Surface Water Quality Modelling : Draft

Abstract

Both natural processes and human activities influence the quality of surface waters. The natural processes and their sources of pollution in surface water bodies are relatively inconsequential, except pollution from natural disaster. Surface water pollution and contamination from humans and human activities, comprising both organic and inorganic constituents, known as anthropogenic pollutants, originate from domestic and municipal source, agricultural production, mining, industrial production, power generation, forestry practices, and other factors, which alter the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water, are of main concern for surface water bodies. Amongst these sources, the major pollution is from human settlements, industrial and agricultural activities. Pollution and contamination from such sources manifest itself in the form of higher concentration of nutrients, sediments, salts, trace metals, chemicals and other toxins, as well as pathogenic organisms that may thrive in warmer waters. In addition, a growing number of new contaminants are being detected in the world’s waterways (UN-Water, 2011). These include contaminants from pharmaceutical products, steroids and hormones, industrial additives and agents, as well as gasoline additives (WHO, 2011; UL, 2015; Eslamian, 2016).