2. • Introduction of
chemical, physical, or
biological agents into
water that degrade
water quality and
adversely affect the
organisms that
depend on the water.
4. • Developed countries-
• Main causes
• Industry
• Agriculture runoff
• Developing countries-
• Main causes
• Agriculture runoff
• Sewage
5. • Point Source Pollution
• Discharged from single source
• Easy to trace back to source
• Ex: leaking oil tanker, factory
pipe, wastewater treatment plant
• Non-point Source Pollution
• Discharged from many different
sources
• Difficult to trace back to source
• Runoff in river could come from
roads, farms- difficult to pinpoint
specific car or farm
• 96% of water pollution is this
type
• Educating public about
awareness of problem and what
11. • Lead- causes developmental
problems in children
• Mercury- from burning coal;
causes nerve disorders
• Cadmium- from batteries;
severe pain, softening of
bones, kidney failure
• Arsenic- headache,
confusion, diarrhea,
drowsiness, skin disorders
• Sources:
• Industrial discharge
• Unlined landfills
• Mining
• Some are natural (arsenic) Bangladesh, India- skin disorders
caused by drinking from wells
contaminated with natural source of
12. • Thermal pollution
(water too hot)
• Sources:
• Removal of trees over
river (decreased shade)
• Power plants dump hot
waste water
• Runoff from parking lots
• Effects:
• hot water decreases
oxygen in water causing
massive fish kills
Thermal Pollution
This 1988 thermal image of the Hudson River highlights
temperature changes caused by discharge of 2.5 billion
gallons of water each day from the Indian Point power plant.
The plant sits in the upper right of the photo — hot water in
the discharge canal is visible in yellow and red, spreading and
cooling across the entire width of the river. Two additional
outflows from the Lovett coal-fired power plant are also
clearly visible against the natural temperature of the water, in
green and blue.
13. • Sediment pollution
• One of the most common
pollutants in Georgia
• Sources:
• Construction, soil erosion
• Removal of trees/plants
• Effects:
• water becomes cloudy
(turbid) which blocks
sunlight for plants/algae
• Decreases oxygen in water
if plants are affected
• causes lakes/ponds rivers
to fill in which increases
risk of flooding
14. • Wastewater Treatment
Plants
• Treat waste water pollutants
from homes or industry
• Not all chemicals can be
removed from waste water
(removing these is expensive
& difficult)
• Creates sewage sludge
• May be hazardous & must be
disposed of as hazardous
waste where it is incinerated
& ash buried in secure landfill.
(expensive)
• If treated can be turned into
fertilizer or added to clay to
make bricks.
15.
16. NATURAL Eutrophication
• Dead leaves & animal waste
get decomposed by bacteria.
• Bacteria population increases
with increased food source
• Bacteria use up oxygen in
water
• Hypoxic (lacking oxygen)
water cannot support animals
• Animals die and their bodies
accumulate on bottom of
pond, filling it in (with dead
plant matter)
• Pond becomes meadow and
eventually a forest
• Takes 100’s-1,000’s of years
17. ARTIFICIAL Eutrophication
• Acceleration of natural
eutrophication- decades
instead of centuries.
• Caused by increased use of
fertilizers on crops and
sewage runoff
• Algae grow quickly with
increased fertilizer.
• Algae outcompete each other
and some die.
• Bacteria decompose their
bodies and use up oxygen in
water.
• Less oxygen puts stress on
fish and other aquatic
animals.
18. Biomagnification:
• When pollutants
accumulate in an animal
and that animal is eaten,
transferring that
pollutant up the food
chain.
• Ex: DDT and
eagles/osprey.
• DDT builds in fat tissue
• Highest on food chain
most affected b/c pollutant
does not breakdown.
19. • Anything on surface of
ground that can affect
surface water can affect
groundwater.
• Unlined landfills
• Industrial wastewater
lagoons
• Underground storage tanks
for gasoline, sewage/septic
systems, chemicals can
leak into groundwater.
• Don’t always know location
of these tanks so may leak
until someone notices large
20. • Takes a long time to
recharge water to dilute
pollutants
• Difficult to reach
groundwater to clean it
up.
• Pollutant attaches to
rocks and soil so even if
water pumped out and
replaced with clean
water would still
become polluted.
21.
22. • Ships can legally dump
wastewater and non-
plastic garbage overboard
into some parts of the
ocean.
• Most ocean pollution
(85%) comes from land
• Oil
• Toxic waste
• Medical waste
• Plastic/litter
• Pollutants travel down
rivers and most seriously
affect coastal areas.
23. • 5% of oil spills from oil
tanker accidents
• Each year 37 million gallons
of oil from tanker accidents
are spilled into oceans
• Most oil ocean pollution
comes from cities, towns-
non-point sources
• People pour car oil down
storm drains (bad- take it to
a recycling facility!)
• Small leaks on recreation
crafts- boats, jet skis, etc.
24. • March 1989
• Exxon Valdez Oil Tanker ran
aground on reef in Prince
William Sound in Alaska
• Released 11 million gallons
of oil
• Killed 1,000’s of birds and
other wildlife
• Ruined fishing industry in
the area
• Fined $3 billion dollars
• Now ships required to have
double hull (outer layer of
metal) around oil containers
in ship.
25. • April 2010
• Largest accidental marine
oil spill in history
• After an explosion and fire
on the oil rig, 210 million
gallons of oil leaked from
broken pipe under water for
87 days
• Affected marine fisheries,
people’s jobs, wildlife, killed
11 people.
• As of 2013, BP has been
fined $42.2 billion dollars,
lost contracts, and is under
government supervision for
the next four years.
Top: oil slick as
seen from
NASA
Bottom: tar
balls washed up
on beach
26. • Try to contain the spill
using floating boom.
• Skimmer boats
separate oil from water.
Hold oil until it can be
disposed of.
• May burn it off
• Bioremediation- add
genetically engineered
bacteria to eat the left
over oil.
27. • Plastic:
• Not biodegradable
• Plastic floats
• sea turtles mistake it for
jellyfish and eat it
• Plastic cannot be
digested, turtle feels full,
stops eating, and starves.
• Plastic can entangle ocean
animals
29. • Clean Water Act (1972)
• Restore & maintain the chemical,
physical, & biological integrity of
our nation’s waters; make them
fishable & swimmable by 1983
• Safe Drinking Water Act (1975)
• Established standards for drinking
water contaminants
• Comprehensive Environmental
Response Compensation &
Liability Act (CERCLA) (1980)
• AKA Superfund Act
• Makes owners, operators,
consumers of hazardous waste
sites responsible for cleanup
• Oil Pollution Act (1990)
• Required all oil tankers entering
US waters to have double hull.
30. • Explain why point-source pollution is easier to control
than nonpoint-source pollution
• List the major types of water pollutants. Suggest ways to
reduce the levels of each of type of pollutant in a water
supply
• Describe the unique problems of cleaning up
groundwater pollution.
• Describe the sources of most ocean pollution. Is it point-
source pollution or non-point source pollution?
Notes de l'éditeur
Top picture shows sediment enter lake from a canal. Bottom picture is a cove in Lake Lanier that shows how the lake is filling up with sediment.
