1.What is Water Pollution?

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (like oceans, seas, lakes,
rivers, aquifers, and groundwater) usually caused due to human activities.
Water pollution is any change in the physical, chemical or biological
properties of water that will have a detrimental consequence of any living
organism.

Water pollution results when contaminants are introduced into the natural
environment. For example, releasing inadequately treated wastewater into
natural water bodies can lead to degradation of aquatic ecosystems. In turn,
this can lead to public health problems for people living downstream. They
may use the same polluted river water for drinking or bathing or irrigation.
Water pollution is the leading worldwide cause of death and disease, e.g. due
to water-borne diseases.
2.Sources of Water Pollution
Some of the most commonly occurring water pollutants are

● Domestic Waste
● Industrial effluents
● Insecticides and pesticides
● Detergents and Fertilizers
● Sewage leakages
● High population density
● oil spillage
● Industrial waste dumped into our waters

Some of the water pollution that is caused is by Direct Sources, such as

factories, waste management facilities. refineries etc, that directly release
waste and harmful by-products into the nearest water source without treating
them. Indirect sources include pollutants that enter the water bodies via
groundwater or soil or via the atmosphere as acid rain.

Water pollution is generally induced by humans. It results from actions of

humans carried on to better self. These could be treated under the various
activities that man engages in, that lead to pollution. The growth of human
population, industrial and agricultural practices is the major causes of
pollution .Water pollution become worse as a result of overcrowding in urban
areas. Pollution poses a serious risk to life especially when the water is a
source of drinking and for domestic purposes for humans polluted waters are
potent agents of diseases such as cholera, typhoid and tuberculosis. A major
water pollutants has been oil spilled in large quantities from tankers of
broken oil pipes from oil industries which kills sea weeds, molluscs, fishes etc.
3.Effects of Pollution of Water
1. Diseases: In humans, drinking or consuming polluted water in any
way has many disastrous effects on our health. It causes typhoid,
cholera, hepatitis and various other diseases.
2. Destruction of Ecosystems: Ecosystems are extremely dynamic and
respond to even small changes in the environment. Water pollution
can cause an entire ecosystem to collapse if left unchecked.
3. Eutrophication: Chemicals in a water body, encourage the growth
of algae. These algae form a layer on top of the pond or lake.
Bacteria feed on this algae and this decreases the amount of oxygen
in the water body, severely affecting the aquatic life there.
4. Affects the food chain: Disruption in food chains happens when
toxins and pollutants in the water are consumed by aquatic animals
(fish, shellfish etc) which are then consumed by humans.

5. Chemicals and heavy metals from industrial and municipal

wastewater contaminate waterways as well. These contaminants are
toxic to aquatic life—most often reducing an organism’s life span
and ability to reproduce. That’s how tuna and other big
fish accumulate high quantities of toxins, such as mercury.

6. Marine ecosystems are also threatened by marine debris, which can

strangle, suffocate, and starve animals. Much of this solid debris,
such as plastic bags and soda cans, gets swept into sewers and storm
drains and eventually out to sea, turning our oceans into trash soup
and sometimes consolidating to form floating garbage patches.
Discarded fishing gear and other types of debris are responsible for
harming more than 200 different species of marine life.
4. Health Hazards of Water
pollution:

(a) Phosphorus and Nitrates from fertilizers and detergents contaminate

surface wa-ters where they act as nutrients and promote the growth of oxygen
consuming algae which reduce the D.O. level of water, killing fish and other
aquatic organisms.

(b) Industrial effluents results in the addition of poisonous chemicals such as

Arsenic, Mercury, Cadmium, Lead etc. which kill aquatic organisms and may
reach human body through contaminated food (i.e. fishes etc.)
(c) Domestic, commercial and industrial effluents (petroleum refineries, paper
mills, distilleries, tanneries, slaughter houses) contaminate the water with
organic pollut-ants.

These provide nutrition for microorganisms which decompose the organic

matter and consume oxygen and reduce the D.O. level of the aquatic system
there by killing the aquatic organisms.

(d) Non-biodegradable pesticides (especially organochlorines) travel through

food chains and ultimately reach human body where they accumulate in the
fatty tissues and affect the nervous system.

(e) Water borne infectious enteric diseases like typhoid, bacillary dysentery,
cholera and amoebic dysentery are the predominant health hazards arising
from drinking contaminated water.

(f) Fluoride containing pollutants cause fluorosis i. e. neuromuscular,

respiratory gastrointestinal and dental problems.

(g) Thermal pollution of water reduces the D.O. level of the aquatic system
making it incapable of supporting life.

(h) Oil pollutants have been known to be responsible for the death of many
water birds and fishes.
5.Prevention of Water Pollution
● Conserve water by turning off the tap when running water is not

necessary. This helps prevent water shortages and reduces the amount
of contaminated water that needs treatment.
● Be careful about what you throw down your sink or toilet. Don’t throw

paints, oils or other forms of litter down the drain. Use environmentally
household products, such as washing powder, household cleaning
agents and toiletries.
● Take great care not to overuse pesticides and fertilisers. This will

prevent runoffs of the material into nearby water sources.

● By having more plants in your garden you are preventing fertiliser,

pesticides and contaminated water from running off into nearby water
sources.
● Don’t throw litter into rivers, lakes or oceans. Help clean up any litter

you see on beaches or in rivers and lakes, make sure it is safe to collect
the litter and put it in a nearby dustbin.
● Better treatment of sewage: So treating waste products before disposing

of it in a water body helps reduce water pollution on a large scale.

Agriculture or other industries can reuse this wastewater by reducing its
toxic contents.

● Use environmentally friendly products: By using soluble products that

do not go on to become pollutants, we can reduce the amount of water

pollution caused by a household.
● Removed concrete surfaces and replace them with ground cover

● Use fewer chemicals to clean your home(EPAprovides a list of cleaning

products)
CASE STUDY
THE GANGA
• The densely populated Ganga basin is inhabited by 37 per cent of India's
population.
• The entire Ganga basin system effectively drains eight states of India.
• About 47 per cent of the total irrigated area in India is located in the Ganga
basin alone.
• It has been a major source of navigation and communication since ancient
times.
• The Indo-Gangetic plain has witnessed the blossoming of India's great
creative talent.
Ganga, the most sacred of rivers for Hindus, has become polluted for some
years now. But a recent study by Uttarakhand Environment Conservation
and Pollution Control Board says that the level of pollution in the holy river
has reached alarming proportions. Things have come to such a pass that the
Ganga water is at present not fit just for drinking and bathing but has
become unusable even for agricultural purposes. As per the UECPCB study,
while the level of coliform present in water should be below 50 for drinking
purposes, less than 500 for bathing and below 5000 for agricultural use— the
present level of coliform in Ganga at Haridwar has reached 5500. Based on
the level of coliform, dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen, the study put
the water in A, B, C and D categories. While A category is considered fit for
drinking, B for bathing, C for agriculture and D is for excessive pollution
level. Since the Ganga waters at Haridwar have more than 5000 coliform and
even the level of dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen doesn't conform
the prescribed standards, it has been put in the D category. According to the
study, the main cause of high level of coliform in Ganga is due to disposal of
human faeces, urine and sewage directly into the river from its starting point
in Gaumukh till it reaches Haridwar via Rishikesh.
(a)Cleaning efforts
WORKS COMPLETED UNDER GANGA ACTION PLAN PHASE – I AT KANPUR
A. WORKS EXECUTED BY U.P. JAL NIGAM
S.No. Name of Scheme Actual Operation and
Expenditure Maintenance
(Rs. In Lacs) Agency
Kanpur Sewerage Re-
organization
1 Master Plan 226.07 Jal Sansthan
(Immediate Works) Phase-1

Cleaning of Trunk & Main

2 78.223 Jal Sansthan
Sewers

3 Tapping of Nalas 29.1 Jal Nigam

Expansion of domestic
4 sewerage system 274. 955 Jal Sansthan

Construction of storm water

5 drains at Jajmau 258.637 Jal Sansthan

6 Jajmau Water Supply Scheme 248.834 Jal Sansthan

5 mld UASB Treatment plant

7 & Improvement works 94.66 Jal Nigam

8 Chrome Recovery Plant 2.73 Tannery

Owners
UASB Pilot Plant
9 ( Tannery waste water ) 11.13 Tannery
Owners
Waste Water conveyance
system for Northern
10 430.395 Jal Nigam
belt,Jajmau.

36 mld UASB Tannery waste

11 water treatment plant 1284.32 Jal Nigam

36 mld UASB Post

12 Treatment Plant 629.95 Jal Nigam

130 mld Sewage Treatment

13 Plant With Power Package 3102.29 Jal Nigam

Total 6728.445 Lacs

WORKS EXECUTED BY KANPUR NAGAR NIGAM /KANPUR
JAL SANSTHAN

S.No. Name of Scheme Actual Operation and

Expenditure Maintenance
(Rs. In Lacs) Agency
1 Low cost sanitation 331.65 Nagar Nigam

Electric crematoria at
2 Shuklaganj & Bhagwatdaghat 78.09 Nagar Nigam

3 Solid Waste Management 91.89 Nagar Nigam

Public Health Education

4 & Community Development 40.89 Nagar Nigam

Sewer cleaning Jajmau area

5 (Indo- Dutch) Programme 34.18 Jal Sansthan

Total Rs. 576.70 Lacs

Grand Total Rs.
7305.145 Lacs
(b)Ganga Action Plan (GAP) :

The Ganga Action Plan or GAP was a program launched in April 1986 in
order to reduce the pollution load on the river. But the efforts to decrease the
pollution level in the river became more after spending Rs 901.71 Crore
Therefore, this plan was withdrawn on 31 March 2000. The steering
Committee of the National River Conservation Authority reviewed the
progress of the GAP and necessary correction on the basis of lessons learned
and experiences gained from the GAP phase; 2 schemes have been completed
under this plan. A million litres of sewage is targeted to be intercepted,
diverted and treated. Phase-II of the program was approved in stages from
1993 onwards, and included the following tributaries of the Ganges: Yamuna,
Gomti, Damodar and Mahananda. As of 2011, it is currently under
implementation. Scientists and religious leaders have speculated on the causes
of the river's apparent self-purification effect, in which water-borne bacteria
such as dysentery and cholera are killed off thus preventing large-scale
epidemics. Some studies have reported that the river retains more oxygen
than is typical for comparable rivers; this could be a factor leading to fewer
disease agents being present in the water.
(c) The strategy

Industrial waste

About 100 industries were identified on the main river itself. Sixty-eight of
these were considered grossly polluting and were discharging 260 × 103 m3 d-
1 of wastewater into the river. Under the Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act 1974 and Environment (Protection) Act 1986, 55 industrial
units (generating 232 × 103 m3 d-1) out of the total of 68 (identified) grossly
polluting industrial units compiled and installed effluent treatment plants. In
addition, two others have treatment plants under construction and currently
one unit does not have a treatment plant. Legal proceedings have been taken
against the remaining 12 industrial units which were closed down for non-
compliance.

Public participation
The pollution of the river, although classified as environmental, was the
direct outcome of a deeper social problem emerging from long-term public
indifference, diffidence and apathy, and a lack of public awareness, education
and social values, and above all from poverty. In recognition of the necessity
of the involvement of the people for the sustainability and success of the
Action Plan, due importance was given to generating awareness through
intensive publicity campaigns using the press and electronic media, audio
visual approaches, leaflets and hoardings, as well as organising public
programmes for spreading the message effectively. In spite of full financial
support from the project, and in spite of a heavy involvement of about 39 well
known NGOs to organise these activities, the programme had only limited
public impact and even received some criticism. Other similar awareness-
generating programmes involving school children from many schools in the
project towns were received with greater enthusiasm. These efforts to induce
a change in social behaviour are meandering sluggishly like the Ganga itself.

Technology options
The choice of technology for the GAP was largely conventional, based on the
available options and local considerations. Consequently, sewers and pumping
stations and all similar municipal and conservancy works were executed in
each province by its own implementing agencies, according to their customary
practices but within the commonly prescribed specifications, fiscal controls
and time frames. The choice of technology for most of the large domestic
wastewater treatment plants was carefully decided by a panel of experts, in
close consultation with those external aid agencies which were supporting that
particular project.
 CONCLUSION

We all know how important water is. Water is essential for our body. Neither
we nor living being can survive without water.and therefore, we should keep
protect,save and help prevent our water from being polluted we should act as
early as now. We should save rivers, seas and oceans and other water bodies
of water because we will also bear the burden of this problem. We should not
wait for the time when people are competing for fresh, clean and sufficient
water, the time when clean water is insufficient for the people and animals
and the time where in our source of water are diminishing or until the time
where there are totally no source of water. So, let us be disciplined and
responsible enough to save, protect and conserve our water bodies. It is the
only source of living. Let us not destroy or pollute it. Let us act for a change.
Change ourselves before we construct change in our nature.