Types of Pollution

Two types of water pollutants exist; point

source and non point source.

Both are extremely harmful to the ocean

environment and water as a whole.

Point Source
Point sources of
pollution occur
when harmful
substances are
emitted directly
into a body of
water.

Non point Source

A non point source delivers pollutants
indirectly through environmental changes.
An example of this type of water pollution
is when fertilizer from a field is carried into
a stream by rain, in the form of run-off
which in turn effects aquatic life.

Sources of Pollution
The major sources of water pollution can be
classified as municipal, industrial, and
agricultural.
Municipal water pollution consists of waste water from homes
and commercial establishments
The characteristics of industrial waste waters can differ
considerably both within and among industries. The impact of
industrial discharges depends not only on their
collective characteristics, such as biochemical oxygen demand
and the amount of suspended solids, but also on their content of
specific inorganic and organic substances.

Sources Cont.
Agriculture, including
commercial livestock
and poultry farming, is
the source of many
organic and inorganic
pollutants in surface
waters and
groundwater.

Kinds of Ocean Pollution

Oil
Man-made
Toxic
Deposits
Debris

Oil Pollution
Originates from oil spills and accidents, other
ship operations, used engine oil from cars,
road runoff and air pollution.
Air pollution becomes oil pollution when
precipitation washes hydrocarbon particles in
the atmosphere into the oceans. Other forms
of oil pollution are operational discharges from
offshore oil production and even from natural
oil seepage from the seafloor.

Oil Pollution cont.

A freighter is
shown leaking oil.
The oil is let out
into the ocean
contributing to the
major ocean
pollution problem.

Oil Pollution cont.

Oil tanker MegaBorg released 5.1
million gallons of oil
as a result of an oil
transfer accident.

How much oil gets into the ocean

each day?
Natural seeps that occur at the bottom of the ocean
62 million gallons
Big spills
37 mil. Gallons
Air pollution from cars and factories
92 mil. Gallons
Oil runoff from land and industrial wastes
363 million gallons

Daily Oil Use

United States
700 Million Gallons

The World
3 Billion Gallons

Oil in the water

Terminologies
Offshore drilling pollution comes from operation
discharges and drilling accidents occurring during oceanic
oil exploration.
Large oil spills typically result from oil tanker accidents
such as collisions and groundings.
Natural seeps come from seepages off the ocean floor
and eroding sedimentary rocks. This type of natural oil
pollution has occurred for thousands if not millions of years.

Terminologies
Up in Smoke is pollution caused by oil consumption in
automobiles and industry. Typically, oil hydrocarbons
find their way into the ocean through atmospheric fallout.
Oil pollution from routine maintenance occurs from
ship bilge cleaning and so forth.
Down the drain oil pollution occurs from people
dumping oils and oil products down storm drains, etc.
Many consider this to be the worst kind of oil pollution

Man-made Waste
Human waste, garbage, water from bathing and
plastics all contribute to ocean pollution.
One of the main causes ocean trash is the fact that
some sewage pipes share their space with storm
water drains.
Rainfall causes sewage pipes to flood. Sewage
waste mixes with storm water in drains which flow
to water sources that directly empty into the sea.

Toxic Waste
Metals and slowly degrading chemicals,
from industrial, agricultural, household
cleaning, gardening, and automotive
products regularly end up in coastal waters.
Can cause mutations and is highly
destructive to ocean life.

Marine Debris
When plastics end up in the sea, they can harm
marine life and can be mistaken as food or
entangle animals.
Balloons have been known to find their way into
animals such as whales, blocking their digestive
tracts.
Plastic rings choke various animals.

Plastics in our Ocean

Plastic bags and other forms of this
pollution are harmful to marine life.

Effects of Water Pollution

Poisonous drinking water, unbalanced river
and lake ecosystems that can no longer
support full biological diversity,
deforestation from acid rain, and many
other effects.
Many species of ocean life are destroyed
and this affects other aspects of life as well.

Effects on marine life

Oil-covered fur or
feathers can't insulate
marine mammals and
diving birds from cold
water, and when an
animal cleans itself, it
also swallows oil.

What can we do?

In order to combat water pollution, we
must understand the problems and become
part of the solution.
All of these solutions come with some cost
(both societal and monetary).

What can we do? (cont)

A great deal can be done to minimize pollution if we
take care to recycle materials whose production
creates pollution and if we act responsibly with
household chemicals and their disposal.
Whether we choose to drive to the corner store
rather than walk or ride a bicycle will determine
how much we personally contribute to acid and
hydrocarbon emissions to the atmosphere

Types of Control
biological agentsthese chemicals or organisms
help break down oil so that it biodegrades more
quickly.
sorbentsthese big sponges absorb oil.
gelling agentsthese chemicals, also known as
solidifiers, react with oil to form rubber like solids. The
solidified oil is then removed from the water by nets,
suction equipment, or skimmers.
skimmersthese devices skim spilled oil from the
water.

Types of Control cont.

boomsthese floating barriers are used to
contain oil, especially in calm water.
Keeping the oil in one place makes it easier
to remove. While there are many
professionally made booms, these barriers
can also be made from common materials
such as wood and car tires. They can be as
simple as a board placed across the surface
of the water.
dispersing agentsthese chemicals contain
compounds that break oil into droplets.
(Think of how dishwashing detergent can
break up grease.) Dispersants and gelling
agents are the most useful methods of
keeping oil from reaching shorelines.

Laws and Policies

In the United States, the Clean Water Act was
written to completely put an end to all dumping of
pollutants into water. The law has not been that
effective in many areas, but in other locations, it
has achieved its goals.
Now, eleven different federal government agencies
and 21 federal government programs all monitor
the quality of water and regulate pollution.

The Cost
The world has spent tremendous sums of money
trying to clean up water. From 1972-1990, the US
spent over $250 billion.
People who cause oil spills must now pay
costly penalties.
Petrobras, the oil company responsible for the
recent oil spill in Brazil, owes $28 million in
fines to the Parana State Environmental
Protection Agency.