Origin of Water Pollutants

The origin of pollutants can he traced to their natural occurrence on the earth, formation by
transformation and concentration of natural substances, and their man-made synthesis.
The pollutants may arise quite naturally to form part of the background concentrations in the
environment. Many of are excreted or detoxified by the organisms. The examples of some
naturally occurring pollutants are oxides of nitrogen, heavy metals. hydrocarbon and
radioactive substances.
Some pollutants can he formed by way of concentration and transformation of naturally
occurring compounds during their domestic, agricultural or industrial use. The generation of
sewage and waste waters containing agrochemicals, certain pesticides and surfactant ,
petrochemicals hydrocarbons, heavy metals and radio nuclides are some important examples
of pollutants originated this way.
Many of the chemicals do not occur in the nature and pollution caused by them is entirely
manmade .For eg ,synthesis of various pesticides, surfactants, plastics and petrochemicals has
introduced a large number of chemicals in the environment that has created severe
environmental problems.
Sources of Water Pollutants
The common sources of water pollution can range from purely natural to several manmade
sources like discharge of domestic and industrial waste waters.
a)Natural Sources and Runoff
The natural entry of pollutants in water bodies can take place through various agencies as
given below.
1)Rain water
2)Atmosphere(Dust ,storms etc)
3)Underground rocks and Volcanoes
4)Natural Run off
5)Surrounding Vegetation
Rain water is an important natural source of water pollution ,which dissolves the pollutants
from air and brings down the entrained particulate matter with it. Eg: Occurrence of acid rain
formed due to the dissolution of acid gases such as oxides of sulphur and nitrogen in rain
water. The direct deposition of particulate by gravity is called dry deposition is another way
of causing water pollution.

The falling of leaves, twigs and other parts of surrounding vegetation can also enrich waters.
Presence of underground rocks and volcanoes beneath the water bodies may also be the
source of certain kinds of salts.
The runoff waters originated from different areas are quite rich in nutrients and organic
matter. The runoff from sparsely populated or rural areas can pick up several substances from
soil including nutrients and organic matter. The run off originating from urban areas can
collect vast quantities of substances from roadside waste water drains, surface roads ,open
areas and houses.
Domestic Sewage
Domestic Sewage consists of waterborne wastes of the community and contains about 99%
of water and 1% of solids. Of the solids present in sewage, 70% are organic and 30% are
inorganic in nature. Out of the organic constituents 65% are proteins, 25% carbohydrates and
10% fat. Inorganic fraction of sewage constitutes grit, salts and metals in varying proportions.
In most cases the domestic sewage is generally discharged as such in the untreated ,treated or
partially treated form into the nearby water bodies like rivers, estuaries or coastal waters
where it can cause severe sanitary and other water pollution problems.
The major problems associated with sewage are production of odours and spread of enteric
diseases besides organic pollution which leads to oxygen depletion and fish-kill. Sewage also
contains huge quantities of nutrients in the form of nitrogen and phosphorus even after
secondary treatment that often result in the problem of eutrophication.
Another common way of sewage disposal is its land treatment or crop irrigation. However,
disposal in this way, without scientific considerations, can lead to the severe health hazards
and deterioration of land in the long run.
Agricultural Wastes
Agricultural wastes usually originate in the form of run-off from the agricultural fields and
animal farms. Modem agriculture uses a large number of chemicals, called agrochemicals, in
the form fertilizers, organic manures, pesticides, growth hormones, nutrient solutions and
others. All the residuals forms of these chemicals along with organic debris from the remains
of the harvested crops are trapped by run-off water causing pollution problems in the
receiving waters. The agricultural run-off is considerably rich in nutrients like nitrogen and

phosphorus, organic matter and pesticides. While nutrients cause the problem of
eutrophication, pesticides are responsible for causing toxicities to aquatic life.
Industrial Wastes
The industrial wastes have greatest potential for polluting the receiving waters. The nature
and composition of industrial wastes vary widely from industry to industry and even within
the same industry depending upon the raw material, process and operational factors. The
wastes from industries like sugar factories, diaries, paper pulp, distilleries are rich sources of
organic matter. Metal plating industries release substantial quantities of heavy metals and
cyanide in their wastes.