Thermal pollution

The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant discharges heated water to the Connecticut River.^[3]

Thermal pollution is the degradation of water quality by any process that changes ambient water temperature.

A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers. When water used as a coolant is returned to the natural environment at a higher temperature, the change in temperature decreases oxygen supply, and affects ecosystem composition. Urban runoff–stormwater discharged to surface waters from roads and parking lots–can also be a source of elevated water temperatures.

When a power plant first opens or shuts down for repair or other causes, fish and other organisms adapted to particular temperature range can be killed by the abrupt change in water temperature known as "thermal shock."

Ecological effects

Potrero Generating Station discharged heated water into San Francisco Bay.^[1] The plant was closed in 2011.^[2]

Warm water

Elevated temperature typically decreases the level of dissolved oxygen of water. This can harm aquatic animals such as fish, amphibians and other aquatic organisms. Thermal pollution may also increase the metabolic rate of aquatic animals, as enzyme activity, resulting in these organisms consuming more food in a shorter time than if their environment were not changed.^[4]:179 An increased metabolic rate may result in fewer resources; the more adapted organisms moving in may have an advantage over organisms that are not used to the warmer temperature. As a result, food chains of the old and new environments may be compromised. Some fish species will avoid stream segments or coastal areas adjacent to a thermal discharge. Biodiversity can be decreased as a result.^{[5]:415-17 [6]:340}

High temperature limits oxygen dispersion into deeper waters, contributing to anaerobic conditions. This can lead to increased bacteria levels when there is ample food supply. Many aquatic species will fail to reproduce at elevated temperatures.^[4]:179-80

Primary producers are affected by warm water because higher water temperature increases plant growth rates, resulting in a shorter lifespan and species overpopulation. This can cause an algae bloom which reduces oxygen levels.

Temperature changes of even one to two degrees Celsius can cause significant changes in organism metabolism and other adverse cellular biology effects. Principal adverse changes can include rendering cell walls less permeable to necessary osmosis, coagulation of cell proteins, and alteration of enzyme metabolism. These cellular level effects can adversely affect mortality and reproduction.

A large increase in temperature can lead to the denaturing of life-supporting enzymes by breaking down hydrogen- and disulphide bonds within the quaternary structure of the enzymes. Decreased enzyme activity in aquatic organisms can cause problems such as the inability to break down lipids, which leads to malnutrition.

In limited cases, warm water has little deleterious effect and may even lead to improved function of the receiving aquatic ecosystem. This phenomenon is seen especially in seasonal waters and is known as thermal enrichment. An extreme case is derived from the aggregational habits of the manatee, which often uses power plant discharge sites during winter. Projections suggest that manatee populations would decline upon the removal of these discharges.

Cold Water

Releases of unnaturally cold water from reservoirs can dramatically change the fish and macroinvertebrate fauna of rivers, and reduce river productivity. In Australia, where many rivers have warmer temperature regimes, native fish species have been eliminated, and macroinvertebrate fauna have been drastically altered. Due to the sudden fall of water temperature the contraction on dam and bridge pylon may take place.

Control of thermal pollution

Cooling tower at Gustav Knepper Power Station, Dortmund, Germany

Industrial wastewater

In the United States, about 75 to 82 percent of thermal pollution is generated by power plants.^[6]:335 The remainder is from industrial sources such as petroleum refineries, pulp and paper mills, chemical plants, steel mills and smelters.^[7][8] Heated water from these sources may be controlled with:

• cooling ponds, man-made bodies of water designed for cooling by evaporation, convection, and radiation
• cooling towers, which transfer waste heat to the atmosphere through evaporation and/or heat transfer
• cogeneration, a process where waste heat is recycled for domestic and/or industrial heating purposes.^[9]

Some facilities use once-through cooling (OTC) systems which do not reduce temperature as effectively as the above systems. For example, the Potrero Generating Station in San Francisco (closed in 2011), used OTC and discharged water to San Francisco Bay approximately 10°C (20°F) above the ambient bay temperature.^[10]

Urban runoff

During warm weather, urban runoff can have significant thermal impacts on small streams, as stormwater passes over hot parking lots, roads and sidewalks. Stormwater management facilities that absorb runoff or direct it into groundwater, such as bioretention systems and infiltration basins, can reduce these thermal effects. Retention basins (ponds) tend to be less effective at reducing temperature, as the water may be heated by the sun before being discharged to a receiving stream.^[11]

See also

Book: Pollution

• Water cooling
• Water pollution
• Water quality

References

Aquatic ecosystems – general and freshwater components General Aquatic ecosystems Acoustic ecology Agent-based models Algal bloom Anoxic waters Aquatic adaptation Aquatic animals Aquatic biodiversity research Aquatic biomonitoring Aquatic insects Aquatic layers Aquatic mammals Aquatic plants Aquatic predation Aquatic respiration Aquatic science Aquatic toxicology Benthos Bioluminescence Biomass Cascade effect Colored dissolved organic matter Dead zone Ecohydrology Eutrophication Fisheries science Food chain Food web GIS and aquatic science Hydrobiology Hypoxia Isotope analysis Microbial ecology Microbial food web Microbial loop Nekton Neuston Particle Photic zone Phytoplankton Plankton Pleuston Productivity Ramsar Convention Schooling Sediment trap Siltation Spawning Substrate Thermal pollution Trophic level Underwater camouflage and mimicry Water column Zooplankton More... Freshwater Freshwater ecosystems Brackish marsh Freshwater biology Freshwater biomes Freshwater fish Freshwater marsh Freshwater swamp forest Hyporheic zone Lake ecosystems Landscape limnology Limnology Lake stratification Macrophyte Pond Fish pond Rheotaxis River ecosystems Stream bed Stream pool Trophic state index Upland and lowland Water garden Wetland Environmental quality More... Ecoregions Freshwater ecoregions List of freshwater ecoregions Marine ecoregions List of marine ecoregions Ecology of the Everglades Ecology of the San Francisco Estuary Ecosystem of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre Freshwater ecology of Maharashtra   Aquatic ecosystems – marine components Marine Marine ecosystem f-ratio Iron fertilization Iron Hypothesis Large marine ecosystem Marine biology Marine chemistry Marine snow Ocean nourishment Oceanic physical-biological process Ocean turbidity Photophore Thorson's rule Upwelling Whale fall More... Marine life forms Census of Marine Life Coastal fish Coral reef fish Deep sea communities Deep sea creature Deep sea fish Deep-water coral Demersal fish Marine bacteriophage Marine invertebrates Marine larval ecology Marine mammal Marine reptile Marine vertebrate Paradox of the plankton Pelagic fish Seabird Seashore wildlife Wild fisheries Marine habitats Bay mud Black smokers Coastal biogeomorphology Cold seeps Coral reefs Davidson Seamount Estuaries Intertidal ecology Intertidal wetlands Kelp forests Hydrothermal vents Lagoons Mangroves Marine biomes Marine habitats Mudflats Rocky shores Salt marshes Salt pannes and pools Seagrass meadows Sponge reefs Tide pools Issues Ecological values of mangrove Fisheries and climate change HERMIONE Marine conservation Marine conservation activism Marine pollution Marine Protected Area