THERMAL POLLUTION

Thermal Pollution, harmful increase in water temperature in streams, rivers, lakes, coastal ocean waters. Thermal pollution is caused by either dumping hot water from factories and power plants or removing trees that permitting sunlight to raise the temperature of these waters. Thermal pollution is widespread, affecting many lakes and vast numbers of streams and rivers. The major sources of thermal pollution are electric power plants and industrial factories. Cold waters are better habitat for plants and animals than warm ones because cold waters contain more dissolved oxygen

Source :
Nuclear power plants Coal fired power plants Industrial effluents Domestic sewage Hydro-electric power

Nuclear power plants - Drainage from hospitals,

Research

institutes,

Nuclear

experiments and explosion - Discharged a lot of unutilized heat and traces of toxic radio nuclides - Emission of Nuclear reactors and processing installation to temp in water bodies

Introduction of thermal pollution into streams by human activities Industries and power plants use water to cool machinery and then discharge the warmed water into a stream. Stream (water) temperature rises when trees and tall vegetation providing shades are cut down. Soil erosion caused by construction. Removal of stream side vegetation. Poor farming practices.

Effects of Thermal Pollution

1. Reduction in dissolved oxygen: Concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) decreases with increase in temperature of water. 2. Increase in Toxicity: The rising temperature increases the toxicity of the poison present in water. 3. Interference with biological activities: Temperature is considered to be of vital significance to physiology metabolism and biochemical process in controlling respiratory rates, digestion 4. Interference with reproduction: In fishes, several activities like nest building, spanning, hatching, migration and reproduction etc., depend on optimum temperature.

5. Direct mortality: Unutilized heat in water is responsible for direct, mortality of aquatic organisms.. 6. Food storage for fish: Change in temperature alters the seasonal variation in the type and abundance of lower organisms. Control measures (or) management of thermal pollution 1. Cooling towers: The use of water from water systems for cooling purposes with subsequent return to the water way after passage through the condenser, is termed as cooling process. Cooling tower are of two types. (a) Wet Cooling tower:
Hot water, coming out from the Condenser (reactor) is allowed to spray over baffles. Cool air, With high velocity, is passed from' sides, which takes away the heat and cools the water.

(b) Dry Cooling tower: Here the hot water is allowed to flow in a long spiral pipes. Cool air, with the help of fan, is passed over these hot pipes, which cools down the hot water. This cool water can be recycled.

Cooling ponds:

Spray ponds: Artificial lakes:

Solid Waste Management

Waste: Any material which is not needed by the owner, producer or processor.

 Solid waste- vegetable waste, kitchen waste, household waste etc. E-waste- discarded electronic devices like computer, TV, music systems etc. Liquid waste- water used for different industries eg tanneries, distilleries, thermal power plants Plastic waste- plastic bags, bottles, buckets etc. Metal waste- unused metal sheet, metal scraps etc. Nuclear waste- unused materials from nuclear power plants

Solid Waste in India 7.2 million tones of hazardous waste One Sq km of additional landfill area every-year Rs.1600 core for treatment & disposal of these wastes In addition to this industries discharge about 150 million tones of high volume low hazard waste every year, which is mostly dumped on open low lying land areas.

Types and sources of solid wastes

Depending upon the nature, solid wastes can be broadly classified into three types Urban (or) Municipal wastes. Industrial wastes. Hazardous wastes Sources of. Urban (Municipal) Wastes Urban or municipal wastes include the following wastes DOMESTIC WASTES: It contains a variety of materials thrown out from the homes Ex: Food waste, cloth, waste paper, glass bottles, polythene bags, waste metals, etc.,

Commercial wastes: It includes the wastes coming out from the shops, markets, hotels, offices, institutions, etc., Ex: Waste paper, packing material, cans, bottle, polythen'e bags, etc., Construction wastes: It includes the wastes of construction materials. Ex: wood, concrete, debris etc. Biomedical wastes: It includes mostly the waste organic materials . Ex: Anatomical wastes, infectious wastes, etc.,

Type and characteristics of Urban (municipal) Wastes (i)Bio-degradable wastes: The urban solid waste materials, that can be degraded by micro organisms are called biodegradable wastes. Ex: Food, vegetables, tea leaves, egg shells, dry leaves, etc., (ij) Non.- Biodegradable wastes: The urban solid Waste materials that cannot be degraded by micro organisms are called non-biodegradable wastes. Ex: Polythene bags, scrap metals, glass bottles , etc.,

Source and Characteristics of Industrial Wastes

- The main sources of industrial wastes are chemical industries, metal and mineral processing industries. Example: Nuclear power plants: It generates radioactive wastes. Thermal power plants: It produces fly ash in large quantities. Chemical industries: It produces large quantities of hazardous and toxic materials . Other industries: Other industries produce, packing materials, rubbish, organic waste, acids, alkalis, scrap metals, rubber, plastic, paper, glass, wood, oils, paints, dyes, etc.,

Hazardous Wastes
Hazardous wastes are the wastes, that pose a substantial danger immediately or over a period of time to human, plant or animal life.

Sources of Hazardous wastes

Chemical manufacturing companies, petroleum refineries, paper mills, smelters, radioactive substances, biological wastes and other industries. Types and characteristics of hazardous wastes TOXIC WASTES: These are poisonous even in very small or traces amounts. (a)Acute toxicity: These wastes have immediate effect on humans or animals causing death.

(b) Chronic toxicity: These wastes have long-term effect slowly causing irreparable harm to the exposed persons. It is much more difficult to determine. ii) Reactive wastes: These wastes react vigorously with air, heat and generate toxic gases Ex: Gun powder, nitroglycerine, etc., (iii) Corrosive wastes: These wastes destroy materials and living tissues by chemical reaction. Ex: Acids and bases Iv). Radioactive wastes: These are from nuclear power plants and persist in the environment for thousands of years

(v) Infectious wastes: It causes infection to others. EX: Used bandages, human tissue from surgery, hypodermic needles, etc. (vi) Heavy metals: Lead, mercury and arsenic are hazardous substances.

Effect of Solid Wastes (or) Effect of Improper Solid Waste Management

Due to improper disposal of municipal solid wastes on the road side and their immediate surroundings, biodegradable materials undergo decomposition. This produces foul smell and breeds various types of insects, which spoil the land value. Toxic substances may percolate into the ground and contaminate the ground water

 Industrial solid wastes are the sources of toxic metals and hazardous wastes, which affect the soil characteristics and productivity of soils when they are dumped on the soil. Burning of some of the industrial wastes (or) domestic wastes (like cans, pesticides, plastics, radioactive materials, batteries) produce furans, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, which are harmful to human beings.

Process of Solid Waste Management (or) Process of preventing solid waste generation in urban areas
Solid waste management includes, the waste generation, mode of collection, transportation, segregation of wastes and disposal techniques.

Collection of waste from various sources

To transfer the collected wastes to the destination point To store the collected meanwhile time of the disposal wastes

Home separator for recycling (a) Landfill (b) Incineration (C) Composting

Steps Involved in Solid Waste Management Two important steps of solid waste management is Reduce, reuse .and recycle, before destruction and safe storage of wastes. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (3R) (a) Reduce the usage of raw materials If the usage of raw materials are reduced, the generation of waste also gets reduced. (b) Reuse of waste materials (a) The refillable containers, which are discarded after use, can be reused. (b) Rubber rings can be made from the discarded cycle tubes, which reduces the waste generation during manufacturing of rubber bands.

(c) Recycling of materials Recycling is the reprocessing of the discarded materials into new useful products. (a) Old aluminum cans and glass bottles are melted and recast into new cans and bottles. (b) Preparation of cellulose insulation from paper. (d) Preparation of automobiles and construction materials from steel cans. The above process saves money, energy, raw materials, and reduces pollution. Discarding wastes For discarding solid wastes the following methods can be adopted. (a) Landfill (b) Incineration (c) Composting

Objectives (or) significance for prevention of hazardous wastes management

Avoid (or) reduce generation of hazardous wastes. Dispose the wastes as close as possible to the place where they are generated. Manage the wastes in environmentally sound and effective way. Optimize environmentally sound recover of the hazardous wastes. Prevent illegal international traffic in- hazardous wastes. Promoting capacities in and strengthening institutional hazardous waste management. Promoting and strengthening international co-operations in the management. Promoting the prevention and minimization of using hazardous wastes. Reduce to a minimum (or) eliminate the trans boundary movements.

ROLE OF AN INDIVIDUAL IN PREVENTION OF POLLUTION Environmental pollution cannot be prevented and removed. The proper implementation and especially the individual participation are the important aspects which should be given due importance and stress. The individual participation is useful in law making processes and restraining the pollution activities and thereby the public participation plays a major role in the effective environmental management Role and responsibility of Individual participation in environmental protection
Plant more trees Help more in pollution prevention than pollution control. Use water, energy and other resources efficiently.
Purchase recyclable, recycled and environmentally safe products.

Use CFC free refrigerators. Use natural gas than coal. Reduce deforestation. Increase use of renewable resources. Remove. NOx from motor vehicular exhaust. Use office machines in well ventilated areas. Use less polluting substitutes for harmful cleaning agents, paints and other products. Use ecofriendly products Slow population growth. Reduce garbage by recycling and reuse.

Role of women in environmental protection

Women play an important role in environmental protection, considering their status in social production, consumption and their influence to future generations at home. Various roles of women are In rural areas, women plant trees and grass, grow vegetables with the dripirrigation method in order to save water. In urban areas, they go shopping using cloth bags to reduce white pollution. Women refuse to use disposal products to save energy and resources. Women choose green products instead of poor quality that harm the environment. Women reduce the amount of trash they dispose off so as to recycle natural resources. Women buy non-phosphate detergents to reduce the incidence of water pollution. They refuse to eat the meat, so variety of animals are preserved. They value paper and thus protect trees. Women bring the concept of environment protection into families and thus plant a green seedin the heart of children