GROUND WATER QUALITY INVESTIGATIONS: A NATIONAL SCALE PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Water, as part and parcel of the larger ecological system, is an essential natural resource for life, food security and sustainable & equitable development. The near utilisation and excessive pressure on the surface water resources shifted focus to the ground water resources to meet the demands for domestic, irrigational and industrial needs. However, the limited ground water resources have been severely stressed and as per CGWB assessment (1993), out of 4000 BCM of total precipitation in India, the replenishable ground water available for beneficial use, in view of topographical, hydrological and other constraints, is 432 BCM. This limited and stressed resource calls for the adoption of sustainable long-term perspective for its quantitative and qualitative management. The quality of the groundwater quality is a function of the quality of recharged water, precipitation, inland surface water, and the geochemical processes prevailing in the sub surface zone. The status of the ground water resource may be periodically affected by various natural or human factors. Recently, the tremendous increase in the demand for fresh water for diverse needs of the teeming population in view of urbanisation and industrialisation, over-utilization, improper waste disposal has contributed to significant levels of contaminations of the ground water resources. Pollution of ground water resources is a ubiquitous phenomenon, causing perilous effects to the quality & quantity of the resource. The quality of the ground water resource has a direct bearing on the health of the ecosystem in general and human health in particular. As per the WHO estimates, water is responsible for about 80% of diseases in human beings. Thus, sound understanding of the system and polluting mechanism is essential for arresting the polluting factors. This becomes more crucial in view of the fact that restoring a polluted ground water resource is a very onerous task. Thus, water quality analysis is an important aspect of ground water studies. The current work primarily focuses on the national level insights into the qualitative aspect of the ground water resources in India.