Water Pollution

Pollution

Old motto: “Solution to

Pollution is Dilution”
 decomposition will remove many (most) pollutants
ultimately.
 Current motto: “Solution to Pollution is
Prevention”
 especially important for groundwaters (little
decomposition) and with persistent pollutants.
 “Under the belief that water could dilute any substance, industries and
individuals during the 18th and 19th centuries often used rivers and lakes as
garbage cans.
 Industrial effluent, raw sewage and animal carcasses would often be dumped into
waterways, without much thought of contamination and downstream neighbors.”
 Currently, waterborne toxic chemicals pose the greatest threat to the safety of
water supplies in industrialized nations.
 There are many possible sources of chemical contamination.
 These include wastes from industrial chemical production, metal-plating
operations, and pesticide runoff from agricultural lands.
 Some specific pollutants include industrial chemicals such as chlorinated
hydrocarbons; heavy metals, including cadmium, lead, and mercury; saline
water; bacteria, particularly coliforms; and general municipal and industrial
wastes.
General Types of Water Pollutants
 Pathogens, parasites
 Usually from sewage, feedlots, slaughterhouses
 Viruses
 Bacteria (cholera, ...)
 Coliform bacteria usually not pathogenic,
 Used as indicators of pollution
 Protozoan parasites (Giardia, Cryptosporidium)

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 5

Pathogens
Pathogen Source
cholera (a bacteria) human waste and
contaminated algae in
warm coastal waters
Cryptosporidium (a mammal fecal wastes
protozoan)
E. coli (a bacteria) human and animal fecal
wastes
Giardia (a wildlife and human
protozoan) fecal wastes
  Oxygen-demanding wastes
 Organic materials from sewage, slaughterhouses,
etc.
 Decomposed by bacteria
 Bacteria require, consume dissolved oxygen
 “Biological Oxygen Demand” (BOD)
 Measure of water quality
 Low in pristine water

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  Inorganic chemicals
 Mostly from industry
 Heavy metals
 Lead, arsenic, mercury, copper ions, etc.
 Ammonia
 Acids
 Sulfuric acid, nitric acid from acid deposition
 Also from industry
 Bases (caustic alkalines)

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 9

 Inorganic plant nutrients (fertilizers)
 From agriculture, lawns & gardens
 Leaching into groundwater
 Run-off into surface waters
 Stimulate growth of algae (algal blooms)
 Algae die, sink, become oxygen-demanding waste

Water-Pollution.ppt 10
  Organic chemicals
 from industry, restaurants, cars, households,
farms
 Gasoline, oil
 Engine coolant (ethylene glycol)
 Solvents
 Detergents
 Pesticides
 insecticides, herbicides, fungicides
 Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 11

  Sediments
 Erosion from construction sites, streets & roads,
farms, sewage
 Dense sediments sink, accumulate
 Sedimentation in reservoirs
 Less dense sediments may stay in water
 Reduce clarity (increase turbidity)
 Reduce light penetration & photosynthesis

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 12

  Radioactive material
 From spills, waste from atomic weapons production
 Hanford, Washington
 Savannah River Plant, South Carolina
 From nuclear power plants (minor)
 Closely regulated
 Heat (“thermal pollution”)
 Heated water from cooling of electrical generating
equipment
 Alters ecosystem of river, lake

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 13

Pollution: Source categories
 point-source
 pollution enters at a specific location (point).
 ex: pipe from sewage treatment plant
 non-point source
 pollution enters over a wide area, no single
point of entry can be specified
 ex: runoff from parking deck
 regulatory difference between these two
 Point Source Pollution

 comes from a specific

source, like a pipe

 factories, industry,
municipal treatment plants

 can be monitored and

controlled by a permit
system
What is nonpoint source pollution?
 Nonpoint Source
(NPS) Pollution is
pollution associated
with stormwater or
runoff

 NPS pollution cannot

be traced to a direct
discharge point such
as a wastewater
treatment facility
 Examples of NPS
 oil & grease from cars
 fertilizers
 animal waste
 grass clippings
 septic systems
 sewage & cleaners from
boats
 household cleaning products
 litter
 Impact of Nonpoint Source Pollution

 fish and wildlife

 recreational water
activities
 commercial fishing
 tourism
 drinking water quality
Potential Sources of Pollutants
Found in Residential Areas
 Nutrients: Fertilizers and septic
systems
 Pathogens: Pet waste and septic
systems
 Sediment: Construction, road sand,
soil erosion
 Toxic: Pesticides, household
products
 Debris: Litter and illegal dumping
 Thermal: heated runoff, removal of
streamside vegetation
Pollutants from Agriculture

 Sediment
 Nutrients
 Pathogens
 Pesticides
 Pollutant Transport Mechanisms

• NPS pollutants build up on land surfaces during dry weather

Atmospheric deposition
Fertilizer applications
Animal waste
Automotive exhaust/fluid leaks

• Pollutants are washed off land surfaces during precipitation

events (stormwater runoff)
• Stormwater runoff will flow to lakes and streams
 Pollutants Found in Runoff
Sediment Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
Soil particles ● Oxygen depleting material
transported from Leaves
their source Organic material

Toxics Nutrients
● Pesticides ● Various types of materials that
 Herbicides become dissolved and suspended in
 Fungicides water (commonly found in fertilizer and
 Insecticides plant material):
● Metals (naturally occurring in  Nitrogen (N)
soil, automotive emissions/  Phosphorus (P)
tires)
 Lead
 Zinc Bacteria/ Pathogens Thermal Stress
 Mercury Originating from: Heated runoff,
● Petroleum Hydrocarbons ● Pets removal of
(automotive exhaust and ● Waterfowl streamside
fuel/oil) vegetation
● Failing septic systems
Debris
Litter and illegal dumping
Ground water pollution
 Pollution of aquifers
 Non-point and Point sources
 Pollutants slow to break down in cold & dark

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Water pollution
 In lakes, reservoirs
 Low flow rate, long
residence time
 Deep, stratification
 Pollutants can accumulate,
concentrate

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 27

Water pollution
 In streams, rivers
 Higher flow rate, dilution
effect
 Turbulent
 Well mixed
 Well oxygenated
 Long riverbanks, contact
with land
 Subject to non-point source
pollutants
 Often flow near cities

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 28

 ELEMENTAL POLLUTANTS
Some of these are recognized as nutrients
required for animal and plant life,
including some that are essential at low
levels but toxic at higher levels
Some of the heavy metals are among the
most harmful of the elemental pollutants
and are of particular concern
Inorganic chemicals manufacture has the
potential to contaminate water with trace
elements.
Among the industries regulated for
potential trace element pollution of water
are those producing chlor-alkali,
hydrofluoric acid, sodium
dichromate(sulfate process and chloride
ilmenite process), aluminum fluoride,
chrome pigments, copper sulfate, nickel
sulfate, sodium bisulfate, sodium
hydrosulfate, sodium bisulfite, titanium
dioxide, and hydrogen cyanide.
 HEAVY METALS
Cadmium
Pollutant cadmium in water may arise from industrial discharges and mining wastes.
Cadmium is widely used in metal plating. Cadmium is found in water in the +2 oxidation
state.
The effects of acute cadmium poisoning in humans are very serious. Among them are
high blood pressure, kidney damage, destruction of testicular tissue, and destruction of
red blood cells.

It is believed that much of the

physiological action of cadmium arises
from its chemical similarity to zinc.
Specifically, cadmium may replace
zinc in some enzymes, thereby altering
the stereostructure of the enzyme and
impairing its catalytic activity. Disease
symptoms ultimately result.
Lead
Inorganic lead arising from a number of industrial and mining sources occurs in
water in the +2 oxidation state.
Lead from leaded gasoline used to be a major source of atmospheric and terrestrial
lead, much of which eventually entered natural water systems.
In addition to pollutant sources, lead-bearing limestone and galena (PbS)
contribute lead to natural waters in some locations.
Acute lead poisoning in humans may cause severe dysfunction of the kidney,
reproductive system, liver, brain, and central nervous system leading to sickness or
death.
Lead poisoning from environmental exposure is thought to have caused mental
retardation in many children.
Mild lead poisoning causes anemia. The victim may have headaches and sore
muscles, and may feel generally fatigued and irritable.
Except in isolated cases, lead is probably not a major problem in drinking water,
although the potential exists in cases where old lead pipe is still in use. Lead used to
be a constituent of solder and some pipe-joint formulations.
Mercury
Because of its toxicity, mobilization as methylated forms by anaerobic bacteria, and
other pollution factors, mercury generates a great deal of concern as a heavymetal
pollutant.
Mercury is found as a trace component of many minerals, with continental rocks
containing an average of around 80 parts per billion, or slightly less, of this element.
Cinnabar, red mercuric sulfide, is the chief commercial mercury ore. Fossil fuel coal
and lignite contain mercury, often at levels of 100 parts per billion or even higher, a
matter of some concern with increased use of these fuels for energy resources.
Metallic mercury is used as an electrode in the electrolytic generation of chlorine gas,
in laboratory vacuum apparatus, and in other applications.
Significant quantities of inorganic mercury(I) and mercury(II) compounds are used
annually.
Organic mercury compounds used to be widely applied as pesticides, particularly
fungicides. These mercury compounds include aryl mercurials such as phenyl mercuric
dimethyldithiocarbamate (formerly used in paper mills as a slimicide and as a mold
retardant for paper), and alkyl-mercurials such as ethylmercuric chloride, C2H5HgCl,
which was used as a seed fungicide. Because of their resistance to degradation and their
mobility, the alkyl mercury compounds are generally considered to be more of an
environmental threat than either the aryl or inorganic compounds.
Mercury enters the environment from a large number of miscellaneous sources
related to human use of the element. These include discarded laboratory
chemicals,batteries, broken thermometers, amalgam tooth fillings, and formerly
lawn fungicides and pharmaceutical products.
Taken individually, each of these sources may not contribute much of the toxic
metal, but the total effect can be substantial.
Sewage effluent sometimes contains up to 10 times the level of mercury found in
typical natural waters.
The toxicity of mercury was tragically illustrated in the Minamata Bay area of Japan
during the period 1953–1960.
Among the toxicological effects of mercury are neurological damage, including
irritability, paralysis, blindness, or insanity; chromosome breakage; and birth defects.
The milder symptoms of mercury poisoning such as depression and irritability have a
psychopathological character.
Some forms of mercury are relatively nontoxic and were formerly used as medicines,
for example, in the treatment of syphilis. Other forms of mercury, such as soluble Hg(II)
salts and methylmercury compounds, are highly toxic.
Minamata disease (1956 - )

Methyl mercury induced Minamata Disease

Patients: 12,615
Clinical symptoms:
Sensory disturbance
Constriction of the visual field
Coordination disturbance
Dysarthria
Hearing disturbance
Tremor

Minamata Disease Archives

Fetal Minamata disease
Children, born of women who ate polluted
fish, developed Fetal Minamata disease.

They suffered with more serious

symptoms than their mothers.

DNT patients: 16 (>64)

Clinical symptoms:

Mental Retardation
Primitive reflex
Coordination disturbance
Dysarthria
Limb deformation
Growth disorder
Choreoathetosis
Hyper salivation

S. Kuwahara, 1998
Uses of mercury

 Electrical products-switches, wiring,

thermostats, batteries, etc.
 Dentistry
 Medical products-antiseptics, laxatives
 Thermometers
 Pharmaceutical preservatives- thimerosal
 Industrial processes- byproduct of coal-
burning power plants, fossil fuel combustion
Effects of Mercury

 Neurological complications on a developing

fetus
 Sensory disturbances (blindness)
 Lack of coordination (slurred speech)
 Reproductive failure
 Impaired growth
 Loss of motor skills
 Loss of IQ points
 Cardiovascular problems
Different forms of mercury

 Elemental mercury-does not affect humans

 Inorganic mercury-does not affect humans,
gets transformed by bacteria into
methylmercury
 Methylmercury-also called organic mercury,
poisonous, absorbed into tissue
 Arsenic
 The most significant water pollutant metalloid element is arsenic, a toxic element that
has been the chemical villain of more than a few murder plots.
 Acute arsenic poisoning can result from the ingestion of more than about 100 mg of
the element.
 Chronic poisoning occurs with the ingestion of small amounts of arsenic over a long
period of time.
 There is some evidence that this element is also carcinogenic.
 Arsenic occurs in the Earth’s crust at an average level of 2–5 ppm.
 The combustion of fossil fuels, particularly coal, introduces large quantities of arsenic
into the environment, much of it reaching natural waters. Arsenic occurs with
phosphate minerals and enters into the environment along with some phosphorus
compounds.
 Some formerly used pesticides, particularly those from before World War II, contain
highly toxic arsenic compounds.
 The most common of these are lead arsenate, Pb3(AsO4)2; sodium arsenite,
Na3AsO3; and Paris Green, Cu3(AsO3)2.
 Arsenic
 Another major source of arsenic is mine tailings.
 Arsenic produced as a by-product of copper,gold, and lead
refining exceeds the commercial demand for arsenic, and it
accumulates as waste material.
 Like mercury, arsenic can be converted by bacteria to more
mobile and toxic methyl derivatives according to the following
reactions:
Organotin Compounds
 Of all the metals, tin has the greatest number of organometallic compounds in
commercial use, with global production on the order of 40,000 metric tons per
year.
 In addition to synthetic organotin compounds, methylated tin species can be
produced biologically in the environment.
 Major industrial uses of organotin compounds include applications of tin
compounds in fungicides, acaricides, disinfectants, antifouling paints,
stabilizers to lessen the effects of heat and light in PVC plastics, catalysts, and
precursors for the formation of films of SnO 2 on glass.
 Tributyl tin chloride and related tributyl tin (TBT) compounds have
bactericidal, fungicidal, and insecticidal properties and are of particular
environmental significance because of their use as industrial biocides.
 In addition to tributyl tin chloride, other tributyl tin compounds used as
biocides include the hydroxide, the naphthenate, bis(tributyltin) oxide, and
tris(tributylstannyl) phosphate. TBT has been widely used in boat and ship hull
coatings to prevent the growth of fouling organisms.
Organotin Compounds
 Other applications include preservation of wood, leather, paper, and
textiles.
 Antifungal TBT compounds have been used as slimicides in cooling tower
water.
 Obviously, the many applications of organotin compounds for a variety of
uses pose a significant potential for environmental pollution.
 Because of their applications near or in contact with bodies of water,
organotin compounds are potentially significant water pollutants and have
been linked to endocrine disruption in shellfish, oysters, and snails.
Because of such concerns, several countries, including the U.S., England,
and France, prohibited TBT application on vessels smaller than 25 meters
in length during the 1980s.
 In response to concerns over water pollution, in 1998 the International
Maritime Organization agreed to ban organotin antifouling paints on all
ships by 2003.
 Bioaccumulation: build-up in concentration of
something with each step of the food chain
 Crosses the blood/brain barrier and placenta
 Eliminated from living tissue very slowly
 Is contained in fish flesh and is not reduced or
removed by cleaning, trimming or cooking
 Bioconcentration: comparison between
creature’s concentration and concentration in
environment (i.e. seawater)
Water pollution
 Prevention
 Better to NOT pollute than to clean up later
 Clean up is expensive
 Clean up is never complete

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 44

Sewage Treatment
 Primary
 Screens and settling tanks remove grit & suspended
organic matter.
 Secondary
 Sewage aerated; aerobic bacteria consume organic
matter
 Leave dissolved inorganics, NO3, PO4, etc.
 Tertiary
 Filters most dissolved inorganics and remaining
dissolved organic compounds

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 45

Sewage Treatment
 Primary
 Screens and settling tanks remove grit &
suspended organic matter.

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 46

Sewage Treatment
 Secondary
 Sewage aerated; aerobic bacteria consume organic matter

 Leave dissolved inorganics, NO , PO , etc.

3 4

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 47

Sewage Treatment
 Tertiary
 Filters most dissolved
inorganics and remaining
dissolved organic
compounds
 Can be done biologically
in wetlands
 Natural
 Artificial

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 48

Water Quality
 Improvement since 1970
 Surface waters no longer regarded as open sewers
 More and better sewage treatment systems
 Less dumping of industrial waste
 Clean Water Act of 1972, 1977
 Make all U.S. surface waters “fishable and swimmable,”
 Goal not fully met

09 April 2009 Water-Pollution.ppt 49