What Water Pollution Is
Chapter Twenty-One
Syllabus topic 2, "Pollution of Water"
Pages 92 to 95 of 783
In one line
Section 2 of the Water Act defines pollution, stream, trade effluent and four other words, and the definitions are wider than a reader expects at almost every point.
In exam wording: section 2(e) of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 defines pollution as such contamination of water, or such alteration of its physical, chemical or biological properties, or such discharge of sewage or trade effluent or of any other liquid, gaseous or solid substance into water, whether directly or indirectly, as may or is likely to create a nuisance or render the water harmful or injurious to public health or safety, or to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural or other legitimate uses, or to the life and health of animals or plants or of aquatic organisms.
The provision, clause by clause
Section 2(e), pollution. Three ways of committing it, joined by "or".
- such contamination of water, or
- such alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties of water, or
- such discharge of any sewage or trade effluent or of any other liquid, gaseous or solid substance into water, whether directly or indirectly,
as may, or is likely to,
- create a nuisance, or
- render such water harmful or injurious to public health or safety, or
- render it harmful or injurious to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural or other legitimate uses, or
- render it harmful or injurious to the life and health of animals or plants or of aquatic organisms.
Section 2(j), stream. Includes a river; a water course, whether flowing or for the time being dry; inland water, whether natural or artificial; sub-terranean waters; and sea or tidal waters to such extent, or to such point, as the State Government may by notification specify.
Section 2(k), trade effluent. Includes any liquid, gaseous or solid substance discharged from any premises used for carrying on any industry, operation or process, or treatment and disposal system, other than domestic sewage.
Section 2(g), sewage effluent. Effluent from any sewerage system or sewage disposal works, and includes sullage from open drains.
Section 2(gg), sewer. Any conduit pipe or channel, open or closed, carrying sewage or trade effluent.
Section 2(dd), outlet. Includes any conduit pipe or channel, open or closed, carrying sewage or trade effluent, or any other holding arrangement which causes or is likely to cause pollution.
Section 2(d), occupier. In relation to any factory or premises, the person who has control over the affairs of the factory or the premises, and includes, in relation to any substance, the person in possession of the substance.
Broken down: seven things students get wrong
One, "or is likely to" means no harm need be proved. The definition is satisfied where the contamination may, or is likely to, do one of the four things. Actual injury to an actual person is not an ingredient.
What Water Pollution Is
Two, "indirectly" is in the definition. A discharge into a pit that seeps to the water table is a discharge into water indirectly, and the words are there to catch exactly that.
Three, a dry nullah is a stream. "Water course, whether flowing or for the time being dry" disposes of the commonest defence in a Maharashtra summer.
Four, groundwater is a stream. "Sub-terranean waters" is in the list, which is how the Act reaches contamination of an aquifer.
Five, an artificial channel is a stream. "Inland water, whether natural or artificial" covers a canal and a man-made lake.
Six, the sea is a stream only so far as notified. Sea or tidal waters are within the definition only to the extent, or to the point, the State Government specifies by notification. That is the one place where the definition is narrower than a reader expects, and it matters for a coastal State.
Seven, trade effluent is not only liquid. It includes a gaseous or solid substance discharged from industrial premises. What excludes something from trade effluent is that it is domestic sewage, not that it is not a liquid.
The four legitimate uses, and why the list matters
The definition asks whether the water has been made harmful to public health or safety, or to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural or other legitimate uses, or to the life and health of animals, plants or aquatic organisms.
This is the point from the first chapter in statutory form: pollution is a relation between a substance and a use. Water that would ruin a dyeing process may be perfectly good for irrigation. The definition solves that by asking about legitimate uses in general and by adding "or other legitimate uses" so that the list is not closed.
And the fourth limb is worth separating out: harm to the life and health of animals or plants or of aquatic organisms is pollution even if no human use is affected at all. A discharge that kills fish in a stream nobody drinks from is within the section.
A worked example
Ashok runs a small unit at Taloja. Behind the premises is a pit into which spent process liquid is poured. There is no pipe to any river. Two hundred metres away is a nullah which is dry from November to June. Beyond that is a village with borewells.
Is there a discharge into a stream? Three routes, and any one of them is enough.
The nullah. It is a water course, and it is a stream whether flowing or for the time being dry. If the liquid reaches it in the monsoon, that is a discharge into a stream. The dryness in April is no answer.
What Water Pollution Is
The groundwater. Sub-terranean waters are within the definition of stream. Seepage from an unlined pit into the aquifer is a discharge into a stream, and it is a discharge indirectly, which the definition expressly covers.
The pit itself. If the pit holds the liquid in a way that causes or is likely to cause pollution, it is an outlet within section 2(dd), which speaks of any other holding arrangement causing or likely to cause pollution.
Is the liquid trade effluent? Yes. It is discharged from premises used for carrying on an industry and it is not domestic sewage. Whether it is liquid, gaseous or solid does not matter.
Must the villagers show illness? No. The question is whether the contamination may, or is likely to, render the water harmful or injurious to public health or to domestic use. Evidence that the borewell water now exceeds a drinking water parameter answers it.
Is Ashok the person answerable? He is the occupier if he has control over the affairs of the premises, which he does, and the extending limb would also reach whoever was in possession of the substance.
Distinctions
| Water Act, section 2(e) | EPA, section 2(b) and (c) | |
|---|---|---|
| What is polluted | water, in a stream or well | the environment: water, air, land and their inter-relationships |
| Test | may or is likely to create a nuisance or render the water harmful to health, safety, legitimate uses, or to animal, plant or aquatic life | presence of a substance at a concentration which may be or tend to be injurious to environment |
| Threshold | expressed through harm to a use | expressed through concentration |
| Is noise inside? | no | no |
| Trade effluent, section 2(k) | Sewage effluent, section 2(g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | premises used for an industry, operation or process, or a treatment and disposal system | a sewerage system or sewage disposal works |
| State of matter | liquid, gaseous or solid | effluent, and includes sullage from open drains |
| Express exclusion | domestic sewage | none |
What it does NOT mean
It does not mean water must be made undrinkable. Any of the four heads of harm will do, including harm to aquatic life alone.
It does not mean a discharge must be into flowing water. The definition of stream covers a dry water course and sub-terranean waters.
It does not mean the sea is always covered. Sea or tidal waters are within the definition of stream only to the extent notified by the State Government.
It does not mean a solid cannot be trade effluent. Section 2(k) says liquid, gaseous or solid.
What Water Pollution Is
Quick revision
- 2(e) pollution: contamination, or alteration of physical, chemical or biological properties, or discharge of sewage or trade effluent or any other liquid, gaseous or solid substance, directly or indirectly, as may or is likely to create a nuisance or render the water harmful to public health or safety, to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural or other legitimate uses, or to the life and health of animals or plants or aquatic organisms.
- 2(j) stream: river; water course flowing or for the time being dry; inland water natural or artificial; sub-terranean waters; sea or tidal waters to the extent notified.
- 2(k) trade effluent: liquid, gaseous or solid, from industrial premises, other than domestic sewage.
- 2(dd) outlet includes a holding arrangement causing or likely to cause pollution. 2(gg) sewer includes an open channel.
- 2(d) occupier: control over the affairs, and in relation to a substance, the person in possession.
Test yourself
1. A unit discharges into a channel that is dry for eight months of the year. Is that a discharge into a stream? Yes. Section 2(j) defines stream as including a water course whether flowing or for the time being dry. The dryness of the channel at the time is irrelevant, and the argument that there was no water to pollute is not open on the statutory language.
2. Effluent seeps from an unlined pit into the groundwater. Which words of the Act cover it? Two sets. Section 2(j) includes sub-terranean waters within the definition of stream, so the groundwater is a stream. Section 2(e) covers a discharge into water whether directly or indirectly, so the seepage is a discharge. The pit may also be an outlet under section 2(dd), which includes any holding arrangement which causes or is likely to cause pollution.
3. Must a prosecution prove that somebody was actually harmed? No. Section 2(e) is satisfied where the contamination or alteration or discharge is such as may, or is likely to, create a nuisance or render the water harmful or injurious. The Act works on likely harm, and proof that a parameter exceeds the standard for the relevant use ordinarily answers the question.
4. Is a solid waste discharged from a factory "trade effluent"? Yes. Section 2(k) says trade effluent includes any liquid, gaseous or solid substance discharged from premises used for carrying on any industry, operation or process, or a treatment and disposal system. The only express exclusion is domestic sewage, and the state of matter is irrelevant.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.