Water Pollution and Impacts

• Kinds of water pollutants

• Some sources of water pollutants
• Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
• Eutrophication
• Wastewater treatment
• Groundwater
Pollution is a loss of water quality resulting
from biological, physical or chemical
substance that in excess is harmful to living
organisms
Metals,
Organic compounds
(fertilizers, pesticides)
Sediment
Radioactive isotopes
Heat
Fecal coliform bacteria
Nutrients (N, K)
Sodium
Bacteria and viruses
Water Pollution Sources
Point sources (distinct
and confined) e.g. pipes
from industrial sites can be
controlled by on-site
treatment

Nonpoint sources
(diffused and intermittent)
influenced by land use,
climate, hydrology etc.
e.g. urban runoff from street,
from fields these sources
are more difficult to monitor
and control
 Agricultural Effluent
• chemicals applied to soil that finds its way into
water courses.
• pesticides: ideally should either break down
quickly or be retained by the soil.
• soil erosion (runoff enters lakes, rivers
• changing physical attributes: sedimentation,
susceptibility to flooding, etc.
 Agricultural
• Fertilizers: readily dissolve in
water
• Biological waste (E.g. cow
and pig manure, excess feed,
etc.)
• Over fertilization =
eutrophication (more organic
matter is produced in greater
amounts than can be
consumed) --> creating a
suffocation of the ecosystem.
I.e. blue-green algae
eutrophication:
increase in the
concentration of
chemical elements
required for living
things
e.g. phosphorus (K),
nitrogen (N)
• Increase in the
concentration of the
chemical elements
required for living things
• leads to sudden
proliferation of algae
over water surfaces
• Bacterial decomposition
uses up oxygen
reducing dissolved
oxygen levels.
• Same results for excess
fertilizer or animal waste
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): amount of oxygen
necessary to decompose organic material water.

organic waste dissolved

oxygen
Excess
fertilizer and
animal waste
also contribute
phosphorous
and nitrogen
 Hog Barns
• Stored animal waste may
leak into water courses
• Spread on agricultural land
may form non-point source
pollution
• Complaints about odours
• Potential for coliform
bacteria to contaminate
water. Escherichia coli
• E.g. wells at Walkerton
2000
Yearly incidence of shiga toxin-producing
Escherichia coli infection (per 100,000
population), southern Ontario, 1996-1998.
 Industrial Effluent
• one of the greatest
contributor is mining
• water is used in processing
• reused many times for
flushing, solvents
• natural interaction of water
with mining system
• acid mine drainage = acidic
water that drains from mines
• mostly coal but also metal
mines
 Pulp and paper industry
• primary problem bleaching of pulp, suspension of
pulp fibres.
• pulp in water suspension act as sediment in the
waste water
• chlorine bleach (being replaced by chlorine dioxide
and hydrogen peroxide because of dioxins)
• suspended pulp particles act as sediment.
 Water Quality: not just chemical
that are important but also
sediments
• sediment (plowing of
fields, and soil erosion of
hilly areas)
• clogs fish gills
• smother habitats
• nutrients (derived from
field, and sewage)
 Oil is toxic
Carcinogenic
Closes air spaces in fur and
feathers
Covers sea bottom habitat

IXTOC I, Gulf of Mexico exploratory well

June 3, 1979. 140 million gallons (580
million liters). 2nd largest after Gulf War
releases.

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/photos/ships/ships.html
Evaporation
 Other pollutants - Disease
• disease causing agents
• especially where raw
sewage is introduced
into rivers, and in areas
where there is reduced
water flow)
• cholera, typhoid,
dysentery, increased
levels of coliform
bacteria.
Other pollutants - Heavy metals
• e.g. mercury - highly toxic –
inorganic mercury becomes
organic methyl –mercury
through bacterial action
• Industrial sources, and
burning fossil fuel Minamata Japan
• atmospheric deposition
• Leached from native rock in
new reserviors
• leads to nerve damage
Grassy Narrows and White Dog, ON
 Common sources include

Construction sites
Agricultural land

Sediment pollution is largest type of pollution

Water clarity
Covers plants and stream and river bottom habitats
Fills lakes, reservoirs and harbors
 Dredging
• rivers are used for transportation
• scraping out riverbeds for shipping
• strong effect on the environment
(resuspension of pollutants, dumping of
dredging materials)
• also changes river flow patterns
 Groundwater Use
• 1 in 4 Canadians depends on
groundwater for domestic supply
• in the USA half population rely on
groundwater
• 85% of water consumed by livestock is
from the ground
Ground water monitoring
station near landfill

Leaking gas tanks and

contamination plume
https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/News/Earthday/SecDef99/Army-Awards99/
Tobyhanna_eq/tobyhanna_final.html
Over
extraction
may also
lead to
saltwater
instrusions
• What happens to Domestic
domestic waste? Effluent
• Primary treatment:
sewage is treated
to remove solid
material
• uses mechanical
methods to remove
particles
• then enters a Bar Screens – Winnipeg
sedimentation tank Debris taken to landfills
(smaller particles
settle out)
 Particulates settle out in tanks
– Winnipeg

Tanks are also aerated

Gases are vented through stacks
– Winnipeg
Settling tanks called
primary clarifiers
– Winnipeg
Produces primary sludge

Sludge goes on to
sludge digestion
– Winnipeg
Also creates gas that is
highly combustible
(stored and burnt).
 Secondary treatment:
• Biological processing (bacterial
degradation of dissolved organic
matter)
• water after sedimentation enters an
aeration tank
• air and some sludge from the final
sedimentation tank are added to this
water to promote decomposition
 Final Sedimentation
• sludge settles out (some is
recycled for secondary treatment)
• methane may be produced as a
result of biological decomposition
(used for heating)
 Tertiary treatment:
• Chemical processing and filters remove
nutrients, heavy metals, etc (e.g.
chlorine)
• advanced treatment may remove 95% of
pollutants
• then this material is discharged back
into rivers and water courses.
• Either UV radiation or natural sunlight is
used to kill pathogens - Winnipeg
 Solving Water Pollution Problems
• needs broad planning mechanisms
• many of the components of the hydro system are
large I.e. river basins.
• 40% human population live in 21 river or lake
basins.
• Contaminated water sources can cross international
boundaries.
• ground water also must be protected -- depletion of
aquifers.