Thermal and Water Pollution

Pollution Of Water And
Thermal
Pollution
• Water pollution.
• Thermal pollution.
Pollutants, sources and
effects of pollution for water
Sources of water pollution
Some of the principal sources of water pollution are:
• geology of aquifers from which groundwater is abstracted

• industrial discharge of chemical wastes and byproducts
• discharge of poorly-treated or untreated sewage
• surface runoff containing pesticides or fertilizers
• slash and burn farming practice, which is often an element within
shifting cultivation agricultural systems
• surface runoff containing spilled petroleum products
• surface runoff from construction sites, farms, or paved and other impervious
surfaces e.g. silt
• discharge of contaminated and/or heated water used for industrial
processes
• acid rain caused by industrial discharge of sulfur dioxide (by burning high-
sulfur fossil fuels)
• excess nutrients added (eutrophication) by runoff containing detergents or
fertilizers
• underground storage tank leakage, leading to soil contamination, thence
aquifer contamination
Accumulation of litter and organic debris in Salford Quays, a section of the
Manchester Ship Canal in Greater Manchester, UK.
Raw sewage and industrial waste flows into the U.S. from Mexico as the New River
passes from Mexicali, Baja California to Calexico, California
WATER POLLUTION CAUSES
• PESTICIDES
Pesticides that get applied to farm fields and roadsides—and
homeowners' lawns—run off into local streams and rivers or
drain down into groundwater, contaminating the fresh water
that fish swim in and the water we humans drink. It's tempting
to think this is mostly a farming problem, but on a square-foot
basis, homeowners apply even more chemicals to their lawns
than farmers do to their fields! Still, farming is a big contributor
to this problem. In the midwestern United States, a region that
is highly dependent on groundwater, water utilities spend $400
million each year to treat water for just one chemical—the
pesticide Atrazine.
• FERTILIZERS / NUTRIENT POLLUTION
• Many causes of pollution, including sewage, manure, and chemical
fertilizers, contain "nutrients" such as nitrates and phosphates.
Deposition of atmospheric nitrogen (from nitrogen oxides) also
causes nutrient-type water pollution.
• In excess levels, nutrients over-stimulate the growth of aquatic

plants and algae. Excessive growth of these types of organisms
clogs our waterways and blocks light to deeper waters while the
organisms are alive; when the organisms die, they use up dissolved
oxygen as they decompose, causing oxygen-poor waters that
support only diminished amounts of marine life. Such areas are
commonly called dead zones.
• Nutrient pollution is a particular problem in estuaries and deltas,

where the runoff that was aggregated by watersheds is finally
dumped at the mouths of major rivers.
• OIL, GASOLINE AND ADDITIVES
• Oil spills like the Exxon Valdez spill off the coast of Alaska or the more
recent Prestige spill off the coast of Spain get lots of news coverage, and
indeed they do cause major water pollution and problems for local wildlife,
fishermen, and coastal businesses. But the problem of oil polluting water
goes far beyond catastrophic oil spills. Land-based petroleum pollution is
carried into waterways by rainwater runoff. This includes drips of oil, fuel,
and fluid from cars and trucks; dribbles of gasoline spilled onto the ground
at the filling station; and drips from industrial machinery. These sources and
more combine to provide a continual feed of petroleum pollution to all of the
world's waters, imparting an amount of oil to the oceans every year that is
more than 5 times greater than the Valdez spill.
• Shipping is one of these non-spill sources of oil pollution in water: Discharge

of oily wastes and oil-contaminated ballast water and wash water are all
significant sources of marine pollution, and drips from ship and boat motors
add their share. Drilling and extraction operations for oil and gas can also
contaminate coastal waters and groundwater.
• MINING
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.
• In the case of gold mining, cyanide is intentionally poured on piles of
mined rock (a leach heap) to chemically extract the gold from the
ore. Some of the cyanide ultimately finds its way into nearby water.
• Huge pools of mining waste "slurry" are often stored behind
containment dams. If a dam leaks or bursts, water pollution is
guaranteed.
• SEDIMENT
• When forests are "clear cut," the root systems that previously held
soil in place die and sediment is free to run off into nearby streams,
rivers, and lakes. Thus, not only does clearcutting have serious
effects on plant and animal biodiversity in the forest, the increased
amount of sediment running off the land into nearby bodies of water
seriously affects fish and other aquatic life. Poor farming practices
that leave soil exposed to the elements also contribute to sediment
pollution in water.
• SEWAGE
• 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.
• Beaches also suffer the effects of water pollution from sewage. The chart
below shows the typical reasons that about 25% of the beaches in the US
are put under water pollution advisories or are closed each year. It's clear
that sewage is part of the problem, even in what is supposedly the most
advanced country in the world.
Heavy Metals ( Copper, Mercury, Zinc,
Chromium ).
Oil, Grease, And Suspended Solids.
Water Waste Which Contains
Numerous Contaminants, Including
Hydrogen Sulphide.
• Sources
– Effluent from industries
• Electronics and electroplating plants.
• Food and beverage processing industry.
• Rubber products processing industry.
• Effects
– Highly toxic and accumulate in organisms via
food chains.
– Mercury can cause nervous disorder in
humans.
Nitrates And Phosphates In
Fertilisers
• Sources
– Agricultural runoffs
and waste from oil
palm and rubber
processing mills.
– Untreated sewage
( human faeces and
domestic waste ).
Contaminants
Contaminants may include organic and inorganic substances.
Some organic water pollutants are:
• insecticides and herbicides, a huge range of organohalide and other

chemicals
• bacteria, often is from sewage or livestock operations;
• food processing waste, including pathogens
• tree and brush debris from logging operations
• VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds, industrial solvents) from
improper storage
• Some inorganic water pollutants include:
• heavy metals including acid mine drainage
• acidity caused by industrial discharges (especially sulfur dioxide from
power plants)
• chemical waste as industrial by products
• fertilizers, in runoff from agriculture including nitrates and phosphates
• silt in surface runoff from construction sites, logging, slash and burn
practices or land clearing sites
• Effects
– Lead to eutrophication.
• An artificial enrichment of an aquatic system with
organic materials or inorganic nutrients.
• Causing an excessive growth of aquatic plant life.
– Leads to algal bloom.
• Penetration of lights into water.
( Reduce photosynthesis of aquatic plants )
• Toxins production by algae and aerobic bacteria.
• Decomposing microorganisms from the death of
photosynthetic organism.
( aerobic bacteria us up O2 in the deeper water at
fast rate and kills larger aerobic aquatic organisms)
Herbicide And Pesticides
Residues
• Sources
– Agricultural runoffs
and waste from oil
palm and rubber
processing mills.
• Effects
– Toxic effects on organism in the water and
human.
– Pesticides levels accumulates ( passes through
food chain ).
– Accumulation of pesticides in the tissue of final
consumer may kill them or effects their
metabolism.
– Lead to lower sperm counts, decrease ovulation,
the inability to conceive and birth defects.
Suspended Solids
• Sources • Effects
– Untreated sewage – Reduce light
penetrations.
– If biodegradable, they
can decomposed by
microbes but requires
high demand of O2.
Detergents
– Untreated sewage. – Hard detergents
– Domestic wastes. create foams which
reduce the supply of
O2 to living organisms
living in water.
– Soft detergents
may contain high
levels of phosphates
which can leads to
eutrophication.
Microorganisms ( Bacteria &
Protozoa )
– Untreated sewage. – May cause water-
– Animal waste from borne diseases such
farms. as cholera if the water
– Domestic waste. is used for drinking.
Lead
– Underground pipes. – Highly toxic.
– Can accumulate in the
tissue of living
organisms.
– Can impair the mental
ability of children.
Thermal Pollution
( Raises of the temperature in a body of water )
• Causes • Effects
– Effluents of industrial – Affects the level of
process (discharged of dissolved O2 in water.
hot water to lakes and – Instant death to some
rivers ). species which may effect
– Cooling towers of the food chain.
electrical power stations – Encourages the rapid
( water as cooling agent ). growth of algae.
– May result in permanent
changes in the species
composition of aquatic
ecosystem.
NEARLY FINISHED
THE END

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Thermal and Water Pollution

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Pollution Of Water And

• geology of aquifers from which groundwater is abstracted

• In excess levels, nutrients over-stimulate the growth of aquatic

• Nutrient pollution is a particular problem in estuaries and deltas,

• Shipping is one of these non-spill sources of oil pollution in water: Discharge

• The mining process exposes heavy metals and sulfur compounds

• insecticides and herbicides, a huge range of organohalide and other

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