Transcript Water Pollutionx

Water Pollution
Chapter 14
Cuyahoga River Fire
• 1969- river lights on fire
• http://clevelandhistorical.org/ite
ms/show/63
• http://www.pophistorydig.com/t
opics/cuyahoga-river-fires/
Water Pollution
Water
pollution- the contamination of
streams, rivers, lakes, oceans, or
groundwater with substances produced
through human activities and that
negatively affect organisms. Can be natural
(erosion) and caused by humans.
Point Source Pollution
• Point sources- distinct locations
that pump waste into a waterway.
• Examples include power plants,
factories, coal mines, other industrial
waste
• Point source are easy to identify and
regulate.
Non-Point Pollution
• Nonpoint sources- have no specific point of origin, diffuse areas
such as an entire farming region that pollutes a waterway.
• Examples include: farms, parks, lawns, parking lots, fields, and
can be made worse by rain and snowmelt
• Largest source of Ocean Pollution
• Very difficult to regulate.
Human Wastewater
 Human
Wastewater-Water produced by human
activities such as human sewage from toilets and
gray water from bathing and washing clothes or
dishes.
Three reasons scientists are concerned about
human wastewater:
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Oxygen-demanding wastes like bacteria that put a large demand for oxygen in the water
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BOD(biological oxygen demand)- the amount of oxygen a quantity of water uses over a period of time at a
specific temperature.
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Lower BOD values indicate the water is less polluted and higher BOD values indicate it is more polluted by
wastewater.
Nutrients that are released from wastewater decomposition can make the water more fertile causing eutrophication

Eutrophication is an abundance of fertility to a body of water.
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Eutrophication is caused by an increase in nutrients, such as fertilizers.

Eutrophication can cause a rapid growth of algae which eventually dies, causing the microbes to increase the
BOD.
Wastewater can carry a wide variety of disease-causing organisms.
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Cholera, Typhoid fever, Stomach flu, Diarrhea, Cholera, Hepatitis
DISEASE CAUSING AGENTS
• Bacteria, viruses, protozoa, parasitic worms.
• Waterborne Diseases – typhoid, cholera, bacterial dysentary, polio, and infectious hepatitis.
• Cause of Typhoid fever: Salmonella typhi bacteria from food or water or if sewage contaminated
with S. Typhi bacteria gets into the water you use for drinking or washing food. “Typhoid Mary”
• Cause of Cholera: Feces exposure from poor hygiene and sanitation of food or water. A person
may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium.
• Common in developing nations. Threat following Katrina in USA!
DISEASE CAUSING AGENTS
• Pfiesteria piscida – “Cell from hell”
• A microscopic organism that can behave as both a plant and animal cell. Flips from an algae eater
into a fish-eating dinoflagellate.
• Lacks suitable prey to keep population in check.
• Releases neurotoxins that kill fish within 10 hours and the neurotoxins form an aerosol above the
water and can harm humans.
• Pfiesteria live in waters from Chesapeake Bay to Florida.
• Scientific research show increased population growth of Pfiesteria associated with cultural
eutrophication from hog farms.
• Joanne Burkholder’s research was not well-received from law makers and big business. Her
research indicates that farmers need to implement nutrient-loading management plans and that
government needs to implement policy and regulations to limit Pfiesteria outbreaks to protect
human health!
Septic Sytems
• In a septic system, water drains into a septic tank. Solids sink to the
bottom while oils and other lighter density items rise to the top.
Solids decompose in the bottom. Extra liquid is then channeled out
through drain pipes which are surrounded by gravel. Excess water
then evaporates. Septic systems must be pumped occasionally and
the effluent must be taken to a treatment plant or a company can
come out and clean it then taking it to a treatment plant.
Treatments for Human and Animal Wastewater
 Septic
systems- a large container that receives wastewater from the house. Septic
tanks (cesspools) must be emptied each year. Old tanks can crack and leak coliform
bacteria into surrounding soil, groundwater, and surface waters.
SEWAGE TREATMENT
• Sewage treatment means
removing impurities so
that the remaining waste
water can be safely
returned to the surface
waters (river, bay, ocean)
and become part of the
natural water cycle again.
• Sewage treatment
separates solids from
liquids by physical
processes and purifies the
liquid by biological and
chemical processes
Preliminary Treatment
• Bar screens remove trash and coarse material mechanically
• Grit (sand, pebbles, coffee grounds,
etc.) is removed as well, using
Archimedes screws
• All trash, debris and grit is dumped into dumpsters and hauled to the
landfill
• ~7,600 pounds of trash generated per week!
PRIMARY TREATMENT
• Raw Sewage (Influent) Passes
Through Bar Screens to
Remove Large Debris
• Solids like wood, paper, rags
and plastic are removed by
screens, washed, dried and
taken away for safe disposal
at a licensed waste tip. Grit
and sand, which would
damage pumps, are also
removed by settling tanks and
disposed of in a similar way.
PRIMARY TREATMENT
• The remaining solids are separated from
the liquid by passing the sewage through
large settlement tanks, where most of the
solid material sinks to the bottom. About
70% of solids settle out at this stage and
are referred to as sludge. The sludge is
used on farms after further treatment
called sludge treatment.
Primary Clarifiers Settle Sludge To The Bottom
And Float Scum To Surface For Removal
SLUDGE TREATMENT
• Sludge is an excellent soil conditioner and is used as a fertilizer on farmland. However, it needs additional
treatment to make it suitable. This treatment is called anaerobic digestion and takes place in large, enclosed
tanks.
• The rate of digestion is increased by heating the sludge to a temperature where naturally occurring bacteria
(microorganisms) respond to these comfortable conditions and feed on other bacteria. On cooling, the wellfed bacteria die off, and the sludge is suitable for use on agricultural land.
• A by-product of the sludge digestion process is methane gas. This can be burned to produce electricity. The
electricity can be used to heat more sludge or to provide heat and light for the treatment works. Sometimes
more energy is produced than is required. The surplus is sold to local electric companies.
Anaerobic Digesters Heat Solids And Activate
Microorganisms That Break Down Solids
Dewatering
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Solids from digesters are 98% water, 2% solids
Solids are run over a belt filter press and a polymer is added to thicken them
Dewatered sludge, now called Biosolids, is about 85% water and 15% solids
Biosolids are loaded into trucks
and hauled to the City of Boise’s
farm
Methane Production
• Digestion of sludge produces Methane gas
• Methane gas is collected from
the digester buildings and stored
in a methane capture tank
• Some gas is used as fuel to heat
the digesters
• The remaining Methane gas
is burned and emitted into the atmosphere
Biosolids Land Application
• Class B Biosolids are used as a fertilizer at the 4,300 acre city farm
• The farm’s soil, water and crops
are regulated by the EPA
• Crops such as corn, alfalfa, and winter wheat are grown using this
fertilizer product to be sold locally
SECONDARY TREATMENT
• A biological process which relies on
naturally occurring microorganisms
acting to break down organic material
and purify the liquid.
• In a simple sewage treatment process,
micro-organisms are encouraged to
grow on stones over which the sewage
is trickled. They feed on the bacteria in
the sewage and purify the water.
These treatment units are called
percolating filters.
SECONDARY TREATMENT
• The rate of this process can be
increased by pumping air into
tanks of sewage where the
aerobic digesters float freely
and feed on the bacteria.
These treatment units are
called aeration tanks.
• Following either form of
secondary treatment, the
waste water is settled in tanks
to separate the biological
sludge from the purified waste
water.
Aeration Basins Are Engineered For
Microorganisms to Consume Waste
Secondary Clarifiers
• Uses gravity to settle solid particles (mostly clumps of microorganisms
called floc) out of the wastewater
• Many microorganisms are recycled, or returned, to the aeration
basins. This process is called return activated sludge.
• Some microbes are wasted, or sent to the digesters to be processed
with the solids.
Secondary Clarifiers Further Settle Sludge And
Microorganisms For Removal Or Reuse
TERTIARY TREATMENT
• Extra treatment is needed
to give the waste water a
final "polish". This is
known as tertiary
treatment. Various
methods may be used,
including sand filters, reed
beds or grass plots
(artificial treatment
wetlands). Disinfection,
using ultra violet light to
kill bacteria, is another
method.
Ultraviolet Lights Kills
Harmful Microorganisms
Secondary
Primary
Bar screen
Grit
chamber
Settling tank
Aeration tank
Settling tank
Chlorine
disinfection tank
To river, lake,
or ocean
Raw sewage
from sewers
(kills bacteria)
Sludge
Activated sludge
Air pump
Sludge digester
Sludge drying bed
Disposed of in landfill or
ocean or applied to cropland,
pasture, or rangeland
(Sludge cake or pellets)
Effluent Discharged to Boise River
Treatments for Human and Animal
Wastewater
 Manure
lagoons- large, human-made ponds line with
rubber to prevent the manure from leaking into the
groundwater. After the manure is broken down by
bacteria, it is spread onto fields as fertilizers.
IMPACTS FROM ORGANIC WASTE
8 ppm
8 ppm (mg/L)
• Nitrogen and phosphorous loading (cultural eutrophication causes and
increase in algae (bloom) which causes a decrease in DO resulting in the
death of aquatic organisms. Decomposing aerobic bacteria continue using
DO (increase in BOD) in water until the conditions become Anoxic!
WAYS TO REDUCE CULTURAL EUTROPHICATION
• Advanced waste treatment (sewage and industrial)
• Regulate detergents cleaning products for phosphates. They have been regulated
since the 1970’s on Long Island!
• Promote soil conservation and preservation of wetlands to capture and filter
pollutants before they enter surface waters.
• Regulate fertilizer, pesticide, agricultural and livestock runoff to control Nitrogen,
phosphate, and PAH’s.
• Create policies and economic incentives for doing these things!
BIOACCUMULATION AND BIOMAGNIFICATION
Bioaccumulation refers to how
pollutants enter a food
chain; biomagnification refers to
the tendency of pollutants to
concentrate as they move from
one trophic level to the next
Biomagnification
Heavy Metals and that can threaten
human Health and the Environment
• Lead=rarely found in natural sources
of drinking water
• Can cause serious problems for small
children and babies
• 15ppm is the level by EPA standards
• Idaho has 50 # of Exceedances
• http://usat.ly/1poya1d
• http://www.usatoday.com/story/ne
ws/2016/03/11/nearly-2000-watersystems-fail-lead-tests/81220466/
Heavy Metals and that can threaten
human Health and the Environment
• Arsenic: According to a 1999
study by the National
Academy of Sciences, arsenic
in drinking water causes
bladder, lung and skin cancer,
and may cause kidney and
liver cancer.
• The study also found that
arsenic harms the central and
peripheral nervous systems, as
well as heart and blood
vessels, and causes serious
skin problems.
• It also may cause birth defects
and reproductive problems.
Heavy Metals and that can threaten
human Health and the Environment
• Mercury- Many forms- Long residence time in environment –
toxic to humans and causes mental retardation in children and
kidney failure.
• Elemental mercury is typically released from industrial processes,
agricultural processes, household etc. Elemental mercury vapor
may cause nervous system damage when exposed at high
concentrations.
• Inorganic mercury is found in batteries and is used in the
chemical industry. Inorganic mercury is the most common form
that is present in drinking water but is not considered to be very
harmful to human health, in terms of the levels found in drinking
water. However, kidney damage may result from exposure to
inorganic mercury through other sources
• Organic mercury (primarily methyl mercury) is produced by
specific bacterial organisms in surface waters that convert
inorganic mercury into organic mercury, which is the form of
mercury that poses a significant threat to human health. Methyl
mercury is ingested typically by fish and bioaccumulates both in
the tissues of fish and the humans that eat these fish.
• Both inorganic and organic mercury are considered to have a
more detrimental effect on children due to the fact that both
forms are more easily absorbed into their system.
Worldwide mercury producers
Heavy Metals and that can threaten
human Health and the Environment
• Acid deposition and acid
mine drainage: (AMD) is
currently the main
pollutant of surface water
in the mid-Atlantic region.
AMD is caused when water
flows over or through
sulfur-bearing materials
forming solutions of net
acidity. AMD comes mainly
from abandoned coal
mines and currently active
mining.
Heavy Metals and that can threaten
human Health and the Environment
• Synthetic organic compounds
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Pesticides and inert ingredients
Pharmaceuticals and hormones
Military compounds
Industrial compounds
• PBDE’s – (Polybrominated diphyenyl
ethers) flame retardants added to
many items including clothing)
• PCB’s-(Polychlorinated Biphenyls)
(are really bad and like to stay in the
environment to cause havoc)
Other form of water pollution.
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Radioactive
Oil Spills
Solid Waste-trash/Plastic
Sediments
Thermal
Noise
Other nutrients
Air pollution
Groundwater
Invasive Species
RADIOACTIVE POLLUTION
• Wastes from mining of
uranium and plutonium
as well as refinement of
metals. These
materials go to
combined sewage
treatment plants or
directly enter surface
waters through runoff.
Oil Spills
• An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the
environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a
form of pollution. The term is usually applied to marine oil spills,
where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may
also occur on land.
• I am not making you write down the next slides but be familiar with
them.
EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPIILL
• On March 24, 1989, shortly after midnight, the oil tanker
Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska,
spilling more than 11 million gallons of crude oil. The spill was
the largest in U.S. history. Capt. Joe Hazelwood, who later
admitted to having had several alcoholic drinks that day, (From
Huntington, Long Island). In jail NOW!
• The spill posed threats to the delicate food chain that
supports Prince William Sound's commercial fishing industry.
Also in danger were ten million migratory shore birds and
waterfowl, hundreds of sea otters, dozens of other species,
such as harbor porpoises and sea lions, and several varieties
of whales.
• In the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez incident, Congress
passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which required the Coast
Guard to strengthen its regulations on oil tank vessels and oil
tank owners and operators. Today, tank hulls provide better
protection against spills resulting from a similar accident, and
communications between vessel captains and vessel traffic
centers have improved to make for safer sailing.
BP Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill
• The Gulf oil spill is recognized as the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Within days of the April
20, 2010 explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico
that killed 11 people, underwater cameras revealed the BP pipe was leaking oil and gas
on the ocean floor about 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana. By the time the well was
capped on July 15, 2010 (87 days later), an estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil had
leaked into the Gulf.
• The well was located over 5,000 feet beneath the water’s surface in the vast frontier of
the deep sea—a permanently dark environment, marked by constantly cold
temperatures just above freezing and extremely high pressures.
• Immediately after the explosion, workers from BP and Transocean (owner of the
Deepwater Horizon rig), and many government agencies tried to control the spread of
the oil to beaches and other coastal ecosystems using floating booms to contain surface
oil and chemical oil dispersants to break it down underwater. Additionally, numerous
scientists and researchers descended upon the Gulf region to gather data. Researchers
are still trying to understand the spill and its impact on marine life, the Gulf coast, and
human communities.
BP Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill Cont.
• Once the oil left the well, it spread throughout the water column. Some
floated to the ocean's surface to form oil slicks, which can spread more
quickly by being pushed by winds. Some hovered suspended in the
midwater after rising from the wellhead like a chimney and forming several
layers of oil, dispersant and seawater mixtures drifting down current;
during the spill a 22-mile long oil plume was reported. This plume formed
because chemical dispersants, released into the water to break up the oil
so it could wash away, allowed the oil to mix with seawater and stay
suspended below the surface. And some oil sunk to the seafloor by gluing
together falling particles in the water such as bacteria and phytoplankton
to form marine snow. As much as 20 percent of the spilled oil may have
ended up on top of and in the seafloor, damaging deep sea corals and
potentially damaging other ecosystems that are unseen at the surface.
OIL SPILLS
• Spills occur at offshore oil drilling rigs during natural disasters (Katrina) and
due to human error. They are called “blowouts”
• Spills occur from tanker accidents.
• Damage to environment from oil spills is dependent on type of oil (crude
oil most toxic due to benzene and toluene), weather conditions, season,
and type of organisms in the area.
• Oils spill cleanup is difficult and EXPENSIVE. It is very difficult to save
animals who have ingested the hydrocarbons into their digestive tracts,
especially aquatic birds who preen to insulate themselves.
Oil Pollution: Sources of Oil in the Ocean
Ways to Remediate Oil Pollution
 Containment
using booms to keep the floating oil
from spreading.
 Chemicals
that help break up the oil, making it
disperse before it hits the shoreline.
 Bacteria
oil
 Hands
that are genetically engineered to consume
on by people(volunteers)
Other Water Pollutants: Solid Waste
• Solid Waste-Consists
of discarded
material from
households and
industry that do not
pose a toxic threat
to humans.
SEDIMENT POLLUTION
• “Sediment Kills Reefs”
• Sediment releases into surface waters due to poor land management decreases water clarity,
increases turbidity, buries organisms, decreases the availability of light for photosynthesizing
organisms, and brings insoluble toxic pollutants including PCB’s and DDT.
• 1.3 million pounds of PCB’s in Hudson River from GE Plant. Must dredge 2.6 million yards! Long
residence time in environment.
• DDT banned in the USA for application BUT we are the #1 producers of DDT for sales worldwide!
Long residence time in environment. DDT (50years), DDE (200 years).
THERMAL POLLUTION
• Thermal pollution occurs when
heated water produced during
industrial processing or nuclear
energy generation is released into
waterways.
• The water returned to the aquatic
environment is warmer than the
surrounding water causing the
solubility of oxygen to decrease (DO
drops).
• Organisms that have a limited
tolerance range for temperature
variation or rapid thermal changes
will go into thermal shock and die.
Noise Pollution
• Noise-US Navy uses sonar that can disturb or harm underwater
animals.
Contamination from Air
• Water pollution can come from the air. Pollutants can be carried by
air currents and then released through precipitation. Pollutants
deposited in this manner can originate from thousands of kilometers
away. This great distance obviously makes it impossible to regulate or
monitor these pollutants.
Groundwater Contamination
• Groundwater is a highly important source of drinking water in the US.
Nearly 50% of people get their drinking water from an underground
aquifer. It is commonly assumed that natural processes in aquifers clean
any contaminated water, but overuse has stressed these reservoirs, which
can result in groundwater pollution.
• Fertilizers and pesticides are common pollutants of groundwater,
particularly in farming communities. Nitrates from fertilizers commonly
exceed safe levels in rural water supplies. The largest source of
groundwater pollution is chemicals and wastes from agriculture.
• Residence time, the amount of time water stays in an aquifer, can be very
long, meaning that some pollutants can be very stable underground. The
high expense of pumping water out of an aquifer to clean it means that
contaminated water does not always get cleaned.
Invasive Species
• What is an Invasive Species? Aquatic nuisance species (ANS) are nonindigenous
species that threaten the diversity or abundance of native species, the ecological
stability of infested waters, and/or any commercial, agricultural, aquacultural, or
recreational activities dependent on such waters. (As defined by the Nonindigenous
Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 .
• zebra mussels,
• Chinese mitten crabs,
• hydrilla,
• Eurasian watermilfoil,
• nutria,
• sea lamprey,
• Asian carp, and.
• New Zealand mudsnail.
GENETIC POLLUTION
(NON-NATIVE SPECIES)
• 1. Zebra Mussel –
1986 larvae of zebra
mussel arrived in
ballast water
discharged from a
European ship.
QUAGGA MUSSEL
Invaded the Great Lakes area when it
“hitch-hiked” it’s way in on a Russian
freighter.
More damaging than zebra mussel
because it has a greater tolerance
range (can survive at greater depths
and tolerate more extreme
temperatures).
There is concern that it will colonize
Chesapeake Bay and parts of Florida.
Invasive Species Mussels
• * No known predators, outcompetes food supply of native
shellfish, clogs irrigation pipes,
shuts down water intake
systems for power plants, fouls
beaches, and grows in huge
masses on boat hulls and piers.
Mussels are filter feeders and improve
water clarity tremendously.
Water clarity stimulates and promotes
growth of subaquatic vegetation (primary
producers), therefore, increases energy
flow in the aquatic environment and
reducing waste matter!
WATER HYACINTH
• 1 woman from Florida took 1 plant from an exhibit to put in
her pond because the flower was so beautiful.
• It reproduces rapidly and doubles it’s population in two
weeks.
• It is native to Central and South America NOT Florida. It is
now the #1 invasive aquatic weed in the southeast!
• It as displaced natural species of plants and fish and clogged
ponds, streams and canals.
Scientists have introduced the non-native water hyacinth
beetle (primary consumer), a snail from Puerto Rico and the
grass carp from Russia!
OTHER AQUATIC NON-NATIVE SPECIES
• EURASIAN WATER MILFOIL
• SNAKEHEAD FISH
• GOBI FISH
WATER POLLUTIONCONTROL LAWS
(Should be on your list of laws. Add any notes that are missing or add
in any additional details needed.)
Clean Water Act- (1972) supports the “protection and propagation of
fish, shellfish, and wildlife and recreation in and on the water”.
Issued water quality standards that defined acceptable limits
of various pollutants in U.S. waterways.
1972 – Water Pollution Control Act – EPA established regulations for the
discharge of pollutants in the USA. It gave the EPA authority to implement
pollution control programs and set ambient water quality standards for all
contaminants entering surface waters. It also funded the construction of
sewage treatment plants. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act was
amended in 1977 and came to be known as the Clean Water Act. The ACT
does NOT address water quantity or groundwater, ONLY water quality.
Initially addressed point source, since the 1980’s has come to address
nonpoint source issues as well.
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL LAWS
• Great Lakes Critical Programs Act, 1990, put in place part of the Great
Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the USA and Canada. This
law required the EPA to establish water quality criteria to address 29
toxic pollutants with maximum levels that are safe for humans,
wildlife, and aquatic life.
• 1988 – Ocean Dumping Ban Act – barred ocean dumping of sewage
sludge at the 200 mile marker. All cities were in compliance by 1988
EXCEPT for NYC, who were permitted to dump until June, 1992.
• Oil Spill and prevention liability act of 1990. Strengthened EPA’s ability
to prevent and respond to oil spills.
Water Laws
 Safe
Drinking Water Act- (1974, 1986, 1996) sets the
national standards for safe drinking water.
 It
is responsible for establishing maximum
contaminant levels (MCL) for 77 different elements
or substances in both surface water and
groundwater.
MONITORING SEWAGE
Standard test for for total
coliform (TCOL) and fecal
coliform (FCOL) bacteria.
The number of colonies
formed are counted.
STANDARDS: (EPA)
1. Drinking Water – 1 coliform
bacteria:100 mL of water
2. Swimming Water – 200
coliform bacteria: 100 mL of
water
WAYS TO REDUCE WATER POLLUTION
• Reduce the toxicity or volume of pollutants.
• Shift to pollution prevention instead of pollution
cleanup ($$$)
• Reuse wastewater instead of discharging it.
• Set up artificial treatment wetlands for the
wastewater to pass through be fore discharge.
• Can’t do any of this without educating the public
and winning the support of BIG INDUSTRY. They
must view it as a profitable venture. THEN Govt.
will be on board!