Chapter 7 Water Pollution

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Chapter 7
WATER POLLUTION
Environmental Chemistry, 9th Edition

Stanley E. Manahan
Taylor and Francis/CRC Press
2010
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7.1 Nature and Types of Water Pollutants
• See list in Table 7.1
Markers of water pollution that show presence of pollution
sources
• Herbicides indicate agricultural runoff
• Fecal coliform bacteria indicate sewage sources
• Pharmaceutical metabolites in domestic wastewater
Biomarkers of water pollution are organisms that indicate
pollution
• May accumulate pollutants that appear in analysis
• May show effects from pollutant exposure
• Fish lipid tissue accumulates persistent organic pollutants
• Osprey at top of aquatic food web is a good biomarker
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7.2 Elemental Pollutants
Trace elements (harmful at a few parts per million or less)
• See list in Table 7.2
Heavy metals are among most harmful
• Cadmium • Mercury • Lead
• Most are sulfur seekers , disrupt enzyme function.
Metalloids :
• Elements on the borderline between metals and nonmetals
• Metalloids may be significant water pollutants
• Most important is arsenic
• Selenium and antimony can also be harmful
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7.3 Heavy Metals

Cadmium (WHO Guideline: 0.003 mg/L, EPA : 5 ppb)
• Highly toxic
• Chemically very similar to zinc
•From mining and industrial wastes (especially metal plating
Lead (WHO: 0.01 mg/L; EPA: 0.020 mg/L, but 0.015 mg/L action level in schools)
• Widely used and distributed in the past
• Plumbing (lead pipe, solder) used to be a major source
• Uses (such as in gasoline) have been greatly reduced.
Mercury (WHO: 0.006 mg/L, EPA: 0.002 mg/L)
• Highly toxic
• In the body, inorganic Hg is converted to methyl mercury by a vitamin B
analog called methylcobalamine:
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7.4 Metalloids
Arsenic is the most significant
(WHO and EPA: 0.01 mg/L in drinking water )
• From coal combustion
• Occurs with phosphate minerals
• Byproduct of copper, gold, lead refining
• Natural occurrence in some groundwater's
• Formerly in pesticides: Pb3(AsO4)2, Na3AsO3, Cu3(AsO3)2
• Bangladesh tube well poisonings may have affected
millions.
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7.6 Inorganic Species
Cyanide (HCN, CN-)
• Extremely toxic
• Industrial uses including metal cleaning, electroplating
• Produced by coke ovens
• Water pollution and fish kills from mineral processing
• Concern for terrorist attacks on water supplies
Ammonia
• Generally as NH4+, NH3 at high pH
• Added to drinking water for residual disinfection from chlorination
Free carbon dioxide, CO2
• In water from decay of organic matter, geochemical sources
• Makes water corrosive, harmful to aquatic life
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Hydrogen sulfide, H2S
• From industrial sources, decay of organosulfur compounds,
geochemical sources.
• Disgusting odor, very detrimental to water quality, very toxic
• Precipitates heavy metals
Nitrite ion, NO2-, intermediate in reduction of NO3-
•Very toxic, but rare water pollutant
Sulfite ion, SO32-
• Added to water as O2 scavenger
Perchlorate ion, ClO4-
• Industrial pollutant in some cases
• Recognized as a pollutant fairly recently
Asbestos
•Causes cancer when inhaled, often 20 or 30 years after exposure, but
unknown effects in water.
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7.7 Algal Nutrients and Eutrophication
Eutrophication means “well nourished”
Eutrophication in excess is detrimental causing heavy
growth of biomass followed by decay
• Consumes O2
• Fills shallow water bodies
Of numerous algal nutrients (Table 7.3) phosphorus is
generally limiting and is controlled to control eutrophication
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7.8 Acidity, Alkalinity, and Salinity
Acid
• Pollutant acids generally strong acids
• One of the most common is acid mine water (H2SO4)
• Potential industrial sources of pollution
Alkalinity
• Generally due to NaHCO3
• From natural geological sources
• Can be worsened by irrigation practices
Salinity
• Salts such as NaCl and Na2SO4
• Increased in municipal water systems
• Increased by irrigation
• Major problem, especially in heavily irrigated areas
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7.9 Oxygen Depletion.

Dissolved oxygen, DO, is important in water
•Depleted by oxidation of NH4+, Fe2+, SO32-, and especially
biodegradation of biomass, {CH2O}
{CH2O} + O2 → CO2 + H2O
•Biochemical oxygen demand, BOD, refers to amount of

oxygen consumed in a volume of water by the biodegradable
organic matter in it.
•Total organic carbon, TOC, is often substituted for BOD
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Figure 7.3 Oxygen sag curve resulting from the
addition of oxidizable pollutant to a stream
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7.10 Organic Pollutants
Bioaccumulation of Organic Pollutants
Bioconcentration factor (BCF):
Substance concentration in organism
Substance concentration in water
Bioaccumulation factor, BAF, considers pollutant
concentration in food as well as water.
Sewage
• Contains many pollutants including pathogenic
microorganisms, detergents, salts, solids (Table 7.4)
•Most significant pollutant in sewage is biodegradable
organic material ({CH2O}) manifested as biochemical
oxygen demand (BOD)
• Main objective of wastewater treatment is elimination of
BOD (Chapter 8)
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Figure 7.4 Settling of solids from an ocean-floor
sewage discharge
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Soaps, Detergents, and Detergent Builders
Soaps are salts of long-chain fatty acids
• Sodium stearate: C17H35CO2-Na+
• Soaps form spherical micelles which

may entrain water-insoluble grease and
oil particles (right)
• Soap lowers water surface tension
which aids its cleaning action
• Soaps are biodegradable
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Soaps, Detergents, and Detergent Builders
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7.11 Pesticides in Water
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Pesticides and Other Chemicals of Concern for
Water Pollution
1. Highly biodegradation resistant compounds
2. Known or probable carcinogens
3. Toxicants with adverse reproductive or developmental
effects
4. Acutely toxic substances
5. Known groundwater contaminants
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Thermal Pollution :
Thermal effluent is the warm
wastewater produced in factories where
it has been used to cool machines and
equipment.
If the water is too warm upon entry into
the body of water, it can cause the death
of living organisms in the water.
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Environmental Chemistry, 9th Edition

7.3 Heavy Metals

7.9 Oxygen Depletion.

•Biochemical oxygen demand, BOD, refers to amount of

• Soaps form spherical micelles which

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