• Naturally accumulate a variety of dissolved solids or salts
• Passes through soil or rocks its way to the sea • Cations: sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium • Anions: chloride, sulfate, bicarbonate • Salinity: concentration of total dissolved solid (TDS) • Fresh water: less than 1500 mg/L, Brackish water: up to 5000 mg/L, Saline water: over 5000 mg/L • Seawater: 30,000 - 34,000 mg/L • Drinking water regulation: 500 mg/L • Evaporation can increase the salinity • Higher than 1500 mg/L will reduce yield of crops. • Thermal pollution • Power plant uses cooling water • Changing ecosystem in the vicinity of the thermal plumes • Less oxygen caused by low solubility and higher activity of bacteria
• Heavy metal • Metal: High thermal and electrical conductivity, reflectivity, ductility, metallic luster • Specific gravity greater than 4 or 5. • Mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic • Kidneys problems • Mercury is very toxic with inhalation into blood stream brain damage • Nondegradable • arsenic • Pesticide • Kill organisms that human consider undesirable • Insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides and fungicides • Three main group in insecticides • Organochlorines, organophosphate, carbamates • DDT • To control insects that carry diseases such as malaria (mosquitos) • Save millions lives worldwide • Human toxicity: relatively low acute toxicity to human • Impact on food chains • Persistent: last long time in environment, soluble: hydrocarbon solvents • Accumulation in top of food chain. • Reproductive success is low for bird
• Organophosphate • insecticides • less persistent • More acute toxicity to human • Rapidly absorbed through skin, lungs and gastrointestinals • Carbamates • Similar to organophosphate • Short-lived in environment • High human toxicity
• Chlorinated hydrocarbon • 2,4-D (defoliants in the Vietnam war)
• Dioxin • Volatile organic chemicals • Commonly found in groundwater • Used as solvents in industrial process • Suspected carcinogens or mutagens • Few 𝜇g/L in surface water but much higher concentration • Air stripping can be applied to atmosphere • Five toxic VOCs:
• Emerging Contaminants • 348,000 regulated chemicals in 2017 • Environmental persistence, relative toxicity or deleterious impact (human and other biota), occurrence frequency and concentration • Improving instrumentation, sampling, and analytic techniques
• Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs)
• Interfering with the hormonal control of development in humans and wildlife • Being or acting like natural hormones • Blocking or counteracting the action of a natural hormones • Increasing or decreasing the production of natural hormones • At present, no firm evidence that environmentally measured concentration of EDCs are causing human health effects but reducing sperm counts and increase of breast and reproductive organ cancer • PFCAs (perfluorocarboxylates) surface treatment • Nanoparticles Status of surface water quality • Beneficial uses of surface water • Aquatic life support, fish consumption, drinking water supply, recreation etc
River Lake Biochemical oxygen demand • The most convenient sewer for industry and municipalities • Bacteria decompose the biodegradable organic matters in aerobic • Produce nonobjectionable, stable end products (CO2, SO4, PO4 NO3) • Organic matter + O2 → CO2 + H2O + New cells + stable products • With insufficient oxygens (anaerobic) • Unstable products (CH4, H2S, NH3) • Organic matter + O2 → CO2 + H2O + New cells + unstable products • Methane is physically stable, biologically degradable, green house gas
• BOD: The amount of oxygen required by microorganisms to oxidize
organic wastes aerobically • Unit mg/L and CBOD and NBOD Five day BOD test • Completely degrade takes several weeks: not practical • Standard practice to measure and report the oxygen demand is 5 days • 5 days, at 20℃ without light • Prevent replenish air to sample • Keep out from light (No algae growth) • Final DO above zero • Measure initial DO and afterDo5i: initial daysDO Dof: after 5 days 𝐷𝑂𝑖 −𝐷𝑂𝑓 P: the dilution fraction=vol. of WW/WW+dilution water • 𝐵𝑂𝐷5 = 𝑃
