Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

The chemical factory and tannery discharge untreated effluents directly into the river. According to the textbook, tanneries release dyes, detergents, acids, salts, and heavy metals like lead and mercury into water bodies, causing serious water pollution. Every litre of industrial wastewater pollutes eight times the quantity of freshwater. These toxic substances harm aquatic life and contaminate drinking water sources over a wide area.

The iron and steel plant, by contrast, deposits slag in a designated landfill. Solid waste confined to a specific site limits the spread of pollutants and is more controllable and manageable.

Thus, untreated liquid effluents discharged into a river spread pollutants widely and irreversibly, posing a far greater environmental risk than contained solid waste disposal.

Source: Industrial Pollution and Environmental Degradation, Chapter 6; Control of Environmental Degradation, Chapter 6

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• The examiner wants you to contrast liquid effluent discharge into a river (widespread, hard to reverse) vs. solid waste in a landfill (contained, manageable).
• Quote the key fact: "every litre of waste water pollutes 8× freshwater" — examiners love this statistic.
• Mention specific pollutants from tanneries (heavy metals, acids, dyes) to show textbook knowledge.
• Do not over-explain; 3 marks = ~3 clear points.