APES Chapter 21

Water Pollution

• Sewage – wastewater carried off by drains or sewers; contains human wastes, soaps, and detergents
o Problems from Sewage

Enrichment – fertilization of a body of water caused by the presences of plant and algal
nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus

Oxygen Demand - cellular respiration breaks down the organic matter, which requires oxygen;
this causes a higher biological oxygen demand (BOD) – the amount of oxygen needed by
microorganisms to decompose the waste. The amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) cannot be
replenished fast enough through photosynthesis.
• Disease causing agents – infectious agents such as viruses and bacteria that come from the wastes of infected
animals
o Monitoring Sewage

Fecal coliform test – tests for E. Coli

Bacterial source tracking (BST) – attempts to identify where the bacteria is from
Some Human Diseases Transmitted by Polluted Water

• Sediment Pollution - excessive amounts of suspended soil particles that eventually settle our and accumulate on
the bottom of a body of water; as a result of erosion
o Causes problems reducing light penetration, covering gills, insoluble toxic pollutants into the water,
filling in waterways
• Inorganic plant and algal nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus, and other substances that stimulate plants and algal
growth; from animal wastes, plant residues, and fertilizer runoff
o Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico – runoff from Mississippi fertilizer, causes eutrophication

Hypoxia – oxygen free condition when algae grow rapidly because of the presence of nutrients
such as nitrates in the water.
 • Organic Compounds – carbon-containing chemicals that are usually synthetic and often toxic to aquatic
organisms
• Inorganic Chemicals – contaminants, such as acids, salts, and heavy metals, that contain elements other than
carbon
o Lead – linked to hypertension or high blood pressure
o Mercury – metal can vaporize at room temperature;
• Radioactive substances – wastes from mining, refining, and use of radioactive metals.
o Radon – lung cancer
• Thermal pollution – heated water produced during certain industrial processes
o Less DO; more food required; increased BOD

Eutrophication:
• Oligotrophic – minimal levels of nutrients – un-enriched
• Eutrophication – the enrichment of a body of water by inorganic plant and algal nutrients such as phosphorus;
then called eutrophic
• Artificial eutrophication or cultural eutrophication – human caused problem

Sources
• Point source pollution – discharged into environment through pipes, sewers, or ditches from specific sites such
as factories or sewage treatment plants
• Nonpoint source pollution – polluted runoff – land pollutants that enters bodies of water over large areas
rather than a single point
• Agriculture – fertilizers, pesticides, chemicals
• Municipal waste pollution –
o combined sewer system – human and industrial waste are combined with urban runoff; NYC, Pittsburgh,
Boston, San Francisco – heavy rain causes problems – overflows directly into waterway
• industrial waste – heavy metals + other pollutants

Groundwater Pollution – 50% people get water from groundwater; pesticides, fertilizers, organic compounds; seep from
storage tanks, golf courses, landfills, and farms
Drinking Water
• reservoirs – artificial lakes that hold water
• Chlorine – linked to cancer, miscarriages, rare birth defects
• Fluoridation – cancer, kidney disease, birth defects
Septic Systems
• Tank slows the flow and separates sludge, wastewater, and scum
• Treated wastewater flows into a drainage field where it reenters the ground
Laws controlling Water Pollution
• Refuse Act – 1899 – intended to reduce the release of pollutants into navigable rivers
• Safe Drinking Water Act – 1974 – set uniform federal standards for drinking water in order to guarantee safe
public water supplied throughout the country
o EPA set a maximum contaminant level – maximum permissible amount of any water pollutant that
might adversely affect human health
• Clean Water Act – eliminate the discharge of pollutants into US waterways and to attain water quality levels
that make these waterways safe to fish and swim in
o EPA set up national emission limitation – max permissible amounts of water pollutants that can be
discharged from sewage treatment plants, etc.
o National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System – point source polluters must obtain permits from this
organization
• Resource, Conservation, and Recovery Act –storage and disposal of hazardous wastes and helps prevent
groundwater contamination
• Great Lakes Toxic Substance Control Agreement – coordination between 8 states and 2 provinces to stop
pollution in the lakes

Other Polluted Countries

• Lake Maracaibo – Venezuela – oil pollute and human wastes

• Po River – Italy – treated and untreated sewage
• Ganges River – India – ashes, sewage, drinking water, bathing
• Kwale – Kenya – disease causing organisms
• Arsenic in Bangladesh – wells built in the 80s contain arsenic

Sewage Treatment
• Primary treatment – removes suspended solids; removes primary sludge
• Secondary treatment – uses microorganisms to decompose suspended organic material in waste water;
removes secondary sludge
• Tertiary treatment – biological, chemical, physical processes to remove phosphorus and nitrogen
• Sludge is disposed in landfills; or decomposed to make methane
• 1988 – Ocean Dumping Ban Act – barred ocean dumping of sludge and industrial waste