Element 7: Control of contamination of water sources

Learning outcomes

On completion of this element, candidates should be able to demonstrate understanding of the

content through the application of knowledge to familiar and unfamiliar situations. In particular

they should be able to:

5.1 Outline the importance of the quality of water for life

5.2 Outline the main sources of water pollution

5.3 Outline the main control measures that are available to reduce contamination of water sources.

5.1 Importance of the quality of water for life

This chapter describe the significance of water i.e. that environmental quality depends on

maintaining water quality and quantity, and second, that high-quality water supplies depend on

environmental quality. Environmental quality refers to the area's ecosystems, and without the

goods and services of natural ecosystems, sustaining supplies of high-quality water for people will

be extremely difficult and expensive. Environmental concerns are central to sustainable water

resource planning and the relationships among ecosystem goods and services and water are

dynamic and interactive.

• What is meant by safe drinking water

Water is essential to life and a person's survival depends on the availability of clean drinking water

and is therefore an essential requirement for all people. Just because water comes from a natural

source does not guarantee that it is necessarily safe to drink. This can be true for some mineral

waters that can have high levels of sodium, trace metals, and total dissolved solids with a very

alkaline pH. Given a choice, most individuals won't drink water that is dirty or has a noticeable

taste or odor. Historically, mineral springs around the world have been sought after for their

therapeutic effects. For example, mineral waters known to contain arsenic were used for medical

purposes, whereas mineral waters with high levels of magnesium and sulfates provided a natural

laxative. Too much arsenic was also known to be toxic.

Many of the constituents of drinking water are natural materials, and enter water from the rocks

and the soil and the air. Some are the natural waste products of men or animals. Others are artificial

or synthetic materials, made and used for special purposes that inadvertently find their way into
water. Yet others occur naturally, but have become more widely distributed in populated areas as

a result of industrial and agricultural activity.

Safe drinking-water, as defined by the WHO , does not represent any significant risk to health over

a lifetime of consumption, including different sensitivities that may occur between life stages.

Those at greatest risk of waterborne disease are infants and young children, people who are

debilitated or living under unsanitary conditions and the elderly. Safe drinking-water is suitable

for all usual domestic purposes, including personal hygiene.

It is recognized to set drinking water standards to define the limits of contaminants considered

safe for drinking water. These levels are based on studies of the health effects associated with

each contaminant and include a sufficient safety margin to ensure that water meeting these

standards is safe for nearly everyone to drink.

With industrial advancements and increased population, drinking water contains a mixture of

manufactured chemicals and biohazards that are a potential threat to human health. This threat can

be immediate when an individual is exposed to a water-borne disease or long-term when drinking

chemical pollutants. For those living in industrialized nations (e.g., United States,U.K, Canada,

European Union), the threat from water-borne biohazards has been significantly reduced or

eliminated. However, widespread exposure to specific chemicals or chemical mixtures in drinking

water still remains.

In some cases natural water can contain elevated concentrations of trace elements (e.g., arsenic,

copper, fluorine, lead, zinc) that are known to be detrimental to human health. Because many

natural waters {i.e., advertised to contain little or no manufactured pollutants) from around the

world are bottled and sold as a very expensive healthy alternative to tap water, it is important to at

least understand the basic chemistry of natural water.

Water quality standards set acceptable levels of pollution based on their potential for health effects,

some US states have defined pollution based on the knowledge of health hazards. For example,

the State of California has used the following definitions since the 1960s:

Contamination is defined as any impairment of the quality of the water of the State by sewage or

industrial waste to a degree which creates an actual hazard to public health through poisoning or

through spread of disease.

a degree that does not create an actual hazard to public health but does adversely and unreasonably

affect such water for domestic, industrial, agricultural, navigational, recreational, or other

beneficial use.

Nuisance is defined as damage to any community by odors or unsightliness resulting from

unreasonable practices in the disposal of sewage or industrial waste.

5.1.2 The water cycle;

Sources of water such as groundwater, surface water and desalination

The constituents of natural water is highly dependent on its geologic and hydrologic origins as

well as its biological contributions. Before human activity on this earth, the chemistry of water

was initially influenced by the dissolution of minerals from soil, rock, biosynthesis, and

biodegradation of organic matter. The chemical compounds that dissolve from minerals,

biosynthesis, and biodegradation represent natural or background levels in the water we drink.

The hydrologic cycle is the process that has the greatest influence on the chemistry of natural

water. For example, when precipitation falls on the land, it follows one of many paths that

constitute what is known as the hydrologic cycle. As water runs off the earth's surface, it can

infiltrate into the soil, as well as form into bodies of surface water such as ponds, lakes, and rivers.

Much of this surface water will evaporate back into the air, which can reform as clouds and

in reusing water. They reuse process waters for wash down and cleanup rather than using clean

water.

Some municipalities reuse treated and disinfected wastewater for irrigation.

Recycling—using the same item more than once in the same or alternate forms—is the third

conservation practice that helps prevent water pollution. For example, paper recycling helps

prevent water pollution by lowering the demand for raw timber, allowing more trees to remain on

the mountainside for stabilizing the soil, cooling tributary waters, and otherwise benefiting water

quality.

Recycled paper is also easier to pulp than timber. It takes less energy, less water, and fewer

chemicals to create recycled paper than it does to create paper from raw wood.

We also can recycle other items to help prevent water pollution, including glass, aluminum, oil,
metals, and plastics. Using these items in their recycled forms requires fewer virgin resources,

disturbs the land less, and generally consumes less energy. Instead of developing a new mine to

extract metal deposits, for instance, we can increase our use of recycled metals to meet all or part

of the need.

Other simple ways of preventing water pollution include storing materials that could become

pollutants away from areas where they may enter the water. Many industries have developed

material storage plans that outline where particular materials are to be stored. Materials that could

become waterborne pollutants are not stored near stormwater inlets, gutters, ditches, or other areas

where they could easily enter the water accidentally.

Industries also prevent water pollution by properly transferring and handling materials such as

petroleum products in order to prevent spills. Later sections of this chapter outline spill prevention

and cleanup procedures.

Water quality professionals often categorize water pollution control processes as physical,

chemical, or biological. Physical processes rely on the physical separation of pollutants from the

water, chemical processes rely on chemical reactions, and biological processes rely on living

organisms to break down waste materials.

All techniques used to control water pollution are based on one or more fundamental processes

that occur in nature. These natural processes include sedimentation, biodegradation, filtration, and

sorption.

• Control methods:

- permits to discharge

The prevention of pollution at source,

The prior licensing of wastewater discharges by competent authorities have become key elements

of successful policies for preventing, controlling and reducing inputs of hazardous substances,

nutrients and other water pollutants from point sources into aquatic ecosystems.

It is now common practice to base limits for discharges of hazardous substances on the best

available technology. Such hazardous water pollutants include substances that are toxic at low

concentrations, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic and/or can be bioaccumulated, especially

when they are persistent. In order to reduce inputs of phosphorus, nitrogen and pesticides from
non-point sources (particularly agricultural sources) to water bodies, environmental and

agricultural authorities in an increasing number of countries are stipulating the need to use best

environmental practices .