Page 31 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

12 Life Cycle Assessment of Wastewater Treatment

aquatic organisms living in the water, makes the water unfit for irrigation purposes,
and diminishes the crop yield. The harmful impacts of contaminated wastewater
on the quality of accepting water bodies are complex, and they completely depend
on the combination of effluents, the volume of the industrial release, the type of
source, chemical reactions, and microbiological focus. Wastewater creates a strong
impact on the environment, and it causes some deleterious effects, such as depletion
of dissolved oxygen, discharge of toxins, bioaccumulation, substantial changes in
water bodies, eutrophication, transmission of water borne disease, and destruction of
aquatic organisms (Okereke et al., 2016). Wastewater affects not only the water bod-
ies but also other components such as air, soil, plants, and amphibians. Through the
contamination of the receiving water bodies, the nature of the environment is altered
and mutated; the damage caused to the environment by wastewater is irreversible;
and the damage caused by wastewater to the environment is of concern to all the liv-
ing organisms on our planet.

1.5.1 WaTer scarciTy
Water is an abundant source of nature to be conserved. Rapid industrialization is one
of the biggest reasons behind the contamination caused to the fresh water sources.
When compared with lack of sanitation, the impact of industrial pollution is notably
toxic in the fresh water sources, because of the discharge of harmful non-biodegrad-
able contaminants from industry. In China, more than 25 billion tons of unfiltered
toxins were dumped into the conduits in a solitary year. The incompetent monitoring
of contaminants in water and the lack of stringent rules and regulations for industrial
effluents increase the extent of contamination of potable water. As result of negli-
gence, many underdeveloped countries are poorly prepared to outline and execute
sufficient directions for controlling wastewater and contamination (Curry, 2010).
The far-reaching debasement of water quality around the world is the most genuine
water issue, undermining human wellbeing and the trustworthiness of biological
systems. Additionally, water scarcity has become a noteworthy worry for people liv-
ing all over the world, and this has become a great challenge to the development of
humans and their financial condition (UNESCO IHP Bureau).

1.5.2 cliMaTic cHange
Climatic change is one of the major contributors to water pollution. The addition
of harmful contaminants into the receiving water bodies changes the quality of the
fresh water and makes it unfit for drinking and other domestic processes. Climatic
change results in the increase of global temperature and causes global warming. As
a result of increased heat in the atmosphere, the melting of polar ice caps takes place,
and this causes sudden floods and dry spells. The sudden imbalance in the natural
environment affects the hydrological cycle of our planet and causes sudden climatic
change (Schwarzenbach et al., 2010). Climatic change also has a negative impact on
water quality. It increases the temperature of the water, which gradually increases
the content of contamination and alters the quality of the water. The uneven distribu-
tion of rainfall fails to satisfy the water demand of people globally (Curry, 2010).