WATER POLLUTION

- Any contamination of water which alters of the physical,

chemical or biological properties of water that are detrimental to
the ‘whole’ ecosystem e.g., fertilizers and pesticides from
agricultural runoff; sewage and food processing waste; lead,
mercury, and other heavy metals; chemical wastes from
industrial discharges; and chemical contamination from
hazardous waste sites.

- brought about mainly by human activities and natural resources

and which cause harmful effects on terrestrial and aquatic life.
 Sources of pollutants Domestic Industrial
• Natural sources: Release of huge Effluents from
decomposed vegetable, animal quantities of factories, refineries
and weathered products brought municipal and and a number of
into main water resources domestic wastes chemical
• Anthropogenic activities: through drains into industries.
domestic as well as industrial the rivers and Eg., acids, alkalies,
pollution canals. detergents, metals,
• Agricultural discharge: Eg., human faeces, pesticides etc.
pesticides, insecticides, plant kitchen wastes,
nutrients, fertilizers etc. organic water that
• Bacteria, algae, virus also provide nutrition to
cause water pollution. bacteria and fungi.
 Classification of Water Pollutants

1. Oxygen demanding wastes

2. Pathogens (Disease causing agents)
3. Synthetic organic compounds
4. Plant nutrients
5. Inorganic chemicals and minerals
6. Sediments
7. Radioactive substances
8. Thermal discharges
9. Oil
10 VOCs
 1.Oxygen demanding wastes
• Oxidized by bacteria or micro organisms consuming dissolved oxygen in water.
Produce undesirable odour, tastes and reduce the acceptability of water in domestic
supply
• DO Essential for sustaining the plant and animal life in any aquatic system
• Amount of DO in water is reduced because of oxygen demanding wastes that oxidize
in water, reducing the amount of DO
• For e.g., organic substances formed due to death and decay of aquatic/terrestrial
flora and fauna, from municipal waste water or in effluents from certain industries,
like food processing, paper production
• Oxidation of certain inorganic compounds may also contribute to the oxygen demand

Measures of oxygen demand commonly used:

• Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD): measure of biological degradation; most important
measure of the strength of organic pollution
• Chemical Oxygen demand (COD): measure of chemical oxidation
 2. Pathogens (Disease causing agents)
• Grow and multiply within the host
• Carried into the water bodies by sewage and wastes from farm and various industries
• Contaminated water caused by poor sanitation can lead to both, water borne and
water contact diseases.
• have numerous modes of infection
• Examples of pathogens associated with water borne diseases include bacteria, viruses
and protozoa.

Mechanism of infection:
• Larvae attach themselves to human skin, penetrate it and enter the blood stream.
• Escherichia coli (E. coli), belonging to the coliform group is harmless bacteria found in
large number in human faeces. A large concentration of E. coli in water indicates faecal
contamination and evidence of the presence of pathogens.
Table 1:
Diseases
commonly
found in
polluted
water
 3. Synthetic organic compounds

• Pesticides, synthetic organic chemicals and detergents

• Non-biodegradable and persistent
• Accumulative toxic poisons and ultimately reach objectionable levels in
water.

Way to water body: surface run off from agricultural lands, waste
discharge by pesticide manufacturers and by other means.
Classification: Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides,
molluscides etc
 Pesticide Effects
1. Chlorinated hydrocarbons • Persistent
Table 8.8
(DDT (Dichloro diphenyl trichloro ethane) • Bio-accumulate in fatty tissues
Chlordane, Heptachlor, Aldrin, Dieldrin, • Bio-magnifiable
Kepone, Chlorophenoxy compounds) • Produce lives cancers
• Cause birth defects
• Severe neurological damage.
• Contains the impurity dioxin, one of the most potent toxins
known
• Affect the calcium metabolism in predatory birds, resulting
in birds, laying eggs with thin shells and consequent
reproductive failure.
2. Organophosphorus compounds • Non-persistent but damage nervous system
(Parathion, Malathion, Diazinon) • Acute exposure result in slurred speech, muscle twitching
and convulsions

3. Carbonate Pesticides • Acute exposure results in nausea, vomiting, blurred vision

(Propoxur, Carbaryl, Aldicarb) and convulsion
 Detergents – “cleansing agents”
• The basic active ingredient in detergents is the surfactant or surface-active agent having
hydrophobic (hydrocarbon) and hydrophilic (polar) groups.
• Surfactants decrease the surface tension of water so that they can penetrate the surface
and interstices of the object being cleaned.
• Usually contain 10 – 30% surfactant and remaining are polysulphate salts (the builder)
and a number of other ingredients.
• Surfactant concentrations as low as 1 ppm produce foam in rivers and in sewage
treatment plants since non-toxic to humans but imparts off-taste to drinking water.
• It reduces the rate of oxygen absorption in water and may lead to the symptoms similar
to asphyxia in certain kind of fish (trout).
• Till the early 1960s the surfactants present in synthetic detergent was alkylbenzene
sulphonate (ABS). ABS is non biodegradable and cause rivers and sewage treatment
plants to become covered with huge amounts of foams. ABS have been now replaced by
linear alkyl sulphonate (LAS) which is rapidly biodegradable.
 4. Plant nutrients
• Chemicals such as nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon, sulphur, calcium, potassium, iron,
manganese etc. are essential to growth of living things.
• These cause excessive growth of aquatic plants, algal bloom. Algae die and decompose
leading to reduced DO levels.
• The gradual accumulation of silt and organic matter in the lake is known as
eutrophication, which is serious health hazard.
• Eutrophied lake gets shallower and warmer with further growth and decay of algae
and eventually lake turns into a marsh or bog.
• Way to water bodies: through municipal waste water, industrial wastes and runoff
from fertilized lands.
• Nitrites have greater affinity for haemoglobin as compared to oxygen. Thus nitrite
attaches to haemoglobin forming methaemoglobin, producing a condition called
methaemoglobin anemia commonly known as blue baby syndrome. In young babies,
it is extremely fatal. Nitrates can be converted into nitrosamines in the body leading to
gastric cancer.
 5. Inorganic chemicals and minerals
• Includes inorganic salts, mineral acids, finely divided metals or metal compounds,
trace elements, cyanides, organometallic compounds etc. added to the water bodies
through municipal and industrial waste waters and mine runoff.
• Acid Mine Drainage: The mining of sulphur bearing ores containing lead, zinc and
copper lead to acid drainage. Coal mines discharge containing varying amounts of iron
sulphide (pyrite) is also a major cause of acid mine drainage. These discharges release
considerable quantities of sulphuric acid and ferric hydroxide, (which are formed as
result of reactions between air, water and pyrite) into local streams through seepage.

• Soluble Salts: Water naturally accumulates variety of dissolved salts as it passes

through soils and rocks on its way to sea. These salts include cations such sodium,
calcium, magnesium and potassium and anions such as chloride, sulphate and
bicarbonate.
• The concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS) in water less than 500 mg/L TDS -
safer for drinking purpose.
Heavy Metals
• The metals of particular concern in industrial waste waters are cadmium,
chromium lead, mercury, silver, arsenic, aluminium, copper, cobalt,
manganese etc. Some of these, such as chromium and iron, are extremely
toxic in higher doses.

• Metals may be inhaled or may be ingested. These have a range of adverse

impacts on the body, including nervous system and kidney damage,
creation of mutations and induction of tumours. The kidneys contain
millions of excretory units called nephrons and the chemicals that are toxic
to kidneys are called nephrotoxins. Cadmium, lead and mercury are
examples of nephrotoxic metals.
Table 2: Effects of trace metals present in air and water
 6. Sediments
• Sediments include soil, sand and mineral particles washed into the
aquatic environment by storms and flood waters.
• These are sources of organic and inorganic matter in the streams, fresh
water, rivers, and other water bodies.
• Soil particles eroded by running water ultimately find their way into
water reservoirs via ‘siltation’.
• This reduces the storage capacity in dams, etc.
• Blocked sunlight and hence decreased photosynthetic rate of aquatic
plants.
• Evolution of oxygen is decreased.
• Sediments increase the cost of water treatment.
• Sediments enter pumping equipment and power turbines and increase
the turbidity.
 7. Radioactive substances
• Enter into aquatic system through number of human activities involving the
use of naturally occurring or artificially produced radioactive materials.
• Activities such as mining and processing of ores to produce radioactive ores,
e.g, uranium and thorium. The refining of uranium ore is an important source
of radioactive waste, producing radionuclides of radium, bismuth etc.
• From nuclear power plants and from industrial use of radioactive materials
leakage from underground nuclear detonations.
• Use of radio isotopes in medicine, industry, agriculture and research
operations.
• Radioactive substances can enter living organisms with food and water and get
accumulated in blood and certain vital organs like thyroid gland, the liver,
bone and muscular tissues. These may cause cancers, leukemia and eye
cataract.
 8. Thermal Discharges
• Industry and power plants (Coal fired power plants, electric powers, steel and
chemical industries as well as atomic energy plants) use large quantities of
water for cooling purposes and discharged directly into water bodies.
• This results in increase in temperature of the water bodies which is, in general,
called as Thermal Pollution.
• Rise in temperature of water decreases dissolved oxygen content of water
which effects the aquatic life. At 32°F the DO content of water is 12 ppm (100%
Saturation) which is decreased to 6 ppm at 64° F.
• Fishes are killed due to action of heat on nervous system, inactivation of
enzymes and coagulation of cell protoplasm.
• An increase in temperature also increase the toxicity of some chemical
pollutants.
 9. Oil
• Oil and oil wastes are added to the water bodies from industries as
effluents, oil refineries, storage tanks, automobile waste oil and
petrochemical plants.
• It is insoluble in water and hence floats over it as a thin layer.
• Oil may penetrate the feather of the birds and effect their
insulation and buoyancy. Thus birds experience difficulty in
floating and flying.
• The birds may ingest oil while they dive to feed. This ingestion may
produce toxic effects.
• Moreover the oil slick formed on the surface prevents the diffusion
of oxygen into water resulting in decreased concentration of DO.
 10. Volatile Organic Compounds

• Most commonly found contaminants in water.

• Often used as solvents in industrial processes.
• They are volatile and hence their concentrations remain as low
as few micrograms per litre in surface water.
• But in ground water their concentrations can be hundreds or
thousands of times higher.
• These are toxic and their presence in drinking water is cause of
great concern.
Table: Volatile Organic Compounds
WASTE WATER TREATMENT
 Waste water treatment process
Primary treatment -- Removes suspended solids and floating matter using
screens, a grit chamber and sedimentation tank, from which the sludge
goes to a digester.
Secondary treatment -- Wastewater moves into the aeration tank where air
is pumped in and aerobic bacteria break down organic material. The water
goes to a final sedimentation tank which allows more sludge to settle out.
➢Digester uses anaerobic bacteria to digest organic compounds left in the
sedimentation tanks and produces methane in the process. The methane
can be used to run equipment or to cool/heat the processing plant.
Tertiary treatment: Physical, chemical or biological processes depending
upon the impurities to be removed.
Disinfecting the water, usually with chlorine, is the final step in the tertiary
process.
 I. Primary Treatment

Pretreatment Sedimentation

Screening Grit removal

One way to deal with coarse material in waste water is to use a device
called comminuter, which grinds the coarse material in to small pieces
which flow along with water and handled in Sedimentation tank.
 Screening Grit removal
Removes large floating objects After screening, the waste water passes
into a grit chamber

Such as rags, sticks, wood and other Velocity of water is reduced or it is

large floating and suspended solids detained for a few minutes

A typical screen consists of a parallel Grit settling chambers are periodically

steel bars disconnected from the main system to
remove grit manually

Bars spaced anywhere from 2 to 7 cm For possible use in landfilling, road

apart. making and on sludge drying beds.

Followed by a wire mesh screen Grit also is a food manure for growing
crops
 Sedimentation

• From the grit chamber, the sewage passes to a primary settling tank
known as sedimentation basin.
• Here the velocity of the water is reduced considerably to allow most of
the suspended solids to settle out by gravity.
• The most common equipment used include horizontal flow
sedimentation tanks.
• The water is detained in the horizontal flow tanks for 2-3 hours resulting
in removal of 50% of the suspended solid matter.
• An efficient sedimentation tank or clarifier removes about 80-90% of
the suspended solids and 40% of organic matter. The solids that settle
are called primary sludge or raw sludge.
 Sedimentation aids
For the removal of finely divided solids mechanical flocculation or chemical
coagulation is employed.
Mechanical Flocculation Chemical Coagulation

Waste water is passed through a The coagulants react with colloidal

sedimentation tank which is fitted with matter in the sewage to form Floc. The
rotating paddles moving slowly at a floc entraps the smaller particles and
speed of 0.4-0.5 m/s. eventually settles down as sludge.

This slow mechanical stirring allows the Common coagulants used in sewage
finely divided solid particles to coalesce treatment are: alum, copperas, hydrated
into larger particles and settle out. lime, ferric chloride, and chlorinated
copperas.
In industrial waste water, sometimes the primary treatment also includes
equalization and neutralization:
Equalization Neutralization
Sometimes different types of Acidic wastes are neutralized with
wastes are produced by some lime stone and alkaline wastes
industries. To apply uniform are neutralized by treatment with
treatment, different effluents are sulphuric acid or CO2 or waste
held in big tanks for certain periods boiler flue gas.
and are mixed thoroughly to
produce homogeneous equalized
effluent.

If both acid and alkaline wastes are produced in the nearby plants then mutual
neutralization by mixing them is the cheapest method of neutralization.
 II. Secondary Treatment
In waste water much of the organic material is dissolved or in colloidal form which
is not removed by primary treatment. Thus removed by secondary treatment.
secondary treatment is achieved through biological processes:
• Coagulation of the finely divided or colloidal matter.
• Oxidation of organic matter to CO2
• Conversion of nitrogenous organic matter to ammonia, which is eventually
converted into nitrite and nitrate.
• Anaerobic digestion of the sludge so obtained.

Three commonly used approaches are:

(i) Trickling filters
(ii) Activated Sludge Process
(iii) Oxidation Ponds (Lagoons)
 (i) Trickling Filters (Aerobic filteration)
A trickling filter consists of a rotating distribution arm that sprays the liquid over a circular
bed of rocks or other coarse material. Individual rocks get coated with layer of biological
slime (aerobic microorganisms, zooglea-bacteria, algae, protozoa etc.) that absorbs and
consumes wastes through the bed. Biological towers made with plastic media are prevalent.
Advantages
1. Simple to operate and can produce BOD removal to the extent of 65 to
85%.
2. Constant monitoring is not required.
3. Effluents so produced are of better quality.
Limitations
1. Microbial film formed is sensitive to temperature changes.
2. Efficiency of the filter is dependent upon the composition of waste, pH,
size uniformity of the filtering medium & supply of air.
3. Cost of construction is high.
4. Trickling filters are used for treating industrial waste water from dairy,
brewery, food processing, pulp and paper mills, pharmaceuticals,
petrochemicals etc.
 (ii) Activated Sludge Process
Most versatile biological oxidation method, employed for the treatment of waste
water containing organic matter. Mixture of waste water and activated sludge is
agitated and aerated.
The activated sludge is the sludge obtained by settling the sewage in presence
of excess of oxygen.
The activated sludge is biologically active because it is heavily laden with
microorganisms which are in active state of growth.

Activated sludge process

Advantages
1. The primary advantage is good effluent quality. The effluent after going
through activated sludge has little BOD (< 20mg/L)
2. It takes less area as compared to trickling water filters.
3. The activated sludge process equipment is less expensive.

Limitations
1. For the process to be efficient, at least 0.5ppm oxygen must be present.
2. The optimum pH 6.5 to 9.0 has to be maintained throughout.
3. The presence of detergents (which are not biodegradable) lead to the
formation of foam, making the process difficult.
4. The disadvantage of this process is production of a huge amount of
sludge, which should be digested and disposed off.
 (iii) Oxidation Ponds
• Shallow ponds, typically 1-2 m deep
• Organic matter is oxidized by microorganisms present in the pond
• Waste water enter the pond at one end and treated waste water is collected at
the other end
• Decomposition of the organic matter near the surface is aerobic (algal
photosynthesis), anaerobic near the bottom, hence, called facultative ponds
• deeper ponds (lagoons )are mechanically aerated.
Advantages
1. The process is simple and cheap.
2. Can be used for all types of waste waters
3. Due to the high pH of waste water in the pond, the heavy metal ions present
in waste water are precipitated as hydroxides which settle as sludge.

Limitations
1. The oxidation ponds require larger space.
2. Anaerobic conditions may lead to release of bad odours.
3. The main drawback of the above secondary treatment processes is the
formation of sludge.
4. The collection, processing and disposal of sludge can be the most costly and
complex aspect of waste water treatment.
 Sludge Treatment and Disposal

• Sludge is the watery residue from the primary sedimentation tank

and humus tank from secondary treatment. Quantity of sludge
produced may be as high as 2% of the original volume of waste water,
depending upon the treatment process used.
• The traditional method of sludge digestion is anaerobic digestion.
• It involves the microorganisms that thrive in absence of oxygen. The
organic material in sludge is digested by these microorganisms under
Anaerobic conditions to give carbon dioxide and methane gas. The
components of the sewage which can be converted into gases are
called volatile solids.
Sludge digestion in digester:

1 2

Sludge is maintained at 35°C for 30 days at pH 7.0 to 8.0.

CH4, CO2 and NH3 are liberated as the end products. Digested sludge is removed
from the anaerobic digester. This sludge contains 90 to 93% water and is
dewatered.
• Dewatering is accomplished by mechanical methods, the most common being
centrifugation and filtration, which includes pressure filtration and vacuum
filtration. Drying beds are also commonly used.
• The dewatered sludge is sent for ultimate disposal. Wet sludge is sprayed on to
crop land where it functions as fertilizer.
• Dried sludge may be used as a landfill or a soil conditioner.
 III. Tertiary Treatment
• The emphasis on recovery of valuables from industrial wastewaters have created
the need for tertiary treatment.
• Tertiary treatment improves the quality of the effluent further.
• The effluent after secondary treatment plant still contains suspended solids (20-
40mg/L) which may settle on the stream or river bed and inhibit certain forms of
aquatic life.
• Some amount of BOD, significant amount of nutrients, dissolved solids, traces of
organic chemicals and other contaminants are also present.
Type of tertiary treatment depends upon the specific goal which include removal of:
1. suspended solids
2. bacteria
3. dissolved organic solids
4. toxic substances
5. nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen)
 (i) Removal of suspended solids (Micro-straining):
•This can be achieved by micro-straining.
•The filter media consists of finely woven stainless steel fabric.
•The treated waste is allowed to pass through it.
•The solids retained on the fabric are washed into a trough, which
recycles the solids to the sedimentation tank.

(ii) Removal of dissolved solids

a) Adsorption: Dissolved solids can be organics or inorganics which are
removed by adsorption on activated carbon. Special adsorbents are
commercially available for the removal of toxic heavy metals from
industrial waste water.
b) Solvent Extraction: Used to recover phenolic materials from waste
waters of refineries and coke plants. waste water is intimately brought in
contact with a solvent having high affinity for the solute.
c) Ion Exchange: Used to remove hardness and iron and manganese salts
from drinking water. This technique has been extended to waste water
treatment for the removal and recovery of waste during water treatment.
d) Reverse Osmosis: When waste water containing dissolved solids is
allowed to pass through a semi-permeable membrane at a pressure,
which is more than osmotic pressure, the water from the waste passes
through the membrane. Hence a highly concentrated solution containing
dissolved salts is left behind.
e) Chemical precipitation: The precipitating agents like lime etc. remove
heavy metal ions by precipitating these as hydroxides. Precipitating
agents include FeSO4 , alum and ferric chloride.
 (iii) Removal of Nutrients
(a)Nitrogen Removal: All forms of nitrogen in wastewater are harmful because
plants can utilize the inorganic forms as nutrients, NH3 can be utilized by bacteria
resulting in reduced oxygen in water.
• Ammonia stripping: Ammonia is present in natural water as ammonium ion. This
NH4 is changed to ammonia gas by raising the pH (the OH– concentration) of the
waste water by adding quick lime. The ammonia gas is liberated.
NH4+ + OH NH3 + H2O

• Another approach of nitrogen removal is nitrification i.e. to convert NH4+ to NO3– ,

followed by anaerobic stage in which microorganisms convert nitrates to nitrogen
gas (N2).
bacteria
NH4+ + 2O2 NO3- + 2H+ + H2O
2NO3- + organic matter N2 + CO2 + H2O
(b) Phosphorus Removal (Chemical precipitation): Phosphorus is present
in the form of orthophosphates (H2PO4–, HPO42- and PO43-). Phosphates are
removed by adding coagulants usually alum [Al2(SO4)3] or lime [Ca(OH)2].

Al2 (SO4)3 + 2PO43- 2AlPO4 + 3SO42-

3Ca(OH)2 + 2PO43- Ca3(PO 4)2 + 3H2O + O2

(iv) Removal of bacteria

▪Chlorination (already discussed in Ist Semester)
▪Bacteria are removed by retaining the effluents in maturation ponds or
lagoons for specified period of times.
 Raw waste water BOD - 200ppm
(primary treatment) NH4+ - 30ppm
PO4- - 25ppm
Undissolved & settleable
solids, grease and sugar
removed
Primary sludge Effluent for secondary treatment
Air CO2
Sludge
thickening/ Activated sludge

Return
sludge
drying

Sedimentation
Anaerobic
digestion/ Biological
incineration towers

BOD - 25ppm
Solid disposal Effluent to
NH4+ - 20ppm
receiving water
PO4- - 25ppm

Primary & secondary treatment of municipal waste water

Any questions?