Water pollution in India
This contamination can occur from various sources, including industrial discharge, agricultural runoff, untreated sewage, and improper disposal of waste.
Most rivers, lakes and surface water in India are polluted due to industries, untreated sewage and solid wastes.
The uncollected waste accumulates in the urban areas causing unhygienic conditions and releasing pollutants that leach into surface and groundwater.
[citation needed] The introduction of agrochemicals like HCH and DDT into water bodies can cause bioaccumulation, since these chemicals are resistant to degradation.
[9] The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reported that as of 2016, there were 746 industries directly depositing wastewater into the Ganga, which is the largest river in India.
This wastewater contains heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, copper, chromium, zinc, and arsenic, which negatively affect both aquatic life as well as human health.
A joint study by PRIMER and the Punjab Pollution Control Board in 2008, revealed that in villages along the Nullah, fluoride, mercury, beta-endosulphan and heptachlor pesticide were more than permissible limit (MPL) in ground and tap water.
Plus the water had high concentration of COD and BOD (chemical and biochemical oxygen demand), ammonia, phosphate, chloride, chromium, arsenic and chlorpyrifos pesticide.
[10] Flooding during monsoons worsens India's water pollution problem, as it washes and moves solid waste and contaminated soils into its rivers and wetlands.
The monitoring network covers 293 rivers, 94 lakes, 9 tanks, 41 ponds, 8 creeks, 23 canals, 18 drains and 411 wells distributed across India.
In 2010 the water quality monitoring found almost all rivers with high levels of BOD (a measure of pollution with organic matter).
[1][7] Rivers Yamuna, Ganga, Gomti, Ghaghara, Chambal, Mahi, Vardha and Godavari, are amongst the other most coliform polluted water bodies in India.
The United States is the largest supplier of treatment equipment and supplies to India, with 40 percent market share of new installation.
[19] There has also been an effort to encourage the reuse or recycling of treated wastewater in agriculture or industrial purposes to reduce the strain on groundwater resources.
Natural wetlands have shown to be a good alternative to STPs to remove 76-78% of organic waste, 77-97% of nutrients, and 99.5-99.9% of microbes from wastewater.
[21] Decentralised Wastewater Treatment Systems (DEWATS) have been adopted in some parts of India and have also shown to be an economically feasible alternative to STPs, considering the cost of installing and maintaining an STP is high.
A number of NGOs, pressure groups, eco-clubs, as well as citizens' movements, have been active in their task to clean the river.
