Contamination, Pollution and Quality

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.

The study attempts water quality monitoring of Mansar lake to detect the various water quality parameters. The lake water conditions were monitored by collecting water samples from different depths to determine the spatial and temporal variations.

The study deals with the detection of trace elements – Cu, Co, Cd, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni and Pb along with pH and ORP in the groundwater of Guwahati and its adjacent areas. Toxicity of a metal depends on its concentration, which adversely affects any biological activity. Almost all the metals are toxic at higher concentrations, few in low concentrations and few others even in trace like As, Pb, Hg, Cd etc. The presence of such metals in groundwater is a subject of concern. Groundwater that contains higher amount of metals affects public health to a great extent when it is used for drinking and domestic purposes.

The study attempts to compile and evaluate the status of metal pollution assessment through aquatic sediments in rivers and lakes. The introduction of metallic pollutants into a river, whether it is natural (erosion from its drainage basin) or artificial (anthropogenic), can occur in dissolved or particulate form.

The study deals with adsorption of lead and zinc ions on the bed sediments of river Kali in western Uttar Pradesh. Adsorption is one of the most important processes in water quality control, which influences the transport of pollutants in aquatic environment.

The report deals with the findings of a water quality study of Mansar lake in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir. The water samples from different locations at the surface and from three zones (viz, epilimnion, metalimnion and hypolimnion) were collected and physico-analysis carried out.