Water Pollution - Global Environmental Issues and Control Measures

Hydrosphere in the universe contains water in the form of oceans, rivers, lakes, tanks and many other water sources. 

Water Pollution - Global Environmental Issues and Control Measures

Water sources in the world are of two types.

They are (1) Marine water bodies and (2) Fresh Water bodies.

Water is a good solvent for many substances. Because of this property water cannot exist in its pure form at many parts of the world. Water pollution is mainly because of sewage, industrial disposals i.e., effluents.

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Parameters of Water Pollution

Chemical examination of water (tests): pH; Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), etc are some of the chemical tests to find the stage of pollution of water.

1. pH: The value of pH gives the degree of acidity or alkalinity of polluted water. Determination of pH is important in calculating the coagulant (thick or thin) dose.

2. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD): It is defined as the quantity of oxygen utilized by micro organisms at a temperature of 20oC, generally measured for 5 days. When water is polluted by unwanted materials, naturally the O2 content gets reduced and that water become not fit for consumption either by human beings or animals or plants.

Living organisms require water with some quantity of sustainable oxygen in it. That oxygen is necessary for living organisms is generally called BOD. If there is reduction in oxygen content of water, it becomes unfit for biological consumption because there is change in BOD.

Common Types of Water Pollutants

A) Based on sources B) Based on natures

A) Based on sources

a) Disease causing agents: Bacteria, viruses, protozoan that enter water from domestic sewage and animal wastes.

b) Water soluble inorganic chemicals: Acids, salts and compounds of toxic metals such as Lead, Mercury can make water unfit to drink, harm fishes and other aquatic life. Also Nitrate, Phosphate compounds dissolve in water that can cause excessive growth of algae, which then die and decay, depleting dissolved O2 in water and killing fish.

c) Water Soluble Organic chemicals: Oil, gasoline (a type of oil is obtained from petroleum), pesticides, detergents and many other water soluble chemicals that threaten human health and harm fish.

d) Heat: Large quantity of water is heated when it is used in the cooling towers of thermal power plants. When this hot water is discharged into the nearby water bodies, it causes an increase in its temperature.

e) Sewage: sewage is waste water from municipal area where there is human habitation. Sewage which comes from homes is called domestic sewage

B) Based on natures

In nature water pollution is classified into three types by Kimball (1975). They are:

1. Domestic water pollution: Sewage is a part of domestic water pollution. Domestic sewage not only contains unwanted waste materials, but it is also infested with harmful bacteria, virus etc. These are responsible for causing diseases in animals and human beings, if they drink this polluted water and even plants may die if polluted water is provided. Domestic water pollution leads to Diarrhea, Cholera and Typhoid in human beings.

2. Agricultural Water Pollution: Water require for plants for its growth. Major irrigation, minor irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, drip irrigation, lift irrigation carry waste substances and causing water pollution in addition to the utilization of fertilizer and pesticides. Agricultural water pollution leads to Eutrophication & Water Bloom.

Ecological effects

The important troubling ecological impacts are:

1. Excessive nutrients in water bodies promote plant growth which leads to a drop in water quality;
2. Disruption of the natural ecosystem E.g. lack of oxygen for shelf marine life (causing a drop in their population).
3. Decrease in the recreational and aesthetic value of water bodies
4. Health problems when it occurs in drinking water reserves
5. Coral reef decline
6. Decreased biodiversity,
7. Changes in species composition and dominance, and
8. Toxicity effects.
9. Toxic phytoplankton species
10. Decreases in water transparency (increased turbidity)
11. Color, smell, and water treatment problems
12. Dissolved oxygen depletion
13. Increased incidences of fish kills
14. Loss of desirable fish species

Industrial water pollution

Many industries discharge waste materials containing harmful chemicals. Such Industrial wastes are called effluents. The river Godavari is polluted because of effluents released by the paper industry. It affects the entire water ecosystem causing enormous damage to fishes, prawns and fresh water animals.
Eg: Minamata disease & Fluorosis.

Minamata : Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, narrowing of the field of vision and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma, and death follow within weeks of the onset of symptoms.

Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Japan in 1956. It was caused by the release of methyl mercury from, the Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968. This highly toxic chemical bio- accumulated in shellfish and fish in Minamata

Bay which when eaten by the local people resulted in mercury poisoning. While cat, dog, pig, and human deaths continued over more than 30 years, the government and company did little to prevent the pollution.

Fluorosis : People suffer from a disease called fluorosis after consuming water containing fluorine for sufficiently a long time. Quantity of fluoride in water is only 1 ppm. Diseases caused by fluorosis are:
  • Back pain and cannot easily bend.
  • Joints get stiffened as so movement of joints is impaired.
  • Teeth are the worst effected and a brown coating appears on the enamel
  • of teeth giving bad appearance.
  • Persons with fluorosis cannot erect freely.

Control Measures of Water Pollution

1. Drinking water should be boiled, cooled and then used.
2. Disinfection of drinking water should be done by using chemicals like bleaching powder.
3. Pesticides and insecticides should be prevented from nearby use of water lakes,ponds and pools.
4. Drainage water should not be allowed to mix with drinking water.
5. Drainage system should be maintained properly.
6. Chlorination process is to be adopted for drinking water. For 1 litre of water 30 - 40 mg of chlorine is to be added to get perfect disinfection. It kills bacteria, fungi, fungal spores and other microbes also.

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