ENVIRONMENTAL

POLLUTION
WATER POLLUTION
Causes of Water Pollution
Water Pollution Facts

WATER POLLUTION
Causes of Water Pollution :
1) Residential Waste
2) Industrial Waste
3) Sewage and Wastewater
4) Oil Spill
5) Heat (Global Warming)
6) Atmospheric Deposition (Air Pollution)
7) Sediments


RESIDENTIAL WASTE
Personal Care Products, Household
Cleaning Products, and Pharmaceuticals
We should realize that almost all of it goes down
the drain when we do laundry, wash our hands,
brush our teeth, bathe, or do any of the other
myriad things that incidentally use household
water. Similarly, when we take medications, we
eventually excrete the drugs in altered or
unaltered form, sending the compounds into the
waterways

RESIDENTIAL WASTE
Study of the effects of these chemicals getting
into the water is just beginning, but examples
of problems are now popping up regularly:
Scientists are finding fragrance molecules
inside fish tissues.
Ingredients from birth control pills are thought
to be causing gender-bending hormonal
effects in frogs and fish.
The chemical nonylphenol, a remnant of
detergent, is known to disrupt fish reproduction
and growth.

RESIDENTIAL WASTE
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Industry is a huge source of water pollution, it produces
pollutants that are extremely harmful to people and the
environment.
Pollutants from industrial sources include:
Asbestos This pollutant is a serious health hazard and
carcinogenic. Asbestos fibres can be inhaled and cause
illnesses such as asbestosis, mesothelioma, lung cancer,
intestinal cancer and liver cancer.
Lead This is a metallic element and can cause health and
environmental problems. It is a non-biodegradable
substance so is hard to clean up once the environment is
contaminated. Lead is harmful to the health of many animals,
including humans, as it can inhibit the action of bodily
enzymes.

INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Mercury - This is a metallic element and can cause
health and environmental problems. It is a non-
biodegradable substance so is hard to clean up once
the environment is contaminated. Mercury is also
harmful to animal health as it can cause illness
through mercury poisoning.
Nitrates The increased use of fertilizers means
that nitrates are more often being washed from the
soil and into rivers and lakes. This can cause
eutrophication, which can be very problematic to
marine environments. Phosphates - The increased
use of fertilisers means that phosphates are more
often being washed from the soil and into rivers and
lakes. This can cause eutrophication, which can be
very problematic to marine environments.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Heavy metals such as mercury and lead, and human-made
organic chemicals such as pesticides, biomagnify as they
move up the food chain, resulting in tumors and death for
predatory animals, such as lake trout, herring gulls, and even
humans.




Effect of acid deposition on organisms
The low pH of water in which the fish lived
caused the abnormal bone development
that ultimately resulted in the death of the
fish
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Mining companies in developing countries
sometimes dump mining waste directly into
rivers or other bodies of water as a method
of disposal.
Mining causes water pollution in a
number of ways:
The mining process exposes heavy metals and sulfur compounds
that were previously locked away in the earth. Rainwater leaches
these compounds out of the exposed earth, resulting in "acid mine
drainage" and heavy metal pollution that can continue long after the
mining operations have ceased. Similarly, the action of rainwater on
piles of mining waste (tailings) transfers pollution to freshwater
supplies.

INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Almost all bodies of water in the world have some level of
pollution from chemicals and industrial waste.
n the United States, 34 billion liters per year (60%) of the
most hazardous liquid wastesolvents, heavy metals, and
radioactive materialsis injected directly into deep
groundwater via thousands of "injection wells." Although the
EPA requires that these effluents be injected below the
deepest source of drinking water, some pollutants have
already entered underground water supplies in Florida,
Texas, Ohio, and Oklahoma.
SEWAGE & WASTEWATER
Sewage disposal is a major problem in developing countries as
many people in these areas dont have access to sanitary
conditions and clean water.
In developing countries, an estimated 90% of wastewater is
discharged directly into rivers and streams without treatment. Even
in modern countries, untreated sewage, poorly treated sewage, or
overflow from under-capacity sewage treatment facilities can send
disease-bearing water into rivers and oceans. In the US, 850 billion
gallons of raw sewage are sent into US rivers, lakes, and bays
every year by leaking sewer systems and inadequate combined
sewer/storm systems that overflow during heavy rains. Leaking
septic tanks and other sources of sewage can cause groundwater
and stream contamination.
SEWAGE & WASTEWATER
Raw sewage flowing to the White Nile
OIL & GASOLINE SPILL
Oceans are polluted by oil on a daily basis from oil
spills, routine shipping, run-offs and dumping.
Oil spills make up about 12% of the oil that enters the
ocean. The rest come from shipping travel, drains and
dumping.
Oil spills cause a very localised problem but can be
catastrophic to local marine wildlife such as fish, birds
and sea otters.
Oil cannot dissolve in water and forms a thick sludge in
the water. This suffocates fish, gets caught in the
feathers of marine birds stopping them from flying and
blocks light from photosynthetic aquatic plants.

OIL & GASOLINE SPILL
Oil harms many organisms, especially if a spill occurs near
an estuarine zone.
It may take two to ten years for aquatic life to recover from a
spill.
HEAT (GLOBAL
WARMING)
An increase in water temperature can result in the death of
many aquatic organisms and disrupt many marine habitats. For
example, a rise in water temperatures causes coral bleaching of
reefs around the world. This is when the coral expels the
microorganisms of which it is dependent on. This can result in great
damage to coral reefs and subsequently, all the marine life that
depends on it.
The rise in the Earth's water temperature is caused by global
warming.

ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION
(AIR POLLUTION)
Atmospheric deposition is the pollution of
water caused by air pollution.
Pollutants like mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitric
oxides, and ammonia deposit out of the air
and then cause problems like mercury
contamination in fish, acidification of lakes,
and eutrophication (nutrient pollution). Most
of the air pollution that affects water comes
from coal-fired power plants and the
tailpipes of our vehicles, though some also
comes from industrial emissions.
SEDIMENTS
Sediment, the leading water pollutant in the United
States, is a by-product of erosion resulting from
poorly managed timber cutting, agriculture,
ranching, mining and construction.
Sediment destroys spawning and feeding grounds
for fish, reduces fish and shellfish populations,
destroys pools used for resting, smothers eggs
and fry, fills in lakes and streams, and decreases
light penetration, thus endangering aquatic plants.
SEDIMENTS
Muddy river polluted by sediment. Photo
courtesy of United States Geological
Survey.
WATER POLLUTION
FACTS
Asian rivers are the most polluted in the world.
They have three times as many bacteria from
human waste as the global average and 20 times
more lead than rivers in industrialized countries.
In 2004, water from half of the tested sections of
China's seven major rivers was found to be
undrinkable because of pollution.

WATER POLLUTION
FACTS
Thirty percent of Ireland's rivers are
polluted with sewage or fertilizer.
The Sarno is the most polluted river in Europe,
featuring a nasty mix of sewage, untreated
agricultural waste, industrial waste, and chemicals.

SARNO RIVER
WATER POLLUTION
FACTS
Greece has the cleanest coastal waters,
followed by Spain and Germany. Lithuania and
Estonia have the dirtiest coastal waters.
The King River is Australia's most polluted river,
suffering from a severe acidic condition related
to mining operations.
KING RIVER
WATER POLLUTION
FACTS
An estimated 700 million Indians have no access
to a proper toilet, and 1,000 Indian children die of
diarrheal sickness every day.

Millions depend on the
polluted Ganges River
WATER POLLUTION
FACTS
Bangladesh has some of the most
polluted groundwater in the world. In this
case, the contaminant is arsenic, which
occurs naturally in the sediments.
Around 85% of the total area of the
country has contaminated groundwater,
with at least 1.2 million Bangladeshis
exposed to arsenic poisoning and with
millions more at risk.
WATER POLLUTION
FACTS
Pasig River is one of polluted rivers in the Philippines. There
have been a number of projects aimed at rehabilitating the
Pasig River: Piso para sa Pasig, Sagip Pasig and now Kapit
Bisig sa Ilog Pasig spearheaded by the TV network giant
ABS-CBN. The aim is to see Pasig River alive and
supporting aquamarine and human life just like it was
decades ago. Pasig River pollution is one of Philippines
environmental issues that need the most urgent action

WATER POLLUTION
FACTS
Around 80% of the pollution in seas and
oceans comes from land-based activities.
In one week, a typical cruise ship
generates:
210,000 gallons of sewage;
1,000,000 gallons of "gray water" from showers, sinks,
dishwashers and clothes washers;
37,000 gallons of oily bilge water;
more than eight tons of solid waste; and
toxic wastes from onboard operations like dry cleaners
and photo processing laboratories.

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Raw sewage flowing to the White Nile
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