Environmental Pollution

Module
Environmental Pollution
Water Pollution
Water Pollution
Water pollution is any change in water quality that can harm living organisms or make
the water unfit for human uses such as drinking, irrigation, and recreation.
• It can come from single (point) sources or from larger and dispersed (nonpoint)
sources.
Water Pollution
Point sources discharge pollutants into bodies of surface water at specific locations through drain pipes,
ditches, or sewer lines.
factories, underground mines, oil wells, and oil tankers.
Nonpoint sources are broad and diffuse areas where rainfall or snowmelt washes pollutants off the land into
bodies of surface water.
runoff of eroded soil and chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides from cropland, feedlots, logged
forests, urban streets, parking lots, lawns, and golf courses.
Major Water Pollutants and Their Sources
WATER QUALITY AND MANAGEMENT
• Describe water quality

• Describe important water management practices
• Calculate water volume
• Explain how weeds and algae are controlled
• Describe how to prevent aquaculture water pollution
• Describe how to dispose of used water
WATER CHEMISTRY
• pH : 7 - 8
• Alkalinity: Measure of the pH buffering capacity of water
• Hardness: calcium and magnesium in water
• Salinity: amount of sea salts in water
• Hydrogen sulfide: Produced by anaerobic breakdown of waste.
• Supersaturation: caused by excessive aeration or photosynthesis
• Temperature: must match the tolerance levels of the aquatic species

Water Quality Management Concerns
• Oxygen depletion
• Buildup of nitrogen compounds
• Presence or excess of other compounds and substances
• Turbidity and color
• Excessive growth of weeds and algae

Oxygen Depletion
SIGNS
• Fish gasp at surface
• Fish group around incoming water
• Slow growth
• Repeated health problems
• Fish-eating birds present
CAUSES
• Overstocking – aquacrop uses up all the oxygen
• Weather – limited photosynthesis on cloudy days
• Decay of feed – uneaten food will consume oxygen
• Competition – trash fish and pests use oxygen
• Decay of vegetation – dead weeds, leaves, grass uses up oxygen
• Water temperature – the colder the water, the more oxygen it can hold
Turbidity And Color
• Turbidity
presence of suspended particles of soil or plankton in water
• Color
plankton blooms and release of tannic acid from decaying vegetation
Streams that flow through watersheds dominated by conifers have a
characteristic brown tea color that is the result of tannins leaching out
of decomposing conifer needles.
Water Pollution Management– Point Sources
Laws Controlling Water Pollution

• Citizen Watchdogs to Monitor Pollution
• Safe Drinking Water Act (1974)
• Set uniform federal standards for drinking water
• Maximum contaminant level
• Clean Water Act (1972)
• EPA sets up and monitors National Emissions Limitations
• Effectively improved water quality from point sources
Reduce Water Pollution - Nonpoint Sources
• Reduce erosion
– Keep cropland covered with vegetation
• Reduce the amount of fertilizers
• Plant buffer zones of vegetation
• Use organic farming techniques
• Use pesticides prudently
• Control runoff
• Tougher pollution regulations for livestock operations
• Deal better with animal waste

Water Conservation: Engage, Conserve, and Restore
• Decreasing run-off losses :
Contour cultivation – furrows and ridges
• Reducing evaporation losses
A copolymer of Starch and acrylonitrile –“super slurper”
can absorb water
• Storing water in soil
• Reducing irrigation losses

Sprinkling irrigation
• Re-use of water
• Preventing wastage of water

Sewage Treatment Reduces Water Pollution
• Septic tank system
• Wastewater or sewage treatment plants

– Primary sewage treatment
• Physical process
– Secondary sewage treatment
• Biological process
– Tertiary or advance sewage treatment
• Bleaching, chlorination
Septic Tank System
Primary and Secondary Sewage Treatment
Rain Water Harvesting
• Natural water purification system
• Sewer water flows into a passive
greenhouse
• Solar energy and natural
processes remove and recycle
nutrients
• Diversity of organisms used
Purify Drinking Water
• Reservoirs and purification plants
• Process sewer water to drinking water
• Expose clear plastic containers to sunlight (UV)

• Nanofilters
• The LifeStraw
AIR POLLUTION
Air Pollution
Chemicals added to the atmosphere by natural events or human activities
in high enough concentrations to be harmful
– Primary Air Pollutant

• Harmful substance that is emitted directly into the atmosphere
COX, NOx, SOx, HC
– Secondary Air Pollutant

• Harmful substance formed in the atmosphere when a primary air pollutant
reacts with substances normally found in the atmosphere or with other air
pollutants
O3, H2SO4
Sources
Sources
Natural sources : Human Made :
Volcanic eruption, Vehicular emission,
Forest Fire, thermal power plant – fly
Sea Salt sprays ash and SO2
Biological decay Fossil fuel burning,
Photochemical oxidation refineries,
pollen grains of flowers, spores chemical industries etc
Radioactive minerals in the

earth crust Note: automobiles releases ~77% CO,
~8%NOx, ~14%HC
Major Air Pollutants
Ozone
Ozone
• Tropospheric Ozone
– Man- made pollutant in the lower

• Tropospheric Ozone
atmosphere
• Man- made pollutant in the lower
–atmosphere
Secondary air pollutant
•–Secondary
Componentair pollutant smog
of photochemical
• Component of photochemical smog
•• Stratospheric Ozone
Stratospheric Ozone
• Essential component that screens out
– Essential component that screens out UV
UV radiation in the upper atmosphere
radiation in the upper atmosphere
• Man- made pollutants (ex: CFCs) can
–destroy it pollutants (ex: CFCs) can
Man- made
destroy it
Photochemical Smog
– Brownish-orange haze formed by
chemical reactions involving
sunlight, nitrogen oxide, and
hydrocarbons
– Sunlight Plus Cars Equals
Photochemical Smog
– A photochemical reaction is any
chemical reaction activated by
light.
– Photochemical smog is a mixture
of primary and secondary
pollutants formed under the
influence of UV radiation from the
sun.
Indoor pollution
Effects of Air Pollution
• Low level exposure
– Irritates eyes
– Causes inflammation of respiratory tract
• Can develop into chronic respiratory diseases
Effects on Human respiratory system
• Both gaseous and particulate air pollutants

can have negative effects on the lungs.
• Solid particles can settle on the walls of the

trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles.
• Continuous breathing of polluted air can

slow the normal cleansing action of the
lungs and result in more particles reaching
the lower portions of the lung.
• Damage to the lungs from air pollution can

inhibit this process and contribute to the
occurrence of respiratory diseases such as
bronchitis, emphysema, and cancer.
Effect on Plants
Ø The pollutants present in the air diffuses through the leaf pores (stomata) and destroy
the chlorophyll and affect the photosynthesis
Ø During day time the pores are wide open to facilitate photosynthesis and hence
pollutants easily diffuses and affects the plants
Ø They also erode the cuticle (waxy layer on the leaves) which prevents the excess water
loss
Ø It causes the following diseases
(i) necrosis – dead areas of leaf
(ii) chlorosis – yellowing of leaf due to loss of Chlorophyll
(iii) epinasty – downward curling of leaf
(iv) abscission – dropping of leaves
necrosis chlorosis Epinasty Abscission

Prevention/mitigation
• Proper environmental impact assessment before setting up an industry
• Using low sulfur content coal
• Using exhaust gas analysis and its treatment before being let out into the
atmosphere
• Regular tuning of engine and installing catalytic converters for the
oxidation of CO
• Using mass transport and using clean fuels
• Planting more trees

Environmental Pollution

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Module

• Describe water quality

• Alkalinity: Measure of the pH buffering capacity of water

• Hardness: calcium and magnesium in water

• Salinity: amount of sea salts in water

• Hydrogen sulfide: Produced by anaerobic breakdown of waste.

• Supersaturation: caused by excessive aeration or photosynthesis

• Temperature: must match the tolerance levels of the aquatic species

• Buildup of nitrogen compounds

• Presence or excess of other compounds and substances

• Turbidity and color

• Excessive growth of weeds and algae

• Overstocking – aquacrop uses up all the oxygen

• Weather – limited photosynthesis on cloudy days

• Decay of feed – uneaten food will consume oxygen

• Competition – trash fish and pests use oxygen

• Decay of vegetation – dead weeds, leaves, grass uses up oxygen

Laws Controlling Water Pollution

• Reduce the amount of fertilizers

• Plant buffer zones of vegetation

• Use organic farming techniques

• Use pesticides prudently

• Tougher pollution regulations for livestock operations

• Deal better with animal waste

• Storing water in soil

• Reducing irrigation losses

• Preventing wastage of water

• Septic tank system

• Wastewater or sewage treatment plants

• Reservoirs and purification plants

• Process sewer water to drinking water

• Expose clear plastic containers to sunlight (UV)

– Primary Air Pollutant

– Secondary Air Pollutant

Biological decay Fossil fuel burning,

Photochemical oxidation refineries,

pollen grains of flowers, spores chemical industries etc

Radioactive minerals in the

– Man- made pollutant in the lower

• Both gaseous and particulate air pollutants

• Solid particles can settle on the walls of the

• Continuous breathing of polluted air can

• Damage to the lungs from air pollution can

necrosis chlorosis Epinasty Abscission

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