Pollution Part 2

Water Pollution

 Water pollution occurs when harmful substances—often chemicals or

microorganisms—contaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other
body of water, degrading water quality and rendering it toxic to humans or
the environment.

 Water pollution can be broadly divided into 2 types, i.e. freshwater and
marine water pollution

Types of water pollution

Surface Water Pollution : This is the type of pollution that is most common to us as
it is the most visible. This is what we see floating in rivers, oceans, and lakes in the
form of plastic bottles, trash, oil, and other chemicals. Fracking is a more recent
contributor to surface water pollution in our local waterways.

Microbial Pollution : Microbial pollution relates to viruses, bacteria, and protozoa

found in water. These are naturally occurring organisms that can be very dangerous.
Examples of these are E.coli, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium. Microbial pollution is a
particular problem for those in developing countries that don’t have water
treatment plants or any form of water sterilization.

Microbial pollution is commonly caused by:

 Landfill

 Animal waste

 Sewage that isn’t properly dealt with

 Industrial sources like paper and food processing factories and slaughter
houses

Groundwater Pollution : It is commonly caused by chemical pesticides and

herbicides used in agriculture. It is caused by these pollutants being washed away
and leaking into underground aquifers and wells from which we source drinking
water. This kind of pollution is becoming more commonplace due to our reliance on
more “productive” farming techniques that give greater yields. These chemicals are
particularly problematic for those with private well water supplies. A good water
filter is highly recommended for those whose water isn’t tested by local authorities.

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Chemical Pollution

 Chemical run-off from farms, factories, and industrial plants is flows into
rivers, lakes, groundwater, and seas. Many of these chemicals are just
emerging as being hazardous to our health and are particularly hard to
identify and protect against.

 Local animals are killed by these chemicals and their habitats destroyed. A
further consequence is that the toxins that they ingest can be transferred to
humans when we consume them as meat in the supermarket.

 Pesticides, metals, solvents, and petroleum are all common chemical run-off
that can be detected in water ways across the country.

 The most recognizable form of chemical pollution to us would be oil spills,

which are never far from the media. But, this type of pollution goes on every
day on a smaller scale much closer to home.

Oxygen Depletion Pollution

In order for a natural water habitat to remain healthy and self sustaining it requires a
certain level of oxygen to be present. When excessive levels of biodegradable
substances are present in a body of water, the number of microorganisms that feed
on this waste increases too. In turn, they use up the available oxygen in the water.
When oxygen levels drop, the harmless aerobic microorganisms die and more
harmful anaerobic microorganisms start to take over. These can produce things such
as ammonia and sulfide which can be hazardous to our health. A lack of oxygen in
water can also be dangerous for animals like fish.

Nutrient Pollution
Nutrient pollution is caused by fertilizers and waste water which contain nutrients
that promote the growth of plants. By increasing the amount of water plants like
algae, the oxygen in the water can be severely depleted. Oxygen depletion can be
really harmful to an ecosystem.Like in case of eutrophication.

Suspended Matter Pollution

This happens when pollutants don’t mix or dissolve into the water. It results in large
particles that form a layer on the waterbed. This layer prevents plants and animals
that live on the seabed or at the bottom of lakes and rivers from getting nutrients. It
also changes the landscape and environment that they are so used to.

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Oil Spills
Oil spills include any spill of crude oil or oil distilled products (e.g., gasoline, diesel
fuels, jet fuels, kerosene,solvent, hydraulic oils, lubricating oils) that can pollute the
surface of the land, air, and water environments. Oil spill pollution may comprise a
variety of amounts starting with one or more gallons of oil and up to millions or even
hundreds of millions of gallons spilled. The term is usually associated with the oil
spills in the ocean and coastal waters. Depending on where and how an oil spill
occurs, it will have distinct environmental effects. For example: a marine oil spill is
usually degraded fast since water is an excellent medium for dispersion, emulsifying
and microbial degradation processes. If released in the water, oil and oil products
tend to accumulate at the surface of the water and float on the water. Small oil
droplets may also form which may increase the surface contact with water and also
the natural biodegradation of the spilled oil an oil spill on the land may penetrate
underground and move downward reaching eventually the groundwater. However,
such vertical movement may be slowed done if not prevented by the presence of
paved surfaces, natural clay layers or other natural or anthropogenic barriers. Oil
may also move laterally along less permeable layers (including surface pavements) or
with groundwater and surface waters an oil spill in the underground (such as from
pipelines or underground storage tank leaking) will likely affect the groundwater
since the vertical traveling distance is reduced. Such spill may also result in oil
residuals that could be entrapped underground constituting a secondary source of
groundwater pollution.

How Does Oil Spill Pollution Affect Us?

These organic compounds may affect the wildlife (including fish and
birds) and humans in various ways:

Directly by direct contact with the skin - some of the oil components could
be irritants to the skin and may also penetrate into our bodies via skin absorption
through inhalation - many individual components of oil are volatile and thus may
easily evaporate and while breathing can enter our bodies. Some less volatile
compounds (such as PAHs) may adsorb on dust and other small particulate matter
suspended in the breathing air and may get into our bodies through inhalation of
small particulate matter from the air through ingestion of contaminated water
and/or particles through emitted odors.

Indirectly by consuming contaminated food by disrupting professional and/or

recreational activities due to the oil pollution in certain areas by decreased property
values from the affected areas - it is logical to imagine the drops in house values in a
polluted area; aesthetically - by visual alteration of marine, beach and many other

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environments (where the oil spill occurred) overall economic impact - in the
community affected by the oil spill

Oil Spill Causes

Natural causes - such as oil that seeps from the bottom of oceans which enters the
marine environment. Crude oil is formed during long periods of time through natural
processes involving organic matter from dead organisms. Thus, oil exists in many
environments and may be naturally spilled due to various factors (including climatic
conditions, disturbance, etc.). Such natural oil spills may occur in oceans, due to
eroding of sedimentary rocks from the bottom of the ocean.

Anthropogenic causes - including accidental oil spills as well as leaks and spills due to
a large variety of human activities related to oil refining, handling and transport,
storage and use of crude oil and any of its distilled products.

Sources of water pollution

 Sewage is another name for waste water from domestic and industrial
processes.

 Agricultural processes such as uncontrolled spreading of slurries and manure,

tillage, ploughing of the land, use of pesticides and fertilizers can cause water
pollution.

 Radioactive waste is another source of water pollution. Radioactive

substances are used in nuclear power plants, industrial, medical and other
scientific processes. They can be found in watches, luminous clocks,
television sets and x-ray machinery. There are also naturally occurring
radioisotopes from organisms and within the environment. If not properly
disposed of, radioactive waste can result in serious water pollution incidents.

 River dumping

 Marine Dumping : The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) estimates that a
staggering amount of waste enters into the sea every year. Part of this is due
to deliberate dumping of waste into coastal waters. Other sources of waste
at sea include plastics and other materials blown or washed from land.

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Effects of Pollution of Water
Diseases : In humans, drinking or consuming polluted water in any way has many
disastrous effects on our health. It causes typhoid, cholera, hepatitis and various
other diseases.

Destruction of Ecosystems : Ecosystems are extremely dynamic and respond to even

small changes in the environment. Water pollution can cause an entire ecosystem to
collapse if left unchecked.

Eutrophication : Chemicals in a water body, encourage the growth of algae. These

algae form a layer on top of the pond or lake. Bacteria feed on this algae and this
decreases the amount of oxygen in the water body, severely affecting the aquatic life
there.

Effects the food chain : Disruption in food chains happens when toxins and
pollutants in the water are consumed by aquatic animals (fish, shellfish etc) which
are then consumed by humans.

Prevention

 The best way to prevent large-scale water pollution is to try and reduce its
harmful effects. There are various small changes we can make to protect
ourselves from a scary future where water is scarce.

 Conserving water is our first aim. Water wastage is a major problem globally
and we are only now waking up to the issue. Simply small changes you can
make domestically will make a huge difference.

 Better treatment of sewage: So treating waste products before disposing of it

in a water body helps reduce water pollution on a large scale. Agriculture or
other industries can reuse this waste water by reducing its toxic contents.

 Use environmentally friendly products: By using soluble products that do not

go on to become pollutants, we can reduce the amount of water pollution
caused by a household.

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National Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NWMP)
Government of India enacted the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act
1974 to maintain wholesomeness of aquatic resources. The act prescribes various
functions for the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at the apex level and State
Pollution Control Boards at the state level.

The water quality monitoring is performed with following main objectives in mind:

 For rational planning of pollution control strategies and their prioritization;

 To assess nature and extent of pollution control needed in different water

bodies or their part;

 To evaluate effectiveness of pollution control measures already is existence;

 To evaluate water quality trend over a period of time;

 To assess assimilate capacity of a water body thereby reducing cost on

pollution control;

 To understand the environmental fate of different pollutants.

 To assess the fitness of water for different uses.

Difference in BOD and COD

 BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) means the amount of oxygen (in mg/l)
microorganisms like bacteria need to 'eat' the organic pollution (sugars, fat,
proteins, ...). Note that not all pollution can be removed (eaten) by bacteria.
BOD value in polluted water is normally higher than the fresh water.
Increased BOD can be resulted due to domestic sewage, petroleum residues
and wastes of animals and crops.

 COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) is the amount of oxygen required to

degenerate all pollution in a chemical way (by adding oxidizing agents and
heating). In general with chemical destruction you can remove more
pollution than with the biological way.

 As BOD is only a measurement of consumed oxygen by aquatic

microorganisms to decompose or oxidize organic matter and COD refers the
requirement of dissolved oxygen for the oxidation of organic and inorganic
constituents both. Hence COD must be greater than BOD.

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Water Quality Trend
The water quality monitoring results obtained during 1995 to 2012 indicate that the
organic and bacterial contamination are continued to be critical in water bodies. This
is mainly due to discharge of domestic waste water mostly in untreated form from
the urban centres of the country. The municipal corporations at large are not able to
treat increasing load of municipal sewage flowing into water bodies without
treatment. Secondly the receiving water bodies also do not have adequate water for
dilution. Therefore, the oxygen demand and bacterial pollution is increasing day by
day. The water quality monitoring results were analysed with respect to indicator of
oxygen consuming substances (Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand) and indicator of
pathogenic bacteria (Total coliform and Faecal coliform). The result of such analysis
shows that there is gradual degradation in water quality. The number of
observations having BOD and Coliform density has increased during 1995 to 2012.

Phytoremediation
It is the direct use of living green plants for in situ, or in place, removal, degradation,
or containment of contaminants in soils, sludges, sediments, surface water and
groundwater.

Phytoremediation is:
1. A low cost, solar energy driven cleanup technique.

2. Most useful at sites with shallow, low levels of contamination.

3. Useful for treating a wide variety of environmental contaminants.

4. Effective with, or in some cases, in place of mechanical cleanup methods.

Clean Ganga

 National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

 NMCG is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act 1860.

 NMCG has a two tier management structure and comprises of Governing

Council and Executive Committee (both are headed by Director General,
NMCG).

 Executive Committee is authorized to accord approval for all projects up to

Rs. 1000 crore.

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  Similarly, the State Programme Management Groups (SPMGs) acts as
implementing arm of State Ganga Committees. It attempts to bring all
stakeholders on one platform to take a holistic approach towards the task of
Ganga cleaning and rejuvenation.

Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) is an engineering approach to water treatment where all
water is recovered and contaminants are reduced to solid waste.

Water Pollution diseases

 Arsenic Poisoning

 Flurosis

 Itai-Itai

 Blue Baby Syndrome

Jal Kranti Abhiyan

Objective
Creating awareness on aspects of water security and water conservation

Scheme

 Strengthening grass root involvement of all stakeholders including

Panchayati Raj Institutions and local bodies in the water security and
development schemes e.g. Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM);

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  Encouraging the adoption/utilization of traditional knowledge in water
resources conservation and its management

 To utilize sector level expertise from different levels in government, NGO’s,

citizens etc.

 Enhancing livelihood security through water security in rural areas

Components

 Jal Gram Yojana

 Development of Model Command Area

 Pollution abatement

 Mass Awareness Programme

Neeranchal National Watershed Project

The development objective of the Neeranchal National Watershed Project for India
is to support integrated watershed management program (IWMP) through technical
assistance to improve incremental conservation outcomes and agricultural yields for
communities in selected sites, and adoption of more effective processes and
technologies into the broader IWMP in participating states.

Watershed : A watershed describes an area of land that contains a common set of

streams and rivers that all drain into a single larger body of water, such as a larger
river, a lake or an ocean.