Contamination, Pollution and Quality

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Featured Articles
September 5, 2024
India's sewage future
The current state of play regarding sewage treatment standards in India
Clogged pipes: India's sewage treatment crisis (Image: Trey Ratcliff, Flickr Commons; CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
September 2, 2024
NGT’s uniform standards: A controversial approach to sewage management
Recommendations made by an expert committee, the NGT's subsequent orders, and a critical analysis of these developments
Drum screens at Bharwara sewage treatment plant (Image: India Water Portal)
August 30, 2024
India’s efforts at water pollution control: Legislative frameworks and real-world impacts
This article traces the evolution of the legislative framework for water pollution in India and its implications for wastewater treatment standards in the country. 
Open drains in Alwar (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
August 22, 2024
From pollution to solutions
The journey of sewage treatment standards and the challenge of treating India’s growing wastewater
Need to fix wastewater effluent standards (Image: Kristian Bjornard)
August 1, 2024
Weed wars: The hidden costs of herbicide use in rice
Recognising the limitations of relying solely on herbicides, a strategic shift towards preventive measures is crucial
Relying solely on chemicals to keep weeds at bay isn't sustainable and can harm the environment. (Image: Needpix)
June 12, 2024
The ripple effect of safe drinking water on health under Jal Jeevan Mission
Leveraging research to optimise water programs for improved health outcomes in India
Closing the tap on disease (Image: Marlon Felippe; CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Sensitisation and awareness - for WASH behavior change
Simple, low cost and locally made systems for washing hands can go a long way in motivating people to adopt regular WASH practices.
Sumit Kumar
Yashi Gautam
Posted on 05 Apr, 2022 08:43 PM

Adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene are essential components for providing basic health services, and access to safe drinking water, toilets and hand hygiene are the most critical components of WASH services. Correct, consistent, and continuous practices of WASH serve to prevent infections and spread of diseases.

WASH for health
Communicating, for WASH behaviour change (Image Source: Biswarup Ganguly via Wikimedia Commons)
Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage (HWTS) network
Sehgal Foundation, India, National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), India and Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWT), Canada have joined hands to start the HWTS network to scale up efforts to improve access to safe drinking water in India. Please join the network if you are passionate about improving the drinking water situation in the country!
Posted on 31 Mar, 2022 03:53 PM

Vision of the network

All Indians must consume affordable safe drinking water.

Goal of the network

To increase safe water coverage in India, specifically in rural, remote and peri-urban areas, with a focus on the poorest of poor through implementation of household water treatment.

Objective of the network
Safe drinking water, an urgent need (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Pharma antibiotics polluting Indian rivers, says Toxics Link study
The locations where antibiotic residues are detected are not necessarily in close proximity to major pharmaceutical industrial hubs
Toxics Link
Posted on 17 Mar, 2022 06:52 PM

A new study by Toxics Link, 'Menace of Antibiotic Pollution in Indian Rivers' has found that rivers are now prone to pollution from antibiotic residues.
Antibiotic residues in rivers can worsen the problem of antimicrobial resistance (Image: PxHere; CC-0)
Ceramic pot filter - to make drinking water safe
The ceramic pot is a very effective and low cost water treatment technology to obtain safe and pathogen free water. Know more about how it can be used at the household level.
Lalit Mohan Sharma
Aparajeeta Vaibhav
Yashi Gautam
Posted on 07 Mar, 2022 05:42 PM

One of the principal risks to public health is the lack of access to safe drinking water. The Millennium Development Goals by the World Health Organisation (WHO) focus on the target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water.
Making drinking water safe (Image: PxHere)
New Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022 announced
Policy matters this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 02 Mar, 2022 02:07 PM

Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022: Centre notifies guidelines on EPR for plastic packaging
Plastic waste is causing havoc on drains and water bodies (Image source: IWP Flickr Album)
Application to Water Quality Management Course
The course is aimed at equipping participants towards the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) programme of Govt of India. The course is executed in English and Hindi languages.
Posted on 23 Feb, 2022 02:43 PM

About the course:
Water Quality Matters: Emerging pathogens in water
Register to know more on how you can deal with pathogens in water. The event is jointly organized by INREM Foundation, UNICEF, Arghyam and European Union with a focus on supporting Jal jeevan Mission in India.
Posted on 23 Feb, 2022 02:23 PM Water quality matters

Register here: 
‘Fleas’ flee the Pashan lake in Pune!
Restoration efforts focusing on desilting and re-contouring of Pashan lake have added to the deterioration of the lake habitat, threatening survival of organisms such as water fleas, warn freshwater biologists Mihir Kulkarni and Sameer Padhye.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 24 Jan, 2022 11:17 PM

The calm waters of Pashan lake in Pune city, seldom give us an idea of the hidden wonders they support. Freshwater habitats like this, harbour a wealth of biodiversity ranging from very tiny/ microscopic plants and animals to larger ones – that reside in and around the waters and depend on it for their food, reproduction and survival.
Pashan lake, threatened by urbanisation, doomed by restoration (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Goa’s mangrove cover increases while Sunderbans’ shrank: ISFR 2021
News this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 19 Jan, 2022 01:48 PM

Goa’s mangrove cover increases while Sunderbans’ shrank, reports India State of the Forest Report (ISFR) 2021
Mangroves in Sunderbans (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Soil arsenic above 14 mg/kg can cause rice to be unsafe for consumption
First meta-analysis utilizing published data from Asian paddy fields on arsenic in rice grain, soil, and irrigation water to determine the relationship between them and to derive a limit of soil arsenic using machine learning algorithms
Jajati Mandal
Sudip Sengupta
Soumyajit Sarkar
Abhijit Mukherjee
Michael D Wood
Simon M Hutchinson
Debapriya Mondal
Posted on 05 Jan, 2022 09:18 PM

Arsenic exposure, mainly through contaminated groundwater used for drinking, has widely been associated with detrimental health effects (
Soil contributes more than irrigation to rice-grain arsenic concentration (Image: Arjun Reddy, Pixabay)
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