Contamination, Pollution and Quality

Water quality standard sectiion

The water quality standards section on the site of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), contains data on limits/standards of various indicative water quality parameters, such as coliform, pH, dissolved solids, bod etc, for each designated water use (drinking, bathing etc).

Read the standards and also view this file for water quality and drinking water quality standards from www.groundwatertnpwd.org.in

Monitoring of Indian National Aquatic Resource: This article on the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) website, contains graphs indicating the water-source wise national water quality monitoring network data, water quality trend across different parameters (bod, coliform etc), and water quality trend (measured in terms of bod) in various rivers of India.

View the graphs

Environmental standards section

The environmental standards section of the Central Pollution Control Board website, contains more than 40 industry–specific effluent standards, ranging from battery manufacturing to thermal power plants.
Read the industry–specific standards
Under the same section, read through some of the more recently–notified industry– specific standards and some proposed industry–specific standards here
The CPCB is a national body formed to promote cleanliness of streams and wells in the country by prevention, control and abatement of water pollution, and to improve the quality of air and to prevent, control or abate air pollution in the country.
For more info, click here

17 most polluting industries in India

This site provides information on the list of 17 most polluting industries, identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (Ministry of Environment and Forests). The site provides information on the following sections:

Basic and advanced tutorial on wastewater management by Shiv Shankar Ranganathan

This presentation provides an introduction to the book by the Centre for Science and Environment(CSE) titled Sewage Canal: How to Clean the Yamuna”. As per the presentation, several crore rupees have been sunk into plans to clean up the Yamuna.

Root Zone Treatment System are planted filter-beds consisting of sand/gravel/soil. The system uses a natural way to effectively treat domestic & industrial effluents. 

This handbook on root zone technology for the treatment of industrial and domestic waste water is divided into following sections:

Executive summary

The initiative aims at:

A low-cost wastewater treatment system consisting of an anaerobic, deep pond, which uses a digestion chamber for degrading various types of sewage sludge and the solids from the influent wastewater stream.
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The principles and ideas presented have been shown to be effective in increasing the capacity of water, and are based on extensive experience in upgrading a variety of treatment plants throughout the world. The procedures proposed apply not only to the optimization of existing treatment plants but also to the design of new ones.

Microorganisms occur in piped distributions from source water, through contamination during distributions and because of growth. Different organisms may cause a range of adverse health effects. Effective management varies with the organisms and their origin.

This presentation by M G Gopal of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board deals with the water issues faced in the city. The issues presented include – (a) Inter-sectoral allocation (b) Meeting the demand (c) Maintaining quality standards (d) Reducing unaccounted for water (e) Recycle and reuse (f) Promoting rainwater and conservation (g) Implementation of CDS and (f) Is ‘privatisation’, a solution or a disaster?