Water

Water alterations

The different types of pollution cause chemical or physical alterations in the water through mechanisms that sometimes can be very complex. The contaminants spread in the water are harmful to the animal and vegetal species; such effects can be divided into the following classes: - deoxygenating effects: they are caused by organic substances contained in industrial waste that, once in the water, are degraded by micro-organisms, with an excessive consumption of the oxygen contained in the water. Since there is less oxygen available, the animal and vegetal species that cannot live without oxygen die, and those areas are invaded by other species that are not affected by the lack of oxygen; - eutrophic effects: it is a phenomenon caused by substances (nitrogen and phosphor salts) that promote an abnormal growth of phytoplankton and seaweed populations to the detriment of other vegetal and animal species. This affects lakes and coastal sea areas in particular; - physical effects: they are caused by wastewater at high temperatures; - effects of radiations; - pathogenic and toxic effects: they are caused by wastewater containing high concentrations of toxic or pathogenic substances in suspension (heavy metals, mineral oils, hydrocarbons, bleach, solvents, detergents, plant chemicals and so on).