Chemical Contaminates and their Sources.

Sources of Contaminates

• Energy

• Agriculture

• Industrial/Hazardous Wastes

• Sewage

Energy

• Obtaining and use of energy resources is the major cause for water being polluted.

Energy

• Mining adds sediments to water.• Oil Spills• Nuclear: Release of radioactive

wastes.• Power plants: – Release heat into the water. (Thermal

pollution)– Gas molecules that dissolve in water fall

to the Earth as acid rain.

Industrial/Hazardous Wastes

• Illegal dump sites.

• Leaks from landfill sites.

• Chemical spills from pipe leaks or accidents.

Industrial/Hazardous Waste

• Chromium: Cancer causing• Copper: Can damage the liver. Makes

the water taste bitter.• Cyanide: Extremely toxic• Iron: Mining. Dangerous in high

concentrations only.• pH: Less than 6.0 and greater

than 8.5• Salinity: Salt

Agriculture/Sewage runoff

• Animals wastes– Biological (bacteria and viruses)– Chemicals in the waste

• Chemicals– Fertilizers– Pesticides

• Sediments from land erosion

Agriculture (Fertilizers)

• Ammonium Nitrate

• Phosphates

• Nitrates/Nitrites

Sewage (Animal Wastes)

• Ammonium Nitrates• Phosphates• Nitrates/Nitrites• * Sulfides• * Chlorine (Used by water

reclamation facilities to disinfect the water prior to releasing it into the environment again)

Nitrogen and phosphate compounds found in both:* animal wastes * fertilizers

can cause an alga bloom.

Natural contaminates

• Iron: A lot of minerals contain iron compounds in them.

• Hardness: The amount of calcium and magnesium compounds that are dissolved in water.

• Silicates: A lot of minerals contain silicate compounds in

them.

Dissolved gases in water.

• Dissolved Oxygen (DO): – A healthy water body will have a 3

ppm or greater.

• Carbon dioxide: – High levels are unhealthy to aquatic

animals like fish. This could be an indicator that the water source has an overpopulation of aerobic bacteria.