Unit 4.4 Water Pollution Flashcards
Water pollution
The presence of toxic chemicals and
biological agents that exceed what
is naturally found in a body of water
and may pose a threat to human
health and/or the environment.
Diarrheoal disease
8th leading cause of death
In low-income countries, goes up to 5
Water pollution management strategies
- Altering Human Activity
- Regulatory Measures that limit the discharge of pollutants into water bodies. Standards for wastewater treatment for industries and municipality
- Education and Awareness: public education campaigns about sources and impacts of water pollution and promoting practices (reducing single-use plastics and zero phophate detergents) - Controlling Release of Pollutants
- Real-time Monitoring: Utilizing advanced monitoring technologies to detect pollution events in real-time, allowing for immediate response to minimize the impact. This includes the use of sensors and remote sensing technologies to track water quality.
- Containment and Cleanup: Implementing rapid response strategies to contain spills and start cleanup processes as soon as detected. - Clean up and restoration of damaged systems
- Restoration Projects: Undertaking habitat restoration projects (planting aquatic vegetation, restoring wetlands, and creating buffer zones to filter runoff)
- Enhanced Treatment and Recovery: Upgrading wastewater treatment facilities and implementing advanced treatment technologies to remove contaminants from water bodies that have been polluted (including rehabilitating groundwater sources)
Sources of water pollution (freshwater)
runoff, sewage, industrial discharge and solid domestic waste
Sources of water pollution (marine)
pipelines, atmosphere and activities at sea (operational and accidental discharges)
Sources of water pollution (groundwater)
pesticides, waste from landfills and septic systems
How do we test the quality of aquatic systems?
Direct and indirect measurements
Direct measurements
- pH
- temperature
- suspended solids, turbidity
- metals
- nitrates and phosphates
Indirect measurements
Involve monitoring and measurement of organisms in the ecosystem.
- Biotic index (Indicator Species)
- Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
Biotic index
Scale 1-10 that gives a measure of the quality of an ecosystem by the presence and abundance of the species living in it.
Works by assigning different levels of tolerance to pollution to organisms
- Pollution intolerant: stonefly
- Semi-Pollution intolerant: crawfish
- Semi-Pollution tolerant: snails
- Pollution tolerant: bloodworms
Biochemical Oxygen Demand
measures amount of dissolved oxygen required to break down the organic material in a given volume of water, can indicate if part of river is polluted with organic matter)
Impacts of Eutrophication
Death of aerobic organisms, reduction in food chain lengths and loss of biodiversity (natural capital)
The process of eutrophication
Positive Feedback Process
- Nutrients overload primarily nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers, sewage, and industrial waste.
- Algae blooms block light
- Underwater plants die due to lack of light for photosynthesis
- As algae and plants die bacteria consume using up oxygen in water
- Depletion of oxygen (hypoxia) creates “dead zones” and loss of biodiversity
long-term changes in water quality and ecosystem
Types of water pollution
organic
1. sewage (human waste)
2. animal waste (manure)
3. biological detergents (washing poweder)
4. food processing waste (fats and grease)
→ eutrophication and smell
5. fertilizers
→ loss of biodiversity
6. chemicals from industry
→ can be carcinogenic
7. pathogens
→ disease
8. invasive species
→ native species
inorganic
1. phosphates and nitriates (fertilizers)
2. phosphates (washing detergents)
→ eutriphication
3. toxic metals
3. oil
4. radioactive material
5. hot water
6. noise
7. light
→ disrupt turtle nesting and upset whale navigation
Dead Zones
In regions where oxygen concentrations are very low, animals either die or migrate
