Unit

Environmental Technology

Lesson 1. Natural and contaminated water characteriza2on

1.1.

Issue descrip2on.

1.2.

Characteris2cs of the natural water.

1.3.

Characteris2cs and parameters of the contaminated water.

1.3.1.

Physical contaminants.

1.3.2.

Chemical contaminants.

1.3.3.

Biological contaminants.

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1.1 Issue Descrip0on
More than % of the water is on the oceans and is not usable.
From the % usable, almost
As a result, only

% is ice or water vapor.

% of the water can be used be humans (8.4 km3).

Water is also the main cons2tuent of the living organisms
- Adipose 2ssue

- Heart, liver

- Nervous 2ssue

Of food:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Fish %
- Meat %

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Humans need L/day
But potable water needed is small compared with domes2c, industrial and
agricultural water. From the world water consump2on:
- % is for domes2c use
- % industrial and commercial uses
- % agricultural and caWle uses

1 Tn paper needs Tn water
1 Tn preserved vegetables Tn water
1 car Tn water
1 Tn corn 1000 Tn water, 1 Tn wheat 1500 Tn water, 1 Tn coWon 10000 Tn
water

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Hydrologic Cycle

It is the cycle by which the
amount of water in the earth
is keeping constant due to
the and

.
The cycle starts with the water evapora2on and later precipita2on
( km3/year). Only % of this water falls into the con2nents. From
this, % is again evaporated and % is transferred to runo.
Over the ocean, the evapora2on is than the precipita2ons ( %). This
percentage is balanced over the con2nents where is higher than
( %).

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Human ac2ons have impact into the water cycle
- Contamina2on can be to .
- Atmosphere and soil may have an impact to the quality of the water.

For the rst 2me, humans

know about importance
of water disinfec2on.

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Characteris0cs of the natural water.
1.2.
H O: bonds between H and O (100 kcal/mol).


2
(molecular) bonds between H and O from dierent molecules (5 kcal/mol).








Hydrogen bonds are formed because of the high of oxygen that
aWracts electric density. Hydrogen bonds are very important because give
water its important characteris2cs and is fundamental for life. Hydrogen
bonds give water unexpected mel2ng and evapora2on high points.
Hydrogen bonds cause ice has smaller than water and that during
winter the water is only solid over the surface. Life can con2nue below ice.

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When temperature is incremented, hydrogen bonds start to be broken but
several bonds keep on liquid water. Density decrease with temperature
because more hydrogen bonds are broken. This causes that the specic heat
of water is high (the amount of heat to increase 1 C 1 g of water).
High mel2ng, vaporiza2on heats and specic heats cause water works as a
perfect and controls earth temperature between precise
limits.

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Raining water adds gases (Nitrogen, oxygen, CO2), has pH slightly low (5.7)
and when runs in rivers dissolves salts (low mineraliza2on).

Dierences between runo and underground water

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Natural water contents because of its and
poten2al. These substances are in suspension, in dilu2on, or in colloid.
- : atmosphere (CO2, N2, O2), products of the living organisms
metabolism (CO2, O2), aerobic and anaerobic decomposi2on (CO2, CH4, H2S,
N2).
- : material dissolu2on (Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, etc.), anions (HCO3-, SO42-, NO3-,
etc.), material decomposi2on (PO43-, NO3-, NH4+, etc.).
- : sand, clay.
- : amino acids, faWy acids, natural pigments, etc.

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1.3. Characteris0cs and parameters of the contaminated water
Water pollu2on: Water is contaminated when its or

is altered directly or indirectly as a consequence of the human
ac2vity. As a result, this modied water cant be used with the same purpose
than the natural water.

Consequences:
- Contamina2on is measured as a .
- Contamina2on is directly or indirectly generated by the humans.

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1.3.1. Physical contaminants
Total maWer: is composed by maWer in
.

MaWer is suspension is the main responsible of:

- Colour, reduc2on of the sunlight that reach water under the surface,
sediment deposi2on.
Substances that can be removed by ltra2on are responsible of:
- Salinity, O2 solubility, toxicity.
Some quan2able magnitudes:
-

(MS) or

(SS).

- (DR) at 105 C o total dissolved solids (TDS).

- Fixed residue.

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Odour: contaminated water has a characteris2c odour due to the
decomposi2on of the organic maWer.

hWp://extoxnet.orst.edu/faqs/safedrink/colors.htm

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Colour: the possible reason is the presence of organic and inorganic
compounds. These compounds could be

or .
Urban wastewater: grey colour (recent wastewater), black colour
(microorganisms have decomposed the waste).
Industrial wastewater: dierent colours depending on the contaminant

Temperature: it has a great inuence into water quality
-

gases solubility (O2).

- microorganism ac2vi2es (kine2c of the reac2on).

Both consequences are combined and the eect of the other.
- the prolifera2on of water organism (plants and fungus).

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1.3.2. Chemical contaminants
Organic Chemical contaminants: Organic MaWer (O.M.). Biodegradability.
The source could be natural or urban/industrial.
Natural source: from plants and animals . Biodegradable.
Urban/industrial source: Organic chemical products. Biodegradable and not
biodegradable.
Examples:
Detergents: (surfactant) and .
Ac2ve ingredients (10-15%): surfactants. crea2on and oxygen demand
because they are organic compounds.
Co-Adjuvants: an2-calcareous (poli-phosphates, zeolites, carbonates, etc.).
Addi2ves: bleaching agent (perborates, NaClO), an2foam agent, etc.

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Pes2cides: chemical products used to

in agriculture, caWle,
pets, etc. Formula2on: ac2ve agent + other substances.
Inorganic and organic (more used) pes2cides:
- Chlorinated hydrocarbons (DDT, chlorobenzene).
- Organophosphates.
- Carbamates

hWps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipbc-6IvMQI

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs): are


; not
ammable; low electric conduc2vity; acid, basic and oxidant resistance, etc.
They are high inert and because of this they are persistent and bio-
accumula2ve. Can produce or increment halogenated levels.

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Hydrocarbons: saturated hydrocarbons (alkanes), unsaturated (olen),
cycloalkanes and aroma2c compounds.

General characteris2cs:
water and biodegradability.

solubility in water, density than

Regarding contamina2on:

- the oxygen dissolved. Superior organisms need 2 mg O2/L in

water.
Usually, supercial water (T=25 C) is oxygen ( mg O2/L)
- May be toxic.
- Because their density and solubility, hydrocarbons create one layer on
water surface that light pass and oxygen diusion through it.

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There are organisms in water and when there are organic maWer:
- process. Products are CO2, NO3-, SO42-, H2O. Stable and rela2vely inert

products.
But when there is high amount of organic compounds, O2 is consumed and:
- process: Hydrogen sulphur, CH4, NH3, amines No stable and
undesirable.

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Parameters for the evalua2on of the organic contamina2on:
- Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD, mgO2/L).
- Chemical Oxygen demand (COD, mgO2/L).
- Total Organic Carbon (TOC, mgC/L).
- Total Oxygen Demand (TOD, mgO2/L).
Biochemical oxygen demand: is the amount of oxygen consumed by
microorganism in the of the organic maWer under condi2ons.
This magnitude gives the amount of oxygen necessary to biologically stabilize
the organic maWer (O.M.) in water.

O.M. + O2 + + microorg. CO2 + H2O + ( .)

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Because is a biological process, it is slow.
BOD5, a t = 5 days. BOD20, t = 20 days.

Standard values:
High pure waters, BOD5 < 3 mgO2/L.
Contaminated water. BOD5 > 8 mgO2/L.
Urban wastewater, BOD5 100 400 mgO2/L.
Agrifood industry wastewater, BOD5 10.000 mgO2/L.

Limita2ons:
- Very slow analysis (at least 5 days).
- Only determines maWer
- Its necessary to do pre-treatments (impacts on microorg. and nitrica2on).

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Chemical Oxygen Demand: is the amount of oxygen consumed by
in the organic maWer degrada2on. With this magnitude it is
measured all the organic maWer (biodegradable and not) and the inorganic
maWer that can be degradable by oxida2on.

COD BOD

M.O. + Cr2O72- + 8 H+ CO2 + H2O + 2 Cr3+ (2h, 140 C)

M.O. + MnO4- + H+ CO2 + H2O + MnO2 (4h, 30 C)
Limita2ons:
- It is not specic, and measures O.M.b, O.M.nb y M.I.
- It is not precise.
Advantages: in 2h its possible to get informa2on about the O.M.

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Environmental Technology

Informa0on from the rela0on BOD5/COD:
- Biodegradability
values close to , wastewater with high biodegradability
values close to , wastewater with low biodegradability
- Type of water
0,4 0,8, wastewater from urban sources
< 0,2, wastewater from industrial sources

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Inorganic chemical contaminants They are important in the case of
wastewater from sources.
General parameters indicators of the contamina2on:
Turbidity: Interference to the light passing through the water. The responsible
of turbidity are: insoluble, in suspension, or in dispersion maWer.
It is measured in Turbidity Units.
hWp://www.lenntech.com/turbidity.htm
Conduc2vity: its the ability, in this case of the water, to conduct the electricity.
It depends on the concentra2on of ions in water.
Hardness: it mainly depends on the concentra2ons of Ca2+ and Mg2+.
Concentra2ons of Fe2+ and Mn2+ have lower inuence.
hardness: sum of Ca2+ and Mg2+ carbonates. Can be removed by
hea2ng.
hardness: The hardness caused by calcium (and magnesium)
salts (dierent from carbonates) It is not aected by hea2ng and is therefore
called permanent hardness.

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The reac2on

CaCO3 (s) + H2O(l) + (aq)
Ca2+(aq) + 2 (aq) H (exot)

is in the forward direc2on, and Le Chatelier's principle predicts
that at high temperatures, the equilibrium will move to the leu.

This is what happens inside keWles, dishwashers and washing machines and
results in the forma2on of a deposit of on their hea2ng elements,
Figure. This is usually called in everyday language. reduces
heat transfer from the element to the water and makes the appliance less
ecient.

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Alkalinity: It is dened as the amount of ions present in water that react with H+ to
neutralize them. Its due mainly to . The main problem related
with alkalinity is that these anions can react with ca2ons, precipitate and obstruct
tubes.
Its determined by the number of equivalents used for its . Three
reac2ons and a valoriza2on curve is obtained:

pH=8.3, OH- neutraliza2on

and CO32- to HCO3-

pH=4.5, HCO3- to CO32-

pH=8.3
phenolphthalein
pH=4.5
Methyl
Orange

Half of the H+ needed for the CO32- neutraliza2on are added at pH=8.3

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pH: magnitude used to express the and .
pH = -log[H+], in aqueous solu2on is between 0 y 14.

Acidity: its related with the capacity of water to absorb hydroxyls (OH-).

Alkalinity: its related with the capacity of water to absorb protons (H+).

Its important to know the tendency of the water to form calcareous

encrusta2ons.

Nitrogen and phosphorus: are of the biologic processes. Can be
considered as contaminants when their concentra2on allow growing
( ).
Nitrogen comes from
comes from

(agriculture and caWle) and phosphorous
. Algae consume oxygen when dye and decompose.

Algae growing is limited by nitrogen on

waters and by phosphorous on
waters. But human ac2vity removes this limita2on.

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Nitrogen can be found as organic nitrogen, NH3/NH4+, NO3- y NO2-.
Phosphorous as organic-P, PO43- and polyphosphate
Nitrogen may be present in water as: organic nitrogen, NH3, NO2-, NO3-.
Nitrica2on (oxida2on): Nitrica2on is the biological oxida2on of
or
ammonium to nitrite followed by the oxida2on of the to .
- Organic Nitrogen to ammonia by ammonica2on or mineraliza2on.
- NH3 + O2 NO2 + 3H+ + 2e
- NO2 + H2O NO3 + 2H+ + 2e

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Heavy metals: Apart from alkaline and alkaline earth metals, all metals are
heavy. Some are in high concentra2ons (Fe3+, Al3+) and others in trace levels
(Hg2+) in contaminated waters.
They are persistent and enter into the food chain.
hWps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18s89XTyAl8
Pb (< 0,5 mg/dm3): baWeries, gasoline, pipes. Nervous system and kidney
damages. Anaemia.
Hg (< 0,01 mg/dm3): electric devices, paints. Nervous system and kidney .
Cd (< 0,2 mg/dm3)

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SUMMARY
Rela2ve amounts of analyzed parameters. Wastewater quality

Parameter

Rela2ve amount (%)

pH

Solids in suspension

12

O.M. (BOD, COD, TOC)

15

Nitrogen

15

Phosphorous

Metals

30

Others

16
100

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Biological contaminants: Part of the organic maWer in wastewater is formed by
macroscopic and microscopic organisms.
Simplifying, organisms can be classied as: animal, vegetal and pro2st.
Regarding water treatment pro2sts are the most important organisms. They
are unicellular o pluricellular without dieren2ated 2ssues (a cellular
organiza2onal level intermediate between cells and a complete organism):
- : food: O.M., oxygen and water. Heterotrophic (consume organic
C) and autotrophic (get C cellular from CO2). Heterotrophic can be aerobic,
anaerobic and faculta2ve anaerobic.
- : eutrophica2on.
- : parasites. They dont have a principal role in the water depura2on.

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Biological contamina2on indicators:

Coliform bacteria. They are in animal and human intes2nes. Indicator of the
fecal contamina2on.

Bio2c indexes. Microorganisms determina2on in water.

Toxicity essays. With aqua2c organisms (e.g., Daphnia Magna). It measures the
response of these aqua2c organisms to the presence of specic substances,
residues, or isolated or combined environmental factors.
hWp://www.nature.com/news/specials/water/index.html