Do you realise that the water we use for a variety of uses—including household, agricultural, and commercial—as well as the glass of water you may be sipping as you read this, may not be of the best quality?
Water quality is not entirely dependent on human activity; additional factors include weather and meteorology, which can cause flooding due to climate change and increase water pollution from overburdened sewage systems, overgrown lawns, and other sources. This increases the risk of contamination and raises the price of water treatment. There is a belief that climate change is having a significant impact on water quality.
Let’s understand some of the water quality parameters that indicate pollution of water.
Importance of water
Water is the most essential element for all living things to survive, including humans, animals, and plants. After air, water is the element that is most crucial for survival. Only 3% of the water on Earth, according to statistics from surveys, is fit for human use.
Water contamination
Large amounts of heavy metals and harmful microorganisms are discharged every day, into water resources like rivers, having a significant negative impact on water. This is because, of the pollutants and contaminants that are emitted by companies and households. Because, chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides drain into the groundwater, agricultural operations also contribute to water contamination.
Large quantities of heavy substances including sodium bicarbonate, iron, zinc, carbon dioxide, sulphate, chloride, and fluoride are released by industrial units, and these substances have the potential to be devastating to human health.
Water contamination is exceedingly harmful and can cause major sickness when consumed. Before using the water for any purpose, including drinking, cooking, or as an addition in food products, it should be tested and filtered.
What are the Water Quality parameters indicating water pollution?
The several factors that impact water quality are:
1. Chloride ion: Natural water systems have very less chloride ion concentration. It multiplies in tainted water. Additionally, a high chloride ion concentration makes the water salty and corrodes water pipelines.
2. Ammonia: Ammonia concentrations in water rise as organic material, such as proteins and amino acids, breaks down. Additionally, it rises as a result of the addition of chloramine to the water disinfection process.
The typical NH3 concentration in ground water systems is 3 mg/lt. It emits a distinctive flavour and odour at concentrations greater than 50mg/lt.
3. Nitrite: This highly unstable intermediate is created when NH2 is converted to nitrate.Nitrite is reduced to ammonia in anaerobic conditions, whereas it is oxidised into nitrate in aerobic conditions.
Consumers face major health risks when consuming water that contains a higher quantity of nitrite.Blue baby syndrome is a condition marked by blue skin colour that results from elevated nitrite concentrations in babies.
Nitrite levels in drinking water shouldn't be higher than 3 mg/lt.Haemoglobin has a stronger affinity for nitrite than for oxygen. As a result, if you drink contaminated water and have a high blood nitrite level, oxyhemoglobin formation is inhibited and nitrosomyoglobin is formed instead.
This stops oxygen from getting to the tissue, giving it its distinctive blue colour. Because, an infant's stomach is less acidic than an adult's, nitrite poisoning can happen to them even when there is a significant percentage of nitrate in the water, they consume. In this instance, gut bacteria convert nitrate to nitrite, which results in blue baby syndrome.
4. Nitrate: It is the most durable type of oxidised nitrogen. Nitrate is a by-product of both air nitrogen fixing, and the breakdown of organic materials in water.
Like nitrite, nitrate in drinking water shouldn't be more than 3 mg/lt. It does so because nitrate can be converted to nitrite in a baby's intestines, which leads to nitrite poisoning. Nitrate plays a crucial role in natural water systems like lakes and ponds, because it encourages the rapid growth of aquatic plants that lead to eutrophication.
5. Phosphate: Phosphate can be found in water as organic phosphate, polyphosphate, and H2PO4-.Industrial effluent, sewage, and agricultural waste all provide phosphorus to water sources.
Despite, not being dangerous to humans, phosphate is a crucial chemical in natural water systems, like ponds because of the way that eutrophication is made possible by its high concentration.
6. Hardness: The salts of calcium and magnesium are the only cause of water hardness.Permanent hardness is caused by calcium and magnesium chloride and sulphate, whereas temporary hardness is caused by the carbonate and bicarbonate of calcium and magnesium.Based on the concentration of calcium carbonate, water is categorised as
· Soft water: 50 mg/lt
· Water that is somewhat hard: 50–150 mg/lt
· Hard water: 150–300 mg/lt
· Water that is very hard: >300 mg/lt
Industrial use is not recommended for hard water. However, drinking water benefits from hard water in most cases. However, MgSO4-induced hardness has certain negative health implications. Therefore, the Mg++ concentration in drinking water should not be more than 50 mg/lt.
7. Biological oxygen demand (BOD): Under aerobic conditions, biological oxygen demand (BOD) is the quantity of oxygen needed by living organisms (microorganisms), to oxidise biodegradable organic matter present in water.
BOD is a measure of both the quantity of biodegradable organic matter in water, and the quality of oxygen required for the biodegradation of organic matter. When water is supplied with biodegradable organic material, dissolved oxygen is used by microorganisms to oxidise organic material. The amount of dissolved oxygen steadily diminishes, if the rate of oxygen consumption during biodegradation exceeds the rate, at which ambient oxygen is dissolved in water.
Very high organic matter content results in a total loss of dissolved oxygen. This makes the aquatic habitat anaerobic. Aquatic species that are aerobic cannot exist in this situation.Additionally, organic matter begins to decompose anaerobically in the absence of dissolved oxygen, which results in taste and odour issues.A high BOD value is asign of water contamination.
Are you interested in analysing the quality of water and treating it for your industry?
Netsol Water is dedicated to offering water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants and air pollution management solutions, which encourage corporate growth while simultaneously safeguarding the world's most valuable resources on the Earth. We also take each step to preserve our water, air and soil from pollution by providing advanced treatment technologies.
Further, we provide biofilters, scrubbers, incinerators, and many more air pollution control devices, ETPs and STPs for wastewater management, RO Plants, water softeners for water treatment, and organic waste recyclers, solid waste convertors and green waste recyclers, for managing organic and green waste.
Netsol Water is Greater Noida-based leading water & wastewater treatment plant manufacturer. We are industry's most demanding company based on client review and work quality. We are known as best commercial RO plant manufacturers, industrial RO plant manufacturer, sewage treatment plant manufacturer, Water Softener Plant Manufacturers and effluent treatment plant manufacturers. Apart from this 24x7 customer support is our USP. Call on +91-9650608473, or write us at enquiry@netsolwater.com for any support, inquiry or product-purchase related query.
