Addis Ababa University

Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction &

City Development (EiABC)

Course: Environmental Planning

Program: B.Sc in COTM

Lecture-7 & 8
 Presentation Content

Environmental Quality and Pollution Management

Introduction
Pollution, sources and its impact
Human activities on water resources,
Protection of surface and ground water resources
from point and diffuse sources of pollution,
Environmental impacts of dams and Reservoirs
 Brain storming

What is Pollution?
Which are Major Pollution Sources?
what Construction activities pollute the Environment?
Is Construction Management part of Pollution mgt?
If so How and if not why?
 Introduction
Pollution? The process of degrading the quality of a given natural
resource with unwanted materials or particles
Generally Pollution sources categorized in to two:

1. Point source- with defined source e.g. septic tanks, WWTPs (waste water
treatment plants)

2. Non-point sources- with no defined source e.g. Storm water

Sources of Pollution?

1. Domestic activities

2. Institutions

3. Commercial activities

4. Industries

5. Agriculture
 Principles of Pollution Management (Best Approach)

Reduction at the source Re-use Recycle Disposal

Impacts of Pollution
Impacts on:

water resource degradation- e.g. water borne diseases,

reduce the strength of concrete/mortar (cement + water +
aggregates)

Air resource degradation- degrading air quality e.g.

Respiratory diseases

Soil resource degradation- e.g. reduce soil productivity, soil

structure failures, reduce the strength of concrete/mortar
(cement + water + aggregates)

 Generally, it leads to Global warming

 Human activities on water resources

• Environment - the complex web of inter-relationships between abiotic

(non living)and biotic (living) components which sustain all life on earth,
including the social/health aspects of human group existence. Thus,
this complex nature easily affects the water resource if care is not given

• The combination of construction (dams, wing dams, and other river

training structures) and operations and maintenance continue to affect
the water resource systems
• The major threats to water resources in lakes, rivers and wetlands come in several
forms, among them:
• Eutrophication,
• Salinization and

• Pollution from industrial effluents and chemical spills, and

• Extend to broader ecosystem concerns, including:

 Exotic weed infestation

 Loss of fish population

 Habitat destruction, and
 Loss of biodiversity

 Most of these caused by human activity

• Besides:
o Introduction of unknown/new fish species,
o De-vegetation of catchment areas,
o Use of pesticides, and
o Disposal of wastes driven by a variety of competing human
needs, have severely impacte the water resource
• The fundamental issue facing water resources does not appear to be one of
water availability only, but also of human factors.
• These human factors are related to:
 the governance of the available water resources,

 legislative and institutional frameworks,

 overexploitation and pollution of the resources,

 conflict and political instability,

 inadequate technical know-how and institutional capacity, and

 low priority given to water in terms of human resources and budgetary

allocations.
o For example, certain water-scarce regions in northern Africa have succeeded in
providing water resources to large segments of their population,
o while other parts of Africa with abundant water occurrence, such as Central
Africa, have limited water supply coverage (<50% of the population).
• The following factors causes serious quality degradation
of surface and groundwater:

 Fast population growth

 Uncontrolled urbanization and industrialization

 Poor sanitation situation

 Uncontrolled waste disposal

 etc
 Table-Summary of human activities on water resources.

Distribution category: P – point; D – diffuse; L – linear

Main types of pollutant: F – faecal pathogens; N – nutrients; O – organic compounds including chlorinated
solvents or aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX); P – pesticides; M – metals; S – salinity; A – acidification
Relative hydraulic loading: + to ++ (increasing importance; relative volume or impact of water entering with pollution load
By-pass of soil zone: + to ++ (with completeness of by-pass of soil and depth of penetration into unsaturated
and saturated zones)
Protection of surface and ground water resources from point and
diffuse sources of pollution
• Groundwater pollution can be described as degrading of water quality
for any usage. Sources of pollution are grouped into two as natural
pollution and man-made pollution

I. Naturally Occurring Groundwater Pollution includes:

Sea Water Intrusion: if groundwater is overexploited, sea water moves to

the aquifer and quality of groundwater starts to deteriorate. Salt
concentration increases

Lake – River- Aquifer Relations: In hydraulic cycle, lake, river and

aquifer affect each other. That’s why, if any of them is polluted, that
pollution makes negative impact on the others
II. Groundwater Pollution Produced By Human Activities
• Pollution sources produced by human activities can be grouped into
three general categories. These are:

Municipal,

Industrial and

Agricultural disposal

A. Municipal disposal
• Pollution sources may be point sources or non-point sources

• In developing country, point sources are mainly municipal disposal due

to fewer services such as poor sewerage systems
B. Industrial Disposal
• Because many factories have been constructed on the aquifer systems
and unfiltered waste water has been infiltrated to groundwater, heavy
metals released in to the groundwater
• In order to minimize water pollution, waste water treatment plants have
to be constructed
• Besides, waste water should be stored in the waste water dam

• Seepage to the aquifer should be prevented or after treatment polluted

water can be conveyed to disposal area
c. Agricultural Pollutants
• The use of pesticide and fertilizer is growing due to agricultural activities

 This causes water pollution (surface as well as ground water).

• To prevent pollution, the sources of pollution should be controlled

• Especially, groundwater recharge area must be protected and the usage

of chemicals must be prohibited in that area
• Non-point pollution caused by fertilizers and pesticides used in
agriculture, often dispersed over large areas, is a great threat to fresh
groundwater ecosystems
• Intensive use of chemical fertilizers in farms and indiscriminate disposal
of human and animal waste on land result in leaching of the residual
nitrate causing high nitrate concentrations in groundwater
 • Groundwater contamination

When compared to surface water pollution, ground water pollution occurs in the long
run.
 ground water contamination is the degradation of natural water quality
as a result of human activities, and
 pollution occurs when contaminant concentration levels restrict the
potential use of groundwater.
 Groundwater remediation aims to reduce contaminant concentrations
to below the threshold standard for the intended use.
Human activities and Environmental pollution
• Point source of pollution: a pollution where their source or origin of
contaminants is known such as:

Treatment plants,

Domestic activities,

Toilets,

Sewerage systems,

Industries,

Health centers,

Garages.
Non-point (diffuse source pollution):
 These are those pollutants whose source/origin is not known such as storm
water drainage because it has no defined origins.

Water pollution have continued to generate unpleasant implications for health

and economic development,

The concern for increases in the level of pollutants in surface and

groundwater is justified since a large proportion of rural and urban dwellers
obtain domestic water, and:
 sometimes drinking water from ponds,

 streams and
 shallow wells.

leachates from such waste dumps may contain organic and

inorganic toxic pollutants which may flow laterally or percolate through

permeable soil strata and pollute surface or groundwater.
 Environmental impacts of Dams and Reservoirs
 Dams or reservoirs are temporary water storing structures either for
domestic, Energy or Agricultural purposes
Environmental effects

• Environmental effects are of increasing concern in the planning and

management of water-resources projects during construction

• The creation of reservoirs usually has a very important influence on

ecology

• In the case where the storage volume is large in relation to annual runoff,

eutrophication can have a significant impact on the quality of the water in

the reservoir because of long residence times

• The reservoir exerts a great influence on the temperature
and oxygen content of the release water

• The regulation of flow will also change the nature of land

use downstream of the reservoir

• The increase in water use usually results in an increase in

the amount of waste water that may lower the quality of
water in the receiving river
• However, reservoirs also cause changes that have beneficial effects.
In many cases, the environment in the vicinity of reservoirs and
downstream has been greatly improved by providing:
 Recreation,
 Aesthetic,
 Ecological and

 Health benefits.

• It is of primary importance to assess continuously all environmental

effects of storage reservoirs and dams to provide monitoring facilities
for measuring environmental factors both before and after
construction.
 Environmental degradation
For countries relying on hydropower generation for their electricity
supply, environmental degradation is a serious concern

Hydropower generation requires the reliable water for most of the time
(wet and dry seasons)

Degradation of the catchment area’s environment results in the decline

of springs, streams and rivers with catastrophic consequences for
human welfare and environmental integrity

Pollution of water resources is also a great concern as it is a threat to

both the environment as well as availability of freshwater.
Poor land use practices (e.g. unmanaged high construction) have resulted in
sedimentation of river channels, lakes and reservoirs and changes in
hydrological processes.

Deterioration of the quality of water resources resulting from further increases

in nutrient loads from irrigation (irrigated agriculture) and

the domestic, industrial and mining sectors has also significantly depleted
available fresh water resources and increased water scarcity.

Increased human activities lead to the exposure of the water environment to a

range of chemical, microbial and biological pollutants, as well as micro-
pollutants.

The mining and industrial sectors in particular produce high concentrations of

waste and effluents that act as non-point sources of water quality degradation,
including acid mine drainage which pollutes groundwater resources.
Africa’s water resources are thus already facing serious risks from
development pressures.

Large dams (over 60 meters high) have been built on many basins such
as the Nile, Volta and Zambezi rivers for water supply and power
generation, and

The construction of dams has caused significant changes in the flow

regimes of rivers resulting in negative impacts on the environment and
loss of ecosystems functioning.

Hence there is need for a balance between water resources

development and ecosystems degradation due to water resources
development.
prevention

Water wells protected by adequate seal can not be polluted.

At the same time, this protection is useful for well casing.

Properly located, designed, constructed and maintained wells can be

used for water supply.

Integrated water shed management

Pollution control at the source.

Pollution Prevention Hierarchy - Pollution should be prevented or
reduced at source whenever feasible.

Pollution that cannot be prevented should be recycled in an

environmentally safe manner whenever feasible.

Pollution that can not be prevented or recycled should be treated in an

environmentally safe manner whenever feasible, and

Disposal or the release into the environment should be employed only as

a last alternative and should be conducted in an environmentally safe
manner.
Thank you