Chapter 4

polution
 It is the introduction by man into the environment of
substances or energy liable to cause hazards to human health,
harm to living resources and ecological systems
 Pollution always has a source and a recipient.
• The source is where the pollution comes from, that is, where
the pollution is released into the environment.
• The recipient is where the pollution ends up, which may be a
part of the environment or people or animals that become
contaminated or damaged
 ways of identifying pollution

 Finding symptoms of damage to aquatic plants

 Finding chemicals in the water, comparing the previous history of
the quality of water with the present quality
 Getting complaints from water users
Classification of polutants
 Polutants can be categorised by:-
• Their physical nature :- gas, liquids ,solid and energy
• By their source :- point and non point sources
• By the recipient or
• By the sector of the environment affected.
 Cont…
Physical nature of polutants
 Liquid pollutants usually come from liquid waste.
Liquid waste includes:-
 human excreta (both faeces and urine),
 industrial wastewaters and
 other forms of waste from water-using activities
Factories generate liquid waste from activities related to
washing in the manufacturing process, cleaning objects and
chemical mixing.
 Cont…
• Pollutants also come in solid form.
• Plastic bags are one of the most common solid wastes.
• Solid waste is any solid material that is assumed not to be
useful and is therefore thrown away.
• Factories, businesses and households produce different kinds
of solid waste such as paper, plastics, metals, chemicals in
solid form, pieces of cloth or food and animal remains
 Cont…

• An other type of polution is energy in the form of noise

• Noise pollution means unacceptable levels of noise in work,
residential and recreational places.
• Noise makes it difficult to have a conversation and also
irritates and disturbs us and in the long term can damage our
hearing.
• Loud music from music shops and clubs in an urban
community is a known source of noise disturbance.
 Sources of pollution

• Another way of classifying pollution is by the sector of human

activity that produces it.
• Sources of pollution can be categorised as point or non-point
sources.
• Point sources are identifiable points or places that you can
easily locate. An example is liquid waste released from a pipe
into a river.
 Cont…

• A non-point source (also known as ‘diffuse pollution’) is one where

it is difficult to identify the exact origin of the pollution.

A good example is floodwater that washes all types of waste from the
land into a river.
 Pathways of pollution

• The pathway of pollution is the way the pollutant moves from

the source, enters into the environment.
• The pathway between source and recipient can take several
different forms depending on the type of pollutant.
• Primary recipients for pollution are water, air, and soil.
• Pollutants usually reach humans through the consumption of
contaminated and polluted water and food, and breathing
polluted air
 Cont…
 Once released into the environment, the worst effects of many
pollutants are reduced by one or more of the following processes:
 Dispersion – smoke disperses into the air and is no longer noticeable
away from the source.
 Dilution – soluble pollutants are diluted in the water of a river or
lake.
 Deposition – some suspended solids carried in a river settle (are
deposited) on the river bed.
 Degradation – some substances break down (degrade) by natural
processes into different, simpler substances that are not polluting.
In each case the effect is to reduce the concentration of the pollutant
 Sector of the environment affected by pollution
 Classifying pollution by the sector of the environment affected: –
water, air, soil and land – are the most commonly used method
Water pollution:-Water pollution can affect surface water such as
rivers and lakes, soil moisture and groundwater in aquifers, and the
oceans.
• Water pollution is characterised by The presence of excess
physical, chemical or biological substances that change the
qualities of the water
• Water that tastes or smells bad or is cloudy can be said to have the
symptoms of water pollution.
 Cont…
• However, some water pollutants cannot be seen or tasted, for
example some chemicals, such as pesticides, and most of the
micro-organisms that cause waterborne diseases
 Air polution

 Air pollution is defined as the presence in the air of abnormal

amounts of chemical constituents capable of causing harm to
living organisms
 It can exist at all scales, from local to global, and can include
gases and solid particles.
 The most common sources of air pollution in Ethiopia include
the burning of wood, charcoal and other biomass fuel by
households, small businesses such as bakeries, manufacturing
industries, and vehicles.
 Soil and land pollution

• Soil pollution, also called land pollution, is linked to

water pollution.
• Liquid wastes containing toxic chemicals or pathogenic
micro-organisms on the surface of the land can seep
slowly into the soil and may percolate down to
contaminate groundwater,
• Possible sources include open defecation, pit latrines
or leaking storage
• Solid waste can cause soil pollution. A collection of
solid wastes in one place or scattered around.
 Cont…
• Household waste typically consists mostly of food waste that
will gradually decompose.
• This produces a bad odour and attracts insects and rats, both of
which contribute to the transmission of disease.
• As the waste decomposes it produces a liquid called leachate
which trickles down into the soil.
• Leachate is a highly concentrated liquid pollutant that may
contain toxic chemicals and pathogenic micro-organisms
 Main causes of environmental pollution
1. Population growth
 Growth of population is the root cause for many
human problems.
 This observation also applies to environmental
degradation.
2. Increased General Affluence and Economic Growth
 It is the increasing per capital demand of rich which is
absorbing the growth in output of goods and services in the
developed and developing countries and cause misuse or
overuse and pollution of resources,
 On the other hand, poor and the poverty often get blamed for
the destruction of environment. The notion that poverty or
the poor destroy the environment most is but partially true
 3. Nature of Modern Technology

The nature of productive technology in recent
years is closely related to the environmental
crisis.
 These generates synthetic and non-
biodegradable substances such as plastics,
chemical nitrogen fertilizers, synthetic detergents,
synthetic fibres.
 4. Deforestation
Deforestation gives birth to several problems
encompassing environmental degradation
through :-
 Accelerated rate of soil erosion
 Increase in the sediment load of the rivers
 Cont…
 Siltation or reservoirs and river beds
 Intensification of greenhouse effects
 Increase in the destructive force of the atmospheric storms
etc.
 Economic loss through damages of agricultural crops due to
increased incidence of floods
 Draughts, decrease in agricultural production of loss of fertile
top soils
 Decrease in the supply of raw materials to the industries and
building matters etc
Thus deforestation cause a chain effects which adversely affect
the natural environment
 5. Agricultural development
• The agricultural development degrades the environment in a
variety of ways
(i) Through the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides
and insecticides

6. Industrial Development
• Exploitation of natural resources in order to meet the industrial
demand of raw materials has resulted into
• (i) the reduction of forest covers due to reckless falling of trees,
• (ii) excavation of land for mining purposes,
• (iii) reduction in arable land due to industrial expansion,
• (iv) lowering of groundwater level due to excessive withdrawal
of groundwater,
 7. Urbanization

• Urban centres when combined with industrial sectors become

more hazardous from the standpoint of environmental problems
and pollution.
• Huge quantity of aerosols and gases is emitted from Chimneys
of factories and vehicles which form "Dust Domes" over the
cities.
• These Dust Domes cause 'Pollution Domes' over the cities.
Thank you very much for
your kind attention!!!