WATER QUALITY

STANDARDS
 Types of water ?

• Rain water
• Storm water
• River water/ Lake water
• Ocean water
• Domestic water
• Industrial water
• Drinking water
• Agricultural water
• Irrigation water
• Sewage etc.
Blue water = good quality water
Green water = nutrient-enriched water
Brown water comes from swamps & forests
Water pollution from poor land use practices
Algal bloom – sign of eutrophication
Weed infestation of water bodies is driven by
nutrient enrichment
Water hyacinth in lakes and rivers due to pollution
-chokes fish landing sites, e.t.c.
 Setting the WQ standards
• Water quality criterion (water quality guideline) –
Needed to support and maintain a designated water use.

• Water Quality Objective ( water quality goal)- Needed

to support and to protect the designated uses of water at a
specific site.

• Water quality standard – An objective that is

recognised in enforceable environmental control laws or
regulations of a government.
 Primary drinking water standards criteria

• Microorganisms - • Inorganic Chemicals –

Giardia lamblia; Virus; Arsenic, barium, fluoride,
Legionella;Turbidity copper, lead,
• Disinfection Byproducts- • Organic Chemicals –
bromate, chlorite, Benzine; Carbon
trihomethanes; haloacetic tetrachloride;
acids Dichloromethane
• Disinfectants- • Radionuclides –
chloramines, chlorine and Uranium; Alpha particles;
chlorine dioxides Beta particles and photon
emitters
Secondary - Drinking water standards (EPA)
Contaminant Secondary Standard
Aluminum 0.05 to 0.2 mg/L
Chloride 250 mg/L
Color 15 (color units)
Copper 1.0 mg/L
Corrosivity noncorrosive
Fluoride 2.0 mg/L
Foaming Agents 0.5 mg/L
Iron 0.3 mg/L
Manganese 0.05 mg/L
Odor 3 threshold odor number
pH 6.5-8.5
Silver 0.10 mg/L
Sulfate 250 mg/L
Total Dissolved Solids 500 mg/L
Zinc 5 mg/L
WATER QUALITY
INTERVENTIONS
 Recall the causes of water pollution

• Sewage and organic waste.

• Chemical pollutants and other toxic materials from
industrial processes.
• Fertilizers and other nutrients that cause
eutrophication (a process where water bodies such as
lakes become concentrated with nutrients leading to
growth of algae and other organisms).
• Bacteria and other microbiological agents.
• Silts and other solids that do not easily dissolve in water
and which obstruct water flow.
• Pesticides and other agricultural processes.
Identify the sources of water pollution
(http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterquality.html)
Choosing Water resources – Starting point of
WQ interventions

• Water Quality - How good is it?

• Affordability - What does it cost?
• Adequacy – Can it supply enough water?
• Reliability - How long will it last?
• Convenience - How far away is it from
homesteads?
 General information of water sources
Sources Quality Quantity Accessibility Reliability Cost

Good,
Depends on the
maintenance on
Good quality for deep best location of
Good with little pump required Moderate if need
Groundwater aquifers; poor to fair well; pumping
variation regularly, must to pump
for shallow aquifers required unless
not over pump the
artesian well
aquifer

Good with little Good for artesian

Storage necessary
variation for flow and gravity
Good quality; for community
artesian flow overflow; fair for
disinfection water supply; Fairly low cost;
Springs and springs; variable gravity
recommended after gravity flow with piped system
Seeps with seasonal depression; little
installation of spring delivery for easy costs will rise.
fluctuations likely maintenance
protection. community
for gravity flow needed after
access.
springs. installation.

Fair to good; need

Fair to good in large Very accessible for a good
ponds and lakes; poor using intakes; program of Moderate to high
Good available
Ponds and to fair in smaller pumping required operation and because of need to
quantity; decrease
Lakes water bodies; for delivery maintenance for pump and treat
during dry season.
treatment generally system; storage pumping and water.
necessary. required. treatment
systems.
 Information of water sources

Sources Quality Quantity Accessibility Reliability Cost

Maintenance
required for both Moderate to high
Good for mountain Moderate: seasonal Generally good;
type systems; depending on
streams; poor for variation likely; need intake for
Streams and much higher for method;
streams in lowland some rivers and both gravity flow
Rivers pumped system; treatment and
regions; treatment streams will dry up and piped
riverside well is a pumping
necessary. in dry season. delivery.
good reliable expensive.
source.

Moderate and Good; cisterns Low-moderate

Must be rain;
Fair to poor; variable; supplies located in yards for roof
Rain some
disinfection unavailable during of users; fair for catchments; high
Catchments maintenance
necessary dry season; storage ground for ground
required.
necessary. catchments. catchments
 Community actions to improve WQ
Source of pollution What the communities can do
Agricultural: from o Managing pastures to maintain vegetative cover and stable soils
both agriculture o Employing conservation farming technique
practices and o Minimizing stock access to streams and damage to stream banks
livestock rearing.

Storm water: o Actively controlling erosion problems Constructing farm dams to

Generated by encourage water plant growth so that they act as filters for run-
rainfall storms off

Sewer o Maintaining and operating on-site household wastewater systems

(septic tanks and aerated wastewater treatment units) to prevent
nutrients getting into streams or groundwater

Industrial o regulating industrial activities, as well as controlling diffuse sources, to

prevent water pollution
o Protecting local wetlands for their role in filtering sediment and
nutrients and providing a diversity of wildlife habitat
o Reusing effluent where possible
 Holistic Catchment management
•Area
•Length
Y
P (mm) •Slope
•Forests
•Farms
Rainfall station
•Industries
•Dwelling houses
•Rivers
•Lakes
•Reservoirs
•Wildlife
Gauging station
•Soil types
Divide
•Geology
•Climate

Q(m3/s) X

Z
Use of new technology
WATER QUALITY
WATER TREATMENT
 Reasons for treatment
1. Remove smells and odors,
2. Dissolved gases (Ammonia, hydrogen sulphide)
3. Kill germs, pathogens, bacteria and viruses
4. Water hardness
5. Portable and safe water
 Where do we start?
• Water samples – from sources (borehole)
• Water examination
• Water analysis – Water laboratory
• Re-samplying every three months
• Checking on transmission lines for
infiltration of sewage water
 Methods for purification

• Simplest is boiling
• Filtration
• Chlorination
• Ozone
• UV treatment
• Water guard (Sodium hypo chlorite)
• Distillation
 Filters
• Sand filters for large communities
• Gravity filters for small communities
• Domestic household filters
• Filter cartridges ( for many types of ions)
• Activated carbon or charcoal filters
• Fluoride filters
• Reverse osmosis – More advanced
 The working principles of some specific
filters
1. Ozone filters – Through oxidation process, all organic,
inorganic and biological substances are destroyed
2. Steam distillation – Natural methods which is able to
remove Biological Entities, Heavy Metals, Organic
Chemicals, Inorganic Chemicals & Radioactive Material
3. Carbon filters (Charcoal) – A good media for a wide
range of contaminant like chlorine, pesticides, herbicides
and inorganic materials
4. Far Infrared Light (FIR) - Very suitable for toxin
removal
5. Ultraviolet Light – Very cheap to use – Deactivates the
DNA of bacteria, virus and other pathogens
 Working principles Cont;

6. The ceramic water filters – Very cheap and

affordable- removes dirt, microbes, virus
and bacteria
7. Fluoride filters- Single and combined
Sand filters
UV filters
Ceramic water filters
Single and combined Fluoride filters
THANK YOU