SOURCES OF WATER • 1,000 km2 freshwater swamps

• Water is an important part of our lives. • 50,000 km2 groundwater reservoir

• We could not live without water. • (estimated storage capacity
of 251 km3)
• Plants, birds and animals also need water
to live.
• We need water for our daily. Four major ground water reservoir:
• We need it for drinking, washing, bathing • Cagayan
and cleaning. Water is also use to produce
• Central Luzon
electricity.
• Agusan, and
• The farmer also need water to plough the
fields . We get water from the rain. Rain water • Cotabato
fills up the lakes and rivers.
• We get drinking water from the streams,
lakes, pond or from underground through PHYSICAL PARAMETERS OF WATER
wells and tube well. This water is stored in QUALITY
tanks and reservoir. Water is the second most important need for
• And some cities, we get too get water life to exist after air.
supply from lakes. Water Quality
• Water is stored in a place called a • is the physical, chemical, and
reservoir, from where it is carried to different biological characteristics of water.
places through water pipes.
• is a measure of the condition of water
• It finally reaches our homes and comes out relative to the requirements of one or
in our water tubs. more biotic species and/or to any
human need or purpose
• Water comes into our homes from rain,
pond, reservoir, well, tank, tube well , lake Classification of water quality
and stream.
• Potable water: It is safe to drink, pleasant to
• This water maybe impure and treatment of taste, and usable for domestic purposes
water is necessary.
• Palatable water: It is esthetically pleasing; it
• The water is stored in tanks and reservoirs considers the presence of chemicals that do
is filtered and disinfected to make it germ free not cause a threat to human health.
and pure before it reaches our home.
• Contaminated (polluted) water: It is that
Philippines water containing unwanted physical,
chemical, biological, or radiological
• It has abundant water resources having substances, and it is unfit for drinking or
endowed with domestic use.
• 59 lakes • Infected water: It is contaminated with
• 421 river basins pathogenic organism.
Physical Parameters of Water Quality • Groundwater normally has very low turbidity
because of the natural filtration that occurs
1. TURBIDITY
as the water penetrates through the soil.
• Turbidity is the cloudiness of water.
2. TEMPERATURE
• It is a measure of the ability of light to pass
• Palatability, viscosity, solubility, odors, and
through water.
chemical reactions are influenced by
• It is caused by suspended material such as temperature.
clay, silt, organic material, plankton, and
• Thereby, the sedimentation and chlorination
other particulate materials in water.
processes and biological oxygen demand
(BOD) are temperature dependent.

EFFECTS OF TURBID WATER • It also affects the biosorption process of the

dissolved heavy metals in water. Most people
• Suspended materials can clog or damage find water at temperatures of 10–15°C most
fish gills, decreasing its resistance to palatable.
diseases, reducing its growth rates, affecting
egg and larval maturing, and affecting the 3. COLOR
efficiency of fish catching method.
Materials decayed from organic matter,
• Suspended particles provide adsorption namely, vegetation and inorganic matter
media for heavy metals such as mercury, such as soil, stones, and rocks impart color
chromium, lead, cadmium, and many to water, which is objectionable for esthetic
hazardous organic pollutants such as reasons, not for health reasons
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic
MEASUREMENT OF COLOR
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and many
pesticides. • Color is measured by comparing the water
sample with standard color solutions or
• Higher turbidity raises water temperatures colored glass disks .
in light of the fact that suspended particles
absorb more sun heat. • One color unit is equivalent to the color
produced by a 1 mg/L solution of platinum
• Consequently, the concentration of the
(potassium chloroplatinate (K2PtCl6).
dissolved oxygen (DO) can be decreased
since warm water carries less dissolved The color of a water sample can be reported
oxygen than cold water. as follows:
TURBIDIMETER • Apparent color is the entire water sample
color and consists of both dissolved and
• Turbidity is measured by an instrument suspended components color.
called nephelometric turbidimeter, which
expresses turbidity in terms of NTU or TU. • True color is measured after filtering the
water sample to remove allsuspended
• A TU is equivalent to 1 mg/L of silica in material.
suspension
• Turbidity more than 5 NTU can be visible to • Color is graded on scale of 0 (clear) to 70
the average person while turbidity in muddy color units. Pure water is colorless, which is
water, it exceeds 100 NTU. equivalent to 0 color units .
4. TASTE AND ODOR • saline water: > 5000 mg/L TDS.
• Taste and odor in water can be caused by Electrical conductivity
foreign matter such as organic materials,
inorganic compounds, or dissolved gasses . • The electrical conductivity (EC) of water is
a measure of the ability of a solution to carry
• These materials may come from natural, or conduct an electrical current.
domestic, or agricultural sources .
• Since the electrical current is carried by ions
Measurement of Taste in solution, the conductivity increases as the
concentration of ions increases.
The numerical value of odor or taste is
determined quantitatively by measuring a • Therefore, it is one of the main parameters
volume of sample A and diluting it with a used to determine the suitability of water for
volume of sample B of an odor-free distilled irrigation and firefighting.
water so that the odor of the resulting mixture
• Units of its measurement are as follows:
is just detectable at a total mixture volume of
200 ml. • U.S. units = micromhos/cm
The unit of odor or taste is expressed in • S.I. units = milliSiemens/m (m S/m)
terms of a threshold number as follows: or dS/m (deciSiemens/m)
• where (mS/m) = 10 umho/cm (1000
μS/cm = 1 dS/m).
• Pure water is not a good conductor of
electricity. Typical conductivity of water is as
5. SOLIDS follows:
(Total Solid, Total Dissolved Solid, Total • Ultra-pure water: 5.5 × 10−6 S/m;
Suspended Solid)
• Drinking water: 0.005–0.05 S/m;
• Solids occur in water either in solution or in
suspension • Seawater: 5 S/m.

• Suspended solids are retained on • The electrical conductivity can be used to

the top of the filter and
estimate the TDS value of water as follow:
• Dissolved solids pass through the
filter with the water
• If the filtered portion of the water sample is
placed in a small dish and then evaporated,
the solids as a residue. This material is
usually called total dissolved solids or TDS

Water can be classified by the amount of

TDS per liter :
• freshwater: < 1500 mg/L TDS;
• brackish water: 1500– 5000 mg/L TDS;
 CHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF WATER • The amount of oxygen in water increases
QUALITY as pH rises.
1. pH • Low-pH water will corrode or dissolve
metals and other substances
• pH is one of the most important parameters
of water quality. EFFECTS OF PH ON ANIMALS AND
PLANTS
• It is defined as the negative logarithm of the
hydrogen ion concentration. • Even moderately acidic water (low pH) can
decrease the number of hatched fish eggs,
• It is a dimensionless number indicating the
irritate fish and aquatic insect gills, and
strength of an acidic or a basic solution.
damage membranes .
• Actually, pH of water is a measure of how
• Water with very low or high pH is fatal. A pH
acidic/basic water is.
below 4 or above 10 will kill most fish, and
• Acidic water contains extra hydrogen ions very few animals can endure water with a pH
(H+) and basic water contains extra hydroxyl below 3 or above 11
(OH−) ions.
• Amphibians are extremely endangered by
• pH ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 being low pH because their skin is very sensitive to
neutral. contaminants.

• pH of less than 7 indicates acidity, whereas • Some scientists believe that the current
a pH of greater than 7 indicates a base decrease in amphibian population
solution. throughout the globe may be due to low pH
levels induced by acid rain
• Pure water is neutral, with a pH close to 7.0
at 25°C. EFFECTS OF PH ON OTHER CHEMICALS

• Normal rainfall has a pH of approximately • Heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and
5.6 (slightly acidic) owing to atmospheric chromium dissolve more easily in highly
carbon dioxide gas. acidic water (lower pH). This is important
because many heavy metals become much
• Safe ranges of pH for drinking water are more toxic when dissolved in water.
from 6.5 to 8.5 for domestic use and living
organisms need. • A change in the pH can change the forms of
some chemicals in the water. Therefore, it
MEASUREMENT OF PH may affect aquatic plants and animals.
• electrometric and colorimetric methods • For instance, ammonia is relatively
EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE HIGH AND LOW harmless to fish in neutral or acidic water.
PH • However, as the water becomes more
• Excessively high and low pHs can be alkaline (the pH increases), ammonia
detrimental for the use of water. becomes progressively more poisonous to
these same organisms
• A high pH makes the taste bitter and
decreases the effectiveness of the chlorine
disinfection, thereby causing the need for
additional chlorine.
Acidity • Alkalinity or acidity can also occur from
natural sources such as volcanoes.
• Acidity is the measure of acids in a solution.
• The acidity and alkalinity in natural waters
• The acidity of water is its quantitative
provide a buffering action that protects fish
capacity to neutralize a strong base to a
and other aquatic organisms from sudden
selected pH level.
changes in pH
• Acidity in water is usually due to carbon 2. CHLORIDE
dioxide, mineral acids, and hydrolyzed salts
such as ferric and aluminum sulfates. • Chloride occurs naturally in groundwater,
streams, and lakes, but the presence of
• Acids can influence many processes such
relatively high chloride concentration in
as corrosion, chemical reactions and
freshwater (about 250 mg/L or more) may
biological activities
indicate wastewater pollution.
• Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or
• Chlorides may enter surface water from
from the respiration of aquatic organisms
several sources including chloridecontaining
causes acidity when dissolved in water by rock, agricultural runoff, and wastewater.
forming carbonic acid (H2CO3).
EFFECTS OF CHLORIDE
• The level of acidity is determined by titration
with standard sodium hydroxide (0.02 N) • Chloride ions Cl− in drinking water do not
using phenolphthalein as an indicator cause any harmful effects on public health,
but high concentrations can cause an
Alkalinity
unpleasant salty taste for most people.
• The alkalinity of water is its acid-neutralizing
• Chlorides are not usually harmful to people;
capacity comprised of the total of all titratable
however, the sodium part of table salt has
bases.
been connected to kidney and heart
• The measurement of alkalinity of water is diseases.
necessary to determine the amount of lime
• Small amounts of chlorides are essential for
and soda needed for water softening (e.g.,
ordinary cell functions in animal and plant
for corrosion control in conditioning the boiler life.
feed water).
3. CHLORINE RESIDUAL
• Alkalinity of water is mainly caused by the
presence of hydroxide ions (OH−), • Chlorine (Cl2 ) does not occur naturally in
bicarbonate ions (HCO3−), and carbonate water but is added to water and wastewater
ions (CO32−), or a mixture of two of these for disinfection.
ions in water.
• While chlorine itself is a toxic gas, in dilute
• Alkalinity is determined by titration with a aqueous solution, it is not harmful to human
standard acid solution (H2SO4 of 0.02 N) health.
using selective indicators (methyl orange or
phenolphthalein) • In drinking water, a residual of about 0.2
mg/L is optimal.
• The high levels of either acidity or alkalinity
• The residual concentration which is
in water may be an indication of industrial or
chemical pollution. maintained in the water distribution system
ensures good sanitary quality of water.
4. SULFATE 6. FLUORIDE
• Sulfate ions (SO4 2−) occur in natural water • A moderate amount of fluoride ions (F−) in
and in wastewater. drinking water contributes to good dental
health. About 1.0 mg/L is effective in
• The high concentration of sulfate in natural
preventing tooth decay, particularly in
water is usually caused by leaching of natural
children.
deposits of sodium sulfate (Glauber’s salt) or
magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt). • Excessive amounts of fluoride cause
discolored teeth, a condition known as dental
• If high concentrations are consumed in fluorosis.
drinking water, there may be objectionable
tastes or unwanted laxative effects, but there 7. IRON AND MANGANESE
is no significant danger to public health.
• Although iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) do
not cause health problems, they impart a
5. NITROGEN noticeable bitter taste to drinking water even
at very low concentration.
• There are four forms of nitrogen in water
and wastewater: organic nitrogen, ammonia • These metals usually occur in groundwater
nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen, and nitrate nitrogen in solution as ferrous (Fe2+) and manganous
(Mn2+) ions. When these ions are exposed
• If water is contaminated with sewage, most
to air, they form the insoluble ferric (Fe3+)
of the nitrogen is in the forms of organic and
and manganic (Mn3+) forms making the
ammonia, which are transformed by
water turbid and unacceptable to most
microbes to form nitrites and nitrates.
people.
• Nitrogen in the nitrate form is a basic
• These ions can also cause black or brown
nutrient to the growth of plants and can be a
stains on laundry and plumbing fixtures .
growth-limiting nutrient factor.
8. COPPER AND ZINC
• A high concentration of nitrate in surface
water can stimulate the rapid growth of the • Copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) are nontoxic if
algae which degrades the water quality. found in small concentrations .
• Nitrates can enter the groundwater from • Actually, they are both essential and
chemical fertilizers used in the agricultural beneficial for human health and growth of
areas. plants and animals.
• Excessive nitrate concentration (more than • They can cause undesirable tastes in
10 mg/L) in drinking water causes an drinking water.
immediate and severe health threat to
infants. • At high concentrations, zinc imparts a milky
appearance to the water.
• The nitrate ions react with blood
9. HARDNESS
hemoglobin, thereby reducing the blood’s
ability to hold oxygen which leads to a • Hardness is a term used to express the
disease called blue baby or properties of highly mineralized waters.
methemoglobinemia.
• Calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+)
ions cause the greatest portion of hardness
in naturally occurring waters. They enter 10. DISSOLVED OXYGEN
water mainly from contact with soil and rock,
• Dissolved oxygen (DO) is considered to be
particularly limestone deposits.
one of the most important parameters of
• These ions are present as bicarbonates, water quality in streams, rivers, and lakes.
sulfates, and sometimes as chlorides and
• It is a key test of water pollution. The higher
nitrates .
the concentration of dissolved oxygen, the
• Generally, groundwater is harder than better the water quality.
surface water.
• Oxygen is slightly soluble in water and very
• Temporary hardness which is due to sensitive to temperature. For example, the
carbonates and bicarbonates can be saturation concentration at 20°C is about 9
removed by boiling, and mg/L and at 0°C is 14.6 mg/L
• Permanent hardness which is remaining EFFECT OF DISSOLVED OXYGEN
after boiling is caused mainly by sulfates and
• Dissolved oxygen has no direct effect on
chlorides
public health, but drinking water with very
• Water with more than 300 mg/L of hardness little or no oxygen tastes unpalatable to some
is generally considered to be hard, and more people.
than 150 mg/L of hardness is noticed by most
11. BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND
people, and water with less than 75 mg/L is
(BOD)
considered to be soft.
EFFECTS OF HARDWATER • Bacteria and other microorganisms use
organic substances for food. As they
• The dissolved minerals in water cause metabolize organic material, they consume
problems such as scale deposits in hot water oxygen .
pipes and difficulty in producing lather with
soap. • The organics are broken down into simpler
compounds, such as CO2 and H2O, and the
• From health viewpoint, hardness up to 500 microbes use the energy released for growth
mg/L is safe, but more than that may cause and reproduction.
a laxative effect.
• When this process occurs in water, the
MEASUREMENT OF HARDNESS oxygen consumed is the DO in the water. If
oxygen is not continuously replaced by
• Hardness is normally determined by
natural or artificial means in the water, the
titration with ethylene diamine tetra acidic
DO concentration will reduce as the
acid or (EDTA)
microbes decompose the organic materials.
and Eriochrome Black and Blue indicators.
• This need for oxygen is called the
• It is usually expressed in terms of mg/L of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
CaCO3
• The more organic material there is in the
water, the higher the BOD used by the
microbes will be. BOD is used as a measure
of the power of sewage; strong sewage has
a high BOD and weak sewage has low BOD.
• The complete decomposition of organic photometers, spectrophotometer, or
material by microorganisms takes time, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) for very low
usually 20 d or more under ordinary concentration.
circumstances.
14. NONMETALLIC COMPOUNDS
• The quantity of oxygen used in a specified
• This group includes nitrates (NO3 −) and
volume of water to fully decompose or
cyanides (CN−), nitrate has been discussed
stabilize all biodegradable organic
with the nitrogen in the previous section.
substances is called the ultimate BOD or
BODL. • This causes a blue skin color syndrome,
which is called cyanosis.
• BOD is a function of time. At time = 0, no
oxygen will have been consumed and the • It also causes chronic effects on the central
BOD = 0. As each day goes by, oxygen is nervous system and thyroid.
used by the microbes and the BOD
increases. • Cyanide is normally measured by
colorimetric, titrimetric, orelectrometric
• Ultimately, the BODL is reached and the methods.
organic materials are completely
decomposed. 15. TOXIC ORGANIC SUBSTANCES

12. CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (COD) • There are more than 100 compounds in
water that have been listed in the literature
• The chemical oxygen demand (COD) is a as toxic organic compounds .
parameter that measures all organics: the
biodegradable and the non-biodegradable • They will not be found naturally in water;
substances . they are usually man-made pollutants.

• It is a chemical test using strong oxidizing • These compounds include insecticides,

chemicals (potassium dichromate), sulfuric pesticides, solvents, detergents, and
acid, and heat, and the result can be disinfectants.
available in just 2 h . • They are measured by highly sophisticated
• COD values are always higher than BOD instrumental methods, namely, gas
values for the same sample chromatographic (GC), high-performance
liquid chromatographic (HPLC), and mass
13. METALLIC COMPOUNDS spectrophotometric.
• This group includes some heavy metals that 16. RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES
are toxic, namely, cadmium (Cd), chromium
(Cr), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), silver (Ag), • Potential sources of radioactive substances
arsenic (As), barium (Ba), thallium (Tl), and in water include wastes from nuclear power
selenium (Se). plants, industries, or medical research using
radioactive chemicals and mining of uranium
• They have a wide range of dangerous ores or other radioactive materials.
effects that differ from one metal to another.
They may be acute fatal poisons such as • When radioactive substances decay, they
(As) and (Cr6+) or may produce chronic release beta, alpha, and gamma radiation
diseases such as (Cd, Hg, Pb, and Tl)
• The heavy metals concentration can be
determined by atomic absorption
EFFECT OF RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCE 20 million cells per milliliter after just 1 day.
• Exposure of humans and other living things • This rapid growth of visible colonies of
to radiation can cause genetic and somatic bacteria on a suitable nutrient medium
damage to the living tissues. makes it possible to detect and count the
number of bacteria in water
• Radon gas is of a great health concern
because it occurs naturally in groundwater • At low temperatures, bacteria grow and
and is a highly volatile gas, which can be reproduce slowly.
inhaled during the showering process.
• As the temperature increases, the rate of
• For drinking water, there are established growth and reproduction doubles in every
standards commonly used for alpha additional 10°C (up to the optimum
particles, beta particles, photons emitters, temperature for the species).
radium-226 and -228, and uranium.
• The majority of the species of bacteria
having an optimal temperature of about 35°C
BIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF WATER ALGAE
QUALITY • Algae are microscopic plants, which contain
photosynthetic pigments, such as
• One of the most helpful indicators of water
chlorophyll.
quality may be the presence or lack of living
• They are autotrophic organisms and
organisms.
support themselves by converting inorganic
• A water body with a large number of well- materials into organic matter by using energy
balanced species is regarded as a healthy from the sun, during this process they take in
system. carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.

• Some organisms can be used as an • They are also important for wastewater
indication for the existence of pollutants treatment in stabilization ponds.
based on their known tolerance for a
• Algae are primarily nuisance organisms in
specified pollutant
the water supply because of the taste and
BACTERIA odor problems they create.

• Bacteria are considered to be single-celled • Certain species of algae cause serious

plants because of their cell structure and the environmental and public health problems;
way they ingest food. for example, blue-green algae can kill cattle
and other domestic animals if the animals
• Bacteria occur in three basic cell shapes: drink water containing those specie
rod-shaped or bacillus, sphere-shaped or
coccus, and spiral-shaped or spirellus. VIRUSES

• In less than 30 min, a single bacterial cell • Viruses are the smallest biological
can mature and divide into two new cells structures known to contain all genetic
information necessary for their own
reproduction.
• Under favorable conditions of food supply,
temperature, and pH, bacteria can reproduce • They can only be seen by a powerful
so rapidly that a bacterial culture may contain electronic microscope .
• Viruses are parasites that need a host to
live.
• They can pass through filters that do not
permit the passage of bacteria. Waterborne
viral pathogens are known to cause
infectious hepatitis and poliomyelitis.
PROTOZOA
• Protozoa are single-celled microscopic
animal, consume solid organic particles,
bacteria, and algae for food, and they are in
turn ingested as food by higher level
multicellular animals.
• Aquatic protozoa are floating freely in water
and sometimes called zooplankton.
• They form cysts that are difficult to
inactivate by disinfection