lu5 water pollution Flashcards
Water pollutant definition:
A water pollutant is any substance that decreases the quality of water.
4 general/common types of pollutants
amd, ar, s, d
- acid mine drainage
- agricultural runoff
- sewage
- dredging
2 major classes of pollutant classification?
what are they?
- Point-source pollutants - their original source can be traced. Usually, they are discharged directly from pipes or spills. Raw sewage draining from a pipe directly into a stream is an example of a point-source water pollutant.
- Non-point-source pollutants - their specific original source cannot be traced. They can only be traced to a general area. Non-point sources of pollution include runoff from backyards, parking lots, farms, mines, construction sites, etc.
Eutrophication definition:
enrichment of an ecosystem w chemical.. fertilizer containing.. speed up
the enrichment of an ecosystem with chemical nutrients, typically fertilizer compounds containing nitrogen, phosphorus, or both; which speed up plant & algae growth.
why fertilizers are pollution?
af-ow, n&p, carried by r-s… can enchance… what conditions..
- Agricultural fertilizers – may have similar effect to organic wastes
- Nitrates and phosphates - leached from agricultural land
- Carried by rivers to the sea
- Can enhance phytoplankton production
- Anoxic conditions (oxygen deficient) – lead to Eutrophication?
Eutrophication
overabundance,microbes,depletion,lack of,population,decomposers,process
- The overabundance of plants = overabundance of plant detritus on the streambed at the end of the growing season.
- Microbes on the streambed must then use larger amounts of oxygen in order to decompose the increased amount of dead plant material.
- This leads to a depletion of the amount of dissolved oxygen in the streamwater.
- Macroinvertebrates and larger aquatic animals such as fish can die from a lack of oxygen.
- With the death of herbivorous (plant-eating) animals, the aquatic plant population will continue to increase.
- The use of oxygen by microbial decomposers will also continue to **increase.
- This positive feedback process is referred to as eutrophication.
Sources of water pollution (5) (DROAS)
- Direct outfalls - from domestic and industrial effluents
- River inputs - fertilizer & pesticides from agricultural area
- Offshore inputs - leaching oil and gas, combustion
- Atmospheric inputs - haze/open burning smokes?
- Shipping inputs - sinking tankers, washing tanks, anti-fouling agents, oil spill, etc.
2 types of solid wastes, briefly explain and give examples:
MaDe, FiPaMa
1) Marine Debris – mainly plastics
- Polythene containers
- Plastic sheeting
- Nylon ropes
- Nets – other fishing gear
- Polystyrene spherules
2) Fine particulate material – clog feeding & respiratory structures of animals, reduce plant photosynthesis (light penetration), smother/suffocte aanimals on the seabed:
- Dredging spoil
- Mining waste
- Fly ash and china clay waste
- Clay from gravel extraction
6 types of Microplastic
4f,mb,p
- fibre
- film
- foam
- fragments
- microbeads
- pellets
4 sizes of plastic debris in our oceans
0.33, 1.01, 4.76, >200
- small microplastics (0.33-1.00mm)
- large microplastics (1.01-4.75mm)
- mesoplastics (4.76-200mm)
- macroplastics (>200mm)
Marine oil pollution meaning:
oil = organic compound, based, PB, Sources, Effects, Mech CM, Chem CM
solubility, examples
- Oil - organic compound that hardly soluble in water.
- It could be petroleum-based or non-petroleum-based.
~ Petroleum-based: crude oil, hydrocarbon, natural gas.
~ Sources: offshore wells, tankers, pipelines and storage tanks.
~ Effects: death of organisms, loss of animal insulation and buoyancy, smothering, significant economic impacts.
~ Mechanical clean-up methods: skimmers & blotters.
~ Chemical clean-up methods: coagulants & dispersing agents. - Example: Exxon Valdez, 1989 (find info on this incident to read).
(4 types of) heavy metal pollution
Hg, As, Pb, Cd - diseases
1) Mercury (Hg):
2) Arsenic (As):
3) Lead (Pb)
4) Cadmium (Cd)
Oil Pollution: 6 effects on aquatic life & habitats
O-seabirds, marine mammals-PhyC/ToC=RP, DO, MR, SBDO, CRD, SMD
1) Oil harms seabirds & marine mammals by 2 ways:
a- Physical contact: fur or feathers contact with oils
b- Toxic contamination: inhaled or ingested oil
~ Oil vapours can cause damage to central nervous system, liver & lungs
~ Long-term reproductive problems in animals
2) Deposited oil may seep into the muddy bottoms and caused harmful effect on the ecology of the area.
3) A coating of oil on the mangrove prop roots can be fatal to the mangrove trees (replacing mangrove takes decades).
4) Sea bottoms: high accumulation of oils in bottom dwelling organisms (algae, oyster, mussels, clams, fish).
example:
* Coral reefs damaged
* Salt marshes are easily damaged by fresh light oils.
congenital Minamata disease patients
born with handicaps after being attacked by methyl mercury while in the wombs of their mothers who consumed polluted fish
Mercury (Hg)
2 sources
- 70% from anthropogenic sources
~ metal processing, waste incineration, coal-powered plants. - Natural sources - volcanoes, volatilization from the ocean.
