Water Pollution in India

Water Pollution Overview

• Water is essential for all life forms, facilitating various reactions
• It covers over 70% of Earth's surface, with 97.3% in oceans and 2.7% as freshwater
• Freshwater distribution: ice caps/glaciers (72.2%), groundwater/soil moisture (22.4%), lakes/swamps (0.35%), atmosphere (0.04%), stream channels (0.01%)
• Water is vital for agriculture, industry, and domestic use
• India has a sufficient water supply, but management is hindered by various factors
• India receives 1900 billion m³ of water annually, 86% becomes surface runoff

Dangers and Management

• Increasing population, urbanization, and industrialization strain water resources in India leading to pollution issues
• An estimated 70% of available water in India is polluted
• Long-term management goals
• Ensure/re-establish ecological balance
• Secure pure water supplies for population, agriculture, energy, and industry
• Maintain feasibility of public water uses
• Achieved through planning, pollutant discharge restrictions, levies, and industry agreements

Water Use and Demand

• Water resources are tapped for agriculture, urban, and industrial needs to serve the growing population
• Demand for water rises with increased living standards and industrial expansion
• Country's population is set to exceed one billion in the third millennium, compounding the demand

Sources of Water Pollution

• Water pollution is contamination that diminishes water quality
• Two categories
• Non-point source: pollutants enter water without a clear point of origin
• Point source: wastewater routed directly into water bodies
• Main pollution sources: industrial, agricultural, urban wastes

Industrial Wastes

• A significant concern in India because of rapid industrial development
• Industrialization necessitates solving industrial waste disposal
• Major waste-releasing industries: food processing, textiles, chemicals, petroleum, rubber, leather, paper, pharmaceuticals, mineral processing
• Limited water bodies worsen the impact of industrial waste

Chemical and Thermal Pollution

• Chemical pollution comes from organic/inorganic substances in water
• Common pollutants: proteins, oils, carbohydrates
• Glue/gelatine and slaughterhouse wastes have high protein levels
• Paper/textile waste contains excessive carbohydrates
• Synthetic detergents prevent aeration, reducing purification effectiveness

Impacts and Regulations of Pollution

• Industrial emissions can change water's color, clarity, and temperature
• Thermal pollution involves industries that release heated cooling water
• It raises water temperatures, affecting plant and animal life Affects taste/smell due to nitrogen-containing and other industrial substances
• Health standards require drinking water is odorless and tasteless

Biological Agents and Waterborne Illnesses

• Biological pollution results from pathogens like bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa
• Illnesses caused: hepatitis, typhoid, cholera, diarrhea, amoebic dysentery, etc.
• Polluted water is responsible for two-thirds of illnesses
• Disease outbreaks occur, examples:
• 40,000 jaundice cases in Delhi (1955-56)
• 2,000 cases in Bombay (1978)
• 310 mortalities in West Bengal (July 1990)
• over 2,000 cases in Ahmedabad (November 1993)

Industrial Wastewater Characteristics

• Various industries produce wastewater with specific contaminants:
• Acid manufacture: acidic pH
• Beet sugar: high BOD from dissolved/suspended matter
• Coal washery: suspended solids, low pH, H2SO4, FeSO4
• Coke manufacture: suspended solids, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, phenol, oils
• Distillery: high BOD, suspended/dissolved solids, brown color, disagreeable odor
• Electroplating: acidic, high COD, heavy metals, toxic substances
• Paint: synthetic resins, solvents, pigments, heavy metals, high BOD

Petroleum & Textile Waste

• Petroleum refinery wastewater contains hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, acids, phenols, metals, high dissolved solids, high COD/BOD ratio
• Plastic manufacture: acids, phenols, formaldehyde
• Pulp/paper: alkaline, intense color, odor, high/dissolved/colloidal solids, resists biological oxidation
• Steel: low pH, phenols, suspended solids, metals
• Tannery: obnoxious odor, high suspended/dissolved solids, high BOD/COD, oil/grease, chromium
• Textile: colored, high BOD, suspended/dissolved solids, acids, chlorine dyes, chromium, phenolic substances

Water Disposal and Effects

• Industrial wastes/sewage are disposed of in rivers/streams instead of purification
• It causes disease-causing bacteria and infections such as sinusitis, ear, nose, throat, intestinal & liver issues, typhoid in water users
• Nuclear energy plants and atomic explosions lead to radioactive contamination
• They are absorbed by plants, pass to herbivores/carnivores, reaching humans via food chain
• Nuclear waste is buried or stored at sea bottom, creating potential for seepage

Agricultural Pollution

• Modern agriculture's irrigation/fertilizers are a necessity to increase crop yield
• Animal dung, plant/animal waste, surface flow from pastures, dust-soil from erosion, solid/liquid agricultural wastes are termed agricultural pollution
• Soil erosion carries sediments that cause pollution
• Sediment transport results from soil erosion in riverbeds, dams, urban development, construction

Eutrophication

• Soil erosion's main impact is eutrophication, caused by phosphorus
• When added to soil, phosphorus adsorbs to soil particles and doesn't dissolve significantly
• Phosphorus and nutrients in sediment increase moss growth in lakes/rivers
• High respiration reduces plants/animals, known as eutrophication

Fertilizer Impact

• Over-fertilization of water bodies with nutrients results in more organic matter over self-purification
• Agricultural land's productivity naturally rises with chemical fertilizers
• Nitrogen/phosphorus in excess is detrimental, causes drawbacks and can lead to fish kills
• Insecticides/herbicides pollute water, air, soil
• They stay in the soil for years, transported from water to food chains, end in animals/humans

Urban Wastewater

• Garbage and sewage are major pollution sources
• Insufficient sewage systems contaminate drinking water
• Sewage canals discharge foul water in rivers, lakes, seas, liquid urban wastes

Bacteria

• Coliform bacteria, like Escherichia coli, found in human intestines/feces
• Water coliform levels indicate fecal presence
• High coliform = pathogenic agents
• Coliform bacteria counts in MPN (most probable number) indicate water quality
• Indian standards permit up to 5000 MPN per 100 ml

Wastewater Statistics

• India generates 15,722 million liters of wastewater/day in 299 Class I cities
• The class covers 65% Indian population, out of which only 24% is treated before disposal
• Large amount of treated wastewater released into main Indian rivers
• Each Indian disposes ~50 kg of wastes into sewage water/week
• Bombay alone produces 3500+ tonnes of garbage, 200 million tonnes of sewage/day
• Sewage water has high organic matter (BOD) and plant nutrients

Water Quality in Rivers

• Almost all rural, only partial urban homes in India have piped water
• Underdeveloped municipal sewerage affects waste treatment/disposal lagging behind sewerage expansion
• There are only 209 partial, 8 complete sewage treatment facilities out of India's 3119 cities/towns covering less than a third of urban population
• Untreated/partially treated waste flows into rivers, polluting groundwater also
• There's odor issues, mosquito breeding, fish death, 73 million work days are lost/year due to water-borne diseases

Agents of Water Pollution

• Water's ecological functions/use by the different development activities are affected by different pollutants/effluents
• Organic/inorganic matter, heavy metals, color, radioactive substances, PCBs, heat, floating/suspended substances, surface runoff, eroded sediments

Decompostion

• Organic water matter are used as energy, nutrients during decomposition
• Organic pollutants are oxygen consumers, they're harmful to aquatic life in large quantities and on long-term basis
• consumed by organic matter in water depending on oxygen, water amount
• Lakes/streams slow decompostion, increase oxygen solubility
• Oxygen depletion in sewage varies with amount of sludge
• Solid materials/bacteria are consumed by aerobes/protozoa, consuming DO

Water Quality Indicators

• Biological oxygen demand (BOD)- oxygen needed to sustain organisms
• Chemical oxygen demand (COD)- refers to the oxygen being used in converting organic wastes to inorganic
• When BOD/COD overtake DO levels, rivers "die", and adverse impacts lead to decreased DO, and aquatic life dies
• Anaerobic species rise and produce smelly/toxic matter

Contaminants

• Level of oxygen level should be three-five ppm
• Aquatic ecosystem is polluted by phosphates/nitrates, 10-25% from chemical fertilizers
• Industrial chemicals and other sources enter the air, soil, ground and surface water
• Trace elements = poisonous, trace elements are arsenic, cadmium, cyanide, lead, selenium, mercury, copper, chromium, zinc, iron, manganese, nickel, etc.
• They are still essential in small amounts to sustain human, plant and animal health

Heavy Metal Contamination

• Arsenic exists in allotropic forms, at 0.2 ppm safety limit it can cause comitting etc and death
• Cadmium is used in manufacturing and adversely affects organs. Cd amount of the water varies
• Cyanides, the highly toxic chemicals from metal plating cause nausea etc.
• Iron is objectionable and affects beverages. Water may become fouled by masses of growth associated with oxidizing microbes
• Lead is used in many industries and may cause anemia and loss of kindney function

Toxic Elements

• Manganese (Mn) is not a serious pollutant. In large concetration it affects animals and humans
• Mercury (Hg) damages nervous system, the environmental releases are the metals recovery etc
• Nickel toxicity from metal movement
• Zinc occurs as calamine etc, and it impacts human benefits
• Colour from colloids, metallic ions, pollutants and weeds, changed due to industrial chemicals
• Iron and Sulphate add color

Radioactive Pollution

• The Radioactive impact is explained in the following way
• Processing of Uranium ore
• Washing of polluted clothes
• In labs
• Hospitals isotopes
• nuclear power stations and nuclear weapon testing
• PCB causes harm

Surface Waste

• Low PCB is produced but destroys the envirnoment
• Waste heat is made by electricity in plant use and hurts water
• Floating items pollute

Sediment Pollution

• Sediment degradation is problematic and there's widespread concerns
• Water quality is determined by sediments
• Soil's runoff pollutes it

Agricultural Impacts on Water Quality

• Types are summarized below
• Tillage transports sediments etc
• Fertilizers pollute bodies causing excess algae
• Manure spreading can make nitrogen
• Pesticides impact water
• Feedlots contaminate waters
• High sediment and pesticides runoff can occur, disrupting potable water

Sediment

• Eroded sediment impacts quality, with varying global estimates
• Its caused by various human activities such as deforestation
• High Turbidity levels are bad and in many countries reduce the aesthetic and seek better means.
• Its harmful in navigation reduction and reefs are affected, and observations from space are bad

Ganga River Pollution

• Pollutant is high even through soil filters
• Wastes reach oceans
• The river passes through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, the river is dumped with waste with 900 million liters of sewage
• Bodies are burnt on its banks, affecting the water quality

Yamuna River Pollution

• Almost untreated, containing coliform bacteria, industrial, and untreated muck
• groundwater has soluble and agricultural pollution
• Saturated pollutants move to the groundwater
• There is high nitrate counts also, and this is due to use of fertilizers, fluoride also, from industrial effluents.
• there are some solutions for pollution such as controlling methods
• every river cleanses on it own

Water Purification Methods

• Physical chemical is achieved by the chemicals by absorption.
• Chemical = neutralization
• Biological = microorganism degraded

Installation Steps

1. Primary
2. Secondary
3. Tertitary

• Primary = filters and chlorine, has negative effects like being carcinogenic. Not sufficient.
• Secondary = biologically degrading. Purified water is treated to kill organisms.

Two steps further

• Trickling filter: Wastes pass through trickling filter. Organic compounds are consumed by insects
• Activated sludge: Sewage is mixed with bacteria. Waste is removed from the water. There is some sort of performance table Levels
• Tertiary is all chemicals
• coagulatiion
• adsorption
• oxidation
• water is passed through diissolved ions and has biological methods and pollution. Central pollution control acts protect sources

Marine Environment

• It's impacted by the pollution on shore, transport use, and being the dumping ground
• Urban activities put pressure on marine environments with dangerous effect
• the sea has pollution, affects the organisms, and causes damage also
• some countries dump the water
  • main actions are needed to reduce the sea amounts.