2. Water is essential for the existence of all life forms. In addition to
household uses, water is used for agriculture, industry, fishery and tourism
etc.
Increasing population, urbanization and industrialization has led to the
decreased availability of water. The quality of water used is also being
deteriorated as it is getting more and more polluted.
Water is one of our most basic and important resource. ensuring that we
maintain an adequate safe supply of water is one of our most important
environmental objectives.
The water quality is measured by biological, chemical and physical criteria.
The contamination comes due to man’s introduction of wastes, sewages
and spills.
3. A large amount of water is discharged back after domestic and industrial usage, this
is contaminated with domestic waste and industrial effluents. When this
contamination reaches beyond certain allowed concentrations, it is called pollution
and the contaminants are called the pollutants.
‘‘Water pollution is any physical, chemical or biological change in a water body that
has an undesirable effect on living organisms.’’
Pollution is an undesirable change in the physical, chemical, and biological
characteristics of our air, land and water that will harmfully effect the human life and
desirable species.
4. water can be polluted by natural
processes is called natural pollution.
The water pollution caused by the
anthropogenic activities
5. The following are the important sources in which the water is polluted naturally..,
The presence of evaporate deposits like Zinc, Gypsum and hydrate, sulphur,
potassium of any region usually deteriorate the groundwater condition of the
area.
The area occupied by limestone, fossiliferous limestone, calcite, and magnetite
formations also leaches its constituents into the groundwater and finally
polluting the water.
The presence of radioactive minerals in the rocks may be released in to the
groundwater and affecting its quality.
6. Groundwater contamination may also occur naturally by the coal mines or oil
field.
The growth of algae in the groundwater can produce bad taste and bad odour,
hence making water unfit for drinking. It restricts atmospheric oxygen to dissolve
in water.
Excessive turbidity and suspended solid concentrations during periods of high
run off may be considered as natural pollution. Loss of vegetation, either by
agricultural development and forest fire aggravates this condition.
The development of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses) in the water can cause
several water borne diseases like cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery, Jaundice etc.,
Groundwater is sometimes polluted naturally by the encroachment of seawater
into the coastal aquifers.
7. Some of the pollution caused by the anthropogenic activities they are as follows,
1.Domestic and Municipal
Pollutants:
2.Industrial Pollutants.
3.Agricultural Waste.4. Mining Industries.
5.Salt water intrusion.
6.Waste water Injection
wells.
7.Ground Water Pollution.
8.Pollution by radioactive
materials.
9.Retting.
8. Earth’s surface has been used for the disposal of wastes for many years. The
quantity of wastes generated is increasing year by year
The two major forms of domestic wastes generated by the urban population are
1. Solid wastes
2. municipal waste
9. Large scale solid waste disposal facilities of municipalities include dumps,
incinerators and landfills mostly they are disposed on land as ash or in original
form. After rain the pollutants into the ground water system.
10. In most of the towns and municipalities, the waste water is discharged over land
adjacent to the city limits.
Improper disposal of sewage:
Sewage refers to solid or liquid waste that is produced by households or industries. It
contains human waste, detergent and chemicals.
When untreated sewage is discharged into rivers and seas, water pollution occurs.
11. Many industries are located near rivers or fresh water streams.
These are responsible for discharging their untreated effluents into rivers like
highly toxic heavy metals such as chromium, arsenic, lead, mercury, etc. along with
hazardous organic and inorganic wastes (e.g., acids, alkalies, cyanides, chlorides,
etc.).
12. Manure, fertilizers, pesticides, wastes from farms, poultry farms, salts and silt are
drained as run-off from agricultural lands.
The water body receiving large quantities of fertilizers (phosphates and nitrates) or
manures becomes rich in nutrients which leads to eutrophication and consequent
depletion of dissolved oxygen.
13.
14. Mining activities have long been known to cause significant water quality impacts.
Mining and drilling for fossil fuels bring to the surface materials long buried in the
earth, including water. They also tend to generate large quantities of waste materials or
by-products relative to the target resource, creating large-scale waste disposal
challenges.
These contaminated drainage waters can devastate local waterways, eliminating fish
and rendering streams unfit for human use.
15. Over pumping or mining of ground water results to interior waters migrates from
adjacent aquifers or the sea also causes contamination problems. Intrusion of salt
water into fresh water supplies has caused problems in coastal areas.
16. Wastewater is injected into disposal wells, in some circumstances, migrate to the
surface or into freshwater aquifers. Toxins can migrate to groundwater through
leaks, cracks, or nearby abandoned wells, and multiple cases of groundwater
contamination associated with wastewater disposal wells have been identified.
For example, in south-eastern Texas, groundwater near oil and gas disposal wells
was found to have higher concentrations of chloride and bromide than was
groundwater farther away.
17. When the polluted water seeps into the ground and enters an aquifer it results
into ground water pollution. The most of our villages and many townships,
ground water is the only source of drinking water. Therefore, pollution of
groundwater is a matter of serious concern.
Groundwater gets polluted in a number of ways. The dumping of raw sewage on
soil, seepage pits and septic tanks cause pollution of groundwater.
18. The radioactive substance in the water should be present below the permissible
limit.
if the radioactive materials present more than maximum permissible limits in the
given water, the certain elements will tend to accumulate in different parts of the
body.
For example, Plutonium, radium and Strontium will accumulate in the bones, iodine
in the thyroid glands and lead in the Kidneys. Although physical damage is no
immediately apparent from small amounts of radiation, it is generally thought that
even the smallest increases in absorbed radiation, will increase the likelihood of
cataracts, leukemia, tumors a general shortening of life and retarded development of
children. Genetic effects also observed due to radiation.
20. The process of decaying coconut husk to get fiber for making coir is called
retting. Retting releases H2S . It makes water polluted.
Many water bodies like rivers, canals and ponds are becoming polluted due to
retting of jute plants in these water bodies as ribbon retting, a method for
retting the plants with less water
22. Pollutant Sources of Pollutants Effects
1 Pathogens Sewage, human and animal
Depletion of dissolved oxygen
wastes, natural and urban runoff in
water (foul odour) health
from land, industrial waste effects
(outbreaks of water
borne diseases)
2 Organic pollutants
Oil and grease
Some Pesticides
Automobile and machine waste,
tanker spills, offshore oil leakage
aesthetic damage Chemicals used
for better yield from agriculture
Industrial and household waste
Disruption of marine life and Toxic
effects (harmful for
aquatic life), possible genetic
defects and cancer; kills fish
Eutrophication, aesthetics
3 Inorganic pollutants Fertilizers
(phosphates and nitrates)
Acids and alkalies
Agricultural runoff
Mine drainage,
Industrial wastes kills fresh water
organisms.
Algal bloom and eutrophication,
nitrates cause methemo globenemia
Natural and urban runoff unfit for
drinking, irrigation
and industrial use.
23. 4 Radioactive materials Natural sources, and materials
and processing, hospitals and
research laboratories using
radioisotopes
Cancer and genetic defects
5 Heat Cooling water for industrial,
nuclear and thermal plants
Decreases solubility of oxygen in water,
disrupts aquatic ecosystems
6 Sediments Natural erosion, runoff from
Agricultural land and construction
sites
Affects water quality, reduces
Fish population
Pollutant Sources of Pollutants Effects
24. Pollution of surface waters occurs when too much of an undesirable or harmful
substance flows into a body of water, exceeding the natural ability of that ecosystem
to utilize or remove the pollutant or convert it to a harmless form. Water pollutants
are emitted from point (localized) sources or non- point (diffuse) sources
1. Point Sources of Surface Water Pollution:
• Point sources are discrete and confined, such as pipes that entry into streams or
rivers from industrial or municipal sites
2. Nonpoint Sources of Surface Water Pollution:
• Nonpoint sources are diffused and intermittent; they are influenced by such factors
as land use, climate, hydrology, topography, native vegetation, and geology.
Pollution from nonpoint sources, or polluted runoff. it is difficult to control.
• Common urban nonpoint sources include urban runoff from streets or fields and
contains all sorts of pollutants, from heavy metals to chemicals and sediment
• Rural sources of non- point pollution are generally associated with agriculture,
forestry, or mining.
30. 1.Mortality of Plankton and Fish.
2.Reduction in Productivity.
3.Siltation.
4.Poor Oxygenation.
5.Poor Photosynthesis.
6.Red Tide.
7.Biochemical Oxygen Demand.
8.Eutrophication.
9.Bio magnification.
10.Death of aquatic animals.
Bio magnificationSiltation.
1
2
6
31. Disruption of food chains
pollution disrupts the natural food chain as well. Pollutions such as lead and cadmium
are eaten by tiny animals later these animals are consumed by fish and shell fish and
the food chain continuous to be disrupted at all higher levels.
32.
33. 1. Minamata disease:
This disease is caused by mercury poisoning. It is characterized by crippling and
death. This disease appeared in a coastal town, Minamata, in Japan.
The primary cause for this disease was a plastic industry which was started on the sea
coast of Japan in 1905. From this factory a by-product called mercury was disposed into
the sea. This mercury accumulated in marine animals. Later birds, cats, dogs and men
receive mercury when they eat marine fishes and animals. The accumulation of
mercury leads to crippling and death.
Their initial symptoms of Minamata disease includes the numbness of limbs, hips and
tongue, impairment of motor control deafness and blurring of vision.
Finally it affects and destroys the brain. As a result of the attack of Minamata disease
about 17 persons died and 23 became permanently disabled in the year 1953, in Japan.
34. 2.Cholera:
Cholera is an acute epidemic infectious disease. It is characterized by watery
diarrhea, extreme loss of fluid and electrolytes, and severe dehydration. It can be
fatal. It is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholera (V. Cholera). Despite being easy to
treat, cholera is estimated to affect between 3 and 5 million people each year, and it
causes over 1,00,000 deaths worldwide.
3.Methaemo globinema:
The nitrate used in fertilizers enters the intestine of man through drinking water. In
the intestine, it is converted into nitrite. Nitrite is absorbed into the blood where it
combines with haemoglobin to form methaemoglobin. Methaemoglobin cannot
transport oxygen. This leads to suffocation and breathing troubles, especially in
infants. This disease is called Methaemo-globinema.
35. 4.Black foot:
Water borne Arsenic causes “black spot” disease. It accumulates in some marine
organisms, such as shrimps. About 40 million people in different parts of the world
are exposed to arsenic via drinking water (Nordstrom, 2002).
Exposure to inorganic arsenic through drinking artesian water is the most possible
cause of the so-called black foot disease (BFD), a unique peripheral vascular disease
(PVD) identified in the endemic area along the south western coast of Taiwan (Tseng,
1989).
The disease frequently ends up with dry gangrene and spontaneous amputation of
affected extremities, with an underlying pathological change of severe systemic
atherosclerosis
36. 5.Itai –itai:
Itai Itai is a specific disease, observed in Tyama city in Japan.
It is known as Itai Itai because of the painful symptoms from multiple fractures arising from
osteomalacea. Itai-Itai Disease is a pollution disease that frequently occurred in the
watershed of the Jintsugawa River in Toyama Prefecture. It became noticeable in the mid-
1950s.
The name“Itai-Itai” (Ouch! It hurts!) Comes from the fact that patients of this disease suffer
severe bone pain and always cry “Itai, itai!” It was found that this disease was caused by
ingesting rice or water contaminated by cadmium over an extended period of time.
Kamioka mining plant owned by Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. upstream on the
Jintsugawa River had been discharging, without pre-processing, effluents containing
cadmium after refining zinc, causing the contamination of water and soil.
37. 6.Polyomavirus infection:
Polyomavirus are the tumor viruses in humans and animals. They often persist as
infections in a host without causing disease, but produce tumors in a host of different
species or a host with ineffective immune system.
These two viruses produce a mild respiratory infection and infect kidneys and brain
38. 7.Amoebiasis:
Amoebiasis, also known amoebic dysentery, is an infection caused by any of the
amoebas of the Entamoeba group.
Symptoms are most common upon infection by Entamoeba histolytica. Amoebiasis
can present with no, mild, or severe symptoms. Symptoms may include abdominal
pain, mild diarrhoea, bloody diarrhea or severe colitis with tissue death and
perforation. This last complication may cause peritonitis.
People affected may develop anemia due to loss of blood this disease is also known
as ‘Travellers’ Diarrhoea’. It infects the large intestine and sometimes liver also. It
can range from mild diarrhoea to dysentery with blood and mucus. It is caused by
sewage, non-treated drinking water, files in water supply and secondary by direct
person to person contact or indirectly by eating or drinking faecal contaminated
food or water.
To prevent the spread of Amoebiasis around the home, wash hands properly with
soap, use clean bathrooms and toilets and avoid sharing things like towels or face
washers.
39.
40. Water pollution is controlled by the following methods,
The sewage water should not be allowed into the rivers, ponds, reservoirs, etc. The
sewage water should be collected in separate tanks and treated.
Reduce the usage of water, recycle and reuse the water.
Pesticides and chemical fertilizers should be used in a limited way. Bio fertilizers like blue
green algae are used instead of chemical fertilizers. Integrated pest management should
be adopted.
Nitrogen fixing green plants are used to improve the fertility of the soil.
Surface run off of manure and fertilizers is not allowed into the fields.
Control leakages in industries.
Waste waters are treated at the point source. (place of origin) .Waste waters are
subjected to sewage treatment or recycling or waste stabilization
Algal growth in reservoirs controlled by the application of copper sulphate.
Contouring the plants..
41. Personal Responsibility:
Water pollution control is everyone’s responsibility. Frequently, people make the
mistake of thinking that the “government” will take care of problems like water
pollution. These people forget we, as citizens, are the ones that should eliminate
water pollution. Here are some ideas about what you can do:
Limit the amount of household chemicals you buy. Pesticides, fertilizers, strong
cleaners and oils create serious water pollution problems when they are misused or
thrown away carelessly.
Do not feed the storm drain. Storm drains are not disposal bins. Things such as yard
clippings, driveway sweepings or oil should not be disposed of in storm drains. Storm
drains channel water from neighborhood streets into rivers, streams, and lakes. These
serve as water for many Texans to drink. So remember if you dump it, you drink it.
Educate public of pollution dangers
Identify sources of pollution and notify authorities and public
Encourage consumer conservation and recycling
Volunteer to cleanup polluted areas
Participate in citizen volunteer water Quality monitoring programs
42. • Pure water reflects some of the incident radiation in the visible bands of the
electromagnetic spectrum and absorbs almost all of it in the near- and middle-
infrared bands.
• The sediments, such as suspended solids from soil erosion, can significantly
impact the spectral reflectance and be identified easily.
•
• The integration of insitu measurements with remotely sensed data in GIS
modelling can provide useful information on water quality visible bands
43. Water pollution has become a continuous increasing problem on the earth
which is affecting the human and animal lives in all aspects.
Water pollution is the contamination of drinking water by the poisonous
pollutants generated by the human activities. The whole water is getting
polluted through many sources such as urban runoff, agricultural, industrial,
sedimentary, leeching from landfills, animal wastes, and other human
activities.
All the pollutants are very harmful to the environment. Human population is
increasing day by day and thus their needs and competition leading pollution
to the top level.
We need to follow some drastic changes in our habits to save the earth
water as well as continue the possibility of life here.