WATER POLLUTION PART I

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WATER POLLUTIONPART I
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NINE TYPES OF WATER POLLUTANTS

• Disease Causing Agents
• Sediment Pollution (suspended solids)
• Inorganic Chemicals and Oxygen-Demanding Wastes
• Organic Chemicals and Oxygen-Demanding Wastes
• Water-Soluble Radioactive Isotopes
• Thermal Pollution
• Genetic Pollution (non-native species)

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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!

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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 Burkholders 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!

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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 PCBs and DDT.
• 1.3 million pounds of PCBs 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).

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INORGANIC CHEMICALS (water-soluble nutrients)

• Heavy metals such as mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb)
  from industry, mines, irrigation runoff, oil
  drilling, and urban runoff from storm sewers.
  (point source and non-point source pollution)
• Lead (Pb) additives in gasoline (MTBEs)
  contaminate the air. Lead gas banned in the USA
  (still available in other parts of the world).
  It is also present in incinerator ash. This is
  classified as hazardous waste and must be
  disposed of in a special landfill. It leaches
  into groundwater. Residues can also be found on
  food resources located downwind from
  incinerators. Lead paints banned in USA, but
  can still be found in buildings.
• Greatest risk for Pb poisoning are mid-aged men
  (high blood pressure), pregnant woman
  (miscarriage, premature births and stillbirths),
  and young children (mental/physical impairments
  hearing loss, hyperactivity, ADD, low IQ, LD).

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INORGANIC CHEMICALS (water-soluble nutrients)

• Mercury (Hg) mostly from industrial processes
  (wastewater), also from batteries, paints and
  plastics burned in incinerators. Burning
  converts it to methyl mercury which readily
  enters food webs.
• Bioaccumulation in muscle of tuna, shark, and
  swordfish.
• Biomagnification since they are top predators.
• Long residence time in environment toxic to
  humans and causes mental retardation in children
  and kidney failure.

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BIOACCUMULATION AND BIOMAGNIFICATION
Biomagnification
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• 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!

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SEPTIC TANKS
Septic tanks are used in areas where there are no
combined sewers.
Septic tanks (cesspools) must be emptied each
year. Old tanks can crack and leak coliform
bacteria into surrounding soil, groundwater, and
surface waters.
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Figure 9-28Page 196
Septic tank with manhole (for cleanout)
Non-perforated pipe
Household wastewater
Distribution box (optional)
Drain field
Gravel or crushed stone
Vent pipe
Perforated pipe
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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

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PRIMARY TREATMENT

• 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.

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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.

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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. NYC sludge
  has too many heavy metals (Hg, Pb, Cd, Cu) and
  may not be used as a soil amendment for food
  resources in NY State.
• 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 well-fed 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.

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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.

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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.
  

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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, and is being used at a number of
  coastal sewage treatment plants.

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Secondary
Primary
Grit chamber
Chlorine disinfection tank
Bar screen
Settling tank
Aeration tank
Settling 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)
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IMPACTS FROM ORGANIC WASTE
8 ppm
Types of organisms
Clean Zone
Recovery Zone
Septic Zone
8 ppm (mg/L)
Dissolved oxygen (ppm)
Decomposition Zone
Clean Zone
Normal clean water organisms (Trout, perch,
bass, mayfly, stonefly)
Biological oxygen demand
Trash fish (carp, gar, leeches)
Fish absent, fungi, sludge worms, bacteria (anaero
bic)
Trash fish (carp, gar, leeches)
Normal clean water organisms (Trout, perch,
bass, mayfly, stonefly)
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WAYS TO REDUCE CULTURAL EUTROPHICATION

• Advanced waste treatment (sewage and industrial)
• Regulate detergents cleaning products for
  phosphates. They have been regulated since the
  1970s 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 PAHs.
• Create policies and economic incentives for doing
  these things!

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ORGANIC CHEMICALS(Synthetic)

• Pesticides, solvents, industrial chemicals, and
  plastics, oil, gasoline, and MTBEs.
• Many are hydrocarbons (PAHs) and leach into soil
  and groundwater. All of these are toxic to
  aquatic organisms.
• Standards benzene (1ppb) (DDT)
• MTBE (5 ppb)
• As soon as Clean Air Act Ammendments of 1990 went
  into effect, childhood asthma increased as well
  as bronchitis, depression, and nuerological
  disorders.
• Senator Marcellino wants to remove the mandate
  for MTBEs. New Hampshire is the only state that
  has outlawed MTBEs.
• Problematic due to NAFTA violates Article 11
• Oil Spills Exxon Valdez

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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.

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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.