Pollution: The term pollution can be defined as pollutants causing harmful effects, and

uneasiness to the organisms

Pollutant: Any substance causing harmful effects or uneasiness to the organisms,.

Water Pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water by foreign matter such as micro-organisms,
chemicals, industrial or other wastes, or sewage in amounts likely to cause harm to living
organisms.
Sources of Water Pollution
• Municipal Waste Water/Sewage • Industrial Waste • Agricultural Wastes • Inorganic
Pollutants • Organic Pollutants • Radioactive Substances • Thermal pollution

● Municipal Waste Water/Sewage: Wastewater from drains or sewers (from toilets,

washing machines, and showers), Includes Humanwastes, Soaps, Detergents.
The release of sewage into water causes several pollution problems.
• It carries disease-causing agents
• Results in Eutrophication
• Increase in Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)
● Industrial Wastewater: The major source of water pollution is the waste water
discharged from industries and commercial bodies; • Food processing • Chemical
manufacturing • Paper mills • Metallurgical • Textile
Industrial pollutants prove highly toxic to living beings.
● Agricultural Wastewater: 72% of the water pollution in rivers is attributed to
agriculture
• Animal wastes and plants residues have high BOD
• Fertilizer runoff causes Eutrophication
• Chemical pesticides can leach into groundwater
• Streams and rivers are polluted with agricultural pesticides
These chemicals are highly toxic and adversely affect human health as well as the health
of aquatic organisms.
 ● Inorganic Pollutants: Inorganic chemicals are contaminants that contain elements
other than carbon. Examples include; • Metals • Chlorides • Sulphates • Oxides of Iron
• Acids and Alkalies
Inorganic chemicals do not easily degrade, or break down. When introduced into water,
remain there for long time. Some inorganic pollutants are toxic to aquatic organisms.
Heavy metals contaminate water and accumulate in the tissues of humans and other
organisms. Their presence makes water unsuitable for drinking.
● Organic Pollutants: Chemicals that contain carbon atoms Natural examples:
sugars, amino acids, oils, and fats. Most of the organic compounds found in water
are human-produced chemicals • Pharmaceuticals • Pesticides • Solvents • Industrial
chemicals • plastics
● Radioactive Substances: Contain atoms of unstable isotopes that spontaneously emit
radiation
Sources of radioactive substances are; • Mining • Processing of radioactive materials • Nuclear
power plants • Nuclear weapons industry • Medical and Scientific Research facilities
● Thermal Pollution: Caused by the rise in temperature of water. Thermal and nuclear
power plants are main Sources • Heated water is released into water-bodies. Temp.
increase leads to several chemical, physical, and biological effects. Warm water
holds less DO than cold water. Temperature affects reproductive cycles, digestion
respiration rates rates, and in cases of extreme thermal pollution, fishes and other
aquatic organisms die.

Water Quality Criteria

Water quality can be thought of as a measure of the suitability of water for a particular use
based on selected physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.
Water quality criteria refer to specific levels of water quality desired for identified uses;
• Drinking • Recreation • Farming • Fish production • Propagation of other aquatic life
• Agricultural and Industrial processes
Water quality criteria have been widely established for a number of traditional water quality
variables such as pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) , biochemical oxygen demand (BOD ), chemical
oxygen demand (COD) and nutrients.
 Eutrophication
Eutrophication is the process in which a water body becomes overly enriched with nutrients,
leading to plentiful growth of simple plant life. The excessive growth (or bloom) of algae and
plankton in a water body are indicators of this process.
Eutrophication is considered to be a serious environmental concern since it often results in the
deterioration of water quality and the depletion of dissolved oxygen in water bodies. Eutrophic
waters can eventually become “dead zones” that are incapable of supporting life.

Eutrophication may be defined as the inorganic nutrient enrichment of natural waters, leading
to an increased production of algae and macrophytes.

Stages of Eutrophication process:

Eutrophication process occurs in 6 stages;

Causes of Eutrophication
The availability of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus limits the growth of plant life in an
ecosystem. When water bodies are overly enriched with these nutrients, the growth of algae,
plankton, and other simple plant life is favoured over the growth of more complex plant life. Soil
erosion is a major contributor to the phosphorus enrichment of water bodies. Some other
phosphorus-rich sources that enrich water bodies with the nutrient include:
● Fertilizers
● Untreated sewage
● Detergents containing phosphorus
● Industrial discharge of waste
Among these sources, the primary contributors to eutrophication include agriculture and
industrial wastes.
Classification of Eutrophication
Anthropogenic Eutrophication: is caused by human activity – Agricultural farms, golf
courses, lawns, etc. are supplied with nutrients by humans in the form of fertilizers. These
fertilizers are washed away by rains and eventually find their way into water bodies such as lakes
and rivers.
When introduced to an aqueous ecosystem, the fertilizers supply plentiful nutrients to algae and
plankton, resulting in the eutrophication of the water body. When sewage pipes and industrial
wastes are directed to water bodies, the nutrients present in the sewage and other wastes increase
the rate at which eutrophication occurs.
Natural Eutrophication: refers to the excessive enrichment of water bodies via natural events.
For example, the nutrients from the land can be washed away in a flood and deposited into a lake
or a river. These water bodies become overly enriched with nutrients, enabling the excessive
growth of algae and other simple plant life.

Ecological Effects of Eutrophication

● Decrease in Biodiversity: When an aquatic ecosystem is enriched with nutrients by
either natural or artificial means, the conditions become extremely beneficial to primary
producers. Commonly, algae and other similar species utilize these nutrients and a huge
increase in their population (algal bloom) is observed.
These algal blooms hinder the flow of sunlight to the bottom of the aquatic body and also cause
wide swings in the dissolved oxygen levels in the water. When the dissolved oxygen in the water
reduces to an amount below the hypoxic level, many marine animals suffocate and die. This
reduces the effective biodiversity of the water body.
● Increase in Water Toxicity: A few algae are toxic to many plants and animals. When
these algae bloom in eutrophic waters, they release neurotoxins and hepatotoxins. These
toxins can also move up the food chain via shellfish or other marine animals and lead to
the death of many animals.
This process can be controlled by preventing the inflow of phosphorus-rich substances into the
water bodies. Avoiding the overuse of fertilizers and the proper channelling of agricultural
wastes also help in the prevention of eutrophication.
 Waste Water Treatment
3 stages of Wastewater Treatment
Primary or Mechanical Treatment: Solids are separated.
Physical and chemical treatment is normally used to prepare the waste water for the next
treatment technique, in many cases biological treatment.
Oil, fatty acids and suspended solids could be removed by the use of the following techniques:

1. Preliminary Treatment
a) Screening b) Grit Chamber c) Floatation or skimming tank
Screening: Water is passed through a screen filter to remove large debris.
Grit chambers: Then water is passed through long narrow tanks that are designed to slow
down the flow so that solids such as sand, coffee grounds, and eggshells will settle out of the
water.
Flotation is a unit operation in which solids are made to float to the surface on account of their
adhering to minute bubbles of gases (air) that rises to the surface. On account of the solids
adhering to the rising bubbles, they are separated out from the water

2. Advanced Primary Treatment

a)Sedimentation b) Coagulation & Flocculation c) Filtration
Sedimentation: Settling down of suspended particles at the bottom of water is called
Sedimentation. This process is also known as clarification. In this process, water is collected in a
sedimentation tank, suspended and colloidal impurities are settled down by gravitation. The
process of sedimentation can be accelerated by adding Alum.
Coagulation and flocculation: Coagulation is the process in which a certain chemical agent
(aluminum sulfate or iron sulfate) is mixed with water then colloidal and suspended particles are
agglomerated and form insoluble metal hydroxide known as flocks.
The factors, which can promote the coagulation flocculation, are the velocity gradient, the time,
and the pH.
Flocculation and Coagulation in water treatment are used to remove suspended solids through a
process that destabilizes the suspended particles in water solutions. The difference between the
two is coagulation is the coming together, or clumping of particles, and flocculation is the
settling of coagulated particles.
Filtration: The process of filtration usually consists of allowing the water to pass through a thick
layer of sand or porous material which retains coarse impurities on its surface and in pores.
The apparatus used for filtration is called filter and the porous material that fill the filter is
known as filtering medium.
Secondary or Biological Treatment: Dissolved biological matter is converted into a solid
mass by using water-borne bacteria. 95% of the suspended molecules should be removed
It is the process in which microorganisms play a very important role for the treatment of effluent.
Microorganisms like bacteria, fungi decompose the organic waste and convert into simpler form.
The main function of secondary treatment is to convert the remaining organic matter of sewage
into stable form by oxidation and nitrification.

Secondary Treatment Can be classified into:

1. Aerobic Treatment : The treatment which is carried out by microorganisms in the
presence of oxygen.
Trickling filters (TFs) are used to remove organic matter from wastewater. The TF is an aerobic
treatment system that utilizes microorganisms attached to a medium to remove organic matter
from wastewater.
Activated sludge process: wastewater containing organic matter is aerated in an aeration basin
in which micro-organisms metabolize the suspended and soluble organic matter.
Oxidation pond or lagoon or water stabilization pond is a secondary wastewater treatment that
requires the presence of sunlight and oxygen to treate waste or sewage coming from industries,
residential areas, etc. Bacteria present in the oxidation pond will oxidize the organic waste. By
doing this, bacteria release carbon dioxide, water and ammonia. The algal growth occurs in the
presence of sunlight. It utilizes the inorganic wastes formed by the organic matter decomposition

2. Anaerobic Treatment : The treatment which is carried out by aerobes in the absence of
oxygen. The need of oxygen is supplied by oxidation of oxygenated compound for e.g
SO2
Tertiary or Advance Biological or Chemical Treatment: The main function of tertiary
treatment is to decrease the load of nitrogen and phosphorous compound present in the effluent
by the following process.
a) Precipitation b) Nitrogen Stripping c) Chlorination

a) Precipitation: The effluent received after the secondary treatment is mixed with calcium
oxide. The lime then reacts with phosphorus compound in waste to from insoluble calcium
phosphate, which then settles down at the bottom of the settling tank.
b) Nitrogen Stripping: Nitrogen present in waste water is generally in the form of ammonia gas,
nitrates and nitrites. Nitrogen eventually enhances Eutrophication In order to remove nitrogen
air is forced through the effluent which thereby result in the removal of ammonia gas.
C) Chlorination It is the process in which chlorine is used to kill micro-organism.
The main purpose of chlorination are
- To assist in the formation of floc in the process of coagulation together with other
chemical.
- To prevent corrosion of sewers.
- To prevent spread of epidemic.

Biological Nutrient Removal

Phosphorus, nitrogen and carbon are nutrients that are essential to aquatic health; however, in
excess they pose a serious problem. For this reason, wastewater treatment facilities must meet
nutrient effluent limits for phosphorus, nitrogen, carbon and various micronutrients found in
wastewater.

Biological Nitrogen Removal

In the aerobic treatment process, most of the organic nitrogen is changed to ammonia in
a process known as ammonification. The Ammonia is then available to the nitrifying
organisms..
● Nitrification: is an oxidizing process that occurs in the presence of oxygen under aerobic
conditions; Nitrification converts ammonia nitrogen into nitrite nitrogen as a first step
and then converts nitrite nitrogen to nitrate nitrogen in a second step

Using Bacteria (Nitrosomonas) to oxidize ammonia to nitrite

Then using another type of bacteria (Nitrobacter) to oxidize the nitrite (NO₂) to nitrate (NO₃)
 ● Denitrification: is a reducing process that occurs in the absence of oxygen under anoxic
conditions using heterotrophic bacteria (usually Pseudomonas) to reduce nitrate to nitric
oxide, nitrous oxide and nitrogen gas.

Biological Phosphorous Removal

Phosphorus-removal techniques can take advantage of microorganisms (organisms that can
store excess phosphorus, called phosphorus-accumulating organisms’or‘PAOs’) to remove
phosphorus from wastewater. This Process is called biological phosphorus removal.

● Orthophosphate– the simplest form consisting of individual molecules phosphate

● Polyphosphate– large molecules containing many individual molecules of
orthophosphate
● Organic Phosphate– phosphate combined with an organic compound, such as human
waste.
During biological treatment,most polyphosphate and organic phosphate is converted to
orthophosphate, a form that is readily assimilated into microorganisms.
The anaerobic conditions and volatile fatty acids favor the growth of PAOs and give them a
selective advantage over other microorganisms in the system.

Volatile Fatty Acids (VFAs)

Since PAOs grow best on volatile fatty acids (VFAs), to ensure an adequate population of
PAOs,we must ensure availability of their food source–VFAs.
VFAs are the smallest molecules into which organic material can be broken down. VFAs consist
primarily of acetic and propionic (propanoic) acids. The bio-P removal process removes 7 to
10mg of VFAs for each mg of P that's removed.
PAOs in Anaerobic Conditions
The PAOs use stored polyphosphate as a source of energy for taking up and storing food. The
polyphosphate used for energy is split apart into molecules of orthophosphate. These molecules
cannot cross the cell membrane by themselves because they are negatively charged (anions).
However, during the process they bond with magnesium and potassium,which are positively
charged (cations).
During bonding, the charges are neutralized; then they can cross the cell membrane; pass from
cell into wastewater . This process, called phosphorus release, also releases magnesium and
potassium into the wastewater.

Detergents & Phosphates in Water

Detergent
A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleansing properties. Water-soluble
cleansing agent which combines with impurities and dirt to make them more soluble. Detergents
are organic compounds, which have both polar and no-polar characteristics.
Structure of detergents
Detergents are usually sodium (or potassium) salts of chain organic acids.
The detergents consists of two parts: An A ionic group (the ‘head’) hydrocarbon chain
(the ‘tail’)

Properties of Detergents:
● Detergent reduces surface tension of water, enabling it to spread over the surface and
wets it more easily.
● Detergent acts as an emulsifying agent. An emulsifier is capable of dispersing one
liquid into an immiscible liquid. This means that when oil which generally do not mix
with water detergent can suspend them in such a way that it can be removed.
 ● Detergents are unaffected by the ions in hard water. As a result, synthetic detergents have
no trouble forming lather with hard water, indicating that hard water does not affect their
efficacy.

Phosphates
Phosphates are the salts of various phosphoric acids.
Phosphorus - a primary element in phosphate, is an essential nutrient for all plants and animals.
Orthophosphates (H2PO./HPO,2-)
Simple ionic forms of phosphates that are readily available toplants
Polyphosphates (Polyp) - (PHO3)n
A linear, unbranched polymer of orthophosphate residues linked by phosphoanhydride bond:
Major Uses/Sources of Phosphate
Animal feed supplements, Fertilizers, Water treatment, Metal treatment to inhibit corrosion
Ceramic production, Domestic and industrial detergents

Effects of Phosphorus on Aquatic Life

● Aquatic plants require phosphates to grow and carry out metabolic reactions.
● Phosphates are often a limiting factor for aquatic plant growth as they naturally occur
only in very low conc. of 0.03 ppm or less.
● When phosphates level in a water body reaches 0.025 ppm & above, phosphates
stimulate plants to grow more rapidly.
● An increase in phosphates & other nutrients that increases the rate of plant growth
eventually results in dead plant matter building up in the water.
● A condition know as Eutrophication (Algae bloom).