11' Water Pollution and Treatment

1
11. Water Pollution and Treatment

• Lecture outline
• An Overview of Pollution
• Selected Water Pollutants
• Surface Water Pollution and Treatment
• Groundwater Pollution and Treatment
• Water Quality Standards

2
11. Water Pollution and Treatment

• Lecture outline (continued)
• Wastewater Treatment
• Water Law and Federal Legislation

3
An Overview of Pollution

• Water supply is often limited by quality rather
  than quantity
• Water quality requirements differ for each
  offstream and instream use
• Pure H20 not found in nature
• Background water quality can render water useless
  w/o contamination from humans

4
An Overview of Pollution

• Water pollution degradation of water quality as
  measured by
• Physical sediment, heat
• Chemical acids, salts, toxic metals, pesticides
• Biological pathogens
• Radiological

5
An Overview of Pollution

• Common sources of pollution
• Leaks from storage tanks pipes
• Leaks from waste disposal sites
• Seepage from septic systems cesspools
• Accidental spills seepage

6
An Overview of Pollution

• Common sources of pollution (continued)
• Seepage from agricultural activities (e.g.,
  feedlots, hog farms)
• Intrusion of salt water into coastal aquifers
• Leaching seepage from mine spoil piles
  tailings
• Seepage from spray irrigation

7
An Overview of Pollution

• Common sources of pollution (continued)
• Improper operation of injection wells
• Seepage of acid water from mines
• Seepage of irrigation return flow
• Infiltration of urban, industrial, agricultural
  runoff

8
Selected Water Pollutants

• Oxygen-demanding waste
• Dead organic matter in streams requires oxygen
  for decay
• Biological oxygen demand (BOD) mg/l of oxygen
  consumed over 5 days at 20o C.
• Sources natural sources, sewage, agriculture

9
Selected Water Pollutants
Oxygen-demanding waste
10
Selected Water Pollutants

• Oxygen demanding wastes
• Replenish oxygen deficit via reaeration
• Respiration of underwater plants
• Air taken into streams as bubbles at points of
  turbulence

11
Selected Water Pollutants

• Pathogenic organisms
• Cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, dysentery, polio
• Use fecal coliform bacteria as a measure of
  biological pollution
• Most are harmless, but not E. coli (have caused
  illness death in highly publicized cases at
  restaurants)
• Case study Wallowa Mtns. Wilderness Area

12
Selected Water Pollutants

• Nutrients
• Phosphorus and nitrogen from fertilizers,
  detergents, sewage treatment plants
• Excessive levels can lead to eutrophication
• Abundance of plant life (esp. algae)
• Sunlight blocked ? kill plants below ? decay and
  exert high BOD
• Algae will cover kill coral

13
Selected Water Pollutants

• Nutrients septic tank sewage disposal
• Used by 30 of Americans
• Solid organics settle to bottom of tank digested
  liquefied by bacterial action
• Clarified liquid discharged into drain field
  (system of perforated pipes)
• Need site with adequate soil depth, percolation,
  depth to water table

14
Selected Water Pollutants

• Nutrients Chesapeake Bay
• Fast-growing population in large watershed
• Pollution sink avg. depth lt 23 feet
• Only 1 of waste is flushed to ocean
• P (from sewage) N (from urban ag. land) ?
  algal blooms ? BOD

15
Selected Water Pollutants

• Nutrients Chesapeake Bay
• Also pesticides from agricultural land
• Commercial harvest of oysters, crabs, fish have
  dropped sharply since 1960
• Since 1983 over 1B spent with some improvement

16
Selected Water Pollutants

• Nutrients Oklahoma Panhandle
• Oklahoma is a major pork producing state
• Texas County has a high concentration of Confined
  Hog Farms 95 licenses
• From 1992 to 1998 number of hogs in Oklahoma
  increased 763

17
Selected Water Pollutants

• Nutrients Oklahoma Panhandle (continued)
• Wastes from confined hog farms are major
  contributors of nitrates
• Nitrates are readily soluble and leached from the
  soil into the groundwater
• U.S. EPA has set maximum contaminant level for
  for nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) in drinking water at
  10 mg/l

18
Selected Water Pollutants

• Nutrients Oklahoma Panhandle (continued)
• Wentz project by Kathleen Stuck to determine if
  nitrate-nitrogen levels in groundwater are
  affected by
• the proximity of confined hog farms
• the proximity of center-pivot irrigation systems
• soil permeability
• depth to groundwater

19
Selected Water Pollutants

• Nutrients Oklahoma Panhandle (continued)
• Sample 27 water wells for NO3-N testing
• All samples collected and handled according to
  proper sampling protocol
• Measure NO3-N concentrations
• Analysis performed by the Oklahoma State
  University Soil and Water Analytical Lab

20
Selected Water Pollutants
Depth to Groundwater in Texas County
21
Soil Permeability in Texas County
Selected Water Pollutants
22
Number of ¼ Sections with Center-Pivot Irrigation
Systems in Texas County
Selected Water Pollutants
23
Confined Hog Farm Licenses in Texas County
Selected Water Pollutants
24
Selected Water Pollutants

• NO3-N 2.31 (0.00282)(DTGW) (0.0213)(MSP)
  (0.0088)(NOHL)(0.0608)(CPIR)
• r2 0.0465 p 0.0053
• NO3-N nitrate-nitrogen in groundwater (mg/l)
• DTGW depth to groundwater (meters)
• MSP minimum soil permeability (mm/hr)
• NOHL number of hog farm licenses within a
  3-mile radius, hydraulically up-gradient from
  well
• CPIF Number of ¼ sections with center pivot
  irrigation systems within a 3-mile radius,
  hydraulically up-gradient from well

25
GIS Risk Map of Potential NO3-Nitrate
Contamination
Selected Water Pollutants
26
Selected Water Pollutants

• Oil
• Release from oil tankers or pipeline ruptures
  (1994 in northern Russia

27
Selected Water Pollutants

• Exxon oil spill 3/24/89
• Exxon Valdez hit submerged rocks ? worst oil
  spill ever in USA waters
• 1,300 mi. of shoreline damaged
• Best estimates of wildlife loss
• 250,000 seabirds
• 300 harbor seals
• 250 bald eagles
• 22 killer whales
• Billions of fish eggs

28
Selected Water Pollutants

• Exxon oil spill 3/24/89
• Total damage 8.5 billion
• Not enough personnel equipment on-hand for
  response

29
Selected Water Pollutants

• Exxon oil spill 3/24/89
• Planning for oil spills must now include a
  scenario for a spill of 12.6 million gallons
• Skimming systems to remove oil from the water is
  now 10x greater than it was in 1989.
• Today, seven barges are available with a capacity
  to hold 818,000 barrels of recovered oil.

30
Selected Water Pollutants

• Exxon oil spill 3/24/89
• Exxon spent 2.2B on clean-up but largely wasted
• high-pressure jets killed plants animals that
  had survived
• Oiled areas recovered faster
• Exxon fined 1B
• Captain Hazelwood found negligent
• Tanker did not have a double hull cost 23M
  (still not required)

31
Selected Water Pollutants

• Toxic substances
• Hazardous chemicals synthetic organic
  inorganic compounds
• Heavy metals Pb, Hg, Zn. Cd
• Radioactive materials concentrate in tissues ?
  cause cancer, birth defects, genetic damage

32
Selected Water Pollutants

• Toxic substances Tar Creek OSU Geology Thesis
  by Randa Hope
• Mined for lead and zinc from the early 1900s -
  1960s
• Mines began filling with groundwater when mining
  and dewatering activities ceased

33
Selected Water Pollutants

• Toxic substances Tar Creek
• Acidic mine water laden with heavy metals began
  discharging into Tar Creek in 1979 from natural
  springs, bore holes, and abandoned mine shafts
• Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Ni, and Fe are present in the
  fluvial sediments of the Picher Mining Field as a
  result of lead and zinc ore mining

34
Selected Water Pollutants

• Toxic substances Tar Creek
• 75 million tons of tailings piled into mountains
• Lead in hills, driveways, homes ? high lead
  levels in children (highest of any Superfund Site
  in USA
• 80 of homes in communities built before 1978
  used lead-based paint (may be most important
  source!)
• Hazardous to developing fetus
• In 1996-97 elevated lead levels in 40 of
  children in Cardin, 23 in Picher (only Picher
  still has 11..others at zero!)
• Causes slower learning

35
Selected Water Pollutants

• Toxic substances Tar Creek (continued)
• Lead contamination is particularly harmful to
  children living in the area
• Metal-contaminated water has been discharged to
  the surface water and has contaminated the
  shallow Boone Formation aquifer

36
Selected Water Pollutants

• Toxic substances Tar Creek
• Sediment samples collected in 2000 at same sites
  where sampled in 1983-84 by USGS
• Samples analyzed by OK DEQ lab

37
Selected Water Pollutants

• Toxic substances Tar Creek

Upstream decrease
38
Surface Water Pollution Treatment

• Point source pollution
• Concentrated outfalls from high-intensity land
  use
• Fairly easy to measure treat
• 100s billions spent to control MI point sources
  (esp. sewage treatment plants)
• Still not meeting federal water quality goals

39
Surface Water Pollution Treatment

• Nonpoint source pollution
• Spatially diffuse sources from large areas
• Treatment based on best management practices
  (BMPs)
• Forestry
• Agriculture
• Urban
• Rangeland
• Mining

40
Groundwater Pollution Treatment

• Out-of-sight, out-of-mind, until
• Difficulty in clean-up
• Less rapid flow
• Less rapid dilution dispersion
• Long residence time
• No photo-degradation
• Less bacterial degradation
• Lack of oxygen in groundwater kills aerobic
  microorganisms

41
Groundwater Pollution Treatment

• Est. 300,000 waste disposal sites in USA may be
  producing plumes of hazardous chemicals moving
  into groundwater

42
Groundwater Pollution Treatment

• Saltwater intrusion
• Depth to saltwater below sea level 40 x height
  (H) of water table above sea level
• Cones of depression reduce H
• Interface moves inland
• Upconing

43
Groundwater Pollution Treatment

• Saltwater intrusion Long Island, NY
• Several million people entirely dependent on
  groundwater
• Most freshwater pumped from marine sands gt 30
  meters deep confined by clays silts
• Pumping has lowered artesian head ? reduced
  freshwater outflow ? saltwater intrusion
• GW also being polluted by septic tanks,
  fertilizers, landfills

44
Groundwater Pollution Treatment

• Norman City Landfill
• Norman Landfill is a closed municipal landfill
  located on floodplain of Canadian River in
  Norman, OK
• Open dump from 1920-1969
• Operated as unlined landfill from 1970-1985
• Closure completed 1989 with vegetated clay cap
• Base of landfill 3.5m above thalweg

45
Groundwater Pollution Treatment

• Norman City Landfill
• Determine the geomorphic stability of the
  Canadian River floodplain as it affects
• mobility of contaminants in the alluvium
• susceptibility of the landfill to fluvial erosion
• Determine the location of permeability pathways
  through which leachate from landfill could reach
  the Canadian River

46
Groundwater Pollution Treatment

• Norman City Landfill
• Sample 46 sites along border of landfill impacted
  by floods
• Percent vegetation cover (charts for visual est.)
• Compressive strength of soil (penetrometer)
• Clay cap compressive strength (penetrometer)
• Slope angle (clinometer)
• Calculate relative stability

47
Groundwater Pollution Treatment

• Norman City Landfill
• Overlay maps drawn of river, floodplain, landfill
  for 13 years 1930s-1990s
• Calculate (and map) probability of river
  impacting landfill
• Cores and conductivity probes of floodplain
  alluvium ? 3-D diagrams of permeability pathways
  for leachate

48
Groundwater Pollution Treatment

• Groundwater treatment bioremediation

49
Water Quality Standards

• U.S. EPA given authority by Congress to set water
  quality standards (1974 Safe Drinking Water Act)
• Set maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) set for 83
  contaminants
• National Primary Drinking Water Standards (see
  Table 11.3 in Keller text)

50
Water Quality Standards

• Trends in water quality, 1970-1989
• Based on toxic metals and toxic organic chemicals
  in fish tissues at USFWS monitoring stations
• Some improvement (esp. in DDT, PCBs)

51
Water Quality Standards

• Total maximum daily loads (TMDLs)
• States to establish total amount a water body can
  receive per day
• Clean Water Act, Sec. 303
• Use stream assessment to compare unimpaired vs.
  impaired streams in same ecoregion

52
Wastewater Treatment

• Treatment of MI wastewater is big business
• Nationwide requirement
• New technologies being developed
• Incentives for innovative use of reclaimed
  wastewater
• Irrigation
• Golf courses
• Artificial recharge

53
Wastewater Treatment

• Wastewater treatment plants
• Primary screening sedimentation (30-40 of
  pollutants removed)
• digest sludge
• Partially clarified wastewater

54
Wastewater Treatment

• Secondary 90 of pollutants removed
• Wastewater enters aeration tank aerobic bacteria
  breakdown remaining organics in liquid
• Another cycle of sedimentation sludge
  digestion produces methane
• Disinfect wastewater with chlorine and/or ozone

55
Wastewater Treatment

• Advanced to remove nutrients, heavy metals,
  specific chemicals (necessary for some specific
  uses of wastewater)
• Use chemicals, sand filters, carbon filters
• Radioactivity (?)

56
Wastewater Treatment

• What to do with sludge?
• Incineration
• Bury on landfill
• Dump in ocean
• Soil amendment

57
Water Law and Federal Legislation

• Law for surface water groundwater varies by
  state
• Surface water law
• Riparian Doctrine
• Restricted to owner of land adjoining body of
  water
• Must make reasonable use of water
• Must not infringe on riparian rights of others
• Prior Appropriation Doctrine
• First in time, first in right
• Must make beneficial use of water
• Government trying to secure water rights for
  protection of special resources and Native
  Americans (Public Trust Doctrine)

58
Water Law and Federal Legislation

• Groundwater law
• Absolute Ownership Doctrine pump as much as
  physically impossible from aquifer below land you
  own
• Reasonable Use Doctrine amount that can be
  withdrawn depends on intended use
• Correlative Rights Doctrine attempts to protect
  adjacent property owners who share common aquifer
  (e.g., California)
• Important to determine safe yield of aquifer

59
Water Law and Federal Legislation

• Federal water legislation
• Refuse Act of 1899 prohibits pollution of
  streams
• Federal Water and Pollution Control Act of 1956
  comprehensive federal act to prevent, control,
  abate water pollution
• National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
  federal actions
• Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970 oil
  pollution, hazardous waste, acid mine drainage
• Clean Water Act 1972 billions of for sewage
  treatment
• RCRA of 1976 identify, survey, remediate
  hazardous waste
• CERCLA 1980 established Superfund Site cleanup
  fund
• Water Quality Act of 1987 state BMPs to control
  NPS
• Safe Water Drinking Act of 1996 risk-based
  standards