Water Pollution

The Story of Fluoride Contamination

Jharana Khurd village, 20 km from Jaipur, Rajsthan, there are no youth. All the 1,200 inhabitants, irrespective their age, look old.

There shoulders, hips and ankles are swollen and ache all the time. All have cracked teeth.

The story is similar in other village in many states of India.

Fluorosis, caused by an excess of fluoride in water.

Fluorosis is most severe and widespread in India and China

The Story of Fluoride Contamination (Cont….)

Dental fluorosis results in blackened, mottled, or cracked teeth. Skeletal fluorosis means permanent and severe bone and joint deformities. Non-skeletal fluorosis leads to gastro-intestinal and neurological problems.

The Indian geology is such that the bedrock contains minerals with high fluoride content. When the bedrock weathers, the fluoride leaches into the water and soil.

Normally, the disease dose not lead death, but to extreme suffering.

“It neither allow a person to live nor to die.”

The Story of Fluoride Contamination (Cont….)

Excessive extraction of groundwater has led to deeper and deeper borewells, which draw water from aquifers containing high fluoride concentrations. There is no fluoride problem if one drinks water from an open well or pond.

Technologies are available for defluoridation, but the plants are expensive and involve significant maintenance costs.

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater). Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds

Water Quality Criteria

Characteristics Designated best use

A B C D E

Dissolved Oxygen (DO)mg/l, min 6 5 4 4 -

Biochemical Oxygen demand (BOD)mg/l, max 2 3 3 - -

Total coliform organisms MPN/100ml, max 50 500 5,000 - -

pH value 6.5-8.5 6.5-8.5 6.0-9.0 6.5-8.5 6.0-8.5

Colour, Hazen units, max. 10 300 300 - -

Odour Un-objectionable - -

Taste Tasteless - - - -

Total dissolved solids, mg/l, max. 500 - 1,500 - 2,100

Total hardness (as CaCO3), mg/l, max. 200 - - - -

Calcium hardness (as CaCO3), mg/l, max. 200 - - - -

Magnesium hardness (as CaCO3), mg/l, max. 200 - - - -

Copper (as Cu), mg/l, max. 1.5 - 1.5 - -

Iron (as Fe), mg/l, max. 0.3 - 0.5 - -

Manganese (as Mn), mg/l, max. 0.5 - - - -

Cholorides (as Cu), mg/l, max. 250 - 600 - 600

Sulphates (as SO4), mg/l, max. 400 - 400 - 1,000

Nitrates (as NO3), mg/l, max. 20 - 50 - -

Fluorides (as F), mg/l, max. 1.5 1.5 1.5 - -

Phenolic compounds (as C2H5OH), mg/l, max. 0.002 0.005 0.005 - -

Mercury (as Hg), mg/l, max. 0.001 - - - -

Cadmium (as Cd), mg/l, max. 0.01 - 0.01 - -

Salenium (as Se), mg/l, max. 0.01 - 0.05 - -

Arsenic (as As), mg/l, max. 0.05 0.2 0.2 - -

Cyanide (as Pb), mg/l, max. 0.05 0.05 0.05 - -

Lead (as Pb), mg/l, max. 0.1 - 0.1 - -

Zinc (as Zn), mg/l, max. 15 - 15 - -

Chromium (as Cr6+), mg/l, max. 0.05 - 0.05 - -

Anionic detergents (as MBAS), mg/l, max. 0.2 1 1 - -

Barium (as Ba), mg/l, max. 1 - - - -

Free Ammonia (as N), mg/l, max - - - 1.2 -

Electrical conductivity, micromhos/cm, max - - - - 2,250

Sodium absorption ratio, max - - - - 26

Boron, mg/l, max - - - - 2

Water Pollution in the World

Every day, 2 million tons of human waste are disposed of in water bodies.

In developing countries, 70% of industrial wastes are dumped untreated into waters where they pollute the usable water supply.

Projected increases in fertilizer use for food production and in wastewater effluents over the next three decades suggest there will be a 10-20% global increase in river nitrogen flows to coastal ecosystems.

Half of the world's wetlands, which act as natural filters, have been lost since 1900

Water pollution due to untreated waste

Water pollutant

Bacteria,Viruses,Protozoa, Parasitic worms

Oxygen demanding substances Inorganic plant nutrients Organic chemicals Sediment or suspended matter Thermal pollution Radioactive substances

Water Pollutants

Sediments: Excessive amounts of soil particles carried by flowing water, when there is severe soil erosion.

Oxygen-demanding wastes: Organic waste such as animal manure and plant debris that are decomposed by bacteria, from sewage, animal feedlots, paper mills, and food processing facilities.

Infectious microorganisms: Parasitic worms, viruses and bacteria from infected organisms as well as human and animal wastes.

Water Pollutants (contd)

Organic compounds: Synthetic chemicals containing carbon from industrial effluents, surface runoff, and cleaning agents.

Inorganic nutrients: Substances like nitrogen and phosphorus from animal waste, plant residues, and fertilizer runoff.

Inorganic chemicals: Acids, salts, and heavy metals like lead and mercury from industrial effluents, surface runoff, and household cleaning agents.

Water Pollutants (contd)

Radioactive substances: Wastes from nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons production, mining and refining uranium and other ores.

Thermal pollution: Hot water from industrial processes.

Sources of water pollution

Point source pollution – also known as “the end of the pipe pollution”– can be traced to a specific source, such as a leaking chemical tank, effluents coming from a waste treatment or industrial plant, or a manure spill from a hog confinement lagoon.

Non-point source pollution refers to pollutants that come from a widespread area and cannot be tracked to a single point or source. Soil erosion, chemical runoff, and animal waste pollution

Causes of water pollution Natural causes: soil erosion, deposition of dead

and decaying remains of plants and animals Man made:1. Sewage disposal2. Industrial waste3. Agricultural waste4. Human activities5. Customs and traditions: disposal of dead

bodies and idols of gods and goddess6. Oil spills

How dose ground water get polluted ?

Excessive extraction of groundwater leads to the natural pollution of groundwater: Examples are fluoride and arsenic contamination.In coastal areas, when water tables drop due to excessive extraction, there is intrusion of salt water and this is often an irreversible process. Groundwater receives pollutants from septic tanks, landfills, hazardous waste dumps, and underground tanks containing petrol, oil, chemicals, etc.

Effect of water pollution

Effect on human health: various diseases

Bactria: typhoid, cholera, bacterial dysentery

Viruses: hepatitisParasitic protozoa: Amoebic dysentery,

Giardia Effect on plants Effect on animals

Arsenic Poisoning

The story of Arsenic Poisoning Arsenic contamination of ground water was

first reported in 1983 from 24-parganas district of West Bengal. Later it was found that almost the whole Bangladesh was affected by this problem.

The skin develops spots, then hard nodules, leading later to cancer.

What is Eutrophication of lakes?

•Eutrophication is the enrichment of such a standing water body by nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen. •It occurs when sewage and fertilizers runoff bring large amounts of nutrients to the water body.•In eutrophic lakes there is increased photosynthetic activity.•This results cloudy water covered by a slimy and smelly mat of algae and cynobacteria.

Eutrophication (cont..)

When the excessive number of algae die, they fall to the bottom of the lake and get decomposed.

Since the process used up a lot of the dissolved oxygen, some fish species die.

They are replaced by other species that can tolerate lesser amounts of oxygen.

What is biomagnification ?

Biomagnification is the increase in concentration of a substance, such as the pesticide, that occurs in a food chain. The pollutant enters the first organism in a food chain. When the second organism in the chain consumes the first one, the pollutant too moves into the second organism.

As we go up the levels of the ecological pyramid, there is energy loss. Hence, at each succeeding level, the predator consumes more of the prey. As a result, the organisms at higher levels have greater concentrations of the pollutant.

Rainbow smelt1.04 ppm

Zooplankton0.123 ppm

Phytoplankton0.0025 ppm

Water0.000002 ppm

Herring gull124 ppm

Lake trout4.83 ppm

Herring gull eggs124 ppm

Biological Magnification

Biological Magnification

Water Pollution

How severe is pesticide contamination of freshwater in India ?

Large amount of pesticide used in agriculture and other sectors have contaminated many water sources.

This is also the case with soft drinks. Today bottles and pouches of water are

found every where. They contain deadly pesticides like

lindane, DDT, and malathion, and amounts were well above the norms.

Control of water pollution

Proper Treatment of waste water to reduce the toxicity

Non-biodegradable waste should not be in dumped water bodies

Human activities on water bodies should be completely stopped

The use of fertilizers and pesticides should be minimized

Fertilize garden and yard plants with manure or compost instead of commercial inorganic fertilizer

What Can You Do?

Water Pollution

• Fertilize garden and yard plants with manure or compost instead of commercial inorganic fertilizer.

• Minimize your use of pesticides.

• Do not apply fertilizer or pesticides near a body of water.

• Grow or buy organic foods.

• Do not drink bottled water unless tests show that your tap water is contaminated. Merely refill and reuse plastic bottles with tap water.

• Compost your food wastes.

• Do not use water fresheners in toilets.

• Do not flush unwanted medicines down the toilet.

• Do not pour pesticides, paints, solvents, oil, antifreeze, or other products containing harmful chemicals down the drain or onto the ground.

The story of bottled water: Poisons in packages?