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 What is Water Pollution ?

Any physical (temperature, oxygen),

chemical (mercury), or biological
(disease, sewage) change to water that
adversely effects its use by living
things.
 Sources of Water Pollution
 Point source pollution
• Point source pollution refers to contaminants that enter a
waterway through a discrete conveyance, such as a pipe or
ditch.
• Examples: Discharges from a sewage treatment plant, a
factory, or a city storm drain.
 Non-point source pollution
• Non-point source (NPS) pollution refers to diffuse
contamination that does not originate from a single discrete
source. NPS pollution is often accumulative effect of small
amounts of contaminants gathered from a large area.
• Examples: The leaching out of nitrogen compounds from
agricultural land which has been fertilized is a typical
example.
Point Source

1. Sewage pipes
2. Leaky gas tanks
3. Industrial sites
4. Injection wells
NON POINT SOURCES
Causes of Water Pollution
TYPES OF POLLUTANTS
CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS
 Inorganic pollutants
• Different metals
• Chlorides, sulphates, cyanides, thiocyanate
• Oxides of Iron, copper, cadmium, mercury and
chromium
• Acids and Alkalies.
 Organic Pollutants
• Cellulose fibers, carbohydrates, proteins, oils, fats
• Phenols, naphtha, organic acids, aromatic
compounds
• Antibiotic and putrescible organic compounds.
EFFECTS OF WATER
POLLUTION
 Effects on Aquatic Ecosystem
• DO, BOD, COD
• Eliminate Sensitive organisms like plankton,
molluscs and fish ect.
• Species like Tubifex and insect larvae may
survive in highly polluted water as indicators.
• Biocides, Polychlorinated biphenols(PCBs) and
heavy metals, Hg, Pb, Cd, Cu, As eliminate
species.
• Hot water may reduce the DO.
Oxygen Sag
Biomagnification
 Biomagnification
• Definition: The phenomenon through which
certain pollutants get accumulated in tissues
in increasing concentration along the food
chain is called biological magnification.
• Example: DDT accumulation
• Phytoplankton(0.025 ppm), zooplankton(0.123ppm),
small fish(1.04 ppm), predatory fish(4.83) and Fish
eating bird(124 ppm)
EUTROPHICATION
DEFINITION: The process of nutrient enrichment
of water, which often lead to the loss of species
diversity is called eutrophication.

EXAMPLE: Algal bloom(blue green algae)

Polluted lake with Algal Bloom
 Effects on Human Health
 Sewage contaminated water
• Pathogens like virus, bacteria, parasitic protozoa and
worms
• Water born diseases like jaundice, cholera, typhoid,
amoebiasis etc.
 Heavy metals contaminated Water
• Mercury : Minamata Disease
• Cadmium: itai itai disease(a painful disease of bones
and joints) or ouch-ouch disease and cancer of lungs
and liver
• Lead: anaemia, headache, loss of muscle power
 Minamata Disease
Mercury compounds in waste water are
converted by bacterial action into extremely
toxic methyl mercury, which can cause
numbness of limbs, lips and tongue, deafness,
blurring of vision and mental derangement.
Detected in 1952 as crimpling deformation due
to consumption of fish captured from mercury
contaminated Minamata Bay in Japan.
Itai Itai Disease
 Hazards of Ground Water Pollution
• Excess Nitrates
Reacts with haemoglobin to form non functional
mathaenoglobin and impairs oxygen transport
called methaemoglobinamia or blue baby
syndrome.
• Excess fluoride
Skeletel fluorosis
• Excess Arsenic
Black foot disease
 Control of water pollution

 Sewage water treats in three stages

A) Primary treatment stage

B) Secondary treatment stage

C) Tertiary treatment stage

A) Primary treatment stage:

The large and suspended particles are

removed by simple physical methods such
as :
-- Sedimentation: settle the high density of
solid particles at bottom of the tank
-- Filtration: separate the solid particles
based on their size from the liquid
B) Secondary treatment stage:

It is also know as Activated sludge

Air is supplied to promote the bacterial
decomposition of the organic matter
(biological oxidation)
The sludge continuously aerated for
further oxidation
Then again sediment and filtered the
decomposed matter
C) Tertiary treatment stage:

Turbidity in waste water caused by the

presence of nutrients (nitrates, phosphates…)

And dissolved organic matter, pathogens are

removed by physico-chemical process
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