Water Pollution and Treatment

Water Pollution
• Water pollutants includes
– Heavy metals
– Sediment
– Certain radioactive isotopes
– Heat
– Fecal coliform bacteria
– Phosphorus
– Nitrogen
– Pathogenic bacteria and viruses
 Water Pollution
• Primary water pollution problem is the lack
of clean, disease free drinking water.
( Sanitary water)
• Quality of water determines its potential
uses.
• All segments of society may contribute to
water pollution.
 Water Pollution
• Increasing population often results in the
introduction of more pollutants.
– As well as demands on finite water resources
• EPA sets thresholds and limits on some but
not all pollutants
– 700 identified drinking water contaminants
 Dissolved Oxygen
• Bacteria in streams decompose dead organic matter
and this uses oxygen.
– Larger amount of bacterial activity = little oxygen in the
water available to fish and other organisms
– Can be reduced to levels so low that all other organisms
die
– High Bacteria cause a high Biochemical Oxygen
Demand (BOD – common water quality metric).
– Dissolved oxygen content of less than 5 mg/l of water is
considered “polluted”
 Biochemical Oxygen Demand
(BOD)
• When a spill takes place three zones are
identified:
– 1. A pollution zone, where a high BOD exists.
– 2. An active decomposition zone, where the
dissolved oxygen content reaches a minimum.
– 3. A recovery zone, where the dissolved oxygen
increases and the BOD is reduced.
 Fecal Coliform Bacteria
• Escherichia coli (E. coli)
– Responsible for human illness and death
– Eating contaminated food or drink
• Presence of fecal coliforms may also
indicate presence of
– Virus like hepatitis
• Pakistan’s water crisis goes beyond just physical scarcity
and lack of availability; its water resources are also
heavily polluted. More than two-thirds of households
drink bacterially contaminated water and water-borne
diseases, such as cholera and dysentery, are common.
Similarly, only 56 per cent of Pakistanis have access to
safe drinking water, while 30 per cent of diseases and 40
per cent of deaths are linked to unclean water. The
situation is worse in rural Pakistan, where 70 per cent of
the population has no access to clean water at all.
 Nutrients
• Two important nutrients that cause water
pollution are phosphorous and nitrogen
– Highest levels found in agricultural areas in
response to fertilizer use and presence of
agricultural animal waste
 Eutrophication
• The process by which a body of water
develops a high concentration of nutrients.
– Cause a large growth in aquatic plants and
photosynthetic bacteria and algae.
– The bacteria and algae then die
– As they decompose BOD increases
– Oxygen content is sufficiently low and all other
organisms die
 Oil
• Oil discharged into surface water has
caused major pollution problems.
• Large spills make headlines, but normal
shipping activities probably release more oil
over a period of years than is released by a
single spill.
 Sediment
• Sediment consisting of rock and mineral
fragments
– Ranging in size from gravel (>2mm) to finer
sand, silt and clay to even finer particles
– Cause sediment pollution
– By volume and mass, greatest water pollutant
 Sediment
• Two fold problem
– Results from erosion, which depletes a land resource
(soil) at its site of origin
– Reduces the quality of water resource it enters
• Land use changes result in erosion and
sedimentation
– Forested areas more stable
– Agricultural practices can lead to large soil erosion loss
– Large quantities of sedimentation during construction
phase of urbanization – notice straw booms at sites
 Acid Mine Drainage
• Refers to water w/ a high concentration of
sulfuric acid that drains from mines.
– Coal mines often associated w/ pyrite (iron
sulfide)
– When it come into contact w/ oxygen and water
it weathers
– A product of weathering is sulfuric acid
– Water runs through the mine tailings
 Acid Mine Drainage
• If the acid-rich water runs into natural water
source significant pollution and
environmental damage may result.
– Acidic water toxic to plants and animals of
aquatic ecosystems
– Can also seep in thus polluting groundwater
– Abandoned mine are a continuing problem
Surface Water Pollution
 Principles of Groundwater
Pollution: An Example
• Pollution leaking from buried gasoline
tanks from service stations
– Wide spread problem
– Many thousands of old tanks removed and
surrounding groundwater and soil treated
• Disposal of soil, vapor extraction of water and use
of microorganisms (bioremediation)
 Principles of Groundwater
Pollution: An Example
• Pollution from leaking buried gasoline
tanks emphasizes some important points
about groundwater pollutants:
– Some pollutants, such as gasoline, are lighter
than water and thus float on the groundwater.
– Some pollutants are heavier than water and sink
or move downward through groundwater.
 Principles of Groundwater
Pollution: An Example
• Pollution in groundwater differs from
surface water pollution in several ways
– Groundwater lacks oxygen but may provide
environment for anaerobic bacteria
– Channels through which groundwater moves
often small and variable
• Rate of movement is low and opportunity for
dispersion and dilution limited
 Wastewater Treatment
• Water used for industrial and municipal
purposes is often degraded during use
– Addition of suspended solids, salts, nutrients,
bacteria, and oxygen demanding material.
– Water must be treated before released
• Wastewater treatment
– $20 billion a year industry
– Conventional methods; septic tanks and
centralized treatment
 Septic-Tank Disposal Systems
• Common in many rural areas and outlying
areas of cities.
• Basic parts of a septic-tank disposal system
– Sewer line from house to underground tank
– Tank separates solids from liquids
• Digest and store solids
• Liquid sent to absorption field
– By the time water reaches any fresh water it
“should” be safe.
 Septic-Tank Disposal Systems
• Absorption fields may fail for several
reasons.
– Failure to pump out tank when full of solids
– Poor soil drainage which allows the effluent to
raise to surface in wet weather.
 Wastewater Treatment Plants
• Specially designed plants that accept
municipal sewage from homes, businesses
and industrial sites.
• Delivered to plant by network of pipes
• Following treatment, they discharged into
surface water
– Main purpose is to breakdown and reduce BOD
and kill bacteria w/ chlorine
 Wastewater Treatment Plants
• Methods usually divided into three
categories:
– Primary treatment
– Secondary treatment
– Advanced wastewater treatment
• Primary and secondary required by law.
 Primary Treatment
• Incoming raw sewage enters plant
• Passes through series of screens
– Remove large floating organic material
• Next enters a grit chamber
– Sand, small stones and grit removed
• Then enters sedimentation tank
– Particulate matter settles out to form a sludge
• Sludge is removed and transported to a digester
• Primary treatment removes ~35% of BOD
 Secondary Treatment
• Most common treatment, activated sludge.
• Wastewater from primary sedimentation tank
enters the tank
• Then enters the final sedimentation tank
– Sludge settles out
– Some activated sludge used again in aeration
• Most of the sludge transported to digester
• Wastewater from final tank is disinfected w/
chlorine and discharged
 Secondary Treatment
• Secondary treatment removes ~90% of
BOD
• Sludge from the digester is dried and
disposed of in a landfill or applied to
improve soil.
Advanced Wastewater Treatment
• Additional pollutants can be removed by
adding more treatment steps.
– Sand filters, carbon filters and chemicals
applied to assist removal process.
• Treated water can then be used for
agricultural or municipal irrigation (referred
to as “Grey Water” – most of this is
currently discharged to sea here in SD
 Chlorine Treatment
• Chlorine is very effective in killing the
pathogens that historically caused outbreaks
– Chlorine treatment byproducts may pose hazard
to fish and cancer risk to humans.
– (This is a HUGE risk and benefit issue)
Land Application of Wastewater
• Land application of wastewater was
practiced for hundreds of years before the
development of treatment plants.
– Now the process is sanitized through reduction
of BOD and use of chlorination.
 The Waste Renovation and
Conservation Cycle
• Major steps in the cycle:
– 1. Return of treated wastewater to crops via a
sprinkler or other irrigation system.
– 2. Renovation, or natural purification by slow
percolation of the wastewater into the soil, to
eventually recharge the groundwater resource
with clean water.
– 3. Reuse of the treated water, which is pumped
out of the ground for municipal, industrial,
institutional, or agricultural purposes.
 The Waste Renovation and
Conservation Cycle
• Technology for wastewater treatment is
rapidly evolving.
– Resource recovery wastewater treatment plant
– Refers to the production of resources such as
methane and ornamental plants.
• The process
– 1. The wastewater is run through filters to
remove large objects.
 The Waste Renovation and
Conservation Cycle
• 2. The water undergoes anaerobic
processing.
– Produces methane
• 3. The nutrient rich water flows over an
incline surface containing plants
 The Waste Renovation and
Conservation Cycle
• Technology must overcome several
problems before it is likely to be used
widely.
– There has been a tremendous investment in
traditional wastewater treatment plants.
– Economic incentive to provide for new
technologies are not sufficient.
– There are not sufficient personnel trained to
design and operate new types of plants.
 Wastewater and Wetlands
– Stormwater runoff (metals, nitrate, BOD,
pesticides, oils).
– Industrial wastewater (metals, acids, oils,
solvents).
– Agricultural wastewater and runoff (BOD,
nitrate, pesticides, suspended solids).
– Mining waters (metals, acidic water, sulfates).
– Groundwater seeping from landfills (BOD,
metals, oils, pesticides).
 Louisiana Coastal Wetlands
• State of Louisiana leader in development of
advanced treatment.
• Nitrogen and phosphorus rich wastewater
increases the production of wetland plants.
– Improving water quality
– Helping wetlands accrete (growth in height)
• Significant economic savings each year
 Phoenix, Arizona: Constructed
Wetlands
• Wetlands can be constructed in arid regions
to treat poor quality water.
• E.g. Avondale, AZ
– Wetland treatment facility for agricultural
wastewater sited in residential community.
– Designed to treat 4.5 million gal/day
– Naturally occurring bacteria breakdown nitrates
 Water Reuse
• Water reuse can be inadvertent, indirect or
direct.
• Inadvertent
– Results when water is withdrawn, treated, used,
treated, and returned to the environment.
– Followed by furtherer withdrawal and use.
– Common for people who live along large
rivers.
 Water Reuse
• Risks associated with inadvertent reuse:
– 1. Inadequate treatment facilities may deliver
contaminated or poor-quality water to
downstream users.
– 2. Environmental health hazards of treated
water remain uncertain.
– 3. Every year, new potentially hazardous
chemicals are introduced into the environment.
Ingested in low concentrations over many
years, effects on humans difficult to evaluate.
 Water Reuse
• Indirect water reuse
– A planned endeavor.
– Several thousand cubic meters of treated water
per day applied to surface recharge areas.
– Eventually enters the groundwater.
 Water Reuse
• Direct water reuse
– Refers to use of treated wastewater that is piped
directly from a treatment plant to the next user.
– Normal for industrial processes. Also used for
fountain and other water displays in Las Vegas.
– Little direct use for human consumption.
• Orange County, CA developing program to
processes 70 million gal/day
 Water Pollution and
Environmental Law
• Branch of law dealing with conservation
and use of natural resources and control of
pollution.
– Federal laws to protect water go back to Refuse
Act of 1899 and include the “CLEAN WATER
ACT of 1972”
– Each major piece of legislation has significant
impact on water quality issues.
• Laws for clean up and prevention