- Effluents are wastewater discharged from industrial, agricultural, or domestic sources. They often contain pollutants, chemicals, and organic matter that drastically alter the pH, dissolved oxygen levels, temperature, turbidity, nutrient content, and presence of toxins in water bodies. - Aquatic macrophytes and fungi are part of the ecosystem and can influence water quality, but their impact is generally less drastic or more localized compared to widespread effluent discharge. - Evapotranspiration affects the water volume and concentration of dissolved substances but does not introduce new pollutants or fundamentally change chemical characteristics like pH or the presence of specific toxins in the way effluents do.