2015-09-06

CVL300
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND IMPACT
ASSESSMENT
Presentation 5
Water Pollution

Definition of Pollution (by Phd’s)

• An undesirable change in the physical, chemical, or
biological characteristics of the air, water or land
that can harmfully affect the health, survival, or
activities of humans or other living organisms.
• A pollutant is a substance that adversely affects the
physical, chemical, or biological quality of the
earth’s environment or that accumulates in the cells
or tissues of living organisms in amounts that
threaten the health or survival of those organisms.
• A process of producing a state of being impure,
defiled, dirty, or otherwise unclean

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Definition of Pollution (Phd’s)

• Any addition to air, water, soil, or food that threatens
the health, survival capability, or activities of
humans or other living organisms.
• Any condition caused by human activity that
adversely affects the quality of a stream, lakes,
ocean, or source of groundwater.
• Other constituent present in concentrations above
the naturally occurring background level.

Water pollution
Point source Nonpoint sources

Domestic sewage and Runoff from multiple

industrial
discharged points.
wastes discharged from
pipes.

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Water Quality Problem:

Public Health Risk
• Bacterial or viral
nature
• Hazardous materials

Water Quality Problem:

Eutrophication
• Eutrophication is a natural process.
• Problems exist as excessive nutrient speeds it
up significantly.

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Water Quality Problem:

Dissolved Oxygen Depletion
• Dissolved oxygen
provides a good
indicator of water
quality.
• Both organic and
inorganic substance
can deplete
dissolved oxygen.

Water Quality Problems:

Sedimentation, thermal pollution
• Pollutant sediments
can reduce
dissolved oxygen,
cause turbidity and
kill fish.
• Thermal pollution
changes water
ecology and the
associated aquatic
species

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Water Quality Indicators

• Oxygen-demanding materials:
Biodegradable organic and certain
inorganic compounds (e.g., ammonia).
• Nutrients
Nitrogen and phosphorus
• Pathogenic organisms
Bacteria, viruses , protozoa, etc.

Water Quality Indicators (cont’d)

• Suspended solids, turbidity
organic or inorganic particles.
• Salts
High salt content affect plants, animal
and water supply for human
• Toxic metals and organic compounds
Lead, zinc, pesticides, chloro-organics.
• Heat and temperature
Increase the rate of oxygen depletion.

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Water Quality in Rivers

• A good measure of river water quality is
the amount of dissolved oxygen (DO)
contents.
• Organic and inorganic oxygen demanding
materials can deplete the DO in rivers.
• The strength of these oxygen demanding
materials is measured by the amount of
oxygen consumed in the laboratory
(Biochemical oxygen demand).

Biochemical Oxygen Demand

(BOD)
• Carbonaceous (CBOD) • Nitrogenous (NBOD)
Oxidation of Conversion of organic
carbonaceous organic nitrogen to ammonia
material by micro- and eventually to nitrate
organisms. by bacteria.
Oxygen demand

BOD
Total BOD = CBOD + NBOD
BOD is time dependent process. BOD remaining

Time

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BOD Calculations

-kt
Lt = L0 e
BODt = Lo 1 - e 
-kt

k T = k 20 (  )
T - 20

Dissolved Oxygen in a River

Sinks Sources
Algal RE-AERATION
photosynthesis

BOD D/S BOD, DO

DO
Benthic BOD
U/S BOD, DO

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Dissolved Oxygen Deficit (D)

D = DO s - DO
Saturated Actual
DO DO

Mass Balance
Xm(Qw  Qr )  Qw X w  Qr X r
X  BOD, Temp, DO

Deoxygenation Rate (Rd) and

Reaeration Rate (Rr)
-k d t
Rd = k d L0 e
3.9 u0.5
Rr = k r D kr = 1.5
H
dD
 k d Lo e  k d t  k r D
dt

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Mass Model of Oxygen Sag

Curve
k d L0  - k d t - k r t  -k rt
D= e - e + D0 e
kr - kd
1  kr  D0 ( k r - k d )  
tc = ln 1 -  

kr - kd  kd  k d L0  
DO  DOs  D

Dissolved Oxygen Sag Curve

(dry-weather conditions)
Dissolved Oxygen Concentration (mg/L)

Organic waste discharge

Saturated dissolved oxygen

Dissolved
Oxygen D<R
D>R Deficit

Minimum acceptable DO
D=R

Critical D.O.
Downstream Travel Time or Distance

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Lake Eutrophication
• Deep lakes with
long retention time.
• Excessive nutrients.
• Favourable sunlight
and temperature
• Dead algaes
eventually fill the
lake and turn it to a
swamp.

Lake Taihu 3rd largest lake in China. Nutrients (Lots!) Blooms have
increased to “pea soup” conditions within only a few decades

太湖
Funded by
US National
Science
Foundation

Dr. Hans W. Paerl, Uiversity of North Carolina 江苏

at Chapel Hill Institute of Marine Sciences

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太
湖

http://www.waikato.ac.nz/news/index.sht http://www.pollutionprevention.cn/pollutions/c http://english.zhb.gov.c

ml?article=743 hina-pollution-waters.html n/zwxx/hjyw/200706/t20
070618_105408.htm

藻类大量繁殖
http://www.h2o-
china.com/report/
e_TaiLake/index.h
tml

http://www.pollutionprevention.cn/pollutions/c http://marine.unc.edu/mascnews
hina-pollution-waters.html

Dr. Paerl working with Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology,

Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGLAS)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21498294/
http://www.daylife.com/photo/07lsaSG9BR4c2 http://www.daylife.com/photo/00CJ7wt6wH8MO

Drinking water crisis in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China

江苏 无锡 饮用水危机
Affected the drinking water supply of about
two million residents in Wuxi

http://www.h2o-china.com/report/e_TaiLake/index.html

Residents buying bottled

water by the box

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200705/31/eng20070531_379537.html

Average price of bottled water rising

to six times the normal rate

Residents complain after the supply

of bottled water ran out at a store
(31 May 2007)
http://www.daylife.com/photo/09LkdBgc3I9L0

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Qingdao non-toxic algal bloom before 2008

Olympics

The sailing-venue city's coastline coated

with an algae bloom since late May

http://www.china.org.cn/environment/news/2008-
06/30/content_15910155.htm

http://www.nysun.com/foreign/chinas-olympic-sailing-venue-beset-
by-algae-bloom/80768/

Qingdao algal bloom before 2008 Olympics

The algae – enteromorpha prolifera is not a toxic blue-green algae

http://uczenzklasa.gazeta.pl/gfx/userfiles/4
66/Image/Enteromorpha_prolifera_.jpg

Potent antigenotoxic and anti-tumor promoting activities of a Japanese edible seaweed,

Enteromorpha prolifera (Sujiao-nori in Japanese) were previously identified using an in vitro
cell culture experiment (Y. Okai, K. Higashi-Okai, S. Nakamura, Y. Yano, S. Otani, Cancer
Lett. 87 (1994) 25-32). http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1834409

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Lake Stratification and

Overturns
Relative Density Winter Summer

4C
Temperature (C) Temperature (C)

Classification of Lake Eutrophication

• Oligotrophic (young)
Low nutrient, little biological activity,
clean bottom.
• Mesotrophic (middle age)
Modest nutrient, biological activity,
organic sediments.
• Eutrophic (aged)
large amount of nutrients, excessive
biological activity and organic
sediments.

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Water Pollution Prevention and

Control Plan
• Inventory and Analysis
Characterization of pollution sources;
Receiving water analysis; and
Facilities analysis.
• Formulation and Evaluation of
Alternative Management Plans.
• Recommended management plan,
interim control, data needs, and future
analysis.

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