Contamination, Pollution and Quality

The report attempts to provide solutions to the twin problems of waterlogging and salinity in the irrigated command area through various drainage or traditional reclamation measures viz controlling the intensity of irrigation, providing drainage system, lining, improving natural drainage, preventing seepage or adopting modern technology for application of water.

The History of Water Filters website, has interesting and useful information on water filters, water treatment alternatives and water quality.

The subsurface aquifer systems in Mahanadi delta region in Orissa (India) is largely characterized by two groups of freshwater aquifer systems, both of which are prone to saline water mixing/migration with time and development:

• The south western Mahanadi delta region is represented by unconfined to semi-confined freshwater aquifers underlained by brackish/saline aquifer systems with a diffusion boundary.
• The north eastern parts of Mahanadi delta is represented by deep freshwater confined aquifers overlained by brackish/saline water aquifers with aquitard/ aquiclude boundary.

The study provides an analysis of groundwater quality to identify probable pollution or contamination in coastal aquifers of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. Sampling surveys have been conducted in the months of May 99, August 99 and November 99 and about 186 water samples were collected from shallow wells, filter points, canal water and rainwater. The spatial and temporal variations of water quality parameters are presented in the report. 

The Ministry of Environment and Forests released a draft of the regulatory framework for wetland conservation - Wetlands Conservation and Management Rules (2009) for feedback from all stakeholders. The draft framework was prepared by a multi-disciplinary expert group, and final round of comments were invited till June 21st 2010.

The Wetland Conservation Team of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) did a detailed analysis of the draft regulation and submitted several pertinent concerns to the Ministry. The most significant observation is that the new framework (as do much of India's policies and laws) continues to propose unjustifiable State control and interventions over the country's wetlands and livelihoods of people dependent on them. The regulation does not make any constructive suggestions or recommendations for the conservation that the country's wetlands demand, and instead brings all wetlands into complete official control by installing Central, State and District-level wetland regulatory authorities, wherein the majority of the members will be senior government officials.

The report provides an account of the findings of water quality studies of Lake Nainital and surroundings. Even though quite a few water quality investigations have been conducted by other researchers, they were more focused on biological aspects and overlooked the hydrological aspects. Further, not all of the earlier studies on Nainital incorporated the groundwater quality aspects, which are essential to establish the background values that can be ascribed to the geology of the region. Only after establishing these, the pollution levels can be assessed.

The report attempts to do a trace analysis of pesticides using gas chromatography technique. Pesticides are bio-accumulative and relatively stable, as well as toxic or carcinogenic, and therefore, require close monitoring. The identification and quantification of pesticides in different water bodies is a very important part of water analysis. The gas chromatography technique is considered appropriate, as most of the pesticides are volatile at the working temperature of gas chromatography. However, a pre-derivatization of a very few pesticides may be required prior to the analysis.

Abstract

The UN-Water website's World Water Day 2010 section, provides access to a range of informative, educational and advocacy material on water.

The documents and publications section includes a range of documents related to water quality, drinking water quality and public health, and water safety planning and management including the safe use of wastewater for agriculture and aquaculture.

The fluorosis section of this website dedicated to Nalgonda district, highlights the acute problem of very high levels of fluoride in the ground water resources of the district and its impact on the health of people - a high prevalence of severe and crippling bone and skeletal deformities. The site has information on the status of the affected people, flouride levels and various articles, petitions and pictures.