Water pollution – causes, effects and control measures.

• Over 70%of the Earth’s surface covered with water. Without

water ,life on earth would be non existent. It is essential for
everything on our planet to grow and prosper.
• Water pollution occurs when a body of water is adversely effected
due to the addition of large amounts of materials to the water.
Water pollution can be defined as degradation of water quality
which adversely affects organisms or makes such water harmful
to organisms.
• Causes
• Two types of pollutants cause water pollution
• Point sources of pollution : occur when harmful substances from known
sources are emitted directly in to a body of water. Pollution originating
from a single, identifiable source, such as a discharge pipe from a factory or
sewage plant, is called point source pollution.
• A non Point source : delivers pollutants indirectly through other agents
to water bodies. Pollution that does not originate from a single identifiable
source is called non Point source. An example of this type of water
pollution is when fertilizers or pesticides from agriculture fields are carried
into a stream by rain.
o Major causes of water pollution are
• Industrial waste: Many major industries contribute to Water pollution.
1 Manufacturing
▪ 2 Power-generating
▪ 3 Mining and Construction
▪ 4 Food Processing industries.
• Manufacturing industries: contribute many Of the most highly toxic
pollutants, such as organic chemicals and heavy metals.
o Which is dangerous to organisms, including humans.
• Power generating industries: are major contributors of heat and
radioactivity. All most all power plants, whatever the fuel,are major
sources of thermal( heat) pollution.
• The mining and construction industries: are major contributors of sediment
and acid drainage.
• Food processing industries: include slaughter houses, canning factories and
many other plants that produce large amounts of animal and plant parts
become oxygen demanding wastes in nearby waters.
• Agricultural wastes: Agricultural waste are generated by the cultivation of
crops and animals. It is major contributor of organic chemical, especially
pesticides. Agriculture is the major source of plant pollution through runoff
carrying fertilizers applied to crops
• Domestic wastes : most domestic Waste is from sewage or thank leakage
ends up in natural water. Many cities dumb untreated sewage untreated
directly into rivers,lakes,coastal water. Detergents and other house hold
chemicals also cause pollution.
• Petroleum: often pollutes water bodies in the form of oil, resulting from
oil spills. These large -scale accidental discharges of petroleum are an
important cause of pollution.
• Radio active substances : are produced In the full form of waste from
nuclear power plant and from the industrial, medical, and scientific, use of
radioactive materials. Specific forms of waste are uranium and thorium
mining and refining.
• Thermal Pollution: the Last form of water pollution is heat. Heat is a
pollutant because increased temperatures result in the deaths of many
aquatic organisms.
• Effects
• Affect on aquatic animals like fishes: many Causes of pollution including
sewage and fertilizers contain nutrients such as nitrates. In excess levels
nutrients overstimulate the growth of aquatic plants and algae.
• Blocking of water ways : excessive Growth of water plants due to pollution
with nutrients consequently clogs waterways and interferes with free flow
of water.
 • Health problems: pathogens are another type of pollutants that prove very
harmful to human Health. Drinking search water can pause mini illness.
• Pesticide toxicity: Presence of High doses off pesticides in water is posing a
biggest health problem. Pesticides enter into the bodies of different
organisms and humans through the food chain.Pesticides can cause various
problems like birth defects,
body deformities had cancer.
• Rendering water unfit for drinking, irrigation and other uses: Pollution Of all
types makes the water unsafe for drinking and unfit for agricultural and
other uses.
• Control measures:
• Source Reduction or preventing the production of pollutants is the
important method of controlling water pollution.
• Setting Up off effluent and sewage treatment plants help to reduce the
load of pollutants in waste water.
• Waste water treatment.

Noise pollution- causes ,effects and control measures:

Noise is defined Unwanted sound or sound without value that
causes discomfort to listener. Noise pollution refers to the
unwanted sound dumped into the atmosphere leading to
health hazards the noise pollution level is measured in dB
(desibel).
Causes:
Noise May be either natural as Thunder or human made.
Human made sources of noise maybe broadly classified into 2
types Industrial and non-industrial.
• Industrial source of noise: This is also call occupational
noise and is largely produced by industrial machines and
processes. In an industry, workers are subject to Noise for
about 8 hours per day. Various kinds of industries such as
textile iron and steel utensils are major contributor of
noise pollution.
• Non industrial source of noise:
1.Domestic noise: Entertainment devices example
television, radio transistor, tape recorder, CD players
telephone ,musical instruments, fans are common source
of domestic noise. They slowly cause deafness and other
bodily changes in those who hear them with a very high
volume.
2.Loud-speakers: this is one of the most common sources
of human made noise pollution. For every occasion,
religious or non religious Public festival and election
meetings produce sounds.
3.Construction work: Noise From construction sites
example construction of roads, bridges and huge
residential and commercial complexes also causes noise
pollution.
4.Tansport noise: Transport or traffic noise is created by a
continuous running of auto vehicles and is generated by
engines in jets , motor in trucks and contact of tyres on
roads and wheels on rails. Survey conducted by AIIMS
reports that the average noise levels in Delhi, Bombay and
Calcutta were around 95 dB
 5.Crowded markets: In a metropolitan cities such as
Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Chennai the crowded markets
have become great sources of noise pollution.
6.Theaters,Circus and Carnivals: Theaters,dance halls,
discotheques and carnivals all cause noise pollution to
near by residents especially in the evening.
7.Projection of satellite in space: Satellites are thrown into
space with the aid of high explosive rockets. during this
,defending noise is produced at the time of lifting of a
satellite.
8.atomic explosion: Huge noise is emitted from the site of
experimental automic explosion.
• Effects:
1.Hearing loss.
2.Intensifying of health problems.
3.irritation and stress.
4.Temporary increase in blood pressure.
5.Weekend immune system.
6.Heart disease.
• Control measures:
1.People should be avoid loud noises That do permanent
damage to the ear.
2.people can also play their music more quietly.
3. To Avoid hearing loss people can wear ear plugs.
4. Noise Awareness day can be celebrated to bring to
peoples attention the problems caused by noise and to
motivate people to reduce it.
 Climate change, Global Warming, Ozone layer
depletion, Acid Rain and its impact on human
communities and agriculture:
1.Climate change: it is Well known that the earth has
become warmer over the last century. The average
temperature has been increasing in many regions of the
earth. The world is more warmer today than at any time
During the past 1000 years.
Droughts And floods have increased during recent
decades. Cold waves are on the decrease while heat waves
are increasing.
• The sea level is rising, engulfing Islands and coastal regions
in to the sea. 60% of the Global population who are living
close to the sea shores are likely to be affected by this sea
level rise and increase in salt water.
• All these are taken as the indications of global climate
change. Such climate changes make humans difficult to
survive.
• We also know that human activities- primarily the burning
of fossil fuel and massive destruction of precious forest r
mainly responsible for all these threatening ecological
upsets and global climate change.
2.Global Warming:
The greenhouse effect is actually a natural process that
helps in heating the earth surface and atmosphere. It
results from the fact that certain gas is called greenhouse
 gases such as carbon dioxide ,water vapour, methane are
able to absorb long wave heat radiation reflected from the
earth surface and increases the temperature. This
dangerous increase in the global temperature due to the
enhanced greenhouse effect is called global warming.
• Causes:
1. increase in CO2 is mainly due to burning Of fossil fuels
industrial smoke and automobiles.
2. Decrease in global forest.
3. CFCs are released mainly from refrigerators, air
conditioners etc.
4. Methane is produced mainly by paddy fields and
methanogenic bacteria found in the body of cattles.
• Effects:
1.Rising global temperature is expected to rise sea level
due to the melting of polar ice caps.
2.It can change rain patterns and other local climate
conditions.
3.Due to increase in water evaporation rates ,soil will
turn more drier and crop yields may decrease.
4.it could also affect human health, animals and many
types of ecosystems.
• Control measures:
1.Decreasing the burning of fossil fuels industrial and
automobile pollution.
 2.Reducing the rate of forest destruction and increasing
forest station.
3.Using eco friendly refrigerators and air conditioners.
4.Reducing the use of cosmetic sprays.
3.Ozonee layer depletion:
The important benefits of ozone layer is that it as a
protective blanket against harmful ultraviolet rays. It filters
UV rays from reaching the surface of earth.
• Causes:
A group of chemicals called ozone depleting substances
(ODS) are responsible for the destruction of atmospheric
O3. The main ODS are CFC, Methyl chloroform, Methyl
bromide and Carbon tetrachloride.
• Effects:
1.Harm to human health.
2.Adverse impact on agriculture and forestry.
3.Damage to marine life.
• Control Measures:
Reducing or eradicating the use of ODS and switching to
alternate ozone-friendly substitutes.
4.Acid rain:
Acid rain Refers to occurrence of rain, fog and snow
containing considerable concentrations of acids, mainly
sulphuric acid and nitric acid.
 • Causes:
The two main categories of air pollutants sulphur dioxide
and nitrogen oxides are the primary causes of acid rain.
These acids combine with rain water and reach the surface
of earth as mild solutions of sulphuric acid and nitric acid.
This becomes acid rain.
• Effects:
1.It damages the human skin and affect human health.
2.It damages surface of leaves of plants, kills aquatic
organisms like fishes.
3.Deposition of acid corrodes buildings and exposed metal
structures.
• Control measures:
1.Reduction in burning of fossil fuels like coal and
petroleum and using less polluting fuels like natural gas.
2.Using coal containing less amount of sulphur which
produces less of sulphur dioxide.
3.Vehicles should be maintained properly to ensure that
they produce minimum emission of pollutants.
Solid waste management-biodegradable and non-
biodegradable waste, segregation of domestic waste at
source:
• Solid waste: Solid waste are the organic and inorganic
waste materials produced in a society which do not
generally carry any value to the first users examples are
packaging materials, broken furniture’s, clothing,glass,etc.
• Biodegradable:
Waste materials are those which degrade or breakdown in
a natural manner. Their decomposition happens in nature
with the help of natural agents like sunlight water ozone
which turns them into organic manure.
• Non- biodegradable waste:
materials which do not degrade easily ,degradation is
impossible. They remain in the ecosystem for a long period
and do not decompose, harming our environment.
Plastics, chemicals, paints, batteries ,metals fall in this
category. They are a great threat to the environment and
health.
• Effects of solid wastes:
1.Health hazards.
2.Occupational hazards.
3.Environmental effects.
4.water and land pollution.
5.Visual pollution.
6.Noise pollution.
7.Odour pollution.
• Solid waste management:
An integrated plan to systematically collect process reuse
recycle and finally dispose unusable solid waste generated
in a locality is called solid waste management.
• Solid waste management has to be done according
to the solid waste management rules,2016.
1.the responsibility of solid waste
management lies with all local administrative bodies like
city corporations municipalities grama panchayat etc.
2.The segregation of waste at source is mandatory.
3.No person should throw, burn, or bury the solid waste.
4.Waste generators have to handover segregated waste to
authorised rag pickers or waste collectors or local bodies.
• Segregation of domestic waste at source:
Domestic waste also known as household waste or
residential waste disposable materials generated daily by
households. This forms an important component of solid
waste and it can be categorised into
1.Wet waste like kitchen wastes,
2.Non- hazardous dry waste which includes papers,
bottles, metals wooden materials,etc.
3.hazards waste which includes used batteries and
household cleaning agents, diapers etc.
• Impact of plastic on human and animal health
All types of plastic products and waste during their natural
degradation gradually release fibres smaller than 5 mm
size to environment. these are called micro plastics which
Enter into human and other animal bodies by different
modes and cause health problems.
• Human health problems caused by plastics and
associated chemicals:
1.some adverse health effects caused by micro- plastics on
humans are asthma, pulmonary cancer, liver damage,
nerve and brain damage and kidney diseases.
2.Chemicals in plastic like lead, mercury directly come in
contact with humans. These toxins can cause cancer,
immune system problems, and childhood development
issues.