Water Pollution

Dr. Arya V
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT Delhi
 31 March 2020 Page 2

Water as a resource

97% of the total earth’s water is salty that is of no

use to human and animals (except marine animal)
and the remaining three percent is available as
freshwater.
More than half of this three percent is locked in
glacier and less than 0.01% is available as fresh
water
water resources are less as compare to human
demand for water
Almost 25 countries of Africa, parts of China, Peru and Brazil
in Latin America, some parts of Middle East like Iran, Chile,
Mexico, and Paraguay are some of the countries that are
facing the water crisis
Data Source: UKEssays. November 2018; [1]
 31 March 2020 Page 3

Severity of water crisis in India

Image source: [Link]/news; [2] Image Source: [Link]/news; [3]

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Importance of wastewater treatment

Harmful effects of wastewater

Toxic to river and marine life

Adverse effect on groundwater
Chronic health conditions in living beings
Increase in pollution in coastal area, and soil pollution.

High need to tackle the issue

Nature has its role but the major water problem is arising
because of its increasing consumption and faulty usage
Major chunk of the problem can be solved if the wastewater
treatment is taken very seriously and precautions at every
step are taken to improve the water quality.
Image source: [Link]/news; [3]
 31 March 2020 Page 5

River water pollution

Domestic Sewage being the prime source for river

water pollution
75-80% of water pollution by volume is from domestic sewerage which highlights poor
water treatment potential of the country

An alarming 80% of India’s surface water is polluted

-- assessment by WaterAid (international organization for
hygiene and water sanitation) Data source: [Link]; [4]
 31 March 2020 Page 6

Other causes for water pollution

Dumping of Industrial Social and religious practices like

waste dumping dead bodies in water,
bathing, throwing waste in water

Agriculture runoff Oil leaks from ships

Reduction in water quantity Garbage dumping and

in rivers in plains washing clothes on river side.
 31 March 2020 Page 7

Facts and figures on water pollution status in India

Some hard Out of the 445 rivers surveyed, not even a quarter of them are fit for
facts about bathing.
river pollution
Indian cities generate 10 billion gallons or 38 billion litres of
municipal wastewater every day, out of which only 29% of it is
treated.
There were only 160 sewerage systems and sewage treatment plants
in nearly 8,000 towns surveyed in 2011.

Only 20% out of nearly 40,000 million litres of sewage produced daily
in Indian cities are treated.

--- Surveys undertaken by Central pollution control board

(CPCB) and Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)

Data source: [Link]; [5]

 31 March 2020 Page 8

Times of India data

Image source: [Link]/blog; [6]
 31 March 2020 Page 9

Case of River Ganga and River Yamuna

Approximately 1 billion litres of

raw, untreated sewage is
dumped in Ganga regularly. River Yamuna
Ganga contains 60,000 fecal
coliform bacteria per 100 ml, More than 57% of Delhi waste
which is a threat to human is thrown into Yamuna river.
health. Only 55% of Delhi’s residents
are connected to a proper
River Ganga sewerage system.
Ganga is considered to be the According to CSE, around 80%
most polluted river in India. of Yamuna’s pollution is due to
raw sewage.

Data source: [Link]; [5]

 31 March 2020 Page 10

Pollution in Indian rivers

The thick, bubbly froth in the river is said to be the result

of poisonous waste and filth dumped into the river
contributed by both industrial and household waste.

Excess phosphate is added in household and factory-use

detergent powders to soften hard water.

This phosphate acts as a nutrient to certain algal species

and on blooming, they cover the entire water surface,
inhibiting the sunlight to penetrate in river.

Frothing is severe in River Yamuna (Delhi), and Bellandur

and Varthur lakes (Bangalore).
Froth in Yamuna near Kalindi Kunj, Delhi
 31 March 2020 Page 11

Bellandur lake, Bangalore Varthur lake, Bangalore

 31 March 2020 Page 12

Consequences of river water pollution

Loss in export of prized fishes
due to fish contamination

06 Loss of

Contaminated river water

05 Disease &
Export
Revenue
cannot be used for farming Health
Burdent
04
Agriculture
Fishermen and fishfarms: Moderate to severe health
less edible fishes 03 Drinking
problems in humans
Water
02 Loss of
whopping 200,000 people lose their lives every year
Livelihood
01 Impact on
due to various problems caused by consuming
contaminated water
flora and
fauna Data source: Composite water
Chemical, effluents and sewage in rivers is causing management index, Niti Aayog
several species of aquatic life to go extinct or move
away to safer havens
 31 March 2020 Page 13

Initiative by government to revive rivers

Launched on 14 January 1986 with the main objective of pollution
01 Ganga Action Plan (GAP)
control in river Ganga

Objectives
identify grossly
To improve the
polluting units to
water quality by
Pollution prevent their
interception,
abatement toxic industrial/
diversion and
of the river chemical wastes
treatment of
Ganga from entering the
domestic sewage
river

Namami Gange – National mission for clean

02 Ganga

After failure of GAP, in May 2015, Centre approved an ambitious project called Namami Gange, with a budget
outlay of INR 20,000 crore over 5 years, to clean and protect the Ganga River.
Data source: [Link]; [9]
 31 March 2020 Page 14

Other important schemes launched by Indian government to

tackle river water pollution.

National River Conservation Plan (NRCP)

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)

Smart Cities Mission programmes of the Ministry of Urban Development

Yamuna Action Plan, a bilateral project between government of India and Japan
 31 March 2020 Page 15

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission)

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a national level campaign by the Government of India covering 4041 statutory
towns to clean the streets, roads and infrastructure of the country. The drive started in 2014 for a period of 5
years.

Swachh Bharat Mission for Urban areas

• Elimination of open defecation
• conversion of unsanitary toilets to
01 pour flush toilets
• eradication of manual scavenging
• municipal solid waste management

Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan

02
• To provide separate toilets for boys and girls in all
government schools within one year.
 31 March 2020 Page 16

03 Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)

• The mission aims to make India an open defecation
free country in Five Years.
• Making Gram Panchayats Open Defecation Free
(ODF), clean and sanitised.

Rashtriya Swachhta Kosh

• To facilitate and channelize individual
philanthropic contributions and Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to achieve 04
the objective of Clean India (Swachh
Bharat) by the year 2019

Image source: [Link]; [10] Data source: [Link]; [11]

 31 March 2020 Page 17

Ground Water Depletion

The groundwater level in India has declined
by 61 per cent between 2007 and 2017 and
India is the largest extractor of of the extracted water 89 per cent is used
groundwater in the world. for irrigation, according to the Fifth minor
irrigation census.
21 major cities of India are
expected to run out of groundwater
as soon as 2020, affecting around
100 million people

By 2030, the country’s water

demand is projected to be twice the
available supply, implying severe
water scarcity for hundreds of Groundwater in northern India
millions and an eventual loss of is being depleted at a rate of
around 6% of the country’s GDP. 19.2 gigatons per year.
-- Matthew Rodell
-- UNESCO, world water (Chief In NASA’s Hydrological
development report Sciences Lab)

Data source: [Link]; [12], [Link]; [13]

 31 March 2020 Page 18

Reasons for groundwater depletion and its pollution

Limited storage
Increased demand for facilities owing to the hard
water for domestic, rock terrain, along with Subsidies on
industrial and the added disadvantage of electricity and
agricultural needs lack of rainfall, especially high MSP for
in central Indian states water intensive Green Revolution enabled
crops. water intensive crops to
be grown in drought
prone/ water deficit
regions, leading to over
extraction of groundwater
Inadequate regulation of
groundwater laws Deforestation, unscientific Water contamination as in
encourages the methods of agriculture, the case of pollution by
exhaustion of chemical effluents from landfills, septic tanks, leaky
groundwater resources industries, lack of sanitation underground gas tanks, and
also lead to pollution of from overuse of fertilizers
groundwater and pesticides
 31 March 2020 Page 19

Importance of Groundwater resources Image source: [Link]; [14]

Impact: India rank 120 among 122 countries in

the water quality index, an astounding 2,00,000
people die each year due to polluted water.

Importance
Groundwater is supporting livelihoods of over 26 crore
farmers and agricultural labourers.

Groundwater is one of the most important water

sources in India accounting for 63% of all irrigation
water and over 80% of rural and urban domestic water
supplies.

Wells, including dug wells, shallow tube-wells and deep

tube wells provide about 61.6% of water for irrigation,
followed by canals with 24.5%

Data source: [Link]; [13]

 31 March 2020 Page 20

Ground water pollution (Case of Sea/Salt water intrusion)

Salt water Intrusion: Saltwater intrusion is the movement of saline water into freshwater aquifers, which can
lead to groundwater quality degradation, including drinking water sources, and other consequences.

Why saltwater Intrusion happen?

Saltwater intrusion can naturally

occur in coastal aquifers, owing to
the hydraulic connection between
groundwater and seawater

Water extraction drops the level

of fresh groundwater, reducing its
water pressure and allowing
saltwater to flow further inland

Image source: [Link]; [15]

 31 March 2020 Page 21

Case study from India (Sea water intrusion)

01 02 03
Ernakulam coast Coastline in Tamil
Kolleru Lake
of Kerala State Nadu

Kolleru Lake, the largest natural Ernakulam coast of Kerala Seawater has entered several
fresh water lake in Andhra state has been repeatedly locations along the coastline in
Pradesh in India reported for saline intrusion Tamil Nadu — Cuddalore,
Over-exploitation of into the wells of the coastal Chennai, Kanniyakumari, Cauvery
groundwater and land use aquifer. delta region and Nagapattinam.
conversions to aquaculture have
caused saltwater intrusion to
this lake and coastal aquifers.
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Toxicants in groundwater: Heavy metals, Fluoride, Nitrate

Discharge of toxic elements from industries and landfills over the years has lead to high levels of contamination
of groundwater with the level of nitrates exceeding permissible limits in more than 50% districts of India.

Many districts in India have more than one,

two or three toxic elements in their
groundwater.

States like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,

Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal
have their groundwater contaminated with
all types of toxins, including heavy metals in
one or the other district.
-- Central ground water board (CGWB)

Data source: [Link]; [16] Image source: [Link]; [17]

 31 March 2020 Page 23

Contamination of groundwater in Indian regions

Delhi Region

Image source: [Link]; [18] Image source: [Link]; [19]

 31 March 2020 Page 24

Harmful effects of Toxicants

Drinking of arsenic and cadmium contaminated water

over long periods can cause cancer of skin, bladder,
kidney, lungs, and in few instances, reproductive
disorders.

Exposure to high levels of lead may cause anemia,

weakness, and kidney and brain damage. Very
high lead exposure can cause death.

Drinking water having excess fluoride can cause

fluorosis affecting teeth and bones.

Nitrate in drinking water can cause

methemoglobinemia (decreased ability of blood to
carry vital oxygen around the body).
 31 March 2020 Page 25

Government’s plan of action to tackle groundwater crisis

World Bank has approved Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY), a Rs.6000 crore Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of
Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

The implementation of the Atal Bhujal Yojana is expected to have several positive outcomes
in managing groundwater resource
Focused and integrated community
based approach for addressing issues
related to ground water depletion

Sustainable ground water

management through convergence
of on-going and new schemes

Adoption of efficient water use

practices to reduce ground water
use for irrigation, and application of Flood irrigation technique is widely practiced and lot
efficient irrigation techniques such of water is pumped up on the field unnecessarily.
as drip or sprinkler systems.
 31 March 2020 Page 26

Emerging Contaminants in Indian water systems

Emerging contaminants are primarily synthetic organic chemicals that have been recently detected in natural
environments in ng/L to µg/L ranges.

Highly recalcitrant nature Not degraded in WWTPs

These compounds can potentially cause deleterious effects in aquatic and human life at environmentally
relevant concentrations which are becoming a growing concern

They are the ingredients mostly detected in municipal sewage, daily household products, pharmaceutical
production plants, wastewater, hospitals, landfills, and natural aquatic environment.

They may cause ecological risk such as interference with endocrine system of high organisms,
microbiological resistance, and accumulation in soil, plants and animals.
 31 March 2020 Page 27

Pathway of entry of pharmaceutical compounds in environment

Image source: Tiwari et al. (2017); [20]

 31 March 2020 Page 28

Government authorities to regulate and maintain water quality standards

Central pollution control board

Constituted in September, 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974

Powers and function:

To maintain and restore wholesomeness of water bodies.
to collect, collate and disseminate technical and statistical data relating to water pollution.
 31 March 2020 Page 29

BIS standards for potable water

The standard was adopted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (National Standard body of India) with
the following objective
To assess the quality of water resources

To check the effectiveness of water treatment and supply by

the concerned authorities

The standards are applicable to

drinking water supplied by different Authorities/ Agencies/

Departments of State Governments and Central Government

water supplied by Non Government or Private Agencies for

human consumption in any place of the country
 31 March 2020 Page 30

Permissible limits of various parameters as per IS 10500 : 2012 (BIS)

Parameter Acceptable limit Permissible limit Treatment Risks associated
Color 5 Hazen unit 15 Hazen unit Filtration, Acceptance decrease
Distillation, RO
Odour Agreeable - Air stripping, Acceptance decrease
activated carbon

pH 6.5-8.5 No relaxation Soda ash and white Metallic tastes/ bitter

vinegar treatment taste, deposition

Total dissolved solids 500 mg/L 2000 mg/L RO, distillation, Scaly deposits
deionization
Turbidity I NTU 5 NTU Sand filtration Cloudiness, haziness
Hardness (as CaCO3) 200 mg/L 600 mg/L Softening processes, Poor lathering with
ion exchange soaps, laundry
expenses
Alkalinity (as CaCO3) 200 mg/L 600 mg/L Ion exchange No health risks,
however excess can
lead to nausea
 31 March 2020 Page 31

Contd…
Parameter Acceptable limit Permissible limit Treatment Risks associated
Aluminium 0.03 mg/L 0.2 mg/L Cation exchange, Risks to dialysis patients
Distillation, RO
Ammonia 0.5 mg/L No relaxation Ion exchange with Toxic for aquatic life
zeolite
Iron 0.3 mg/L No relaxation Oxidizing filter Brackish color, bitter taste

Copper 0.05 mg/L 1.5 mg/L Ion exchange, RO, Anaemia, liver damage
distillation
Cyanide 0.05 mg/L No relaxation Ion exchange, RO, Thyroid, nervous system damage
chlorination
Lead 0.01 mg/L No relaxation Ion exchange, Nervous system damage, at high
activated carbon doses death
Mercury 0.001 mg/L 5 NTU RO, distillation Damage to brain, kidney, death at
high doses
Zinc 5 mg/L 15 mg/L Ion exchange, RO, Metallic taste, toxic
distillation
 31 March 2020 Page 32

Contd…
Parameter Acceptable limit Permissible limit Treatment Risks associated

Manganese 0.1 mg/L 0.3 mg/L Ion exchange, chlorination Laundry expenses,
discoloration
Sulphate 200 mg/L 400 mg/L Ion exchange with zeolite Bitter/medicinal taste,
deposits
Nitrate 45 mg/L No relaxation Anion exchange, distillation Blue baby syndrome in
infants
Chloride 250 mg/L 1000 mg/L RO, distillation High blood pressure,
salty taste
Fluoride 1 mg/L 1.5 mg/L Activated alumina, distillation Teeth and bone
fluorisis
Arsenic 0.01 mg/L 0.05 mg/L Activated alumina, RO, Skin problem,
distillation carcinogen
Chromium 0.05 No relaxation Ion exchange, RO Kidney and liver
damage, lung cancer
Cadmium 0.003 No relaxation Ion exchange, RO, distillation Liver and kidney
damage, nausea
 31 March 2020 Page 33

Contd…

Biological parameters

Parameter Limit Treatment Risks associated

Total coliform Nil/100 ml Chlorination, UV, Gastrointestinal

bacteria ozonation tract infections
E. Coliform Nil/100 ml Chlorination, UV, Gastrointestinal
bacteria ozonation tract infections
 31 March 2020 Page 34

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 31 March 2020 Page 35

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