Water pollution, the release of substances into subsurface
groundwater or
into lakes, streams, rivers, estuaries, and oceans to the point where the substances
interfere with beneficial use of the water or with the natural functioning
of ecosystems. In addition to the release of substances, such as chemicals or
microorganisms, water pollution may also include the release of energy, in the form
of radioactivity or heat, into bodies of water.
TOP QUESTIONS
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Sewage And Other Water Pollutants
Water bodies can be polluted by a wide variety of substances, including pathogenic
microorganisms, putrescible organic waste, plant nutrients, toxic chemicals,
sediments, heat, petroleum (oil), and radioactive substances. Several types of water
pollutants are considered below. (For a discussion of the handling of sewage and
other forms of waste produced by human activities, see waste disposal.)
Domestic sewage
Domestic sewage is the primary source of pathogens (disease-causing
microorganisms) and putrescible organic substances. Because pathogens are
excreted in feces, all sewage from cities and towns is likely to contain pathogens of
some type, potentially presenting a direct threat to public health. Putrescible organic
matter presents a different sort of threat to water quality. As organics are
decomposed naturally in the sewage by bacteria and other microorganisms, the
dissolved oxygen content of the water is depleted. This endangers the quality
of lakes and streams, where high levels of oxygen are required for fish and other
aquatic organisms to survive. Sewage-treatment processes reduce the levels of
pathogens and organics in wastewater, but they do not eliminate them completely
(see also wastewater treatment).
Domestic sewage is also a major source of plant nutrients,
mainly nitrates and phosphates. Excess nitrates and phosphates in water promote
the growth of algae, sometimes causing unusually dense and rapid growths known
as algal blooms. When the algae die, oxygen dissolved in the water declines because
microorganisms use oxygen to digest algae during the process of decomposition (see
also biochemical oxygen demand). Anaerobic organisms (organisms that do not
require oxygen to live) then metabolize the organic wastes, releasing gases such
as methane and hydrogen sulfide, which are harmful to the aerobic (oxygen-
requiring) forms of life. The process by which a lake changes from a clean, clear
condition—with a relatively low concentration of dissolved nutrients and a balanced
aquatic community—to a nutrient-rich, algae-filled state and thence to an oxygen-
deficient, waste-filled condition is called eutrophication. Eutrophication is a
naturally occurring, slow, and inevitable process. However, when it is accelerated by
human activity and water pollution (a phenomenon called cultural eutrophication), it
can lead to the premature aging and death of a body of water.
toxic Euglena bloom
Toxic bloom caused by Euglena, a photosynthetic protist.
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Toxic waste
Waste is considered toxic if it
is poisonous, radioactive, explosive, carcinogenic (causing cancer), mutagenic (causi
ng damage to chromosomes), teratogenic (causing birth defects), or bioaccumulative
(that is, increasing in concentration at the higher ends of food chains). Sources of
toxic chemicals include improperly disposed wastewater from industrial plants and
chemical process facilities (lead, mercury, chromium) as well as
surface runoff containing pesticides used on agricultural areas and suburban lawns
(chlordane, dieldrin, heptachlor). (For a more-detailed treatment of toxic
chemicals, see poison and toxic waste.)
Sediment
Sediment (e.g., silt) resulting from soil erosion can be carried into water bodies by
surface runoff. Suspended sediment interferes with the penetration of sunlight and
upsets the ecological balance of a body of water. Also, it can disrupt the reproductive
cycles of fish and other forms of life, and when it settles out of suspension it can
smother bottom-dwelling organisms.
Thermal pollution
Heat is considered to be a water pollutant because it decreases the capacity of water
to hold dissolved oxygen in solution, and it increases the rate of metabolism of fish.
Valuable species of game fish (e.g., trout) cannot survive in water with very low levels
of dissolved oxygen. A major source of heat is the practice of discharging cooling
water from power plants into rivers; the discharged water may be as much as 15 °C
(27 °F) warmer than the naturally occurring water.
Petroleum (oil) pollution
Petroleum (oil) pollution occurs when oil from roads and parking lots is carried in
surface runoff into water bodies. Accidental oil spills are also a source of oil pollution
—as in the devastating spills from the tanker Exxon Valdez (which released more
than 260,000 barrels in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989) and from
the Deepwater Horizon oil rig (which released more than 4 million barrels of oil into
the Gulf of Mexico in 2010). Oil slicks eventually move toward shore, harming
aquatic life and damaging recreation areas.
Groundwater And Oceans
Study about experiments on decontamination of water through pollutant extracting
plants
Learn about experiments that use plants, notably reeds, to filter pollutants from groundwater.
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Groundwater—water contained in underground geologic formations called aquifers—
is a source of drinking water for many people. For example, about half the people in
the United States depend on groundwater for their domestic water supply. Although
groundwater may appear crystal clear (due to the natural filtration that occurs as it
flows slowly through layers of soil), it may still be polluted by dissolved chemicals
and by bacteria and viruses. Sources of chemical contaminants include poorly
designed or poorly maintained subsurface sewage-disposal systems (e.g., septic
tanks), industrial wastes disposed of in improperly lined or unlined landfills
or lagoons, leachates from unlined municipal
refuse landfills, mining and petroleum production, and leaking underground storage
tanks below gasoline service stations. In coastal areas, increasing withdrawal of
groundwater (due to urbanization and industrialization) can cause saltwater
intrusion: as the water table drops, seawater is drawn into wells.
aquifer
The process of saltwater intrusion into a coastal aquifer depends on how much water has been
removed from the freshwater aquifer. Aquifers whose waters are periodically recharged are
able to keep salt water from intruding.
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Discover how plastic debris is affecting marine life in the Pacific Ocean
Learn how plastic debris affects the Pacific Ocean.
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marine debris
Learn where marine debris—trash in the ocean—comes from.
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marine debris: prevention
Learn how to prevent litter from ending up in the ocean.
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Although estuaries and oceans contain vast volumes of water, their natural capacity
to absorb pollutants is limited. Contamination from sewage outfall pipes, from
dumping of sludge or other wastes, and from oil spills can harm marine life,
especially microscopic phytoplankton that serve as food for larger aquatic organisms.
Sometimes, unsightly and dangerous waste materials can be washed back to shore,
littering beaches with hazardous debris. By 2010, an estimated 4.8 million and 12.7
million tonnes (between 5.3 million and 14 million tons) of plastic debris had been
dumped into the oceans annually, and floating plastic waste had accummulated
in Earth’s five subtropical gyres that cover 40 percent of the world’s oceans (see
also plastic pollution).
Global warming and reduced ventilation are considered causes for the decline of
dissolved oxygen in the oceans
Learn more about the steady decline in levels of dissolved oxygen in the oceans, a
phenomenon caused by global warming and reduced ventilation.
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Another ocean pollution problem is the seasonal formation of “dead zones” (i.e.,
hypoxic areas, where dissolved oxygen levels drop so low that most higher forms of
aquatic life vanish) in certain coastal areas. The cause is nutrient enrichment from
dispersed agricultural runoff and concomitant algal blooms. Dead zones occur
worldwide; one of the largest of these (sometimes as large as 22,730 square km
[8,776 square miles]) forms annually in the Gulf of Mexico, beginning at
the Mississippi River delta.
Sources Of Pollution
Water pollutants come from either point sources or dispersed sources. A point source
is a pipe or channel, such as those used for discharge from an industrial facility or a
city sewerage system. A dispersed (or nonpoint) source is a very broad, unconfined
area from which a variety of pollutants enter the water body, such as the runoff from
an agricultural area. Point sources of water pollution are easier to control than
dispersed sources because the contaminated water has been collected and conveyed
to one single point where it can be treated. Pollution from dispersed sources is
difficult to control, and, despite much progress in the building of modern sewage-
treatment plants, dispersed sources continue to cause a large fraction of water
pollution problems.
Water Quality Standards
Although pure water is rarely found in nature (because of the strong tendency of
water to dissolve other substances), the characterization of water quality (i.e., clean
or polluted) is a function of the intended use of the water. For example, water that is
clean enough for swimming and fishing may not be clean enough for drinking and
cooking. Water quality standards (limits on the amount of impurities allowed in
water intended for a particular use) provide a legal framework for the prevention of
water pollution of all types.
There are several types of water quality standards. Stream standards are those that
classify streams, rivers, and lakes on the basis of their maximum beneficial use; they
set allowable levels of specific substances or qualities (e.g., dissolved oxygen,
turbidity, pH) allowed in those bodies of water, based on their given classification.
Effluent (water outflow) standards set specific limits on the levels of contaminants
(e.g., biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, nitrogen) allowed in the final
discharges from wastewater-treatment plants. Drinking-water standards include
limits on the levels of specific contaminants allowed in potable water delivered to
homes for domestic use. In the United States, the Clean Water Act and
its amendments regulate water quality and set minimum standards for waste
discharges for each industry as well as regulations for specific problems such as toxic
chemicals and oil spills. In the European Union, water quality is governed by the
Water Framework Directive, the Drinking Water Directive, and other laws. (See
also wastewater treatment.)
