Environmental Engineering-I

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Zulfiqar Ali Khan

Engr. Muhammad Aboubakar Farooq
Department of Civil Engineering
The University of Lahore
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Water Quality
Water Impurities and their Health
Significance
Water Quality Guidelines / Standards
(WHO)
Water Quality Monitoring.

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Water Quality
Quality: It is defined as the degree of excellence, a
measure of fitness of use.
Drinking Water Quality: It refers to degree of
cleanliness and wholesomeness of water. Drinking
quality is judged in terms of chemical, physical and
bacteriological contents of water.
Potable Water: It is the water which is safe to drink,
pleasant to taste and usable for domestic purposes.
Thus it has aesthetic appearance and is free from
harmful chemicals and disease causing bacteria.
3
Polluted/Contaminated Water:
Water containing pathogenic micro-
organisms, harmful chemicals, or sewage is
termed as polluted or contaminated water.
Degree of Cleanliness:
How much water is sparkling.
Wholesomeness:
Things which produce good effect on
human Health.
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Water Quality
Water Quality Parameters
The analysis of water is undertaken in
order to establish the quality of water.
Drinking water quality is mostly judged in
terms of:
Physical Parameters
Chemical Parameters
Bacteriological Parameters
Radiological Parameters
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1. Physical Parameters:
1. Taste and Odour:
Taste may be sweet, bitter, salty as well as
irritating hot and cold. Assessing Taste
may vary from person to person.
The principle involved in measuring odour
is that since small concentration of
odoriferous substances cannot be
detected accurately and vary from person
to person.

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1. Taste and Odour: (contd)
The value given to a particular odour conc.
is called odour intensity. This test is made
by inhaling through an osmoscope in a flask
containing diluted water.
May be caused in water by organic
compounds, inorganic salts or dissolved
gases. Drinking water should be free from
objectionable taste and odour.

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1. Physical Parameters:
2. Colour:
Colour in drinking water may be caused
by vegetable dyes or presence of iron and
manganese. Its presence is aesthetically
objectionable.
The maximum permissible color for
domestic water is 20 ppm, on platnium
cobalt scale.
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1. Physical Parameters:
3. Turbidity:
Turbidity is due to the presence of
colloidal solids in water sample. Turbid
waters are of cloudy appearance which
makes them aesthetically unattractive.
In past This was expressed by the amount
of suspended matter in Parts per million
(ppm or mg/L) in water as ascertained by
optical observations.
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1. Physical Parameters:
3. Turbidity: (contd)
The device used in todays labs is
nephelometric meter. Turbidity is read as
nephelometric turbidity units (NTU).
According to WHO guidelines, acceptable
limits of turbidity is <5 NTU.
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1. Physical Parameters:
4. Conductivity:
Conductivity is a measure of electrolyte
content of water and is related to dissolved
mineral salts in the water.
5. Total Dissolved Solids:
TDS in drinking water impart taste and consist
mainly of inorganic salts and small amount of
organic matter. TDS present in water indicate
solubility of water for domestic use. Desirable
TDS content : <500mg/L.
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1. Physical Parameters:
1. Alkalinity:
It is the capacity of a water sample to
neutralize strong acids. Alkalinity
measurements are used in the
determination of coagulant dose, carbonate
hardness and chlorine dose. Alkalinity is
expressed in terms of mg/L of CaCO
3
.

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2. Chemical Parameters:
2. Acidity:
It is the capacity of a water sample to
neutralize strong basis. Acidity in water is
generally caused due to dissolution of CO
2
.

2
+
2

2

3

Acidity is measured in terms of CaCO
3

needed to neutralize the carbonic acid.
Acidity is expressed in terms of mg/L of
CaCO
3
.

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2. Chemical Parameters:
3. pH:
It is expressed as the common logarithm of
the reciprocal of the Hydrogen ion [H
+
]
concentration. i.e.
pH = log [
1
H
+
]
pH test determines the strength of an acid
or base while the chemical test for acidity or
alkalinity determines the amount of acid or
base.
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2. Chemical Parameters:
4. Hardness:
It is property of preventing lather
formation with soap. Hardness also
produces scale in hot water systems.
Hardness is caused by divalent metallic
ions in water which react with soap to
form precipitate. These ions are most
commonly associated with bicarbonates,
sulphates and chloride in water.
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2. Chemical Parameters:
5. Metals and Others:

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2. Chemical Parameters:
Arsenic Carcinogenic, Skin Cancer.
Chromium Carcinogenic, Skin allergy, impairs kidneys.
Cyanide Affects thyroid and nervous system.
Flouride Dental Caries and fluorosis.
Lead General Toxicant, Toxic to nervous system,
upset stomach.
Mercury Impairs kidney, affects brain.
Nitrates Causes methemoglobinemia in infants.
DDT Carcinogen to animals, toxic to human.
Coliforms: This group consists of:
Aerobactor Aerogenes: These are normally
found in soil, plants, grains, and to some
extent in the faeces of the man and animal.
Escherichia Coli (E-Coli): These are normally
found in the intestinal tract of man and
animal. They are excreted with faeces.
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3. Bacteriological Parameters:
Coliforms (E-Coli) are considered non-
pathogenic but can cause infection of
genito-urinary tract.
The term Faecal Coliforms refer to all
those coliforms which are present in
faeces. These mostly consist of E.Coli, but
may contain Aerobector Aerogenes and
other variety of coliforms. They are also
named as Thermotolerant Coliform
Bacteria.
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3. Bacteriological Parameters:
Alpha and beta activity.
Radio active material concentrations in
drinking water are largely due to naturally
occurring radionuclides in the uranium and
thorium decay series. These radionuclides
are present in soil.
Radioactivity is measured by Geiger in
term of 1 Bq/L.
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4. Radiological Parameters: