K. Because of this, the amount of useful work gained out of the
fuel is somewhat reduced, but the practical use of the lost heat is more possible. Whether this is good
or bad for the energy supply, depends on the demand and supply of energy in the form of electricity or
heat.

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The second possibility concerns the application of so-called dynamic flow sources (solar, wind or water
power sources), but also more advanced and still to be developed technologies such as hydrogen fuel
cells or magneto-hydrodynamic electrical production. These specialized sources will not be discussed
here.

With the application of wind- and water power (including wave- and tide energy) one form of kinetic
energy (the movement of air or water molecules) is converted to electrical energy. Although heat does
not play any role here, a certain amount of reduction in entropy will still occur. The moving and
turbulent air or water mass has a much lower energy density than the electrical energy in the high
voltage grid. The concentration of diffuse, turbulent energy flux to the highly concentrated energy of
the grid means a great increase in the ordering. By using solar energy, the energy contained in the
electromagnetic radiation is converted to other useful forms of energy. One method by which this
could be done is by absorption of the sun radiation in solar collectors, by which the temperature of the
collector increases. In this case, the energy in sunlight is converted to heat and it can only be used
efficiently as a heat source. Where work needs to be done, the second law will again be active in laying
down restrictions.

It is also possible to convert the energy in the sunlight directly in forms other than heat. Here we can
think of solar cells, which converts it into electrical energy, and of the conversion of sunlight into
chemical energy, for example in plants. The physical and (bio-) chemical processes involved are quite
complex and will be discussed later. It can however be noted that the energy density in sunlight is also
relatively low, so that a part of the energy from the sunlight must be used to concentrate it to higher
density in the conductor cabling.

2.4 Distribution of Pollution

Pollution is usually brought into the environment at a specific point or “source”. From this source, the
pollution distributes into the vicinity, primarily by moving air or water masses. The motion of a gas or
liquid can be described by determining the velocity at each position and in time.

The velocity consists of two components, its magnitude and its direction. This is referred to as the
velocity vector. The combination of all this information then forms the field of flow. Field lines can
graphically represent a field of flow. These field lines can be thought of as a head-to-tail addition of the
velocity vectors. When the field of flow changes in time, the field lines are not the same as the path
followed by the liquid or gas particles. This path is called the line of flow. When the field of flow is
independent of time, the field lines and the lines of flow coincide, and we talk of a stationary flow. The
drawn lines in figure 2.3, calculated by means of one of the simple flow models of Bear and Verruijt
(1987)6, gives the flow of a homogeneous medium, from which, at a specific point, matter is extracted.
The flow is that of a ground water well in a water-bearing layer.

A polluting source in a flowing medium, for example a leaking barrel is continuously supplying the
pollutant in some other point of the flowing medium. If nothing else is happening, each polluting
particle will move according to the field of flow passing the source at the moment of its release. The
individual particle however each moves at relatively high velocities (in air at room temperature,
around 500m/s or 1800 km/hr), continually colliding with each other. This chaotic motion of the
molecules of the medium and the pollutant causes the mixture of the medium and pollutant; the
entropy increases. This process is called diffusion. In figure 2.3 the process is illustrated by means of
the dots in the flow pattern.

Figure 2.3: Lines of flow around a well in a homogeneous flowing ground water layer with one
(relatively small) pollution (direction of flow from left to right).

6Bear, J. and A. Verruijt, Modeling groundwater flow and pollution. Dordrecht1987. In the book simple
(BASIC) programmes with examples are included.

14
Diffusion is thus a statistical effect. The kinetic gas theory shows that the diffusion speed is
proportional to the concentration gradient (the change of concentration in position). The molecular
diffusion is quite a slow process. In the practice of air- and water-pollution, diffusion plays a major role.
Diffusion processes could well play a role in soil pollution, where a pollutant is present in a large mass
of stationary ground water.

Next to the molecular diffusion there is another process that proves to m=be much more important for
the mixing of pollutant and flowing medium. The earth surface, as well as riverbeds, show uneven
textures (trees, buildings, trenches, etc). This causes the appearance in the flowing gas or liquid
medium of swirls r eddies, that dies out in time and space. This is called turbulent flow.

Through these swirls a rapid mixing of the gas or liquid medium occurs, frequently indicated as
turbulent diffusion or dispersion. In real air and water pollution this dispersion frequently plays a
much larger role than the previous mentioned molecular diffusion.

As an example, it will be shown here in which manner this distribution of air pollution can be
calculated. In these models, it is assumed that dispersion contributes the major part. This dispersion
will be described as a pure statistical process, by assuming that the probability to find a particle a
certain distance away from its point of release is given by a gauss-distribution. The pollutant is, in any
case, carried forward by the flowing air mass at a speed equal to the average wind speed. Because the
dispersion in the wind direction, at not too low wind speeds, can be neglected in comparison with the
wind speed, it is sufficient to use only two gauss-functions; one for the vertical dispersion and one for
the horizontal dispersion perpendicular to the wind direction.

Such models are known as “bi-Gaussian plume models”. The standard deviation of the gauss functions,
the so-called dispersion coefficients are chosen depending on the weather conditions.

𝑥2
−
Gaussian: 𝑃 = 𝑃0 𝑒 2 𝜎2 ∑𝑝 = 1

Where P0 is the probability that the particle is at point x = 0

P is the probability to find a particle at point x
σ the standard deviation.
The probability that a particle will be found between -σ and +σ is 68%.

In the atmosphere the pressure reduces with increase in height. When a pocket of air rises, the volume
of the pocket has to increase. The energy that is necessary for this will be extracted from the heat in the
pocket and the temperature of the air in the pocket will drop. In a dry atmosphere, this temperature
decrease is about 0.01 °C/m, the dry-adiabatic temperature gradient. In a humid atmosphere a part of
the heat will be extracted from condensation of the water vapour. The temperature decrease will thus
be smaller; the wet-adiabatic temperature gradient is from 0.004 to 0.007°C/m, depending on the
humidity.

When the temperature variation in height is such that the rising pocket of air is colder, thus heavier
than the surrounding air, it will be retarded: the atmosphere is stable. When the pocket is warmer, thus
lighter than the surrounding air, it will continue to rise: the atmosphere is unstable. When the
temperature gradient of the atmosphere is equal to the adiabatic gradient, the atmosphere is neutral.
These properties of the atmosphere can be observed in the behavior of a smoke plume, such as
indicated in figure 2.4. In an unstable atmosphere, the smoke plume will show great swirls (from tens
to hundreds of meters). In a stable atmosphere the plume will, however, show as a narrow cone, and in
a neutral case as a somewhat wider cone. The dispersion coefficients will be larger in an unstable
atmosphere than a neutral one and this will be larger than in a stable atmosphere.
The atmosphere in general does not have a constant temperature gradient. Unstable and stable layers
tend to alternate each other. The atmosphere thus tends to get a layered structure. One frequently
occurring situation is where the bottom layer of the atmosphere is unstable and closed off from above

15
by a so-called inversion layer, an extreme stable layer where the temperature increases with height.
Polluted air from the bottom so-called mixed layer cannot penetrate the inversion layer.

Figure 2.4: Behaviour of a smoke plume in the atmosphere at different temperature gradients in
the bottom layer of the atmosphere.

The height of the inversion will thus act as a boundary to the volume where the pollution can be
dispersed. Pollution that finds itself above the inversion cannot be transmitted back to the earth
surface. When the height of the inversion increases in time, this pollution will, at a certain moment,
start to be mixed into the bottom layer, thus causing the concentration near the Earth’s surface to
increase rapidly. This process is called fumigation. In figure 2.4 these situations are also sketched.

2.5 Sound and Noise

The physical process, sound, is defined as vibrations in gas, liquid or solid matter. Sound waves
transport vibration energy through the air, which cause vibrations in the eardrum. By a mechanical
lever system in the middle ear, these vibrations are carried to the inner ear where the vibration energy
is converted to electrical impulses that are conducted to the brain via the nerves. The interpretation of
these impulses that happens in the brain. For a more complete description, you can refer to Kryter
(1985)7 and Hassal and Zaveri (1979)8.

Sound is thus a vibration. A vibration is a periodical to- and fro-motion around an equilibrium position.
During this periodic motion, kinetic energy is constantly converted to potential and back. A harmonic
vibration is a periodical motion, where the position of the vibrating particle can be describe by a
sinusoidal function of time:

2𝜋𝑡
𝑥(𝑡) = 𝐴𝑥 sin ( 𝑇
) = 𝐴𝑥 sin(2𝜋𝑣𝑡) (2.5)

Where x(t) is the position of the particle

Ax is the amplitude of the motion (maximum deviation)
t is time
T is the period (time for one complete vibration)
1
V is the frequency (= )
𝑇

Each periodic function can be described as the sum of a series of sine functions (the so-called Fourier-
transformations). Due to this, the harmonic vibration thus takes a central place in the physics of sound.
In the study of sound, the frequency is more used than the period.

The human ear is sensitive for sound vibrations with frequencies between 20 Hz and 20KHz. The
higher the frequency, the higher the tone will be. Doubling the frequency increases the tone by one
octave. The amplitude A determines the intensity of the tone.

Sound vibrations in gases and liquids consist of periodical changes in the density of the material. You
can think of the molecules periodically moving closer and further apart. For the harmonic vibration the
following relation holds:

𝑝(𝑡) = 𝐴𝑝 sin(2𝜋𝑣𝑡) (2.6)

Where p(t) is the immediate sound pressure

Ap is the amplitude of the density vibrations

7 Kryter, K.D, The effect of noise on man. Second edition, Inc. Orlando 1985.
8 Hassal, J.R. and K Zaveri, Acoustic noise measurements. Denmark 1979.

16
In the case of a harmonic vibration, the amplitude and frequency is sufficient to describe the sound. In
practice however, sound consists of a large number of simultaneous acting and time varying vibrations.
In this case, the amplitude is not any more a good description for the intensity of the sound. A time
averaged pressure variation is then used instead for the measure of the sound intensity: the effective
sound pressure9:

𝑃𝑒 2 = < (𝑝(𝑡) − 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑚 )2 > (2.7)

Where Pe is the effective sound pressure

Patm is atmospheric pressure (100kPa)
<…> is the average value over time.

For a pure periodical pressure change, the averaging time must include one full period. Most of the
sounds that a human hears are however not periodical, the sound becomes stranger and disappears
again. For sound pressure measurements, a fixed averaging time is thus used (for example, 1 second,
the relative time scale for the ear (see Kryter 1985, chapter 3)7).

The lowest detectable effective sound pressure (at 1000Hz) is 20µPa. This sound pressure is called the
hearing threshold. An effective sound pressure of 100 to 200 Pa will be painful to the ears. This large
range of the ear (a factor of 10 million) leads to the development of a logarithmic scale for sound
pressure. This scale uses the logarithm of the ratio between the vibration energy of the measured
sound pressure, and the hearing threshold as the measure for the sound intensity level. This unit is the
bel, B. In general, the dB is used (decibel = 0.1 bel). Because the vibration energy is proportional to the
sound pressure, it can be written as:

𝑃2 𝑃
𝐿𝑝 = 10 log (𝑃𝑒 2 ) = 20 log (𝑃𝑒 ) (2.8)
0 0

Where Lp is the sound leverl in dB

P0 is the reference sound pressure (=2x10-5 Pa = 20µPa)

Sound level can also be expressed in terms of the energy density, I. Measured in watt per square meter
(W/m2)
𝐼
𝐿𝑝 = 10log(𝐼 )
0

Where I0 is the reference sound intensity (10-12 W/m2)

I the real sound intensity (in W/m2)

The lowest detectable level for the average human ear is 10-12 W/m2 while the threshold of pain is
about 1 W/m2.

The logarithmic character of the dB and the db(A) means that intensity levels cannot just be added. The
intensity level must be added energetically, because log(2)=0.3 means that by doubling the sound
pressure, the intensity increases by 20x0.3 = 6dB. When you measure the sound intensity level over a
long time span, say 24 hours, it is referred to as the equivalent intensity level. In table 2.1 an overview
is given of a number of representative intensity levels.

So far in the discussion of sound, we haven’t yet introduced the properties of the human ear. It is found
that the sensitivity of the human ear, indicated in dB is not the same for all frequencies. The highest
sensitivity is reached form 2 to 5 KHz. To correct for this, a frequency weighting is done – the so called,
A-weighting (see figure 2.5). By using this weighting, sounds with frequencies in the kHz region is

9The unit of pressure is the pascal, Pa. 1Pa=1Nm-2. 1µPa = 10-6Pa; 1kPa = 1000Pa. For comparison,
atmospheric pressure is equal to 100kPa

17
given a heavier weight than higher or lower frequencies. To indicate that the sound pressure is
corrected in this manner, it is expressed in dB(A).

Table 2.1: Examples of Intensity Levels

Effective Sound Pressure (Pa) Sound Intensity Description

Level (dB)
200 140 Pain Threshold
130 Airplane jet at 50m
20 120 Steel cutter at 1m
110 Wooden circular saw
2 100 Helicopter at 30m, printing shop
90 Passing train 120km/h at 25m
0.2 80 Near heavy traffic, in 2CV at 100km/h
70 Vacuum cleaner at 1m
0.02 60 Normal speaking, lawnmower at 7m
50 Normal residential area at daytime
0.002 40 Quiet residential area, freezer at 1m
30 Library reading hall
0.0002 20 Soft whisper
10 Falling leaf
0.00002 0 Threshold of hearing
-10 Undetectable sound

The sound intensity level, whether or not A-weighted, is an objective measurable unit. By using
prescribed precision calculation processes from physical measurements, a number can be generated
that characterize the sound intensity. A doubling of the sound pressure does not lead to a twice harder
observable sound. The observable sound intensity is not proportional to the sound pressure. The
observed sound intensity is also called the loudness. This is defined as the observed sound intensity,
independent if the significance of sound (Kryter 1985, chapter 5)7. Kryter shows that, independent of
the means of measurement of either the frequency or intensity level, a 5 to 10 dB higher level is
observed as being twice as loud.

Figure 2.5: Graphical representation of the A-weighting. The effective sound pressure in dB, at
each frequency is lowered with the indicated value to give the sound pressure in dB(A)

Although much research has been conducted into methods to find a strong relationship between the
physical description of sound and the nuisance or inconvenienced caused by noise, such as would be
indicated in public reports, it is just impossible from sound pressures occurring in the practice to
forecast, using the physical properties of sound if an individual will find it to be a nuisance or not.
Several other psychological properties variables also play a role.

2.6 Electromagnetic Radiation

As already mentioned, electromagnetic radiation is a pure form of bound energy; the energy consists as
an independent unit that can be propagated in space without any loss. From the term propagation, it is
seen that electromagnetic radiation is a wave phenomenon. In some cases, the description of a stream
of particles (without mass, the so-called “photons”) is more easily reconciled with practical
observations.

In the following, we are going to focus on the interactions of this radiation with matter. Of importance
for the environmental study is the effect of, for example, ultraviolet or radioactive (gamma) radiation.
Electromagnetic radiation is also used in a series of physical measurement techniques.

18
Electromagnetic radiation covers a very large range or spectrum. Figure 2.6 gives an overview of this
with the accompanying wavelengths. These wavelengths vary from several kilometers for radio waves
to 10-14 m for gamma rays. The following relationship between wavelength and frequency is true:

λv = c

Where λ is the wavelength in nm

v is the frequency in Hz
c is the speed of light (3x108 m/s)

Figure 2.6: The Electromagnetic Spectrum

The infrared region consists of wavelengths from about 1 mm until about 1micrometer and thus
frequencies between 10 12 and 3x1014 Hz. As already mentioned, visible light lies only in the region
from 400 to 700 nm. Here red light has a wavelength of 700nm and violet light has a wavelength of 400
nm. In the region between all these colours of the rainbow are found. At still shorter wavelength than
400 nm starts the region of ultraviolet radiation that stretches to about 1nm. As we will see the
interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter become more observable and more
dramatic.

At even shorter wavelengths, i.e at higher frequencies and higher photon energies, we get in the
regions of X-radiation and gamma radiation. This region stretches to wavelengths of about 10-14 m.
These short wavelengths are equal to photon energies to about 2x10-11 J. Although it looks as if these
energies are still very small, they can have disastrous results for matter.

With the to-be discussed (microscopic) interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation the
processes are always reversible, different as described at the macroscopically phenomenon of energy
and flow. That means that by the inversion of a process, where electromagnetic radiation is created, a
process is found whereby electromagnetic radiation disappears.

There are two ways in which electromagnetic radiation can interact with matter:
a. The photon energy is converted into the increase of kinetic energy of a charged particle such as
a proton or electron. In the reverse case a photon is created from the change in the kinetic energy of a
proton or electron. In such a process, light is created in a light bulb. The heat radiated from a heater is
infrared electromagnetic radiation of this kind.
b. When an atom or molecule changes from one energy state to another, where the internal
potential energy is changed. The difference between the potential energy before and after the change is
found back as the energy of an emitted or absorbed photon. These processes are called atomic or
molecular emission or absorption. The light from a sodium light or a fluorescent tube are examples of
this.

The internal potential energy of an atom or molecule can take on only certain specific values. This
statement lead, in the beginning of this century, to the development of the quantum theory. The lowest
possible energy level is called the ground state, then the first excited state, second excited state and so
on. The higher energy levels are laying closer together and are nearing a certain boundary value. In the
case of the atom, you can present it as follows: an atom consists of a nucleus with a number of
electrons in certain orbitals around it. When an atom is brought to a higher level, an electron is
displaced to a higher orbit and the atom increases its internal energy. The highest possible energy is
found by taking the electron away from the atom, thus the atom becomes ionized.

When an atom or molecule now changes from a higher state to a lower state, the reduction in the
internal potential energy is converted in electromagnetic radiation with exactly a specific photon

19
energy. Because the atom or molecule has only very specific energy levels, these photons appear with
specific discrete energies, and thus specific discrete wavelengths.

In the reverse case, photons of a very specific energy can be absorbed by an atom or molecule. Due to
this, they will reach a higher state. The higher the photon energy, the larger the change of energy in the
atom or molecule. In atomic nuclei and electrons, similar phenomena occurs. The specific photon
energies will just be of different values.

The photon energies in the region of the radio waves are so small, that no interchange between
different potential energy levels of the atom or molecule are possible with the absorption or emission
of a photon in this wavelength region. Effects on the environment due to radio waves are then also not
probable. In the micro wavelength region also effects are not expected. The energy of a microwave
quantum is still so small, that only interchanges between the so-called spin states of electron or nuclei
is possible (electron spin resonance, ESR and nuclear magnetic resonance, NMR). The chemical
properties of an atom or molecule are not change by these techniques.

The photon energies in the infrared and visible region are large enough to move electrons into other
energy levels. Photosynthesis, the process whereby energy from the sun is converted into the chemical
energy of the components of the plants, takes place with light from 400 to 700nm. In the ultraviolet
region absorption of a photon will cause organic molecules to break apart. This is the reason for the
expected increase in skin disorders if the ozone concentration in the atmosphere is depleted. Ozone
has a strong absorption for ultra violet light. Due to this the number of ultraviolet photons that reach
the surface of the earth is minimal. The remaining intensity is however still enough to cause
pigmentation reactions in the skin and cause burns. On top of it, the ultraviolet rays can damage DNA
present in the skin cells to become cancerous. With an increase in the intensity of ultraviolet light, thus
with more photons the chance of these occurrences will become larger. Environmental effects are thus
possible (Ozone depletion).

At still shorter wavelengths, the X-rays and gamma rays, even more dramatic changes can occur in the
molecule, and also in the atoms themselves. In this region there will for certain be environmental
affects appearing.

Because the energy levels are characteristics for each atom, nucleus or molecule, the reaction with
electromagnetic radiation is very selective and very sensitive detection instruments can be used. This
can occur using different means:

 Absorption Spectroscopy: in this technique the wavelength is determined that is absorbed in a

specific specimen;
 Emission Spectroscopy: by one or other means, the atom, nucleus or molecule present in the
specimen are brought to a higher energetic state. When it then decays to the ground state, a photon
with a specific energy and wavelength will be emitted. From the resultant emission spectrum, the
presence of the material can be determined quantitatively.

2.7 Radioactive Radiation

This paragraph presents a short introduction to the units that are used to measure the risks involved
with radiation. For a more complete, excellent description of all aspects of nuclear physics and nuclear
energy, you are referred to Fast (1980).

An atom consists of a nucleus, around which a number of electrons move in specific orbits. The nucleus
is built up from two types of nuclear particles; the electrical uncharged neutrons and the positively
charged protons. Both types of particles have approximately the same mass and are about 2000 times
the size of electrons. Because the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons in the nucleus,
the complete atom is electrical neutral. The chemical characteristics of the atom are determined by the

20
electrons and are thus related to the number of protons in the nucleus. In the nucleus, different forces
are in action:
a. Nuclear forces. Very strong attractive forces between nuclear particles that decrease rapidly
with an increase of distance between them.
b. Electrostatic forces. A repulsive force between particles of the same electric charge and an
attractive force between particles of opposite electric charge which also decreases rapidly with
increase in distance between particles.

When two nuclear particles are a very short distance from each other, the attractive nuclear force is
dominant. When two protons find themselves at a larger distance from each other, the repulsive
electrostatic force is dominant.

The result of all this is that an atomic nucleus cannot have any arbitrary composition. There exists a
number of valid laws determining the ratio of the number of protons to the number of neutrons in the
nucleus. Nuclei are therefore not always stable, meaning their composition of neutrons and protons do
not always obey the rules determined by the nuclear and electrostatic forces. These so-called
radioactive nuclei will, via radioactive disintegration or decay, change into other (more stable) nuclei.

Radioactive decay goes together with the emission of radioactive radiation. Nuclei can send out an
electron, whereby a neutron is converted into a proton, and thus the ratio of neutrons to protons in the
nucleus is changed. This is the so-called beta radiation. A second possibility is to send out a particle
consisting of two neutrons and two protons, the very stable nucleus of Helium (4He), or alpha
radiation. The new remaining nucleus frequently remains in an exited state. It can, by sending out a
photon, return to the ground state. These photons have a very high photon energy, and is called gamma
radiation. The very high photon energies of radioactive radiation makes this radiation very destructive
for organic molecules. At the absorption of a gamma photon, a molecule can break apart completely.
Biological tissue will thus become damaged.

The intensity of radioactive radiation is measured by the number of disintegrations occurring in a

certain specimen. This unit is called the Becquerel (table 2.2).

Radioactive radiation is one form of ionizing radiation. That means that the energy per particle (α-, β-
particle, etc but also a photon of electromagnetic radiation) is sufficient to ionize a molecule or an
atom. This can be the first step in a series of chemical reactions. As mentioned above, depending on the
type of atom or molecule, the energy of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than that
of visible light is in principle sufficient for ionization. The damage that is caused by ionizing radiation is
expressed in a unit called gray.

The Becquerel is thus used to quantify the activity in a radioactive specimen, while the gray is the unit
for the absorbed dose. Not all forms of ionizing radiation are equally destructive in biological material.
Thus another unit is developed next to the gray for the so-called equivalent dose: the Sievert. The
equivalent dose is calculated from the absorbed dose by multiplying with a factor depending on the
type of radiation. A summary in table 2.2 is given.

21
 Table 2.2: Units of Radiation Safety
Next to the present prescribe SI-units, the older units are shown.

SI-unit Old unit Conversion Factor

Radioactivity Becquerel Bq curie Ci 1Ci = 3.7x1010Bq
Absorbed dose Gray Gy rad Rad 1Rad = 0.01Gy
Equivalent Dose Sievert Sv rem Rem 1Rem = 0.01Sv

From absorbed dose to equivalent dose

Type of radiation Conversion
Xrays, Gamma 1Sv = 1Gy
β- 1Sv = 1Gy
Neutrons 1Sv = 0.01Gy
α- 1Sv = 0.05Gy

Chapter 3: Environment and Technology

“Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavor” – A.
Einstein

3.1 What is Environmental Technology?

Under technology we understand the total of (especially) natural scientific knowledge, on which the
control of technical processes are based. Technologies are identified by the following:
 Dependent on the type of the primary operation. We here refer to physical technology, chemical
technology, mechanical technology, etc.
 Dependent on application area. An example being polymer technology, which contained the
knowledge of the production and processing of raw materials to consumer ready artificial products,
including the knowledge of the applications.
When technological knowledge is applied for the reduction or compensation of the existing
environmental burden, we can then speak of environmental technology. Until very recently, this
nomenclature did give very few problems. In practice, this application refers to the (mostly end-of-the-
pipe) cleaning of waste products or the execution of sanitation. This involves a well described activity
and the application of specific and clearly recognizable techniques.

During the last number of years we have, however, learned that environmental problems closer to the
source can frequently be remedied (and sometimes completely prevented) by the application of new
techniques. Due to this we see changes in the processes that lead to less waste products or the use of
less raw material or energy which is also called environmental technologies.

This is a controversial issue, since it frequently turns around the application of existing knowledge
that, up until now has been called normal chemical technology, polymer technology, etc. There are
always changes in technical processes to be thought of that will reduce the environmental burden. If
we are able to include all these to be part of environmental technology, the concept will be very broad
and in principle will enclose all technologies. It thus becomes a non-discriminate definition. The use of
the concept of environmental technology for far too broad a range of technological knowledge is thus
to be discouraged.

Although then, strictly speaking, they do not fall under the concept of environmental technology, the
process incorporated and added techniques are of extreme importance for the development of a
durable society. They will thus as a matter of course be discussed in this chapter under the topic
“Environment and Technology”.

22
3.2 Classification

In this chapter over technology and environment, a number of common characteristics will be
discussed of techniques for the elimination and reduction of environmental problems related to the
production of materials and goods. It does not need an argument that the products are manufactured
can, with the processes during their use and in the waste phase, deliver equally great environmental
problems. These products related problems can be of greater extent than the production related
problems and they are thus at present of great importance.
During the manufacturing of products, technology can be used to reduce the accompanied
environmental burden, and will be focused on one or more of the following actions:
 Prevention of the formation of pollution
 Prevention of emission
 Prevention of distribution
 Sanitation of pollution that has occurred.

3.2.1 Prevention of the Formation of Pollution

It seems obvious from the above mentioned ways that the prevention of pollution will take preference
and should always be aimed towards. When that can be achieved, we do not need to concern ourselves
any more over the emission, distribution or cleaning of pollution. This is however the most difficult
task because there are usually radical interventions required of the applied production techniques. To
realize these changes, basic knowledge is required, which might require several years of study.

Luckily, during the last number of years, several researchers have taken up these challenges and from
the laboratories of technical universities and industry, very good results have been published.
Examples of these are
- Membrane electrolysis of kitchen salt, where mercury as electrode has been totally eliminated.
- Substitution of organic solvents in motor car lacquer by water
- Substitution of organic solvents for the decreasing of metal part by surface-active material in
water.
Before any of the above mentioned changes in processes could be realized, several years have been
invested in intensive research. That is, however, not always necessary. At times in the past, production
materials have been used haphazardly and with no aim towards the eventual consequences it may
have on the environment. By substitution of solvents for chemical reactions, not only can the danger of
poisoning be reduced, but also the emission into the air can substantially be reduced. With these
substitutions, much more attention must, of course, be given to the possible consequences of
replacement products for the environment, and also for the health of workers, users and consumers.

It will however, not always be possible to totally prevent the formation of unwanted side products. So,
for example, you will find in zinc ore always 0.2% of the unwanted metal cadmium, that is released
during the production of zinc. If man wants to remove the environmental pollution of cadmium from
the base of the problem, the only possibility would be, in future, to completely abandon the use of zinc.
Next to these technical restrictions of other kinds; it is not attractive for an industry to invest huge
amounts in a completely new technology for an existing product, when the competition continues to
produce using the present processes.

In these cases you will have to make use of techniques that reduce the emission or distribution. When
these are available and used responsible, environmental pollution can be reduced at the production
site. The change of residual pollution is, however, always present, so that means addressing it will have
to be determined by the type of the polluting material and the magnitude of the change.

3.2.2 Prevention of Emission

Here we are referring to the technical provisions that must be coupled directly to the production
processes to prevent that by emission, dangerous or damaging waste material escapes from the

23
installation. The waste is thus indeed formed, but it is prevented from further mixing or dilution. In this
case it is referred to as process integrated technology. This can be done by the introduction of
additional processes, when the formed waste cannot be avoided, by:
- Reintroducing it back into the process
- Converting it into a non-harmful and useful form.
Next to these technical provision, good housekeeping can also contribute to the prevention in
accidental emissions.

3.2.3 Prevention of Distribution

Here provision is made for techniques outside the production units (end-of-pipe techniques), with the
purpose to process the emission from the (sometimes more than one) source in a purifying plant, so
that it is not any more harmful. Against this approach there exists some objections:
- The prevention of damage to the environment is the prime purpose with this approach,
recycling is usually not the intention.
- During the processing, the waste products are mixed or diluted whereby the processing usually
becomes more difficult and where mixed fractions that are incapable of further processing are created.
- During the process used for purification frequently secondary waste products are created
(sludge, combustion gases, detergent liquids) that can create new problems with another
environmental aspect.

3.2.4 Sanitation, Cleaning

Another external provision (in truth, this is on the other side of the end-of-pipe) is the cleaning or
sanitation of polluted ground, ground water, river silt, etc. by the removal and/or treatment of the
pollution. It is remarkable that the provision of isolation (separation) between the pollution and the
endangered object (human or nature) is at present also seen as sanitation.

During the last number of years, different new processes were developed for the solution of
environmental problems, for example the anaerobic purification of water, fluid-bed electrolysis, air
treatment with bio-filters. Combinations of well-known standard methods (unit operations) are
however mostly used. It is also frequently combined with techniques for the separation of matter or
materials (separation methods). This is the basis of just about all the processes mentioned above, with
the exception of process changes, where frequently new processes or, in the future, different principle
reactions are mentioned. Even with these new processes, large-scale unit operations will still have to
be employed for separation.

It will become clear that, in the to be described techniques, next to the environmental objectives there
are also other purposes, such as improvements in the efficiency or improving the work practice. In
some cases, the application of a specific process, or technique will be determined primarily by these
objectives and the advantageous environmental effect are also complied with.

The relationship between environment and technology such as is discussed above is summarized in
figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1: The Central Function of Separation Techniques

3.3 Physical Methods

In these methods, differences in the physical properties of materials is used. The differences do come
from the chemical composition of the material, but by applying physical techniques, the chemical
composition remains unchanged. The material is isolated out of mixtures based on the differences in
their macroscopic properties. Physical methods are frequently applied in combination with chemical
and microbiological methods. Areas of application that are important for physical methods are the
separation of heterogeneous and of homogeneous solutions.

24
3.3.1 Separation of Heterogeneous Solutions
With a heterogeneous solution the one (fine) phase mixed into the other, for example dust particles or
fog particles in air, silt or mud particle in water. We then speak of two phases that must be separated
from each other. During the phase separation, differences in physical properties of the phases are then
used, such as elasticity, density or electrical charge.

3.3.1.1 Filtration
A well-known physical separation method is the filtration of solid materials from liquids and of dust
particles from gases by means of a porous medium, such as a bed with grains of sand, fibers or
membranes. One example of this is the dust filter that we find in every vacuum cleaner and that must
prevent that the evacuated dust will be blown out again. Filtration frequently depends not only on the
sieve effect; other physical mechanism also has a role to play, which depends on inertia, Van der Waals
forces, electrostatic forces and diffusion. Due to this, other smaller particles could also be ‘caught’. To
execute the filtration process, vacuum or pressure is used. There is quite a large number of ways to
execute filtration, these can be divided into two classes: deep bed filtration or cake filtration.

During deep bed filtration, the particle are caught within the porous structure of the medium. During
cake filtration, the process occurs at the surface of the filter material, whereby a layer of the filtered
material is built up, which then also helps toward the filtration process. The filtered material (the
filtered cake) is regularly scraped away so that the filter process can start anew. Cake filtration is
primarily used at high concentration of the filtered material, for example the dehydration of silt from
water purification installations. Well-known implemented processes are band filters and drum filters
(continuous processes) and filter press (batch process). The last one gives the best dehydration and
produces a nearly solid silt, which is one requirement for further processing or dumping.

To remove solid dust particles from gases filtration by means of bag filters is a well-known and proven
method. Modern synthetic filter material also makes it possible to remove dust from hot smoking
gases.

3.3.1.2 Separators
To phase-separate materials with different densities, gravitational forces are frequently used, since the
energy used is very low. Settling tanks are used in the treatment of both air and water. The result of
this settling process is very dependent on the size of the particles and its difference in density to the
liquid or gas. If the particle are very small, or if the density differences are small, the settling process
occurs very slowly; the settling height in the separator is thus also poor. Moreover, the horizontal flow
may not be too large, otherwise the settled particles will be whirled up again. The surfaces of such
shallow settling tanks thus need to be very large if they want to have sufficient capacity. We see this at
the settling tanks of the purification installations for household wastewater.

Oil separators for industrial wastewater also depends on the same principle, in this case the oil will
come floating to the top. For the removal of oil drops from water, it has also been tried to use surface
tension to let the small drops flow together to form larger drops, so that the ascend can take place
faster. Increasing the internal surface area of the oil separator can do this, for example by using built in
plates. In this way, the efficiency of the separators can be increased considerably.

In most of the mechanical separators for the removal of dust particles form air, we find additional
parts, such as partitions, layers, or grids. These are intended to use the inertia of the particles on top of
gravitation to help with the separation process.

3.3.1.3 Centrifuges
When separation by means of gravity is going too slow, the liquid or gas can be put into a rotational
motion. Centrifugal forces that can be much larger than gravity then acts upon the phases, by which the
separation would occur faster. For this, centrifuges and cyclones are used. Centrifuges have a

25
mechanical driven drum and the material places into it. There are discontinuous functioning and
continuous functioning (through flow) centrifuges.

3.3.1.4 Cyclone
A cyclone is an apparatus without any moving parts, into which the gas or liquid is brought into a
vortex, by which the suspended particles are brought toward the outside wall by means of centrifugal
forces. There they lose their speed and drop to the bottom where they can be collected. In certain
cyclones, for the purification of gases, a liquid can be injected to improve the removal of the particles.
By changing the dimensions of the parts, cyclones can be designed to fit the application. Due to their
simple construction, cyclones require little maintenance and a small investment. Because of that, they
are very popular and used very frequently, for example in the woodworking industry. For particles
smaller than 10 µm however, the efficiency of removal of cyclones is low.

3.3.1.5 Electrostatic Precipitators

For the removal of particles from a gas flow, electrostatic forces can also be used. In electrostatic
precipitators, a very strong electrical field is applied that gives the particles an electrical charge.
Subsequently the charged particles are attracted by a surface that is also, oppositely, charged. There
they discharge and are deposited. The pressure drop in an electrostatic precipitator is very low, also
the electrical energy used is small since this is used only for the movement of the particles and not for
the whole gas flow. The cost of this process, however, is very high.

Electrostatic precipitators are used primarily for the removal of dust particles from the waste gases of
large incinerators. Fly ash from the waste gases of coal power stations is removed mostly by cyclones,
in combination with electrostatic precipitators. A new method is the placement of a granulated bed
filter after the cyclone; by applying an electrical charge over the bed, a higher removal rate is achieved
(electrostatic enhanced granulated bed filter).

3.3.1.6 Magnetic Separators

At the moment, experimental work is done with magnetic forces to enhance phase separation, for
example, to remove phosphates from household wastewater. In this process, the phosphate is
deposited chemically on magnetic particles that subsequently is removed from the mixture by a strong
magnet. This technique makes the recycling of phosphates in principle a possibility.

3.3.1.7 Mist Catchers

During the discussion of the functioning of oil separators, it was referred to the application of surface
tension for phase separation. There is quite a number of varying techniques that make use of surface
tension. This also includes the removal of liquid mist or fog from air in mist catchers or demisters.
Similar as with oil separators, the oil drops are accumulated to larger drops on the surface of a filter or
layered construction, which makes it easier to remove.

3.3.1.8 Flotation
During flotation, small air bubbles are blown through the dispersed medium. The separation is caused
by the property of air bubbles to stick selectively to solid particles with hydrophobic (water-repellant)
surfaces. The agglomerate of particles with air has a somewhat lower density than the original
particles. They thus move to the top and form a foam layer at the surface that can be skimmed off.

3.3.1.9 Gas Scrubbers

The application of gas scrubbers for the removal of solid particles from air by means of a liquid is also
based on absorption forces. The liquid in the scrubbers could act as an accumulation surface, but is also
used for the continuous washing of the accumulating surface. Scrubbers are also used for the removal
of gaseous components from air. In this case the principle mechanism is absorption and not adsorption.
A packed column is but one of the many application formats that were designed to give gas scrubbers
the largest possible contact surface between the liquid phase and the gas phase. For the packed

26
column, there exists a large number of variations because there is a choice between several shapes and
materials that can be chose for the packing.

3.3.2 The Separation of Homogeneous Mixtures

In contrast with the above-mentioned heterogeneous mixtures, homogeneous mixtures have only one
phase. Examples of homogeneous mixtures are solutions of salts in water, gaseous pollution in air, air
itself. To separate the components from a homogeneous mixture it is obvious that methods depending
on differences in properties of the different phases cannot be used. In this case differences in
properties are used that exist between the materials on molecular level.

3.3.2.1 Ultra filtration

Filtration is a technique for the separation of heterogeneous phases as discussed above. It is also
possible to use similar techniques based on molecular scale to achieve separation in solutions. The
waste is driven under pressure through special membranes (surface membranes or hollow fibre
membranes, that are arranged in special modules), in which case the solvent and the smaller molecules
will pass the pores of the membrane while the larger molecules will remain behind. With pores of sizes
between 2 to 20 nm it is called ultra filtration. (1nm = 0,0000001cm). Membranes with even smaller
pores are also used for separation, they however depends on another mechanism (osmosis or hyper
filtration). Membrane filtering is used primarily for the separation of biological material and for the
preparation of drinking and processing water. The pores of membranes are easily blocked by pollution,
which requires a good pre-treatment of the solutions to be filtered.

3.3.2.2 Scrubbers
A physical property that can show a large variation between materials, is the solubility (of solid
material and gases in liquids). These differences can be used at liquid-liquid extractions, for the
removal of specific components from a liquid, or for the scrubbing of pollution from air.

The amount of removal depends besides the solubility also on the contact with the contact with the
extraction liquid. During good contact the solutions will reach a certain equilibrium within a short time
period. There are thus several applications of scrubbers to improve the contact between the gas and
the liquid. To move the equilibrium in the required direction (i.e. to get more of the pollution from the
air into the extraction liquid) a material could be added to the solvent that will react chemically with
the pollutant during extraction. An example of this is seen at the extraction of sulphurous hydrogen
from waste gas by scrubbing with sodium hydroxide.

Another use is in prevention of dissolution: by dissolving to the limit on one gas will prevent the
solution of a second gas (example: nitrogen dissolved in oil prevent absorption of silane).

3.3.2.3 Stripping
We can also make use of the differences in solubility to achieve the inverse of absorption, namely
desorption. The practical implementation of this is called stripping. An example of both techniques can
be found at the reduction of emission of carbon hydrates, where air that contained carbon hydrates is
scrubbed by reversing it through a packed column with a cooled solvent. The solvent then absorbs the
carbon hydrate. Stripping or distillation of the absorbed material recycles the solvent. Sometimes the
material to be separated can be used by itself as a scrubbing solution, thus does not require recycling.

3.3.2.4 Adsorption
The use of surface tension was already referred to earlier for the separation of heterogeneous
mixtures. However with the separation of homogeneous mixtures (gases or liquids) this can also play
an important role. Here we use the property of solid materials to bind gases, vapours or liquids to their
surfaces. This phenomena is called adsorption and the level of reaction is determined by different
factors, such as chemical composition, the surface area and the size of the pores of the solid material
(the medium of adsorbance) and the type of material to be adsorbed (the adsorbant).

27
The adsorption mediums that are used most are activated charcoal, silia gel, activated aluminium oxide
and molecular seven. Because adsorption is also an equilibrium reaction, the adsorption medium is
sometimes impregnated with a material that interact with the to-be-adsorbed material to enhance its
removal from the liquid or gas mixture. Without these additions it is also possible with a good selection
or combination of adsorber and to be absorbed material to frequently get complete extraction. This
method also allows the adsorbed material to be recovered. One method for example is recovering of
carbon hydrates from air filled with activated charcoal. Recovering of the activated charcoal occurs
with a heated inert gas (nitrogen) under reduced pressure. The carbon hydrates is then extracted from
the inert gas by condensation after cooling.

Adsorption is frequently applied to remove the last remaining pollution from gases or liquids; this is
important where noxious of toxic gases are involved. By using two parallel adsorption columns a
continuous operation is possible. While one column is being loaded, the other is regenerated.

To isolate dissolved materials in liquids adsorption can also be employed. Thus for the purification of
potable water activated charcoal is being used more and more for the removal of the last remains of
micro-pollution (so-called polishing).

3.3.2.5 Distillation
Distillation is a separation method that depends on the difference in volatility between the components
of a mixture of liquids, during which the most volatile one evaporated first and the least volatile one
remains behind as a liquid. The quality of the separation depends on the difference in volatility of the
components and the amount of contact between the rising vapour and the condensed liquid. To
increase this contact distillation, columns are supplied with catchment reservoirs. Letting the more
concentrated vapour flow back could increase the contact between vapour and liquid. This costs some
energy. Distillation is frequently used in the chemical industry, for example: the recycling of solvents.
The high energy used of this technique however makes it unsuitable for purification of potable water.

3.4 Wastewater Disposal

Wastewater disposal includes various processes involved in the collection, treatment and disposal of
liquid and water-carried wastes from industrial plants. The issue of wastewater disposal assumed
increasing importance in the early 1970s as a result of the general concern expressed worldwide about
the wider problem of pollution of the human environment, the contamination of the atmosphere,
rivers, lakes, oceans and groundwater by domestic, municipal, agricultural and industrial waste.

The composition of industrial waste cannot be readily characterized by a typical range of values
because its makeup depends on the type of manufacturing process involved. The concentration of an
industrial waste is usually placed in perspective by stating the number of people, or population
equivalent (PE) that would be required to produce the same quantity of waste. PE is most commonly
expressed in terms of BOD5. An average value of 0.077kg (0.17lb) 5-day, 20°C BOD per person per day
is used for determination of the PE. The population equivalent of a slaughterhouse operation for
example, will range from 5 to 25 PE per animal. The processes involved in municipal wastewater
treatment plants are usually classified as being part of primary, secondary or tertiary treatment.

3.4.1 Primary Treatment

The wastewater that enters a treatment plant contains debris that might clog or damage the pumps
and machinery. Such materials are removed by screens or vertical bars and the debris is burned or
buried after manual or mechanical removal. The wastewater then passes through a grinder where
leaves and other organic materials are reduced in size for efficient treatment and removal later.

3.4.1.1 Grit Chamber

In the past, long and narrow channel-shaped settling tanks, known as grit chambers, were used to
remove inorganic or mineral matter such as sand, silt, gravel and cinders. These chambers were
designed to permit inorganic particles 0.2mm (0.008in) or larger to settle at the bottom while the

28
smaller particles and most of the organic solids remain in suspension pass through. Today spiral-flow
aerated grit chambers with hopper bottoms or clarifiers with mechanical scraper arms, are most
commonly used. The grit is removed and disposed of as a sanitary landfill. Grit accumulation can range
from 0.08 to 0.23 cu m per 3.8 million litres of wastewater.

3.4.1.2 Sedimentation
With grit removed, the wastewater passes into a sedimentation tank in which organic materials settle
out and are drawn off for disposal. The process of sedimentation can remove about 20 to 40 per cent of
the suspended solids. The rate of sedimentation is increased in some industrial waste-treatment
stations by incorporating processes called chemical coagulation and flocculation in the sedimentation
tank. Coagulation is the process of adding chemicals and aluminium sulphate, ferric chloride or
polyelectrolytes to the wastewater; this causes the surface characteristics of the suspended solids to be
altered so that they attach to one another and precipitate. Flocculation causes the suspended solids to
coalesce. Coagulation and flocculation can remove more than 80 per cent of suspended solids.

3.4.1.3 Flotation
An alternative to sedimentation that is used in the treatment of some wastewaters is flotation, in which
air is forced into the wastewater under pressures of 1.75 to 3.5 kg per sq cm. The wastewater,
supersaturated with air, is then discharged into an open tank; there the rising air bubbles cause the
suspended solids to rise to the surface, where they are removed. Flotation can remove more than 75%
of the suspended solids.

3.4.1.4 Digestion
Digestion is a microbiological process that converts the chemically complex organic sludge to methane,
carbon dioxide and an inoffensive solid material. The reaction occur in a closed tank or digester that is
anaerobic, i.e devoid of oxygen. The conversion takes place through a series of reactions. First the solid
matter is made soluble by enzymes, then the substance is fermented by a group of acid-producing
bacteria, reducing it to simple organic acids such as acetic acid. The organic acids are then converted to
methane and carbon dioxide by bacteria. Thickened sludge is heated and added as continuously as
possible to the digester where it remains for 10 to 30 days and is decomposed. Digestion reduces
organic matter by 45 to 60%.

3.4.1.5 Drying
Digested sludge is placed on sand beds for air drying. Percolation into the sand and evaporation are the
chief processes involved in the dewatering process. Air drying requires dry, relatively warm weather
for greatest efficiency, and some plants have a greenhouse-like structure to shelter the sand beds.
Dried sludge in most cases is used as a soil conditioner; sometimes it is used as a fertilizer because of
its 2% nitrogen and 1% phosphorous content.

3.4.2 Secondary Treatment

Having removed 40 to 60 % of the suspended solids and 20 to 40% of the BOD5 in primary treatment
by physical means, the secondary treatment biologically reduces the organic material that remains in
the liquid stream. Usually the microbial process employed are aerobic – that is, the organisms function
in the presence of dissolved oxygen. Secondary treatment actually involves harnessing and accelerating
nature’s process of waste disposal. Aerobic bacteria in the presence of oxygen convert organic matter
to stable forms such as carbon dioxide, water, nitrates, and phosphates, as well as other organic
materials. The production of new organic matter is an indirect result of biological treatment processes,
and this matter must be removed before the wastewater is discharged into the receiving stream.
Several alternative processes are also available in secondary treatment, including a trickling filter,
activated sludge, and lagoons.

3.4.2.1 Trickling Filter

In this process, a waste stream is distributed intermittently over a bed or column of some type of
porous medium. A gelatinous film of micro-organisms coats the medium and functions as the removal

29
agent. The organic matter in the waste stream is absorbed by the microbial film and converted to
carbon dioxide and water. The trickling-filter process, when preceded by sedimentation, can remove
about 85% of the BOD5 entering plant.

3.4.2.2 Activated Sludge

This is an aerobic process in which gelatinous sludge particles are suspended in an aeration tank and
supplied with oxygen. The activated sludge particles, known as floc, are composed of millions of
actively growing bacteria bound together by a gelatinous slime. Organic matter is absorbed by the floc
and converted to aerobic products. The reduction of BOD5 fluctuates between 60 and 85%. An
important companion unit in any plant using activated sludge or a trickling filter is the secondary
clarifier, which separates bacteria from the liquid stream before discharge.

3.4.2.3 Stabilization Pond or Lagoon

Another form of biological treatment is the stabilization pond or lagoon, which requires a large land
area and is thus located in rural areas. Facultative lagoons, or those that function in mixed conditions,
are the most common being 0.6 to 1.5m in depth, with a surface area of several acres. Anaerobic
conditions prevail in the bottom region, where the solids are decomposed; the region near the surface
is aerobic, allowing the oxidation of dissolved and colloidal organic matter. A reduction in BOD5 of 75
to 85% can be attained.

3.4.3 Advanced Wastewater Treatment

If the receiving body of water requires a higher degree of treatment that the secondary process can
provide, or if the final effluent is intended for reuse, advanced wastewater treatment is necessary. The
term tertiary treatment is often used as a synonym for advanced treatment, but the two methods are
not exactly the same. Tertiary, or third-stage, treatment is generally used to remove phosphorous,
while advanced treatments might include additional steps to improve effluent quality by removing
refractor pollutants. Processes are available to remove more that 99% of the suspended solids and
BOD5. Dissolved solids are reduced by processes such as reverse osmosis and electrodialysis
(movement of molecules through a membrane, assisted by pressure or an electric fied). Ammonia
stripping, denitrification, and phosphate precipitation can remove nutrients. If the wastewater is to be
reused, disinfection by ozone treatment is considered the most reliable method other than breakpoint
chlorination.

3.4.3.1 Liquid Disposal

The ultimate disposal of the treated liquid stream is accomplished in several ways. Direct discharge
into a receiving stream or lake is the most commonly practiced means of disposal. In parts of the world
that are faced with worsening shortages of water for both domestic and industrial use, authorities are
turning to reuse of appropriately treated wastewater for groundwater recharge, irrigation of non-
edible crops, industrial processing, recreation, and other uses. In one such project, the Potable Reuse
Demonstration Plant in Denver, Colorado, the treatment process involves conventional primary and
secondary treatment followed by lime clarification to remove suspended organic compounds. During
this process, and alkaline (high pH) condition is created to improve the process. In the next step, re-
carbonation is used to bring the pH level to neutral. Then the water is filtered through multiple layers
of sand and charcoal, and ammonia is removed by ionization. Particles and other dissolved organic
materials still present are absorbed by a granular, activated-carbon filter. Viruses and bacteria are then
killed by ozonization. At this stage, the water should be cleansed of all contaminants, but for added
reliability, second-stage carbon adsorption and reverse osmosis are used, and chlorine dioxide is added
to attain the highest possible water standard.

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Chapter 4: Atmospheric Physics
4.1 The Atmosphere

Atmosphere, a mixture of gases surrounding any celestial object, such as the Earth, that has a
gravitational field string enough to prevent the gas from escaping. The principle constituents of the
atmosphere of Earth are 78% Nitrogen and 21% Oxygen. The atmospheric gases in the remaining 1%
are 0.9% Argon, 0.03% Carbon dioxide, varying amounts of water vapour, trace amounts of hydrogen,
zone, methane, carbon monoxide, helium, neon, and xenon.

The mixture of gases in the air today has had 4.5 billion years in which to evolve. The earliest
atmosphere must have consisted of volcanic emanations alone. Gases that erupt from volcanoes today
are mostly a mixture of water vapour, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen, with almost no
oxygen. If this is the same mixture that existed in the early atmosphere, then various processes would
have had to operate to produce the mixture we have today. One of these processes was condensation.
As it cooled, much of the volcanic water vapour condensed to fill the earliest oceans. Chemical
reactions would also have occurred. Some carbon dioxide would have reacted with the rock of the
Earth’s crust to form carbonate minerals, and some would have dissolved in the new oceans. Later, as
primitive life capable of photosynthesis evolved in the oceans, new marine organisms began producing
oxygen. Almost all the free oxygen in the air today is believed to have formed by photosynthetic
combination of carbon dioxide with water. About 570 million years ago, the oxygen content of the
atmosphere and oceans became high enough to permit marine life capable of respiration. Later, some
400million years ago, the atmosphere contained enough oxygen for the evolution of air-breathing land
animals.

The water vapour content of the air varies considerably, depending on the temperature and relative
humidity. With 100% relative humidity, the water vapour content of the air varies from 190 parts per
million (ppm) at -40°C to 42 000 ppm at 30°C. Minute quantities of other gases, such as ammonia,
hydrogen sulphide, and oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, are temporary constituents of the atmosphere
in the vicinity of volcanoes and are washed out of the air by rain or snow. Oxides and other pollutants
added to the atmosphere by factories and vehicles have, however, become a major concern, because of
their damaging effects in the form of acid rain. In addition, the strong possibility exists that the steady
increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, mainly as the result of fossil-fuel combustion over the past
century, may affect the Earth’s climate through the process known as the greenhouse effect.

Similar concerns are posed by the sharp increase in atmospheric methane. Methane levels have risen
11% since 1978. About 80% of the gas is produced by decomposition in rice paddies, swamps, and the
intestines of grazing animals, and by tropical termites. Besides adding to the greenhouse effect,
methane reduces the volume of atmospheric hydroxyl ions, thereby impairing the atmosphere’s ability
to cleanse itself of pollutants.

The study of air samples shows that up to at least 88km above sea level, the composition of the
atmosphere is substantially the same as at ground level; the continuous stirring produced by
atmospheric currents counteracts the tendency of the heavier gases to settle below the lighter ones. In
the lower atmosphere, ozone (O3) is normally present in extremely low concentrations. The layer of
atmosphere from 19 to 48 km up contains more ozone produced by ultraviolet radiation by the Sun.
even in this layer, the percentage of ozone is only 0.001 by volume. Atmospheric disturbances and
downdrafts carry varying amounts of this ozone to the surface of the Earth. Human activity adds to
ozone in the lower atmosphere, where it becomes a pollutant that can cause extensive crop damage.

The ozone layer became a subject of concern in the early 1970s when it was found that chemicals
known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), or chlorofluoromethanes, were rising into the atmosphere in
large quantities because of their use as refrigerants and propellants in aerosol dispensers. The concern
centered on the possibility that the possibility that these compounds, through the action of sunlight,
could photochemically attack and destroy stratospheric ozone, which protects the Earth’s surface from

31
excessive ultraviolet radiation. As a result, industries in industrialized countries have replaced
chlorofluorocarbons in all essential uses. Results of subsequent atmospheric studies are inconclusive
about the actual threat to the ozone layer by human activities.

Figure 4.1: A graphical representation of the atmospheric layers. Below 5.6km lies 50% o our
air!

The atmosphere maybe divided into several layers. In the lowest one, the troposphere, the
temperature decreases upward at the rate of 5.5°C per 1000m. This is the layer in which most clouds
occur. The troposphere extends up to about 16km in the tropical regions (to a temperature of about -
51°C). Above the troposphere is the stratosphere. In the lower stratosphere, almost the temperature is
practically constant or increases slightly with altitude, especially over tropical regions. Within the
ozone layer, the temperature rises more rapidly, and the temperature at the upper boundary of the
stratosphere, almost 50km above sea level, is about the same as the temperature at the surface of the
Earth. The layer from 50 to 80km called the mesosphere, is characterized by a marked decrease in
temperature as the altitude increases.

From investigations of the propagation and reflection of radio waves, it is known that beginning at an
altitude of 80km, ultraviolet radiation, x-rays and showers of electrons from the Sun ionize several
layers of the atmosphere, causing them to conduct electricity; these layers reflect radio waves of
certain frequencies back to Earth. Because of relatively high concentrations of ions in the air above
80km, this layer, exceeding to an altitude of 640 km, is called the ionosphere. It is also termed the
thermosphere because of its high temperatures (rising to about 1200°C at about 400km). The region
beyond the ionosphere is called the exosphere, which extends to about 9 600km, the outer limit of the
atmosphere.

The density of dry air at sea level is about 1/800 the density of water, at higher altitudes it decreases
rapidly, being proportional to the pressure and inversely proportional to the temperature. Pressure is
measured by a barometer and is expressed in bars10. Normal atmospheric pressure at sea level is 1 bar.
At about 5.6 km it is 0.5 bar, half of all the air in the atmosphere lies below this level. The pressure is
again approximately halved for each additional increase of 5.6 km in altitude. At 80km the pressure is
9µbar.

The troposphere and most of the stratosphere can be explored directly by means of sounding balloons
equipped with instruments to measure the pressure and temperature of the air and with a radio
transmitter to send the data to a receiving station at the ground. Rockets carrying radios that transmit
meteorological-instrument readings have explored the atmosphere to altitudes above 400km. Study of
the form and spectrum of the aurora gives information to a height possibility as great as 800km.

4.2 The Carbon Cycle

Carbon Cycle in ecology is the cycle of carbon usage by which energy flows through the Earth’s
ecosystem. The basic cycle begins when photosynthesizing plants use carbon dioxide found in the
atmosphere or dissolved in water.

Some of this carbon is incorporated in plant tissue as carbohydrates, fats, and protein; the rest is
returned to the atmosphere or water by respiration. Carbon is thus passed on to herbivores that eat
the plants and thereby use, rearrange, and degrade the carbon compounds. Much of it is given of as
carbon dioxide in respiration, as a by-product of metabolism, but some is stored in animal tissue and is
passed on to carnivores feeding on herbivores. Ultimately, all the carbon compounds are broken down
by decomposition, and the carbon is released as CO2 to be used again by plants.

101 atmosphere = 1bar = 105Pa =760 torr (1 torr = 1mm Hg, a column of Hg in a vacuum will stand 760mm above
sea level)

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Air-Water Exchanges
On a global scale, the carbon cycle involves the exchange of carbon dioxide between two great
reservoirs: the atmosphere and the Earth’s waters. Atmospheric CO2 enters water by diffusion across
the air-water surface. If the CO2 concentration in the water is less than in the atmosphere, is diffuses
into the water, and vice versa. Additional exchanges take place within aquatic ecosystems. Excess
carbon may combine with water to form carbonates and bicarbonates. Carbonates may precipitate out
and become deposited in bottom sediments. Some carbon is incorporated in the forest-vegetation
biomass (living matter) and may remain out of circulation for hundreds of years. Incomplete
decomposition of organic matter in wet areas results in the accumulation of peat. Such accumulation
during the carboniferous period created stores of fossil fuels: coal, oil, and gas.

Total Carbon Pool

The total carbon pool, estimated at about 49 000 gigatonnes, is distributed among organic and
inorganic forms. Fossil carbon accounts for 22% of the total pool. The oceans contain 71%, mostly in
the form of bicarbonate and carbonate ions. An additional 3% is in dead organic matter and
phytoplankton. Terrestrial ecosystems, in which forests are the main reservoir, hold about 3% of the
total carbon pool. The remaining 1% is held in the atmosphere, circulated, and used in photosynthesis.

Additions to Atmosphere
Because of the burning of fossil fuels and other such practices, the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere has been increasing since the Industrial Revolution. Atmospheric concentrations have
risen from an estimated 260 to 300ppm in pre-industrial times to more than 350ppm today. This
increase accounts for only half of the estimated amount of carbon dioxide poured into the atmosphere.
The other half has probably been taken up by, and stored, in the oceans. Although terrestrial vegetation
may take up considerable quantities of carbon, it is also an additional source of carbon dioxide.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide acts as a shield over Earth. It is penetrated by short-wave radiation from
outer space but blocks the escape of long-wave radiation. As air pollution has increase the quantities of
carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere, the shield thickens and more heat is retained, increasing
global temperatures in a process known as the greenhouse effect.

Although such increases have not yet been great enough to cancel out natural climatic variability,
projected increases in CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels suggest that global temperatures could rise
some 2 to 6°C by early in the 21st century. This increase would be significant enough to alter global
climates and thereby affect human welfare.

Figure 4.2: Increase of the CO2 content during the 1990s as measure at Cape Point

A significant global warming of the atmosphere would have profound environmental effects. It would
speed the melting of polar ice caps, raise sea levels, change the climate regionally and globally, alter
natural vegetation, and affect crop production. These changes would have an enormous impact on
human civilization. Since 1850 there has been a mean rise in global temperature of about 1°C. Most
scientists have predicted that rising levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases will cause temperatures
to continue to increase, with estimates from 2 to 6°C by the mid-21st century.

Global warming, an increase in the Earth’s temperature due to the use of fossil fuels and other
industrial processes leading to a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It has been known
since 1896 that carbon dioxide helps stop the Sun’s infrared radiation escaping into space and thus
functions to maintain the Earth’s relatively warm temperature (the greenhouse effect). Since 1850,
there has been a mean rise of temperature, but this rise could just be part of a natural fluctuation. Such
fluctuations have been recorded for tens of thousands of years and operate in short-term as well as
long-term cycles. The difficulty of distinguishing human-made causes of carbon dioxide emissions from
natural sources is one reason why governmental legislation regarding their control has been slow
coming. However, the potential consequences of global warming are so great that many of the world’s
top scientists have urged immediate action, and have called for international cooperation on the
problem.

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4.3 Air Pollution

Air pollution, contamination of the atmosphere by gaseous, liquid or solid wastes or by-products that
can endanger human health and the health and welfare of plants and animals, or can attack materials,
reduce visibility, or produce undesirable odours. Among air pollutants emitted by natural sources, only
the radioactive gas, Radon, is recognized as a major health threat. A by-product of the radioactive
decay of uranium minerals in certain kinds of rock, radon seeps into the basements of homes built on
these rocks, posing a risk of lung cancer to residents.

Each year, industrially developed countries generate billions of tons of pollutants. The most prevalent
and widely dispersed air pollutants are described in the accompanying table. The level is usually given
in terms of atmospheric concentrations (micrograms of pollutants per cubic meter of air) or, for gases,
in terms of parts per million, that is, the number of pollutant molecules per million air molecules. Many
come from directly identifiable sources; sulphur dioxide, for example, comes from electric power
plants burning coal or oil. Others are formed through the action of sunlight on previously emitted
radioactive materials (precursors). For example, ozone, a dangerous pollutant in smog, is produced by
the interaction of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides under the influence of sunlight. Ozone has also
cause serious crop damage. On the other hand, the discovery in the 1980s that air pollution such as
fluorocarbons are causing a loss of ozone from the Earth’s protective ozone layer, has caused the
phasing out of these materials.

Meteorology and Health Effects

Pollutant concentration is reduced by atmospheric mixing, which depends on such weather conditions
as temperature, wind speed, and the movement of high and low pressure systems and their interaction
with the local topography, such as mountains and valleys. Normally, temperature decreases with
altitude, but when a colder layer of air settles under a warm layer, producing a temperature thermal
inversion, atmospheric mixing is retarded and pollutants may accumulate near the ground. Inversions
can become sustained under a stationary high-pressure system coupled with low wind speeds.

Pollutant table

Periods of over only three days of poor atmospheric mixing can lead to high concentrations of
hazardous materials in high pollution areas and, under severe conditions, can result in injury and even
death. An inversion over Donora, London took 3500 to 4000 lives in 1952 and another 700 in 1962.
Release of methyl isocyanate into the air during a temperature inversion caused the disaster at Bhopal,
India in December 1984, with at least 3300 deaths and more than 20 000 illnesses. The efforts to long-
term exposure to low concentrations are not well defined; however, those most at risk are the very
young, elderly, smokers, workers whose jobs expose them to toxic materials, and people with heart or
lung disease. Other adverse effects of air pollution are potential injury to livestock and crops.

Often, the first noticeable effects of pollution are aesthetic and may not necessarily be dangerous.
These include visibility reduction due to tiny particles suspended in air, or bad odours, such as the
rotten egg smell produced by hydrogen sulphide emanating from pulp and paper mills.

Sources and Control

The combustion of coal, oil and petrol accounts for much of the airborne pollutants. More than 80% of
the sulphur dioxide, 50% of the nitrogen oxides, and 30 to 40% of the particulate matter emitted to the
atmosphere in the United States are produced by fossil-fuel-fired electric power plants, industrial
boilers, and residential furnaces. 80% of the carbon monoxide and 40% of the nitrogen oxides and
hydrocarbons come from burning petrol and diesel in cars and lorries. Other major pollution sources
include iron and steel mills; zinc, lead, and copper smelters; municipal incinerators; oil refineries;
cement plants; and nitric and sulphuric acid plants.

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Potential pollutants may exist in the materials entering a chemical or combustion process (such as lead
in petrol), or they may be produced as a result of the process itself. Carbon monoxide, for example, is a
typical product of internal combustion engines. Methods for controlling air pollution including
removing the hazardous material before it is used, removing the pollutant after it is formed, or altering
the process so that the pollutant is not formed or occurs only at low levels. Car exhaust pollutants can
be controlled by burning the fuel as completely as possible, by recirculating fumes from a fuel tank,
carburetor, and crankcase, and by changing the engine exhaust to incinerate harmless substances in
catalytic converters. Industrially emitted particulates may be trapped in cyclones, electrostatic
precipitators, and filters. Pollutant gases can be collected in liquids or on solids, or incinerated into
harmless substances.

4.4 Acid Rain

Sulphur dioxide, a chemical compound of sulphur and oxygen. Sulphur dioxide is a colourless gas with
a sharp irritating odour. It is made commercially by roasting sulphur or sulphides in air. It is frequently
produced as a by-product of smelting sulphur ores such as zinc sulphide. In these reactions the sulphur
dioxide is formed by the combination of sulphur with the oxygen in the air. Its chemical formula is SO2,
indication that each in each molecule, one atom of sulphur is combined with two atoms of oxygen.

Sulphur dioxide is used in the production of other chemicals; for example, it is an important
intermediate in the manufacturing of sulphuric acid and of sodium sulphate, which is used in the
manufacture of paper. It is an important bleaching agent and is used to bleach oils, foods, and textiles.
Sulphur dioxide has other important uses as a food preservative, a fumigant, and a refrigerant. Sulphur
dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by industrial processes is ultimately converted into dilute
sulphuric acid, returning to Earth as acid rain. For this reason, sulphur dioxide is a major cause of air
pollution.

The tall smokestacks used by industries and utilities do not remove pollutants by simply boosting them
higher into the atmosphere, thereby reducing their concentration at the site. These pollutants may then
be transported over large distances and produce adverse effects in areas far from the site of original
emission. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from Britain are causing acid rain in Norway
and Sweden. The pH level, or relative acitdity, of many freshwater lakes has been altered so
dramatically by acid rain that entire fish populations have been destroyed. Sulphur dioxide emissions
and the subsequent formation of sulphuric acid can also be responsible for the attack on limestone and
marble at large distances from the source.

Acid rain, a form of air pollution, is currently a subject of great controversy because of the widespread
environmental damage for which it has been blamed, it forms when oxides of sulphur and nitrogen
combine with atmospheric moisture to yield sulphuric and nitric acids, which may then be carried long
distances from their source before they are deposited by rain. The pollution may also take the form of
snow or fog or be precipitated in dry forms. In fact, although the term “acid rain” has been in use for
more than a century, it is derived from atmospheric studies that were made in the region of
Manchester, England, to the more accurate scientific term would be “acid deposition”. The dry form of
such precipitation is just as damaging to the environment in liquid form.

The problem of acid rain originated with the industrial revolution, and it has been growing ever since.
The severity of its effect has long been recognized in local settings, as exemplified by the periods of acid
smog in heavily industrialized areas. The widespread destructiveness of acid rain, however, has
become evident only in recent decades. One large area that has been studied extensively is northern
Europe, where acid rain has eroded structures, injured crops and forests, and threatened or depleted
life in freshwater lakes. In 1984 for example, environmental reports indicated that almost half of the
trees in Germany’s Black Forest had been damaged by acid rain. The north eastern United States and
eastern Canada have also been particularly affected by this form of pollution; damage has also been
detected in other areas of these countries and other regions of the world.

35
Industrial emissions have been blamed for the major cause of acid rain. Because the chemical reactions
involved in the production of acid rain in the atmosphere are complex and, as yet, little understood,
industries have tended to challenge such assessments and to stress the need for further studies; and
because of the cost of pollution reduction, governments have tended to support this attitude. Studies
released by the US government in the early 1980s however, strongly implicated industries as the main
source of acid rain, in the eastern United States and Canada. In 1988, as part of the United Nations
Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Agreement (1979), 25 nations ratifies a
protocol freezing the rate of nitrogen oxide emissions at 1987 levels. The 1990 ammendments to the
US Clean Air Act of 1967 put in place regulations to reduce the release of sulphur dioxide from power
plants to 10 million tons per year by January 1, 2000. This amount is about of half of the emissions of
1990.

4.5 The Ozone Layer

The Ozone Layer, in nature, is a region of the atmosphere from 19 to 48km above the Earth’s surface.
Ozone concentrations of as much as 10ppm occur in the ozone layer. The ozone forms there by the
action of sunlight om oxygen. This action has been taking place for many millions of years, but
naturally occurring nitrogen compounds in the atmosphere apparently have kept the ozone
concentration at a fairly stable level. Concentrations this great at ground level are dangerous to human
health; but because the ozone layer protects life on Earth from the full force if the Sun’s cancer-causing
ultraviolet radiation, it is critically important. Therefore, in the 1970s, scientists were concerned when
they discovered that certain chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs- compounds of fluorine), long
used as refrigerants and in aerosol spray cans, posed a possible threat to the ozone layer. Released into
the atmosphere, the chlorine-containing chemicals rise and are broken down by sunlight, whereupon
the chlorine reacts with, and destroys, ozone molecules. For this reason, the use of CFCs in aerosols has
been banned in many countries. Other chemicals, such as bromine halocarbons, and nitrous oxides
from fertilizers, may also attack the ozone layer.

Figure 4.3: Reduction in one of the CFC gases (Freon-11) in the atmosphere since the banning of
its production and use in the atmosphere at the end of the 1970s. It took another 10 years
before the remaining gas in the atmosphere was reduced.

For several years, beginning in the late 1970s, research scientists working in Antarctica detected a
periodic loss of ozone in the atmosphere high above the continent. The so-called ozone “hole” develops
in the Antarctic spring and continues for several months before closing up again. Other studies,
conducted using high-altitude balloons and weather satellites, indicated that the overall percentage of
ozone in the Antarctic ozone layer is declining. Flights over the Arctic regions found a similar problem
developing there.

4.6 Radioactive Fallout

Radioactive fallout is the deposition on the surface of the Earth of radioactive particles released into
the atmosphere either by nuclear weapons or by discharge from nuclear energy installations. Public
interest has centered particularly on the effects of fallout from the period of large scale atmospheric
nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s and early 1960s. Various allegations of resulting ill effects were
made for many years, but only in 1984 was a landmark legal decision reached when, in the United
States, a federal judge in Utah ruled that 10 people had suffered from cancer because of government
negligence concerning public exposure to fallout in that state. Another decision was reached in 1985 by
the Pensions Appeal Tribunals of England and Wales with respect to a veteran of British atomic tests
on Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the 1950s. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in1991,
information has emerged on the effects of fallout on large inhabited areas of the country during
atmospheric tests.
Since the signing of the limited test ban treaty in 1963- one of the fruits of the international arms
control- fallout levels have waned worldwide. Some fallout was produced by the USSR’s Chernobyl
nuclear accident.

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Mechanism of Fallout
Radioactive fallout material is produced through nuclear fission and the activation of soil. Air, water,
and other materials in the vicinity of the detonation.
Individual radioactive particles are invisible and so light that they might drift around the world
endlessly without settling to earth. This condition could be achieved only if a nuclear bomb were
detonated at a considerable distance beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. When a nuclear weapon is
exploded close to the Earth’s surface, the violence of the detonation pulverizes vast quantities of
surface material, much of which is drawn into the fireball and subsequently sucked into the hot mass
that rises to form the characteristic mushroom cloud. Inside the fireball and stem of the bomb cloud,
the radioactive particles become attached to heavier particles. These heavier particles then act as
ballast.

The more massive bits of matter fall back to Earth within a matter of minutes, forming an extremely
localized fallout, which might be called fallback. Less massive but easily visible particles, borne
downwind by the bomb cloud, fall within several hours, and are designated local fallout. The nature
and extent of local fallout depend on the type and size of the explosion, the altitude of the detonation,
and the strength and direct of the winds.

Microscopic particles stay aloft for longer periods of time. If the bomb explosion is of small or medium
power, the bomb cloud may not penetrate the tropopause (the atmospheric layer between the
troposphere and the stratosphere). In this case, known as tropospheric fallout, the bomb fragments are
swept around the world in a zone at the latitude of the explosion and are brought to earth when rain
and other forms of precipitation cleanse the foreign material from the atmosphere.

If the force of the detonation is sufficient to inject the bomb debris above the tropopause, many of the
small particles remain in the stratosphere to be acted upon by stratospheric winds. This is known as
stratospheric, or global, fallout. Because no precipitation occurs in the stratosphere, these particles
may remain there for considerable periods of time. They are scattered horizontally, so that some of the
particles, after having made a number of revolutions about the earth, are found throughout the
stratosphere. Vertical mixing, especially in the Polar Regions during winter and early spring, brings the
material into the troposphere, where it behaves as tropospheric fallout.

Persistence of Bomb Fallout

The fission fragments produced by the splitting of uranium atoms or pollution atoms and neutron-
activated materials make up approximately 300 different radioactive isotopes. Each radionuclide is
characterized by its own half-life, that is, by the time required for half of the radioactive substance to
undergo spontaneous decay. Within the first hour after the explosion, most of the extremely short lived
substances – those with half-lives measured in seconds and minutes – decay, and the total radioactivity
from the bomb decreases more than a hundredfold.
After the first hour, the remaining radioactivity dissipates at a constantly slower pace. The longer-lived
fission products account for the bulk of the residual radioactivity. A few fission products are extremely
long-lived; for example, strontium-90, also known as radiostrontium, has a half-life of 28 years. These
long-lived species constitute the long-term radiation hazard.

Biological Effects of Global Fallout

The long retention of bomb debris in the stratosphere allows time for some of the short-lived fission to
be dissipated in the atmosphere. In the case of tropospheric fallout, some radioactive decay occurs in
the atmosphere, thereby reducing somewhat the radiation dosage to the exposed in the earth’s surface.

Long-lived radionuclides such as strontium-90, do not decay much during the time spent in the
stratosphere and therefore they may exist for many years as a potential hazard, primarily through
contamination of the foods that are consumed by humans.

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Strontium-90
Radiostrontium is similar to calcium in its chemical behavior, including its deposition in human bone.
Most biological system prefer calcium to strontium; therefore, the amount of strontium-90 absorbed by
plant roots and by animals depends on the availability of calcium. When 90Sr is deposited directly on
plants during fallout, however, a greater amount is absorbed by the plants than if only root uptake
were involved, and thus more 90Sr is available to animals and humans. Also, although milk is used as an
indicator if 90Sr in foods, because it has a high calcium content, the human body absorbs less 90Sr from
milk than from foods with lower calcium content. Most other foods are derived from a number of
geographical areas having variable rates for fallout deposition and soil accumulation of 90Sr. This fact,
together with variations in growing seasons and soils, and modern food production and distribution
particles, causes dietary levels of 90Sr relative to calcium to be lower in some areas and higher in others
than would be expected on the basis of the amounts of fallout.

Once 90Sr enters the body, part of it is excreted and the remainder is deposited in newly formed bone
along with calcium. In young bone, the 90Sr and calcium are continually being replace as the bone
grows. In adult bone, little replacement occurs; little 90Sr is deposited and its removal is quite slow. The
amount of 90Sr remaining in bone therefore depends on the quantities of 90Sr and calcium in the diet
during periods of bone growth. The long retention time of 90Sr in bone is the basis for its potential
hazard. In animal experiments, and in human cases of radium, bone cancer is seen. Current levels of
90Sr in humans are far too low for such effects to be observed.

Other Radionuclides
Although radioactive iodine-131 is extremely short-lived (half-life of 8 days), it is one of the important
potential sources of internal radiation exposure because it is concentrated in the thyroid gland. Soon
after a nuclear accident or explosion, grass bearing iodine-131 is consumed by cows; the isotope
quickly appears in their milk. Because milk is commonly consumed within a few days of production,
significant amounts of iodine-131 can be ingested by people who are unaware of the danger. Other
foods are generally consumed after a longer interval, so radioactivity would have decreased. When
large amounts of radioiodine accumulate in the thyroid, an increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer
occurs; levels accumulated from fallout to date are too low, or exposure is too recent, for such an effect
to be observed.

Caesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years, also enters the food chain and thus the human body.
Like potassium, which it resembles chemically, it is found throughout and irradiates the entire body.
Radiocaesium remains in the body for only a few months, however, carbon-14, which has a half-life of
5760 years, is produced primarily by activation of nitrogen atoms in the air during nuclear
detonations. It is also produced naturally and continuously by actions of cosmic rays. It comes down to
earth as carbon dioxide and as such is taken up by plants, eventually being distributed in all biological
material. Radiocarbon, therefore, is another radionuclide that irradiates the entire body. Caesium-137,
carbon-14, and those nuclides deposited on the Earth that irradiate the body contribute to a whole
body radiation dose. Such a dose is a potential hazard genetically, and also affects the body itself.

Genetic Effects of Fallout

In evaluating the long-range results of fallout, it is essential to consider the genetic effects of radiation.
Radiation may cause mutations, that is, changes in the reproduction cells that transmit inherited
characteristics from one generation to the next. Practically all radiation-induced mutations are
harmful, and the deleterious effects persist in successive generations. This has been seen in birth
defects arising from the very first atomic explosions in Japan in 1945, and in the unprotected
populations affected by the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests of the following 20 years.

Potential Risk
Evaluation of the risk of potential radiation hazards from fallout involves much the same
considerations as do other risk to large populations. Such evaluations are complex and are necessarily
relative to possible benefits and other risks. In the case of fallout, the potential risk is global and
involves many uncertainties regarding radiation doses and effects; the changing international situation

38
must be continually assed. The fallout hazard in a nuclear war would be considerably more serious
than in nuclear testing. Immediate lethal, as well as long-term, effects would then have to be
considered. Studied of such situations have led to fallout-shelter programmes as part of civil-defense
plans. Means of decontaminating land, water, and food are also being developed to combat possible
effects of fallout during and following a nuclear attack.

Hazards from Nuclear Reactors

The growth of nuclear power as a source of electricity poses some problems in the control of radiation
hazards. Fission products from the controlled-fission process used in reactors are hazardous to the
environment if released in large quantities, as they were at Chernobyl in 1986. When an accident
occurs and the fission debris escapes, the area for miles around a nuclear plant is contaminated at a
high level with lower-level radiation being spread by weather patterns over millions of square
kilometers. To avert this, nuclear nuclear engineers design the power system so as to minimize the
chances of accidental release. In the former Soviet Union especially, where the situation is complicated
by the poor quality of original building materials and the low standard of maintenance due to economic
constraints, the safety of nuclear power plants had become a critical issue in the second half of the
1990s.

4.7 Action by Governments

Various countries have set standards in legislation in the form of concentration levels that are believed
to be low enough to protect public health. Source emission standards are also specified to limit the
discharge of pollutants into the air so that air quality standards will be achieved. However, the nature
of the problem requires the implementation of international environment treaties, and to this end 49
countries agreed in March 1985 on a United Nations convention to protect the ozone layer. This
“Montreal Protocol”, which was renegotiated in 1990, called for the phaseout of certain chlorocarbons
and fluorocarbons by the end of the century and provides aid to developing countries in making this
transition. In addition, several international protocols have been aimed specifically at reducing the
incidence of acid rain.

In Europe, the 1979 Convention is administered through the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe. The UNECE produced the first Sulphur Protocol (1895) which called for a reduction of sulphur
emissions to 70% of 1980 levels by 1993 (the United Kingdom did not sign this protocol, but
nevertheless achieved the reduction); the Nitrogen Oxides protocol (as detailed above); the Volatile
Organic Compounds Protocol (1994), calling for a reduction in emissions to 70% of 1988 levels by
1999; and the second Sulphur Protocol (1994), by which sulphur emissions are were to be reduced in
intermediate stages to a goal of 20% of 1980 levels by 2010 – all of which the United Kingdom did sign.
In addition, catalytic converters, which reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides, have been compulsory
on all new cars in the United Kingdom since 1993.

In 1985, a United Nations convention known as the “Montreal Protocol”, signed by 49 countries, stated
the intention of phasing out CFCs by the end of the 20th century. A total ban on the use of CFCs during
the 1990s was proposed by the European Community (now the European Union) in 1989, and endorse
by the United States President George Bush. In order to monitor ozone depletion on a global level, in
1991 NASA launched the 7-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satelite. Orbiting Earth at an altitude of
600km, the spacecraft measures ozone variations at different altitudes, and is providing the first
complete picture of upper atmosphere chemistry.

Chapter 5: Water in the Environment

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5.1 Hydrologic Cycle
5.1.1 The Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere is often called the “water sphere” as it includes all the Earth’s water that is found in
streams, lakes, the soil, groundwater, and in the air. The hydrosphere interacts with, and is influenced
by, all the other Earth spheres. The water of the hydrosphere is distributed among several different
stores found in these other spheres. Water is held in oceans, lakes and streams at the surface of the
Earth. Water is found in its vapour, liquid and solid state in the atmosphere. The biosphere serves as an
interface between the spheres which aids in the movement of water between the hydrosphere,
lithosphere and atmosphere. The hydrologic cycle traces the movement of water and energy between
these various stores and spheres.

Cycle image

The hydrologic cycle, or water cycle, is the cycling of water through the Earth’s system. Not only is the
hydrologic cycle a cycle of water, it is a cycle of energy as well. The endless circulation of water from
the atmosphere to the earth and its return to the atmosphere through condensation, precipitation,
evaporation and transpiration is called the hydrologic cycle, heating of the ocean water by the sun is
the key process that keeps the hydrologic cycle in motion. Water evaporates, the falls as precipitation
in the form of rain, hail, snow, sleet, drizzle or fog. On its way to Earth, some precipitation may
evaporate or, when it falls over land, be intercepted by vegetation before reaching the ground.

Second cycle image

5.1.2 Evaporation
As water is heated by the sun, its surface molecules become sufficiently energized to break free of the
attractive force binding them together, and then evaporate and rise as invisible vapour in the
atmosphere. Evaporation is the phase change of liquid into vapour (gas). Energy is required to
evaporate water from the oceans. This latent energy is “locked up” in the water molecule when water
undergoes the phase change from liquid to gas. 88% of all water entering the atmosphere originates
from the oceans between 60° north and 60° south latitude. Evaporation is an important means of
transferring energy between the surface and the air above.

5.1.3 Transpiration
Water vapour is also emitted from plant leaves by a process called transpiration. Every day a growing
plant transpires 5 to 10 times as much water as it can hold at once.

5.1.4 Condensation
As water vapour rises, it cools and eventually condenses, usually on tiny particles of dust in the air.
When it condenses, it becomes a liquid again or turns directly into a solid (ice, hail or snow). These
water particles then collect and form clouds. The water vapour may condense back into a liquid and in
so doing releases latent heat which is converted into sensible heat that warms the surrounding air. As
water droplets coalesce into larger droplets, they attain a size big enough to fall toward the Earth’s
surface. Liberated from the surface, water vapour enters the air where it can be transported to soe
other location. There, water vapour condenses into water releasing latent heat to the surrounding air.
The release of heat fuels the uplift of air to help promote adiabatic cooling and further condensation.

5.1.5 Precipitation
Precipitation in the form of rain, snow or hail comes from clouds. Clouds move around the world,
propelled by air current. For instance, when they rise over mountain ranges, they cool, becoming so
saturated with water that water begins to fall as rain, snow, or hail, depending on the temperature of
the surrounding air. Precipitation returns the water to the Earth’s surface. Most of the water
evaporated from the ocean returns directly back to the ocean. Some water is transported over land
before it is precipitated out. Located high in the troposphere they possess a high degree of potential

40
energy that is converted into kinetic energy once they begin to fall toward the surface. Impacting the
surface they can convert this kinetic energy into work done on the surface (erosion, for example).

5.1.6 Interception
As water reached the surface in various forms of precipitation, it is intercepted by plants or falls
directly to the surface. Precipitation that collects on the leaves or stems of plants is known as
interception. The amount of water intercepted by a plant largely depends in the plant form. Water is
held on the leaf surface until it either drips off as “through fall” or trickles down the leaf stem finally
reaching the ground as “stem flow”. Interception of falling rain buffers the surface against erosion.
Coniferous trees tend to intercept more water than deciduous trees on an annual basis because
deciduous trees drop their leaves for a period of time. Vegetation also affects infiltration. For instance,
infiltration is higher for soils under forest vegetation than bare soils. Tree roots loosen and provide
conduits through which water can enter the soil. Foliage and surface litter reduce the impact of falling
rain, keeping soil passages from becoming sealed.

5.1.7 Percolation
Some of the precipitation and snow melt moves downwards, percolated or infiltrates through cracks,
joints and pores in soil and rocks until it reaches the water table where it becomes groundwater. Upon
reaching the ground, some water infiltrates into the soil, possibly percolating down to the groundwater
zone or it may run across the surface as runoff. Percolation refers to water that penetrates into the
surface of soil. Percolation is controlled by soil texture, soil structure, vegetation and soil moisture
status. High infiltration rates occur in dry soils, with infiltration slowing as the soil becomes wet.
Coarse textured soils with large well-connected pore spaces tend to have higher infiltration rates than
fine textured soils. However, coarse textured soils fill more quickly than fine textured soils due to a
smaller amount of total pore space in a unit volume of soil. Runoff is then generated quicker than one
might have with a finer textured soil.

5.1.8 Runoff
Excessive rain or snowmelt can produce overland flow to creeks and ditches. Runoff is visible flow of
water in rivers, creeks and lakes as the water stores in the basin drains out. Water runs across the
surface as either confined or unconfined flow. Unconfined flow moves across the surface in broad
sheets of water often creating sheet erosion. Confined flow refers to water confined to channels.
Stream flow is a form of confined flow. Water that runs along the surface may become trapped in
depressions and held as depression storage. Here water may either evaporate back into the air,
infiltrate into the ground, or spill out of the depression as it fills.

5.2 Water Resources

The largest store of water is the oceans containing over 95% of the Earth’s water. Most of this water is
salt water. Ice caps like that found covering Antarctica and glaciers that occupy high alpine locations
compose just shy of 2% of all water on Earth. Seemingly a small amount, the water stored as ice in
glaciers would have a great impact on the environment if it were to melt into a liquid. One fear is that
global warming will cause the melting and collapse of large ice sheets resulting in sea level rise. Rising
sea levels could devastate coastal cities, displace millions of people, and wreak havoc on freshwater
systems and habitats.
Water beneath the surface comprises the next largest store of water in the hydrosphere. Groundwater
and soil water together make up about 3% of all water. There is a difference between groundwater and
soil water. Soil water is the water held in pore spaces between soil particles. Soil pore spaces usually
fill with water after a rain storm but are usually partially void of water. Groundwater, on the other
hand, is found where earth’s material are saturated throughout the year. That is, the pore spaces are
always occupied with water. Both soil and groundwater are very important sources of water. Soil
water is available for plants to extract and use. Ground water is an important source of water for
irrigation and drinking water supplies.
Above the surface, water is found stored in streams, rivers, and lakes. One might expect that, given the
large rivers that flow across the earth and the huge numbers of lakes we have, this store would be

41
rather large. Instead, streams, rivers, and lakes only comprise 0.02% of all water in the Earth’s system.
In the atmosphere, only about 0.0001% of the water in the hydrosphere is found.

Image of groundwater and world freshwater supply

5.3 Groundwater
It is sometimes thought that water flows through underground rivers or that it collects in underground
lakes. Groundwater is not confined to only a few channels or depressions in the same way that surface
water is concentrated in streams and lakes. Rather, it exists almost everywhere underground. It is
found underground in the spaces between particles of rock and soil, or in crevices and cracks in rock.
The water filling these openings is usually within 100meters of the surface. Much of the earth’s fresh
water is found in these spaces. At greater depths, because of the weight of overlying rock, these
openings are much smaller, and therefore hold considerably smaller quantities of water. Groundwater
flows slowly through water-bearing formations (aquifers) at different rates. In some places, where
groundwater has dissolved limestone to form caverns and large openings, its rate of flow can be
relatively fast but this is exceptional.
Many terms are used to describe the nature and extent of the groundwater resource. The level below
which all the spaces are filled with water is called the water table. Above the water table is the
unsaturated zone. Here the spaces in the rock and soil contain both air and water. Water in this zone is
called soil moisture. The entire region below the water table is called the saturated zone, and water in
this saturated zone is called groundwater.

Permeable material contains interconnected cracks or spaces that are both numerous enough and
large enough to allow water to move freely. In some permeable materials groundwater may move
several meters in a day; in other places, it moves only a few centimeters in a century. Ground water
movers very slowly through relatively impermeable materials such as clay and shale.

5.3.1 Aquifers
Although groundwater exists everywhere under the ground, some parts of the saturated zone contain
more water than others. An aquifer is an underground formation of permeable rock or loose material
which can produce useful quantities of water when trapped by a well. Aquifers come in all sizes. They
may be small, only a few hectares in area, or very large, underlying thousands of square kilometers of
the Earth’s surface. They may be only a few meters thick, or they may measure hundreds of meters
from top to bottom. Groundwater scientists generally distinguish between two types of aquifers in
terms of the physical attributes of the aquifer: porous media and fractured aquifers.

Porous media are those aquifers consisting of aggregates of individual particles such as sand or gravel.
The groundwater occurs in and moves through the openings between the individual grains. Porous
media where the grains are not connected to each other are considered unconsolidated. If the grains
are cemented together, such aquifers are call consolidated. Sandstones are examples of consolidated
porous media.

Types of porosity

Fractured aquifers are rocks in which the groundwater moves through cracks, joints or fractures in
otherwise solid rock. Examples of fractured aquifers include granite and basalt. Limestones are often
fractured aquifers, but here the cracks and fractures may be enlarged by solution, forming large
channels or even caverns. Limestone terrain where solution has been very active is termed “karst”.
Porous media such as sandstone may become so highly cemented or recrystallized that all of the
original space is filled. In this case, the rock is no longer a porous medium. However, if it contains
cracks, it can still act as a fragmented aquifer.
Most of the aquifers of importance to us are unconsolidated porous media such as sand and gravel.
Some very porous materials are not permeable. Clay, for instance, has many spaces between its grains,
but the spaces are not large enough to permit free movement of water.

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Groundwater usually flows downhill with the slope of the water table. Like surface water, groundwater
flows toward and eventually drains into streams, rivers, lakes, and the oceans. Groundwater flow in the
aquifers underlying surface drainage basins, however does not always mirror the flow of water on the
surface. Therefore, groundwater may move in different directions below the ground than the water
flowing on the surface.
Unconfined aquifers are those that are bounded by the water table. Some aquifers, however, lie
beneath layers of impermeable materials. These are called confined aquifers, or sometimes artesian
aquifers. A well in such an aquifer is called an artesian well. The water in these wells rises higher than
the top of the aquifer because of confining pressure. If the water level rises above the ground surface a
flowing artesian well occurs. The piezometric surface is the level to which the water in an artesian
aquifer will rise.

5.3.2 Groundwater link in the Hydrologic Cycle

Groundwater circulates as part of the hydrologic cycle. As precipitation and other surface water
sources recharge the groundwater, it drains steadily and sometimes very slowly, towards its discharge
point. When precipitation falls on the land surface, part of the water runs off into the lakes and rivers.
Some of the water from melting snow and from rainfall seeps into the soil and percolates into the
saturated zone. This process is called recharge. Places where recharge occurs are referred to as
recharge areas. Eventually, this water appears above the ground. This is called discharge. Groundwater
may flow into streams, rivers, marshes, lakes and oceans, or it may discharge in the form of springs and
flowing wells.

Groundwater discharge can contribute significantly to surface water flow. In dry periods, the flow of
some streams may be supplied entirely by groundwater. At all times of the year, in fact, the nature of
underground formations has a profound effect on the volume of surface runoff. While the rate of
discharge determines the volume of water moving from the saturated zone into streams, the rate of
recharge determines the volume of water running over the surface. When it rain, for instance, the
volume of water running into streams and rivers depends on how much rainfall the underground
materials can absorb. When there is more water on the surface than can be absorbed into the
groundwater zone, it runs off into streams and lakes.

5.3.3 Residence Time

The residence time of groundwater (the length of time water spends in the groundwater portion of the
hydrologic cycle) varies enormously. Water may spend as little as days or weeks underground, or as
much as 10 000 or more years. Residence times of tens, hundreds, or even thousands of years are not
unusual. By comparison, the average turnover time of river water, or the time it takes water in rivers to
completely replace itself, is about two weeks. Groundwater does not stay underground forever, and it
does not lie still waiting for us to draw it from a well. The hydrologic cycle is the series of
transformations that occur in the circulation of water from the atmosphere onto the surface and into
the subsurface regions of the earth, and then back from the surface to the atmosphere. Precipitation
becomes surface water, soil moisture, and groundwater. Groundwater circulates back to the surface,
and from the surface all water returns to the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration.

Parameter Equivalent Depth (m) Residence Time

Oceans and Seas 2500 ~4 000 years
Lakes and Reservoirs 0.25 ~10 years
Swamps 0.007 ~ 1 – 10 years
River Channels 0.003 ~ 2 weeks
Soil Moisture 0.13 2 weeks – 1 year
Groundwater 120 2 weeks – 10 000 years
Ice caps and Glaciers 60 10 – 1000 years
Atmospheric water 0.025 ~10 days
Biospheric water 0.001 ~ 1 week

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5.3.4 Amount of Groundwater
According to some estimates, the quantity of groundwater in the Earth would cover the entire surface
of the globe to a depth of 120 meters. By contrast, the volume of surface water in lakes, rivers,
reservoirs and swamps could be contained in a depths of about one quarter of a meter. It is extremely
difficult to estimate the volume of groundwater on the entire planet. For example, a recent review of
the literature revealed estimated figures ranging from 7 000 000 to 330 000 000 cubic kilometers.
However, all the estimates imply that if we do not include the water frozen in ice caps, glaciers and
permanent snow, groundwater makes up almost the entire volume of the Earth’s usable fresh water.
Yet, the supply is often not easily accessible, and it may be difficult and expensive to develop these
water supplies in some regions. The quality of the groundwater source is also a significant determining
factor when identifying its use.

5.3.5 Groundwater and Engineering

Groundwater can also have dramatic implications for engineering and geotechnical studies. The study
of groundwater is essential for engineer who construct dams, tunnels, water conveyance channels,
mines, and other structures. Groundwater must be considered whenever the stability of slopes is
important, whether the slope is natural or constructed. Groundwater must also be taken into account
when devising measure to control flooding. In all of these situations, groundwater flow and fluid
pressure can create serious geotechnical problems.
Groundwater, for example, may create structural weaknesses in dams, or it may flow underground
right around the structure as it did at the Jerome Dam in Idaho. Water flowed so efficiently through the
rock formations surrounding the reservoir that the dam would hold no water, even though it was
structurally sound.
In another case, when geological exploration was being carried out in preparation for the construction
of the Revelstoke Dam in British Columbia, geologists and engineers were concerned about an old
landslide on the bank of the proposed reservoir. They suspected that the water held in the reservoir
could increase groundwater pressures enough to make the slide unstable. The solution was to increase
drainage around the slide to ensure that groundwater pressures did not increase. In 1963, these same
conditions at the Vaiont reservoir in Italy cause a slide which killed 2 500 people.
Other problems result from the excessive use of groundwater. Overdrafting occurs when people draw
water out of an aquifer faster than nature can replenish it. The most obvious problem created is a
shortage of water. Overdrafting however, can also create significant geotechnical problems. Although
not an issue in Canada, at many locations around the world, overdrafting has cause land subsidence.
This can produce severe engineering difficulties. Parts of Mexico City, for instance, have subsided as
much as 10 meters in the past 70 years, resulting in a host of problems in its water supply and
sewerage system. Land subsidence may also occur when the water table is lowered by drainage. In the
early 1970s, for example, an entire residential subdivision in Ottawa subsided when a collector sewer
was constructed nearby. The subsidence seriously damages the residents’ property.

5.4 Pollution: Surface Water

Water is the lifeblood of the environment, essential to the survival of all living things. We tend to think
of water in terms of a particular purpose: is the quality of the water good enough for the use we want
to make of it? Water fit for our own use may be benefit for another. We may trust the quality of lake
water enough to swim in, but not enough to drink it. Along the same lines, drinking water can be used
for irrigation, but water used for irrigation may not meet drinking water standards. It is the quality of
the water which determines its uses.
Scientists, on the other hand, are interested in other aspects of water quality. To them, quality is
determined by the kinds and amounts of substances dissolves and suspended in the water and what
those substances do to inhabitants of the ecosystem. It is the concentrations of these substances that
determine the water quality and its sustainability for particular purposes.
Drinking water, for example, is regulated by guidelines stringent enough to protect human health. Lack
of such guidelines can lead to a variety of health problems. It has been estimated, for example, that
contaminated water and poor sanitation cause 30 000 deaths around the world daily – the equivalent
of 100 jumbo jets crashing every day!

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It is easy to dispose of waste by dumping it into a river or lake. In large or small amounts, dumped
intentionally or accidentally, it may be carried away by the current, but will never disappear. It will
reappear downstream, sometimes in changed form or just diluted. Freshwater bodies have a great
ability to break down some waste materials, but not in the quantities discarded by today’s society. This
overload that results, called pollution, eventually puts the ecosystem out of balance.
Sometimes nature itself can produce these imbalances. In some cases, the natural composition of the
water makes it unfit for certain uses: water flowing in the highly saline terrain of the prairies or
gushing from highly mineralized springs in some parts of the country cannot sustain fish populations.
But most often our waterways are being polluted by municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes,
including many toxic synthetic chemicals which cannot be broken down at all by natural processes.
Even in tiny amounts, some of these substances can cause serious harm.

5.4.1 Chemical Pollution

We are a “chemical” society, using hundreds of chemicals in our normal daily activities: washing, house
cleaning, driving. Of the almost 10 million chemicals known today, approximately 100 000 chemicals
are used commercially. Over 10 000 new chemicals are created each week.
Most toxic chemicals are discharged directly into our waterways as waste, but many also enter the
water after everyday use in the home, agriculture, and industry. They constantly change the chemical
composition of our waters. One way is seepage: the chemicals soak through the Earth into the
groundwater from waste disposal sites and agricultural lands, for example. Another way is runoff: the
chemicals are washed into bodies of water from the land where they were used or spilled, or from the
air into which they were emitted.
The chemicals can cause problems with the taste, odour and colour in water. Fish and wildlife can
experience reduced fertility, generic deformities, immune system damage, increased incidence of
tumours, and death. Many of the chemicals that enter the water are, even in minute amounts, toxic to
human, plant, and animal life. Pesticides, PCBs, and PCPs are typical examples. Pesticides are used in
agriculture, forestry and homes. PCBs, although no longer used in new installations, are still found as
insulators in older electrical transformers, and PCPs can be found in wood preservatives. The very
qualities which make them desirable for use – toxicity and persistence, for instance – make them so
harmful to the environment.

5.4.2 Accelerated Aquatic Plant Growth

The growth and reproduction of aquatic plants is stimulated by eutrophication, a natural process
which, over a geological time, turns a lake into a bog and eventually into land. By today, in many places,
this process is tremendously accelerated by high concentrations of phosphorous and nitrogen (from
fertilizers for example) which enrich the water with nutrients, causing the aquatic plants to bloom. As
the plant growth explodes, it chokes off the oxygen supply normally shared with other organisms living
in the water. When the plants die, their decomposition uses up even more oxygen. As a result, fish
suffocate and die, and bacterial activity decreases. Yet, if phosphorous and nitrogen inputs are reduced
or stopped, the system can recover by itself. The phosphorous (phosphate) in laundry detergents
washed into lakes are sometimes the main culprit.

5.5 Water Quality Pollutants

5.5.1 Non-Persistent (degradable)
Domestic sewage
Fertilizers
Some industrial wastes
These compounds can be broken down by chemical reactions or by natural bacteria into simple, non-
polluting substances such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen. The process can lead to low oxygen levels
and eutrophication if the pollution load is high. But this damage is reversible.

5.5.2 Persistent (degrade slowly)

Some pesticides (e.g DDT, dieldrin)
Some leachate components from landfill sites (municipal, industrial)

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Petroleum and petroleum products
PCBs, dioxins, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Radioactive materials such as 90Sr, 137Cs, 226Ra, and uranium
Metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium
This is the most rapidly growing type of pollution and includes substances that degrade very slowly or
cannot be broken down at all; they may remain in the aquatic environment for years or longer periods
of time. The damage they cause is either irreversible or reparable only over decades or centuries.

5.5.3 Other
Warm water from cooling towers (thermal pollution)
Floating debris
Garbage
Foam
These are examples, not of chemical pollution but, of physical pollution which interferes mainly with
the usability and/or aesthetic appeal of the water. In certain cases, thermal pollution can kill fish.

5.6 Pollution: Groundwater

Any addition of undesirable substances to groundwater caused by human activities is considered to be
contamination. It has often been assumed that contaminants left on or under the ground will stay
there. This has been shown to be wishful thinking. Groundwater often spreads the effects of dumps and
spills far beyond the site of the original contamination.
Groundwater contamination is extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible, to clean up.
Groundwater contaminants come from two categories of sources: point sources and distributed, or
non-point sources

5.6.1 Point Sources

On-site septic systems

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