Thermal Pollution

Presented by : TAHIR,
SHABBIR , MEET,
 Introduction
• Thermal Pollution is the harmful increase in water
temperature in streams, rivers, lakes, or occasionally,
coastal ocean waters.

• It is the degradation of water quality by any process that

changes ambient water temperature.

• A temperature increase as small as 1 or 2 Celsius degrees

(about 2 to 4 Fahrenheit degrees) can kill native fish,
shellfish, and plants, or drive them out in favor of other
species, often with undesirable effects.
 THERMAL POLLUTION
- It occurs when an industry removes water from a source
(e.g., a river), uses the water for cooling purposes, and
then returns the heated water to its source.

- Power plants heat water to convert it into steam, to drive

the turbines that generate electricity. For efficient
functioning of the steam turbines, the steam is condensed
into water after it leaves the turbines.

- This condensation is done by taking water from a water

body to absorb the heat. This heated water, which is at least
15 degrees Celsius higher than the normal, is later
discharged back into the water body.
 MAIN SOURCE :
Some of the important sources of thermal
pollution are :
- nuclear power and electric power plants
- crude oil refineries
- steel melting factories
- coal fired power plant
- boiler from industries
which release large amount of heat to the water
bodies leading to change in the physical, chemical
and biological characteristics
 Causes
-The major sources of thermal pollution are
discharge of heated water or hot waste material
into water bodies from :
Nuclear power plant
Industrial effluents
Hydro-electric power
Coal fired power plants
Other causes are :
 Deforestation
 Soil erosion
 Nuclear power plants
 Nuclear power plants use water as a
cooling agent.

 After the water is used, it is put back into a

water supply at 9-20oC warmer .

 Emission from nuclear reactors increase

the temperature of water bodies.
 Coal-fired power plants
 Coal is utilized as a fuel.

 Condenser coils are cooled with water

from nearby lake or river.

 The heated effluents decrease the DO of

water.

 Damages the marine organisms.

 Industrial Effluents
 Discharged water from steam-
electric power industry using turbo
generators will have a higher
temperature ranging from 6 to 9˚C
than the receiving water.
 In modern stations, producing 100
MW, nearly one million gallons are
discharged in an hour with increase
in temperature of the cooling water
 Domestic sewage
 Sewage is commonly discharged into lakes,
canals or streams.
 Municipal sewage normally has a higher
temperature than the receiving water.
 Increase in temperature of the receiving
water decreases the dissolved oxygen of
water.
 The foul smelling gases increased in water
resulting in death of marine organisms.
 Thermal Shock

When a power plant first opens or shuts

down for repair or other causes, fish and
other organisms adapted to particular
temperature range can be killed by the
abrupt change in water temperature known
as "thermal shock."
 Deforestation
 Streams and small lakes are naturally
kept cool by trees and other tall plants that
block sunlight but they getting demolished
by cutting down trees and vegetation.
People often remove this shading
vegetation in order to harvest the wood in
the trees, to make room for crops, or to
construct buildings, roads, and other huge
structures like industries, power plants etc.
 Soil Erosion

 Removal of vegetation far away from a

stream or lake can contribute to thermal
pollution by speeding up the erosion of soil
into the water, making it muddy, which
increases the light absorbed .
 Effects On ENVIRONMENT
• Elevated temperature typically decreases
the level of dissolved oxygen of water.

• Increases the metabolic rate of aquatic

animals, as enzyme activity, resulting in
these organisms consuming more food in a
shorter time , which increases their need for
oxygen.

• High temperature limits oxygen dispersion

into deeper waters, contributing to anaerobic
• This lead to increased bacteria levels
when there is ample food supply. Many
aquatic species will fail to reproduce at
elevated temperatures.

• Primary producers are affected by warm

water because higher water temperature
increases plant growth rates, resulting in a
shorter lifespan and species
overpopulation.
 Biotic effects
• Changes in the environment may also
result in a migration of organisms to
another, more suitable environment, and tin-
migration of organisms that normally only
live in warmer waters elsewhere. As a result
one has the problem of compromising food
chain of the old and new environments.
Biodiversity can also be decreased as a
result .
• Changes of even 1 – 2 degrees Celsius can
cause significant changes in organism
metabolism and other adverse cellular
biology effects.
• Changes can include rendering cell walls
less permeable to necessary osmosis,
coagulation of cell proteins, and alteration of
enzyme metabolism. These cellular level
effects can adversely affect mortality and
reproduction .
This 1988 thermal image of the
Hudson river highlights temperature
changes caused by discharge of 2.5
billion gallons of water each day from
the Indian Point power plant . The
plant sits in the upper right of the
photo - hot water in the discharge
canal is visible in yellow and red ,
spreading and cooling across the
entire width of the river . Two
additional outflows from the Lovett
coal-fired power plant are also clearly
visible against the natural
temperature of the water , in green
and blue .
 The CHERNOBYL DISASTER :
The Chernobyl disaster began on 26 April 1986 with the
explosion of the No. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear
Power Plant.
Due to a variety of factors, this action resulted in a power
surge at the base of the reactor which brought about the
rupture of reactor components and the loss of coolant.
This process led to steam explosions and a meltdown,
which destroyed the containment building. This was
followed by a reactor core fire which lasted until 4 May
1986, during which airborne radioactive contaminants
were spread throughout the USSR and Europe
At Chernobyl, approximately 100,000 square
kilometers (39,000 sq mi) of land was significantly
contaminated with fallout, with the worst hit
regions being in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.

Officially it was stated that all contaminants had

settled to the bottom "in an insoluble phase" and
would not dissolve for 800–1000 years