UNIT- 4

WATER LOSSES AND WATER CONTAMINATION

WATER LOSSES: INTRODUCTION
 Hydrological losses play a major role in planning and management of water resources in a
watershed.
 Evaporation losses from water bodies and soils cannot be recycled, whereas, water loss
through infiltration contributes to soil moisture regime and utilized by crops and other
vegetation.
 Deep percolation contributes to groundwater and therefore, is available for recycling. Water
losses through seepage have both positive as well as negative impacts.

WATER LOSSES
 The hydrological losses include interception, infiltration, evaporation from water and soil
surface and transpiration from plant surface.
 These losses occur in successive and overlapping stages, starting with the beginning of
precipitation and continuing until all the precipitation has left.
 In the rainfall reaching the surface of a catchment the major abstraction is through
infiltration process.
 However, two other processes, though small in magnitude, reduce the water volume
available for runoff and thus act as abstractions.
 These are the interception process and the depression storage, and together they are called
initial loss.
 Water losses may be defined as the total rainfall minus water stored and runoff.

WL= P- Df = Ws + Rf

Where,
WL = Water losses,
Ws = Water stored in root zone, s
P = Rainfall,
Rf = Runoff, and
Df = Deep percolation.

The units of these variables may be either in terms of depth (m) or volume (m3)

Water losses includes:-

1. INTERCEPTION

A part of precipitation is intercepted by the vegetation and subsequently evaporated before it

reaches the ground.
The precipitation may be intercepted in one of the following ways:
i. The intercepted water retained on the vegetation as surface storage and evaporated to the
atmosphere;
ii. Water falling from the plant leaf; and
iii. The rainwater splashing through leaves, branches, stem and reaching the ground surface
known as stem flow.

Interception losses are solely due to evaporation through fall or stem flow and do not include
transpiration.
2. INFILTRATION
 The process of water entering the soil surface is known as infiltration.
 The downward entry of water into the immediate surface of soil or other materials is
called infiltration process.
 Water through irrigation/rainfall infiltrates into the soil surface and is stored for use by
plants.

Infiltration Rate:
The rate at which water enters the soil is called the infiltration rate, usually measured in cm/hr. This
is called the initial infiltration rate.
As more water replaces the air in the pores, the water from the soil surface infiltrates more slowly
and eventually reaches a steady rate. This is called the basic infiltration rate.

Accumulated Infiltration
The accumulated infiltration measured in cm, is the total depth of water infiltrated in the soil in a
given time.

Infiltration capacity
The maximum rate at which water can infiltrate into a soil under a given set of conditions is called
infiltration capacity.

Factors Influencing Infiltration

The infiltration is influenced by following factors:
a) Type of soil surface:
 Rain drops on bare surface cause inwashing of finer particles and surface clogging decreasing
infiltration.
 Infiltration in vegetative surface is much higher than that in the barren land.
 Vegetation creates more porous soils by both protecting the soil from pounding rainfall,
which can close natural gaps between soil particles, and loosening soil through root action.
b) Initial soil moisture:
 Infiltration on the dry surface will be much higher than the moist surface. As the moisture
increases, infiltration decreases.
c) Temperature:
 Increase in soil temperature enhances infiltration rate.
d) Soil texture:
 Infiltration rate is directly proportional to the grain size, Sandy (light) soils having bigger
grain size as compared to the clay (heavy) has higher infiltration rate.
e) Soil Compaction:
 Compacted soils result in less infiltration rate than the loose soils.

3. PERCOLATION
 After the water has infiltrated the soil, it remains in the soil and then percolates down to the
groundwater table, or becomes part of the sub-surface runoff process.
 The downward movement of water within a porous medium such as soil towards the water
table is called Percolation.

Factors Influencing Percolation:-

a) Grain size distribution and porosity:
 The soil texture and porosity are the most important factors in percolation.
  Sandy soils with larger soil particles and higher porosity (more large size pore spaces) result
in more percolation than the clayey soil.
b) Hydraulic conductivity:
 It is the property of soil which denotes the ease with which the water can flow through the
porous medium (Soil).
 Sandy soils have higher hydraulic conductivity than the clay soils.
c) Water table depth:
 The depth of water table from the soil surface decides hydraulic gradient which when
combined with hydraulic conductivity results in water movement in the soil profile.
 Shallower the water table depth, more will be the hydraulic gradient resulting in more
percolation.
d) Hydraulic gradient:
 The hydraulic gradient is the ratio of hydraulic head and the length of path of flow.
 More the hydraulic gradient more is the deep percolation.

4. EVAPORATION
 Evaporation is the primary process of water transfer in the hydrological cycle.
 It is the physical process of vaporization by which liquid is transformed to a gaseous stage
from its free surface through the absorption of heat energy.
 The moisture reaches the atmosphere from the ocean and the land surface and finally
results in the rainfall.
Importance of Evaporation
 Evaporation is an important process of the hydrologic cycle.
 Approximately 75% of the total annual precipitation is returned to the atmosphere by
evaporation and transpiration.
 In hot climates, the loss of water from rivers, canals and open water storages through
evaporation is quite significant.
 Most of the water withdrawn for beneficial uses ultimately returns to streams and aquifers
and becomes available for reuse, while the loss of water due to evaporation is entirely lost
from the usable supply.
 Even in humid areas, evaporation loss is significant. High evaporation loss in relation to the
usable yield is characteristic of river systems in the country due to the climate, character of
stream flow, and the great seasonal variations and pattern of runoff.
 Storage reservoirs are a major source of water loss through evaporation as they are exposed
to wide surfaces.

Factors Influencing Evaporation

a) Atmospheric pressure:
 The evaporation decreases with increase in atmospheric pressure.
 Low pressure areas have less atmospheric mass above their location and vice versa.
 Similarly, as elevation increases, there is less overlying atmospheric mass, so that pressure
decreases with increasing elevation.
b) Vapour pressure:
 The rate of evaporation is proportional to the difference between the saturation vapour
pressure at the water temperature and the actual vapour pressure in the air.
 More the vapour pressure difference, more is the evaporation.
c) Temperature: Temperature of water surface increases the evaporation. Uther
 factors being same, the rate of evaporation increases with an increase in the water
temperature.
d) Wind velocity:
 Increase in wind velocity enhances evaporation.
  Wind aids in removing the evaporated water vapour from the zone of evaporation and
consequently creates greater scope for evaporation.
 The rate of evaporation increases with the wind speed up to a critical speed beyond which
any further increase in the wind speed has no influence on the evaporation rate.
e) Relative humidity:
 The increase in relative humidity of atmosphere decreases evaporation.
f) Water table depth:
 Shallow is the water table, more is the evaporation.
 In case of water table very close to the ground surface, evaporation is as high as from the
open water surface.
g) Soluble Salts:
 Evaporation rate from salty water is less than the pure water due to higher vapour pressure
of the pure water.
 For example, under identical conditions, evaporation from sea water is about 2-3% less than
that from fresh water.
h) Depth of water bodies:
 Deep water bodies have more heat storage than the shallow ones.
 A deep lake may store radiation energy received in summer and release it in winter causing
less evaporation in summer and more evaporation in winter compared to a shallow lake
exposed to a similar situation.
i) Soil surface:
 Evaporation from wet surface is much higher that of the dry surface.
 Rate of evaporation is directly proportional to water surface area, larger the area more is the
evaporation and vice versa.

5. TRANSPIRATION
 Transpiration is the process by which water vapour is released to the atmosphere through
the stomatal opening of plant leaves.
 It is basically a process of evaporation wherein, transpiration rate is modified by plant
structure and stomatal behaviour.
 The water moves from soil into the roots, from roots to stems and from leaves to the
atmosphere.

Factors Influencing Transpiration

a) Temperature:
 Transpiration rates increase with temperature due to warm air .
b) Relative humidity:
 Increase in relative humidity of the air surrounding the plant reduces the transpiration rate
due to moist air.
c) Wind and air movement:
 Increased movement of the air around a plant results in a higher transpiration rate.
 In the absence of wind, the air around the leaf may not move very much, raising the
humidity of the air around the leaf resulting in transpiration reduction.
d) Crop factors:
 Transpiration is influenced by crop geometry, leaf formation, and height of crop, crop
roughness, reflection and crop rooting characteristics.
 In a similar environment, crops with larger leaf surface area and spreading with higher
ground cover transpire more water than crops with smaller leaf surface area with poor
ground cover.
f) EVAPOTRANSPlRATION
 Evapotranspiration also known as consumptive use is the sum of evaporation from cropped
and fallow area, water surfaces, plant leaves and transpiration through the plant leaves into
atmosphere.

g) SEEPAGE LOSSES
 The passage of water or other fluid through a porous medium, such as the passage of water
through an earth embankment or masonry wall, groundwater emerging on the face of a
stream bank, the slow movement of water through small cracks pores of a material into or
out of a body of surface or sub-surface water is called seepage.
 The water in a stream either moves to the groundwater (influent stream) or the
groundwater moves to the stream (effluent stream) depending on the water level in the
stream with respect to the water table. Fig. 2.4
 The first case represents a recharge channel contributing to seepage and the second as a
discharge channel.

Factors Influencing Seepage

1) Soil porosity:
 More porous soil (sandy) result in increased infiltration and subsequently more seepage.
2) Freezing of soil surface:
 Freezing of soil surface forms an impermeable layer reducing infiltration capacity.
3) Presence of fine material:
 Fine particles at the top surface move with the flowing water to form a relatively
impervious surface resulting in reduced infiltration.
4) Initial moisture content:
 Infiltration is higher in dry soils as compared to relatively moist soils.
5) Microstructure of soil:
 Holes left by the decayed roots of vegetable matter, underground channels by burrowing
animals, insects, heavy dissolution of minerals result in increased infiltration.
6) Soil Compaction:
 Seepage from compacted section of channel induces less seepage than the loose (non-
compacted).

Sources of Agricultural Water Pollution

a) Sediment from soil erosion.—

 This is not limited to agriculture, since huge loads of sediment in streams come from
stream bed and bank; from raw roadside ditches, cuts, and fills; and from real estate
developments in suburbia.
b) Plant nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus.—
 These would come primarily from commercial fertilizer applied for efficient crop
production.
 Nitrate fertilizer has sometimes been blamed for the contamination of well and spring
water bodies. The use of nitrogen fertilizer is increasing rapidly.
 Phosphorus is not readily soluble, is adsorbed rapidly on the surface of fine soil particles,
and is transported off the farm along with the sediment.
 Phosphorus seepage from septic tanks or from barnyards may be serious.
c) Animal waste.—
 This would be washoff (material carried in surface runoff) directly into streams from
barnyards or feedlots, washoff from cropland after manure application, or seepage into
underground water reservoirs.
 This is almost entirely an agricultural source.
d) Agricultural chemicals—pesticides and herbicides.—
 These are carried in washoff from lands where the chemicals have been applied for control
of insects and weeds which threaten agricultural crops.
 Other sources are centered around the chemical manufacturing sites and cities having insect
control programs.
 Home owners' usage of pesticides could contribute to the pollution of water bodies via
storm sewers.
 Control of mosquitoes and the Dutch elm disease in cities are examples of large-scale
nonagricultural pesticide usage which may contribute to the environmental pollution
problem.
 Discharge of waste products from pesticide manufacturing and formulating plants fish kills,
usually result from accidental or careless usage.

POLLUTION/ CONTAMINATION OF WATER QUALITY DUE TO AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

 The global growth of crop production has been achieved mainly through the intensive use of
inputs such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
 The trend has been amplified by the expansion of agricultural land, with irrigation playing a
strategic role in improving productivity and rural livelihoods while also transferring
agricultural pollution to water bodies.

 Water pollution from agriculture has direct negative impacts on human health.
 for example, the well-known blue-baby syndrome in which high levels of nitrates in water
can cause methaemoglobinemia – a potentially fatal illness – in infants.
 Pesticide accumulation in water and the food chain, with demonstrated ill effects on
humans, led to the widespread banning of certain broad-spectrum and persistent pesticides
(such as DDT and many organophosphates), but some such pesticides are still used in poorer
countries, causing acute and likely chronic health effects.
 Aquatic ecosystems are also affected by agricultural pollution; for example, eutrophication
caused by the accumulation of nutrients in lakes and coastal waters has impacts on
biodiversity and fisheries. Water-quality degradation may also have severe direct impacts on
productive activities, including agriculture.
 The overuse and misuse of agrochemicals, water, animal feeds and drugs designed to
increase productivity have resulted in higher pollution loads in the environment, including
rivers, lakes, aquifers and coastal waters.
AGRICULTURAL POLLUTANTS: SOURCES AND EFFECTS
Major agricultural contributors to water pollution (and the main targets for water pollution control)
are nutrients, pesticides, salts, sediments, organic carbon, pathogens, metals and drug residues.
1. Nutrients
 In crop production, water pollution from nutrients occurs when fertilizers are applied at a
greater rate than they are fixed by soil particles or exported from the soil profile (e.g. by
plant uptake or when they are washed off the soil surface before plants can take them up).
 Excess nitrogen and phosphates can leach into groundwater or move via surface runoff into
waterways. Phosphate is not as soluble as nitrate and ammonia and tends to get adsorbed
onto soil particles and enter water bodies thorough soil erosion.
2. Pesticides
 When improperly selected and managed, they can pollute water resources with carcinogens
and other toxic substances that can affect humans.
 Pesticides may also affect biodiversity by killing weeds and insects, with negative impacts up
the food chain.
 In developed countries, although considerable use of older broad-spectrum pesticides
persists, the trend is towards the use of newer pesticides that are more selective and less
toxic to humans and the environment and which require lower quantities per unit area to be
effective.
3. Salts
 Irrigation can mobilize salts accumulated in soils (leaching fractions), which are then
transported by drainage water to receiving water bodies and cause salinization.
  Excessive irrigation can also raise water tables from saline aquifers and increase the seepage
of saline groundwater into watercourses.
 Highly saline waters alter the geochemical cycles of major elements – such as carbon, iron,
nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon and sulphur with overall impacts on ecosystems.
 When salinity increases, the biodiversity of microorganisms, algae, plants and animals
declines.
4. Sediments
 Unsustainable land use and improper tillage and soil management in agriculture are
increasing erosion and sediment runoff into rivers, lakes and reservoirs, with massive
quantities of soil lost and transported to water bodies every year.
 Sediment in river systems is a complex mixture of minerals and organic matter, potentially
including physical and chemical pollutants.
 Sediments can cover and destroy fish spawning beds, clog fish gills, and reduce useful
storage volume in reservoirs. Sedimentation can damage watercourses, choke streams and
make filtration necessary for municipal and irrigation water supplies.
5. Organic matter
 Organic matter from animal excreta, uneaten animal feed, animal-processing industries
and mismanaged crop residues are all significant water pollutants.
 Livestock-related wastes have among the highest biological oxygen demand (BOD)
 Locally, aquaculture can be a major contributor to organic loads in water.
 Organic matter consumes dissolved oxygen in water as it degrades, contributing strongly
to hypoxia in water bodies.
6. Pathogens
 Livestock excreta contain many zoonotic microorganisms and multicellular parasites that
can be harmful to human health.
 Pathogenic microorganisms can be waterborne o r food-borne (the latter especially if
the food has been irrigated with contaminated water).
 Some pathogens can survive for days or weeks in the faeces discharged onto land and
may later contaminate water resources via runoff.
7. Emerging pollutants
 New agricultural pollutants such as antibiotics, vaccines, growth promoters and hormones
have emerged in the last two decades.
 These can reach water via leaching and runoff from livestock and aquaculture farms, as well
as through the application of manure and slurries to agricultural land.
 Residues of heavy metals in agricultural inputs such as pesticides and animal feed are also
emerging threats
FERTILIZERS

 Fertilizers are chemical substances supplied to the crops to increase their productivity.
 These are used by the farmers daily to increase the crop yield.
 The fertilizers contain the essential nutrients required by the plants, including nitrogen,
potassium, and phosphorus.
 They enhance the water retention capacity of the soil and also increase its fertility.

TYPES OF FERTILIZERS

There are six different types of fertilizers that are mentioned below:

A. Inorganic Fertilizers
 Inorganic fertilizers are chemical fertilizers that contain nutrient elements for the growth of
crops made by chemical means. The inorganic fertilizers are of the following types:
A. Nitrogen Fertilizers
 Nitrogen fertilizers contain nitrogen necessary for the development of crops.
 Nitrogen is the main constituent of chlorophyll that maintains a balance in the process of
photosynthesis.
 It is also a part of amino acids in plants and constitutes protein.
 Nitrogen fertilizers improve the production and quality of agricultural products.
B. Phosphorus Fertilizer
 The main nutrient in a phosphorus fertilizer is phosphorus.
 The efficiency of fertilizer depends upon effective phosphorus content, methods of
fertilizing, properties of soil and crop strains.
 Phosphorus found in the protoplasm of the cell plays an important role in cell growth and
proliferation.
 The phosphorus fertilizer is beneficial for the growth of roots of the plants.
B. Organic Fertilizers
 Organic fertilizers are natural fertilizers obtained from plants and animals.
 It enriches the soil with carbonic compounds essential for plant growth.
 Organic fertilizers increase the organic matter content of the soil, promotes the
reproduction of microorganisms, and changes the physical and chemical properties of the
soil.
 It is considered to be one of the main nutrients for green food.
 Organic fertilizers can be obtained from the following products:-

i. Agricultural Waste
ii. Livestock Manure
iii. Industrial Waste
iv. Municipal Sludge

ADVANTAGES OF FERTILIZERS

i. They are easy to transport, store, and apply.

ii. For supplying a specific nutrient we can select a specific fertilizer due to its nutrient specific
nature.
iii. They are water-soluble and can easily dissolve in the soil. Hence, they are easily absorbed by
the plants.
iv. They have a rapid effect on the crops.
v. They increase the crop yield and provide enough food to feed the large population.
 vi. They are predictable and reliable.

DISADVANTAGES OF FERTILIZERS

i. They are expensive.

ii. The ingredients in the fertilizers are toxic to the skin and respiratory system.
iii. Excessive use of fertilizers damages the plants and reduces soil fertility.
iv. Leaching occurs and the fertilizers reach the rivers causing eutrophication.
v. Long term use reduces the microbial activity and disturbs the pH of the soil.

EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS ON WATER POLLUTION

 Nowadays, human beings aware of harmful effects on the environment of the use of
nitrogenous fertilizers.
 Nitrogen in agricultural areas reach the water environment by three ways: Drainage,
leaching and flow.
 Nitrate leaching particularly linked to agricultural practices such as fertilizing and cultivation.
Irrigated agricultural land in some of the arid and semiarid regions, increased amounts of
nitrate accumulation in the soil used and along with the evaporation of water.
 According to the conditions, nitrate accumulated leached in varying amounts. It reaches the
depth of soil. In the soil, fertilizers converted to nitrate through nitrification by
microorganisms.
 The majority of nitrogenous fertilizers aren't absorbed products and they interfere with both
underground and surface water.

PESTICIDES
Pesticides are chemical substances that are meant to kill pests.
In general, a pesticide is a chemical or a biological agent such as a virus, bacterium, antimicrobial, or
disinfectant that deters, incapacitates, kills, pests.

Examples of pesticides

Examples of pesticides are fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides. Examples of specific synthetic
chemical pesticides are glyphosate, Acephate, Deet, Propoxur, Metaldehyde, Boric Acid, Diazinon,
Dursban, DDT, Malathion, etc.

Types of Pesticides

These are grouped according to the types of pests which they kill:

A. Grouped by Types of Pests They Kill

1. Insecticides – insects
2. Herbicides – plants
3. Rodenticides – rodents (rats & mice)
4. Bactericides – bacteria
5. Fungicides – fungi
6. Larvicides – larvae

B. Based on how biodegradable they are:

Pesticides can also be considered as:

a) Biodegradable: The biodegradable kind is those which can be broken down by microbes and
other living beings into harmless compounds.
b) Persistent: While the persistent ones are those which may take months or years to break
down.

Another way to classify these is to consider those that are chemical forms or are derived from a
common source or production method.

C. Chemically-related pesticides:

a) Organophosphate:

Most organophosphates are insecticides, they affect the nervous system by disrupting the
enzyme that regulates a neurotransmitter.

b) Carbamate:

Similar to the organophosphorus pesticides, the carbamate pesticides also affect the
nervous system by disrupting an enzyme that regulates the neurotransmitter. However, the
enzyme effects are usually reversible.

c) Organochlorine insecticides:

They were commonly used earlier, but now many countries have been removed
Organochlorine insecticides from their market due to their health and environmental effects
and their persistence (e.g., DDT, chlordane, and toxaphene).

d) Pyrethroid:

These are a synthetic version of pyrethrin, a naturally occurring pesticide, found in

chrysanthemums(Flower). They were developed in such a way as to maximise their stability
in the environment.

e) Biopesticides:

The biopesticides are certain types of pesticides derived from such natural materials as
animals, plants, bacteria, and certain minerals.

Benefits of Pesticides

The major advantage of pesticides is that they can save farmers. By protecting crops from insects
and other pests. However, below are some other primary benefits of it.

 Controlling pests and plant disease vectors.

 Controlling human/livestock disease vectors and nuisance organisms.
 Controlling organisms that harm other human activities and structures.
Effect of Pesticides
Pesticides have several effects on our environment, health and even inside our house. These effects
can be enlisted as the following:
A. Environmental effects
 Chemical pesticides are responsible for polluting our environment while being used in the
field.
 Although their effects are short lived, they may begin causing hazardous environmental and
health problems if they persist in the environment.
 When chemical pesticides are sprayed on the crops, they may spread to regions beyond the
intended area.
B. Effect on crops and soil
 Pesticides degrade the quality of soil and further the quality of the food and yield.
 Chemical pesticides deplete the nutritional value of the food and contaminate it.
 When we eat any food such as apple, lettuce, potatoes or strawberries, these pesticides
enter our body and may lead to many health issues.
 While these chemical pesticides are developed to kill organisms found on the crop, these are
also harmful to other living things.
C. Health effects
 Exposure to various pesticides can cause short-term health problems (acute) as well as long-
term diseases (chronic).
 Acute effects include rashes, nausea, diarrhoea, dizziness, breathing problems, eye irritation,
etc.
 Chronic effects can cause birth defects, cancers, neurological harm, reproductive harm, etc.
 It can take months or even years before symptoms of chronic health problems manifest.

Ground Water Contamination

 Ground water contamination is nearly always the result of human activity. In areas where
population density is high and human use of the land is intensive, ground water is especially
vulnerable.
 Virtually any activity whereby chemicals or wastes may be released to the environment,
either intentionally or accidentally, has the potential to pollute ground water.
 When ground water becomes contaminated, it is difficult and expensive to clean up.

HOW DOES GROUNDWATER BECOME CONTAMINATED?

 Depending on its physical, chemical, and biological properties, a contaminant that has been
released into the environment may move within an aquifer in the same manner that ground
water moves.
 Contaminants can also move into the ground water system through macropores—root
systems, animal burrows, abandoned wells, and other systems of holes and cracks that
supply pathways for contaminants.
SOURCES OF GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION
 Ground water can become contaminated from natural sources or numerous types of human
activities. Residential, municipal, commercial, industrial, and agricultural activities can all
affect ground water quality.
 Contaminants may reach ground water from activities on the land surface, such as releases
or spills from stored industrial wastes; from sources below the land surface but above the
water table, such as septic systems or leak in underground petroleum storage systems; from
structures beneath the water table, such as wells; or from contaminated recharge water.

a) Natural Sources
  Some substances found naturally in rocks or soils, such as iron, manganese, arsenic,
chlorides, fluorides, sulfates, or radio nuclides, can become dissolved in ground water.
 Other naturally occurring substances, such as decaying organic matter, can move in ground
water as particles.
 Ground water that contains unacceptable concentrations of these substances is not used for
drinking water or other domestic water uses unless it is treated to remove these
contaminants.

b) Septic Systems
 Septic systems that are improperly sited, designed, constructed, or maintained can
contaminate ground water with bacteria, viruses, nitrates, detergents, oils, and chemicals.
c) Improper Disposal of Hazardous Waste
 Many chemicals should not be disposed of in household septic systems, including oils (e.g.,
cooking, motor), lawn and garden chemicals, paints and paint thinners, disinfectants,
medicines, photographic chemicals, and swimming pool chemicals.
 Similarly, many substances used in industrial processes should not be disposed of in drains
at the workplace because they could contaminate a drinking water source.
d) Releases and Spills from Stored Chemicals and Petroleum Products
 Underground and aboveground storage tanks are commonly used to store petroleum
products and other chemical substances.
 If an underground storage tank develops a leak, which commonly occurs as the tank ages
and corrodes, its contents can migrate through the soil and reach the ground water
e) Landfill
 Once in the landfill, chemicals can leach into the ground water by means of precipitation and
surface runoff.
 New landfills are required to have clay or synthetic liners and leachate (liquid from a landfill
containing contaminants) collection systems to protect ground water.
f) Surface Impoundments
 Surface impoundments are relatively shallow ponds or lagoons used by industries and
municipalities to store, treat, and dispose of liquid wastes.
 Like landfills, new surface impoundment facilities are required to have liners, but even these
liners sometimes leak.
g) Sewers and Other Pipelines
 Sewer pipes carrying wastes sometimes leak fluids into the surrounding soil and ground
water.
 Sewage consists of organic matter, inorganic salts, heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, and
nitrogen.
h) Pesticide and Fertilizer Use
 Some pesticides remain in soil and water for many months to many years.
 Another potential source of ground water contamination is animal wastes that percolate
into the ground from farm feedlots.
 Feedlots should be properly sited and wastes should be removed at regular intervals.
i) Drainage Wells
 Drainage wells are used in wet areas to help drain water and transport it to deeper soils.
These wells may contain agricultural chemicals and bacteria.
j) Injection Wells/Floor Drains
 Injection wells are used to collect storm water runoff, collect spilled liquids, dispose of
wastewater, and dispose of industrial, commercial, and utility wastes.
 These wells may not be used to inject hazardous wastes from industrial, commercial, and
utility operations.
k) Improperly Constructed Wells
 Problems associated with improperly constructed wells can result in ground water
contamination when contaminated surface or ground water is introduced into the well.

l) Improperly Abandoned Wells

 These wells can act as a conduit through which contaminants can reach an aquifer if the well
casing has been removed, as is often done, or if the casing is corroded.
 These wells may reach into an aquifer that serves drinking supply wells. Abandoned
exploratory wells (e.g., for gas, oil, or coal) or test hole wells are usually uncovered and are
also a potential conduit for contaminants.
m) Active Drinking Water Supply Wells
 Poorly constructed wells can result in ground water contamination.
 Construction problems, such as faulty casings, inadequate covers, or lack of concrete pads,
allow outside water and any accompanying contaminants to flow into the well.
 Sources of such contaminants can be surface runoff or wastes from farm animals or septic
systems. Contaminated fill packed around a well can also degrade well water quality.
n) Poorly Constructed Irrigation Wells
 These wells can allow contaminants to enter ground water. Often pesticides and fertilizers
are applied in the immediate vicinity of wells on agricultural land.
o) Mining Activities
 Active and abandoned mines can contribute to ground water contamination.
 Precipitation can leach soluble minerals from the mine wastes (known as spoils or tailings)
into the ground water below.
 These wastes often contain metals, acid, minerals, and sulfides.

EFFECTS OF GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION

 Contamination of ground water can result in poor drinking water quality, loss of water
supply, degraded surface water systems, high cleanup costs, high costs for alternative water
supplies, and/or potential health problems.
 The consequences of contaminated ground water or degraded surface water are often
serious.
 For example, estuaries that have been impacted by high nitrogen from ground water sources
have lost critical shellfish habitats.

Contaminated ground water can be treated in one of several ways:

 Containing the contaminant to prevent migration.
 Pumping the water, treating it, and returning it to the aquifer.
 Leaving the ground water in place and treating either the water or the contaminant.
 Allowing the contaminant to attenuate (reduce) naturally (with monitoring), following the
implementation of an appropriate source control.
 Prevention is the key...
 Monitor aquifers & landfills
 Requirements for old fuel tanks
o Leak detection system
o Liability insurance
 Stricter regulations on toxic waste disposal
o Above-ground storage of toxic waste...but then you have toxic
mud spills!
SELF PURIFICATION OF NATURAL WATER SYSTEMS |WATER MANAGEMENT
What is Self Purification of Stream ?
 When sewage is discharged into the river , the receiving water gets polluted due to waste
products present in sewage effluent.
 But the conditions do not remain same forever, because the natural forces of purification go
on acting up on the pollution elements and bring back the water into its original condition.
 This automatic purification in due course of time is called the ‘Self Purification’ phenomena.

PROCESSES IN SELF PURIFICATION OF NATURAL WATER SYSTEMS

Some of the major physical processes in self purification of natural water systems are as follows:
(i) Dilution
(ii) Sedimentation and Re-suspension
(iii) Filtration
(iv) Gas Transfer.
a) Dilution:
 Dilution was considered as the most economical means of waste water disposal.
 In this method relatively small quantities of waste are discharged into large bodies of water.
 Although dilution is a powerful adjunct to self-cleaning mechanism of surface waters, its
success depends upon discharging relatively small quantities of waste into large bodies of
water.
b) Sedimentation and Re-suspension:
 Sources of suspended solids, one of the most common water pollutants, include domestic
and industrial wastewater and runoff from agricultural or urban activities.
 These solids may be inorganic or organic materials and/or live organisms, and they may vary
in size from large organic particles to tiny, almost invisible, colloids.
 In suspension, solids increase turbidity and the reduced light penetration may restrict the
photosynthetic activity of plants, inhibit the vision of aquatic animals, interfere with feeding
of aquatic animals that obtain food by filtration, and be abrasive to respiratory structures
such as gills offish.
 Re-suspension of solids is common in times of flooding or heavy runoff. In such cases,
increased turbulence may resuspend solids formerly deposited along normally quiescent
areas of a stream and carry them for considerable distances downstream.
 Eventually they will again settle out, but not before their presence has increased the
turbidity of the waters into which they have been introduced.
c) Filtration:
 As large bits of debris wash along a stream bed, they often lodge on reeds or stones where
they remain caught until high waters wash them into the mainstream again. Small bits of
organic matter or inorganic clays and other sediments may be filtered out by pebbles or
rocks along the stream bed.
 As water percolates from the surface downward into ground water aquifers, filtration of a
much more sophisticated type occurs, and if the soil layers are deep and fine enough,
removal of suspended material is essentially complete by the time water enters the aquifer.
d) Gas Transfer:
 The transfer of gases into and out of water is an important part of the natural purification
process.
  The replenishment of oxygen lost to bacterial degradation of organic waste is accomplished
by the transfer of oxygen from the air into the water.
 Conversely, gases evolved in the water by chemical and biological processes may be
transferred from the water to the atmosphere.
e) Oxidation :
 The oxidation of the organic matter present in the sewage effluent, will start as soon as the
sewage outfalls into the river water containing dissolved oxygen.
 The deficiency of oxygen so created , will be filled up by the atmospheric oxygen.
 This is the most important action responsible for affecting self purification of rivers.
f) Reduction :
 Reduction occurs due to hydrolysis of organic matter settled at the bottom either chemically
or biologically.
 Anaerobic bacteria will help in splitting the complex organic constituents of sewage in liquids
and gases, thus paving the for their ultimate stabilization by oxidation.
g) Sunlight :
 The sun light has a bleaching and stabilizing effect of bacteria.
 Algae produces oxygen in the presence of sunlight due to photosynthesis.
 Therefore sunlight helps in purification of stream by adding oxygen through photosynthesis.

FACTORS AFFECTING SELF PURIFICATION CAPACITY OF STREAMS

Self purification capacity of a river or a stream depends on following factors:-

 Temperature
 Hydrographic factors such as the velocity and surface expanse of the river or stream
 Rate of re-aeration
 Amount and type of organic matter
 Available initial DO
 Types of microorganisms present.