 Water Pollution:-

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human

activities. Water bodies include for example lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater.
Water pollution results when contaminants are introduced into the natural environment. For
example, releasing inadequately treated wastewater into natural water bodies can lead
to degradation of aquatic ecosystems. In turn, this can lead to public health problems for people
living downstream. They may use the same polluted river water for drinking or bathing
or irrigation. Water pollution is the leading worldwide cause of death and disease, e.g. due
to water-borne diseases.

 Causes of Water Pollution:-

1. Improper Sewage Disposal

Nowadays, the disposal of sewage waste is becoming a major issue due to the growing
population of the world. Its improper disposal can lead to several water-related diseases that can
kill adults and children. Sewage disposal problem does not end easily. As soon as you flush the
toilet, the waste has to go somewhere and even if it leaves the sewage treatment, there are still
waste needed to dispose of. Thus, sewage waste is dumped into the oceans. In theory, sewage
contains a natural substance which can be broken down by the environment easily. In fact, 90%
of sewage contains water. However, in practice, sewage contains all other types of chemicals
such as paper, plastic, and pharmaceutical products that they flush in the toilet. Also, when
people are sick, they carry viruses with them.
 2. Acid Rain:
Acid rain is pollution of water caused by air pollution. When the acidic particles caused by air
pollution in the atmosphere mix with water vapor, it results in acid rain. It is harmful to aquatic
life & fishes.

3. Use of Toxic Chemicals for the Plants

Also, farmers have used harmful fertilizers to produce more and cope up with the demands of the
growing population. This results in an algal bloom in the water. When the oxygen level of the
water increases, it can also cause the extinction of underwater plants as well as the fishes.
4. Eutrophication:
Eutrophication is an increased level of nutrients in water bodies. This results in bloom of algae in
water. It also depletes the oxygen in water, which negatively affects fish and other aquatic
animal population.
5. Discharge of Radioactive Wastes
High concentrations of radioactive waste can cause great alarm to the public. It can cause illness
such as cancer which can ultimately cause the death of a person. In Europe, the biggest source of
radioactive pollution is Sell afield and Cap La Hague. These companies discharge radioactive
waste in the ocean which the currents carry around the world. Norwegian and the Irish
government has been continuously pushing for the closure of the plant for years.
6. Oil Spills
According to studies, 12% of the oil that enters the ocean is due to tanker accidents while 70% of
it comes from people pouring down oil on the land and routine shipping. However, tanker oil
spills are destructive since it releases large amounts of oil at once. In the United States, one of
the biggest oil spills is in 1989 when the tanker Exxon Valdez broke up in Prince William Sound
in Alaska.

7. Throwing of Plastics in the Ocean

Plastics are one of the most common materials that can easily get washed away by the waves.
Today, plastic is used in almost any kind of manufactured object from the clothes we wear, home
items, and automobile parts. It is lightweight, and it floats easily. However, plastics are non-
biodegradable, and it can affect the survival of the marine life for a very long time. Some people
may say that plastics are not as poisonous as other chemicals, but they also present danger to the
fishes, seabirds, and other marine animals.
  Effects Of Water Pollution:-

1. On human health

To put it bluntly: Water pollution kills. In fact, it caused 1.8 million deaths in 2015, according to
a study published in The Lancet. Contaminated water can also make you ill. Every year, unsafe
water sickens about 1 billion people. And low-income communities are disproportionately at risk
because their homes are often closest to the most polluting industries. Waterborne pathogens, in
the form of disease-causing bacteria and viruses from human and animal waste, are a major
cause of illness from contaminated drinking water. Diseases spread by unsafe water include
cholera, giardia, and typhoid. Even in wealthy nations, accidental or illegal releases from sewage
treatment facilities, as well as runoff from farms and urban areas, contribute harmful pathogens
to waterways. Thousands of people across the United States are sickened every year
by Legionnaires’ disease (a severe form of pneumonia contracted from water sources like
cooling towers and piped water), with cases cropping up from California’s
Disneylandto Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Even swimming can pose a risk. Every year, 3.5
million Americans contract health issues such as skin rashes, pinkeye, respiratory infections, and
hepatitis from sewage-laden coastal waters, according to EPA estimates.
 2. On the environment

In order to thrive, healthy ecosystems rely on a complex web of animals, plants, bacteria, and
fungi—all of which interact, directly or indirectly, with each other. Harm to any of these
organisms can create a chain effect, imperiling entire aquatic environments. When water
pollution causes an algal bloom in a lake or marine environment. This dearth of oxygen, known
as eutrophication, suffocates plants and animals and can create “dead zones,” where waters are
essentially devoid of life. In certain cases, these harmful algal blooms can also produce
neurotoxins that affect wildlife, from whales to sea turtles. Chemicals and heavy metals from
industrial and municipal wastewater contaminate waterways as well. These contaminants are
toxic to aquatic life—most often reducing an organism’s life span and ability to reproduce—and
make their way up the food chain as predator eats prey. That’s how tuna and other big
fish accumulate high quantities of toxins, such as mercury. Marine ecosystems are also
threatened by marine debris, which can strangle, suffocate, and starve animals. Much of this
solid debris, such as plastic bags and soda cans, gets swept into sewers and storm drains and
eventually out to sea, turning our oceans into trash soup and sometimes consolidating to form
floating garbage patches. Discarded fishing gear and other types of debris are responsible for
harming more than 200 different species of marine life.

3. Mercury Level Risks

Health risks from pollution vary from area to area. One of the most pervasive non-localized
water pollution issues facing the world today is the level of mercury in the oceans. Inorganic
mercury is a common byproduct of a number of industrial processes. The level of mercury in fish
is mostly dangerous for small children and women who might become pregnant, are pregnant or
are nursing. Mercury has been found to interfere with the development of the central nervous
system in fetuses and young children, which could potentially lead to a large amount of long-
term side effects.
  Prevention:-

1. Municipal wastewater treatment

Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant serving Boston, Massachusetts and vicinity.

In urban areas of developed countries, municipal wastewater (or sewage) is typically treated by
centralized sewage treatment plants. Well-designed and operated systems (i.e., with secondary
treatment steps or more advanced treatment) can remove 90 percent or more of the pollutant load
in sewage. Some plants have additional systems to remove nutrients and pathogens, but these
more advanced treatment steps get progressively more expensive.
Nature-based solutions are also being used instead of (or in combination with) centralized
treatment plants.[6]
Cities with sanitary sewer overflows or combined sewer overflows employ one or
more engineering approaches to reduce discharges of untreated sewage, including:

 utilizing a green infrastructure approach to improve storm water management capacity

throughout the system, and reduce the hydraulicoverloading of the treatment plant[34]
 repair and replacement of leaking and malfunctioning equipment[25]
 increasing overall hydraulic capacity of the sewage collection system (often a very expensive
option).

2. On-site sanitation and safely managed sanitation

Households or businesses not served by a municipal treatment plant may have an
individual septic tank, which pre-treats the wastewater on site and infiltrates it into the soil. This
can lead to groundwater pollution if not properly done.
Globally, about 4.5 billion people currently (in 2017) do not have safely managed sanitation,
according to an estimate by the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and
Sanitation. Lack of access to sanitation often leads to water pollution, e.g. via the practice
of open defecation: during rain events or floods, the human feces are moved from the ground
where they were deposited into surface waters. Simple pit latrines may also get flooded during
rain events. The use of safely managed sanitation services would prevent this type of water
pollution.
 3. Industrial wastewater treatment

Dissolved air flotation system for treating industrial wastewater.

Some industrial facilities generate wastewater that is similar to domestic sewage and can be
treated by sewage treatment plants. Industries that generate wastewater with high concentrations
of organic matter (e.g. oil and grease), toxic pollutants (e.g. heavy metals, volatile organic
compounds) or nutrients such as ammonia, need specialized treatment systems. Some industries
install a pre-treatment system to remove the pollutants, and then discharge the partially
treated wastewater to the municipal sewer system. Industries generating large volumes of
wastewater typically operate their own treatment systems. Some industries have been successful
at redesigning their manufacturing processes to reduce or eliminate pollutants, through a process
called pollution prevention.
To remove heat from wastewater generated by power plants or manufacturing plants the
following technologies are used:

 cooling ponds, man-made bodies of water designed for cooling by evaporation, convection,
and radiation
 cooling towers, which transfer waste heat to the atmosphere through evaporation or heat
transfer
 cogeneration, a process where waste heat is recycled for domestic or industrial heating
purposes.

4. Agricultural wastewater treatment

Non point source controls

Sediment (loose soil) washed off fields is the largest source of agricultural pollution in the
United States. Farmers may utilize erosion controls to reduce runoff flows and retain soil on their
fields. Common techniques include contour plowing, crop mulching, crop rotation,
planting perennial crops and installing riparian buffers. Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) are
typically applied to farmland as commercial fertilizer, animal manure, or spraying of municipal
or industrial wastewater (effluent) or sludge. Nutrients may also enter runoff from crop
residues, irrigation water, wildlife, and atmospheric deposition.
Point source wastewater treatment
Farms with large livestock and poultry operations, such as factory farms, are called concentrated
animal feeding operations or feedlots in the US and are being subject to increasing government
regulation.[40][41] Animal slurries are usually treated by containment in anaerobic
lagoonsbefore disposal by spray or trickle application to grassland. Constructed wetlands are
sometimes used to facilitate treatment of animal wastes. Some animal slurries are treated by
mixing with straw and composted at high temperature to produce a bacteriologically sterile and
friable manure for soil improvement.
5. Erosion and sediment control from construction sites

Silt fence installed on a construction site.

Sediment from construction sites is managed by installation of:

 erosion controls, such as mulching and hydroseeding, and

 sediment controls, such as sediment basins and silt fences. Discharge of toxic chemicals such
as motor fuels and concrete washout is prevented by use of:
 spill prevention and control plans, and

 specially designed containers (e.g. for concrete washout) and structures such as overflow
controls and diversion berms.[43]
6. Control of urban runoff (storm water)

Retention basin for controlling urban runoff

Effective control of urban runoff involves reducing the velocity and flow of storm water, as well
as reducing pollutant discharges. Local governments use a variety of storm water management
techniques to reduce the effects of urban runoff. These techniques, called best management
practices for water pollution (BMPs) in the U.S., may focus on water quantity control, while
others focus on improving water quality, and some perform both functions.
Pollution prevention practices include low-impact development techniques, installation of green
roofs and improved chemical handling (e.g. management of motor fuels & oil, fertilizers and
pesticides). Runoff mitigation systems include infiltration basins, bioretention systems,
constructed wetlands, retention basins and similar devices.
Thermal pollution from runoff can be controlled by storm water management facilities that
absorb the runoff or direct it into groundwater, such as bioretention systems and infiltration
basins. Retention basins tend to be less effective at reducing temperature, as the water may be
heated by the sun before being discharged to a receiving stream.

Name:- saurabh Dhanaji Patil

Roll No.:- MESYB609

Seat No.:- S189179