Chemical Process Utilities

Water Quality Standards-I

Prof. Shishir Sinha

Department of Chemical Engineering

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 Topics covered previously

• Introduction
• Water Laws
• Task of water governance
• Challenges in water governance
• Hierarchical governance
• Cross-curing
• Water governance in India

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 Topics to be covered

• Introduction
• Water properties
• Quality parameters for drinking water

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 Introduction

• Water is an ideal solvent due to its unique physical and chemical

properties, allowing almost all kind of chemicals to get dissolved into
it.
• If a chemical is immiscible, then it can sometimes form a suspension
or colloidal solution in water.
• Water can dissolve both polar as well as non-
polar solutes. Also it is easily available and
cheaper than any other solvents.

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 Introduction

• The uniqueness of this compound enhances its use in different

sectors, as well as increase its susceptibility to get polluted.
• In one case it is an unreplaceable component of life, while in other it
can be home for several life threatening microorganisms and
chemicals.
• Pure water does not exist naturally, neither it is
good for consumption. Our body continuously
requires some essential minerals from water to
work properly.
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 Introduction

• However, if these minerals are present in excess then it can also

cause some problems related to digestion, and inefficient absorption
of nutrients from food.

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 Water Properties

1. Temperature: Water remains in the liquid form between 0°C and

100°C under normal pressure.
2. Dissolved chemicals (dissolved salts/organic or inorganic
compounds): The color, odor, toxicity and utility depend on the
dissolved chemicals.

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 Water Properties

3. Suspended particles: Solid particles of very minute size (usually not

less than 0.45 micron) can remain suspended in water. Some
physical properties and acceptability of water depend on a number
of suspended particles.
4. Microorganisms: The presence of
microorganisms is a quality indicator of water.
Its potability depends on this property

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 Water Properties

5. Nutrients: The presence of nutrients is very common in natural

surface water and in water discharged after human use. High level
of nutrients is considered a pollutant.

• The quality of water is a prime concern for

industries, especially for water supply, food and
beverage industries that need potable water for
their products.

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 Water Properties

• Other industries use water for various purposes like heating, cooling,
cleaning, manufacturing, steam generation, and firefighting.
• Drinking and sanitary uses of water are also concerns for all
industries because they are liable to extend water, sanitation and
hygiene (WASH) facilities for their employees.
• Industries also deliver water to industrial
colonies and townships.

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 Water Properties
• Irrespective of the quality of water that industries take in, they are
always responsible for the quality of the discharge they contribute to
the environment.
• Water quality is also a major concern in agro‐based industries,
because pesticides and fertilizers are applied in the farms belonging
to the supply chain of the food and beverage industry.
• Every industry has the responsibility of
supplying safe drinking water for the staff or
employees living within the industrial campus.

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 Water Properties
• Water supply industries, beverage and medicine manufacturers need
purified water that meets the potable standard or sometimes in the
ultrapure state.
• They need to maintain drinking water quality standards for their raw
materials and as well as for their products.

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 Quality parameters for drinking water
• There are many sources of water quality criteria and standards. Each
country has its own standards and guidelines. These guidelines do
not vary widely from country to country.
• However, many countries have adapted guidelines of other countries
or organizations to frame their own standards.
• Water quality not only influences the water
strategy of the business but also impacts capital
and non‐capital investment in the water sector.

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 Quality parameters for drinking water
The quality parameters may be classified as follows:
• Organic or inorganic, according to its biological properties
• Physical or chemical, based on its physical and chemical properties
• Potable or non‐potable, depending on its use for human
consumption
• Hazardous or non‐hazardous, based on its effect
on human health and ecology.

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 Microbiological contaminants
• There are a large number of microorganisms which live in water
either permanently or for a certain period during their life cycle.
• Disease‐causing microorganisms are commonly classified as coliform
or staphylococci bacteria.
• Industries do not generally discharge these organisms to the
environment, but lack of proper WASH facility in the industrial
environment may cause health hazards.

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 Microbiological contaminants
1. Contaminant: Coliform bacteria
• Sources: One of the major pathogenic pollutants in water. It
originates in humans and other warm‐blooded animals and goes into
water through faeces. Non‐faecal bacteria, if present in water, serve
as indicators of presence of other forms of bacteria that may cause
disease.
• The most common indicator bacteria are E. coli,
which is a subgroup of coliform bacteria in
water, which is generally measured to find
presence of pathogenic bacteria in water.
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 Microbiological contaminants
• Potential health and other effects: Bacteria cause polio, cholera,
typhoid, dysentery and infectious hepatitis, to name a few; list of
bacterial infection is virtually endless.
2. Contaminant: Pathogenic Staphylococci
• Sources: It is a kind of pathogenic micro‐organisms
found in sewage contaminated waters and bath
water discharge (e.g. swimming pools).
• Potential health and other effects: Causes a wide
variety of diseases notably skin disease and food
poisoning.
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 Physical Parameters

• Physical parameters may or may not relate to industrial pollution.

These parameters relate to potability and suitability for industrial
uses.
• Physical parameters also quantify the aesthetic value of water.
Change in physical parameters due to anthropogenic activities may
adversely affect aquatic ecosystems.

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 Physical Parameters

1. Turbidity
• Description: Caused by the presence of suspended particles such as
clay, silt and organic and inorganic matter. Dissolved iron hydroxide
can cause turbidity when oxidized to insoluble ferric oxide. It is
measured in terms of the amount of light transmitted through the
water sample.
• Potential health and other effects:
Objectionable mainly for aesthetic reasons.

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 Physical Parameters

2. Total suspended solids (TSS)

• Description: When water with high turbidity is to be processed for
use, then another parameter needs to be measured, namely TSS.
• Potential health and other effects: Impacts aquatic environment by
restricting penetration of sunlight.

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 Physical Parameters

3. Color
• Description: Can be caused by decomposed organic matter and mine
waste.
• Potential health and other effects: Mine waste may be toxic to
human and aquatic life.

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 Physical Parameters

4. pH
• Description: Natural water generally has pH from 4.5 to 10. If pH of
water is above 7 it is called alkaline. Best suitable pH range for
human consumption, aquatic life and industrial use is from 6.5 to 8.5.
• The pH of water determines the solubility
(amount that can be dissolved in the water) and
biological availability (amount that can be
utilized by aquatic life) of chemical constituents
such as nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen and
carbon) and heavy metals.
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 Physical Parameters

4. pH
• Potential health and other effects: High pH causes a bitter taste;
water pipes and water‐using appliances become encrusted. Low‐pH
also imparts bad taste and corrodes metals.

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 Physical Parameters
5. Odor
• Description: Odor is an indicative of organic waste or decomposed
biota.
• Potential health and other effects:
Malodourous water is unfit for consumption.
6. Taste
• Description: Some organic salts impart taste
without causing foul-smelling.
• Potential health and other effects: Bad taste
makes water unfit for consumption.
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 Physical Parameters

7. Salinity
• Description: Relates to tidal waters or water which has a hydraulic
interface with seawater. Seawater has salinity as high as 35000 mg/L.
• Potential health and other effects: High salinity
makes water unfit for consumption, creates salt
encrustation and corrosion.

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 Physical Parameters

8. Alkalinity
• Description: Alkalinity is the measure of the presence of bicarbonate
salt in water.
• Alkalinity is a measure of the buffering capacity of water, or the
capacity of bases to neutralize acids.
• Potential health and other effects: Not a health
hazard but unsuitable for industries for
corrosiveness.

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 Physical Parameters

9. Electrical conductivity
• Description: Electrical conductivity is a major physicochemical
property of water. It is a measure of the capacity of water to transmit
electric current through it.
• Fresh water assumes conductivity due to
concentration of ions in water which comes
from dissolved salts and inorganic materials.
The commonly used units for measuring
electrical conductivity of water is micro
Siemens/cm.
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 Physical Parameters

9. Electrical conductivity
• Potential health and other effects: It is not a definite indicator of
water pollution but an indicator of suitability of water for domestic,
industrial or agricultural purposes.

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 Physical Parameters

10. Hardness
• Description: Hardness is caused due to the presence of certain
dissolved salts. The compounds responsible for developing hardness
in water are generally salts of calcium and magnesium. Hardness is
measured by the amount of calcium carbonate expressed as mg/l of
CaCO3.
• Potential health and other effects: Decreases
the lather formation of soap and increases scale
formation in hot‐water heaters and
low‐pressure boilers at high levels.
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 Physical Parameters

10. Hardness
General guidelines for classification of waters are:
• 0 to 60 mg/L (milligrams per liter) as calcium carbonate is classified
as soft;
• 61 to 120 mg/l as moderately hard;
• 121 to 180 mg/l as hard; and
• more than 180 mg/l as very hard … (World
Health Organization).

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 Organic chemical Pollutants

• Organic chemicals are mainly industrial products used as pesticides

and herbicides in agriculture and in textile industries.
• These are harmful chemicals with long‐term effects on human
health.

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Contaminants Sources Health effects
Acrylamide Added to water during sewage/ Nervous system or blood
wastewater treatment problems; increased risk of
cancer
Benzene Discharge from factories; Anaemia; decrease in blood
leaching from platelets;
gas storage tanks and landfills increased risk of cancer
Dioxin (2,3,7,8‐TCDD) Emissions from waste Reproductive difficulties;
incineration and increased risk of cancer
other combustion; discharge
from chemical factories

Cont…

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Contaminants Sources Health effects
Alachlor, Atrazine, Diquat, Runoff from herbicide use Cataracts, Stomach and
Endothall, Picloram, Simazine intestinal problems, Liver
problems, Problems with
blood, increased risk of cancer,
Cardiovascular system or
reproductive
problems
Benzo(a)pyrene (PAHs) Leaching from linings of water Reproductive difficulties;
storage tanks and distribution increased risk of cancer
lines
Epichlorohydrin Discharge from industrial Increased cancer risk, and over
chemical factories; an impurity a long period of time, stomach
of some water‐treatment problems
chemicals Cont…
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Contaminants Sources Health effects
Ethylbenzene Discharge from petroleum Liver or kidneys problems
refineries
Lindane Runoff/leaching from Liver or kidney problems
insecticide used on cattle,
lumber, gardens
Methoxychlor Runoff/leaching from Reproductive difficulties
insecticide used on fruits,
vegetables, alfalfa, livestock
Styrene Discharge from rubber and Liver, kidney or circulatory
plastic factories; leaching from system problems
landfills

Cont…
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Contaminants Sources Health effects
Toluene Discharge from petroleum Nervous system, kidney, or liver
factories problems
Vinyl chloride Leaching from PVC pipes; Increased risk of cancer
discharge from plastic factories

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 Parameter indicative of environmental pollution

• There are some parameters of water quality which are measured as

pollution indicators and not as pollutants.
• By testing these parameters, it may be determined whether the
water is linked with a potential source of pollution or not.

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 Parameter indicative of environmental pollution
1. Biological oxygen demand (BOD):
BOD is defined as the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic
biological organisms in a body of water to break down the organic
material present in a water sample, at a specific temperature and
specified period.
• The BOD value is most commonly expressed in
milligrams of oxygen consumed per liter of sample
during 5 days of incubation at 20 °C and is often
used as a surrogate of the degree of organic
pollution of water (BOD5). (Source: Li et al. 2019)
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 Parameter indicative of environmental pollution

• BOD can be used as a gauge of the effectiveness of wastewater

treatment plants. It is listed as a conventional pollutant in the U.S.
Clean Water Act.
• BOD is similar in function to COD in that both measure the amount
of organic compounds in water.
• However, COD is less specific, since it measures
everything that can be chemically oxidized,
rather than just levels of biodegradable organic
matter.

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 Parameter indicative of environmental pollution

2. Chemical oxygen demand (COD): The COD is the estimate of oxygen

required for the portion of organic matter in wastewater that is
subjected to oxidation and also the amount of oxygen consumed by
organic matter from boiling acid potassium dichromate solution.
• COD is a water quality measure used not only to
determine the amount of biologically active
substances such as bacteria but also biologically
inactive organic matter in water.

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 Parameter indicative of environmental pollution

• In a BOD test, only biologically reactive carbon is oxidized while in a

COD test, all organic matter is converted to carbon dioxide.
• The test for COD does not identify the oxidisable material or
differentiate between the organic material and inorganic material
present.
• Similarly, it does not indicate the total organic
carbon present.

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 Parameter indicative of environmental pollution

• The COD test can be performed in 3 hours against 5 days required for
a BOD5 test and hence is very useful.
• The COD test has the advantage of not being subject to interference
from toxic materials.
• The COD test is often used in conjunction with
the BOD test to estimate the amount of non-
biodegradable organic material in a wastewater.

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 Parameter indicative of environmental pollution

3. Dissolved oxygen (DO): Dissolved oxygen (DO) is the amount of

oxygen that is present in water. Water bodies receive oxygen from the
atmosphere and from aquatic plants.
• Running water, such as that of a swift moving
stream, dissolves more oxygen than the still
water of a pond or lake.

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 Parameter indicative of environmental pollution

• Low levels of oxygen (hypoxia) or no oxygen levels (anoxia) can occur

when excess organic materials, such as large algal blooms, are
decomposed by microorganisms. During this decomposition process,
DO in the water is consumed. Low oxygen levels often occur in the
bottom of the water column and affect organisms that live in the
sediments.
• As DO levels drop, some sensitive animals may
move away, decline in health or even die.

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 Parameter indicative of environmental pollution

• DO levels below 3 milligrams per liter (mg/L) are of concern and

waters with levels below 1 mg/L are considered hypoxic and usually
devoid of life.
(Source: EPA-US, National aquatic resource surveys)

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 References
• Industrial Water Resource Management: Challenges and Opportunities for
Corporate Water Stewardship, First Edition. Pradip K. Sengupta, (2018), John
Wiley & Sons Ltd. ISBN 9781119272472
• Daoliang Li, Shuangyin Liu, Water Quality Monitoring in Aquaculture, Water
Quality Monitoring and Management, 2019
• EPA-US, National aquatic resource surveys https://www.epa.gov/national-
aquatic-resource-surveys
• Encyclopedia of Analytical Science (Second Edition), 2005

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Thank You

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