This document discusses groundwater pollution in India. It provides background on groundwater hydrology and outlines the major sources and types of groundwater pollution including agricultural, industrial, municipal, and geogenic sources. It examines the current status of groundwater pollution across India, noting various contaminants that exceed safety limits in many states. The document also discusses measures to control groundwater pollution including artificial recharge, treatment methods, and regulations. It concludes that scientific data and implementation of protection laws are needed to ensure safe drinking water.

1. GOVIND BALLABH PANT UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
Groundwater Pollution : Emerging Challenge
In India
Collage of Basic Science and Humanities
Department of Environmental Sciences
Presented by,
Anusha B V
52717
M.Sc (Environmental
Science)

2. CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Groundwater Hydrology
3. Groundwater pollution
4. Present status of Groundwater pollution in India
5. Attenuation of Groundwater pollution
6. Control measures
7. Institutions for groundwater management
8. Research paper
9. Conclusion
10. References

3. Earth is called “WATER PLANET”.
70% earth is made of water.
Water is an important vital energy
force driving all the physical ,
chemical and biological processes on
earth.
Earths atmosphere consists of 0.02-
4%.
INTRODUCTION

5.  Sustainable development and efficient management of
water is an increasingly complex challenge in India.
 Increasing population, growing urbanization and rapid
industrialization combined with the need for raising
agricultural production generates competing demands for
water.
 Ground water has steadily emerged as the backbone of
India’s agriculture and drinking water security.
 Contribution of ground water is nearly 62% in irrigation,
85% in rural water supply and 50% in urban water
supply.(World Bank ,March 2010)

6. 89%
9% 2%
Groundwater
Utilization in India
Irrigation
Domestic
Industry
Source: Groundwater Scenario in India November 2014, CPCB

7. At present India’s population is 1 Billion and is expected to
increase 1.7 Billion by 2050.
India has over 30 million groundwater extraction points.
15% of the Groundwater in India is overexploited.
94% of the Indian population have access to improper water
resource.( CGWB 2017)
 75% of the Rural population depend on Groundwater for
drinking.
If current trends continue, within 20 years 60% of all aquifers
in India will be in a critical condition,” according to a 2012
World Bank report.

8. Source: Manual on Artificial Recharge of Ground water CGWB(Sep 2007)
Per capita water availability in India dropped almost 15% over a decade from 1,816 cu.m in
2001 to 1,545 cu.m in 2011
[ www.indiaspend.com]

9. GROUNDWATER
HYDROLOGY

10. • Groundwater is the water contained beneath the surface in rocks
and soil, and is the water that accumulates underground in
aquifers.
• The top of ground water is called the water table.
• Between the water table and the land surface is the unsaturated
zone or vadose zone.
• The water table can be very close to the surface (within a few
feet), or very deep (up to several hundred feet).
What is GROUNDWATER?

13. India is occupied by a variety of hard and fissured formations, including
crystalline, trappean basalt and consolidated sedimentary (including
carbonate rocks), with patches of semiconsolidated sediments in narrow
intra- cratonic basins.
 The central part of the country is occupied by alluvial formation
stretching from Rajasthan in the west to Brahmaputra valley in the east.
Rugged topography, compact and fissured nature of the rock formations
combine to give rise to discontinuous aquifers, with moderate to poor
yield potentials.

14. HOW ARE GROUND WATER AND SURFACE WATER
CONNECTED?

16. GROUNDWATER
POLLUTION

17. Groundwater pollution?
When contaminants in groundwater exceed the levels
deemed safe for the use of a specific aquifer use the ground-
water is considered polluted. [ Environmental encyclopedia]

18. SINO Pollutants Major species
1. Pathogens bacteria & viruses
2. Trace metals Lead, Mercury, Arsenic,
Cadmium, Copper,
Chromium & Nickel
3. Inorganics SO4, Chloride, Na, K,
NO3
4. Organics petroleum derivatives,
pesticides
Major Groundwater Pollutants

19. SI
NO
POLLUTANT ACUTE CHRONIC
1. Nitrates Methenoglobinemia Carcinogenic as it
forms Nitrosamine
2. Fluoride Gastric pain, nausea,
vomiting, and headaches
Dental Fluorosis
Skeletal Fluorosis
3. Arsenic Nausea, vomiting,
abdominal pain, and
severe diarrhea.
Carcinogenic
4. Iron Haemorrhagic necrosis
and sloughing of areas of
mucosa
genetic disorder
4. Pathogens Diseases -

21. SOURCES OF GROUNDWATER POLLUTION
1. Point sources: originates from a single location
example: storage tanks, landfills , pipeline releases
2. Non-point sources: Agricultural runoff , seepage.

22. PRINCIPAL SOURCES
1. MUNICIPAL SOURCES
2. INDUSTRIAL SOURCES
3. AGRICULTURAL SOURCES
4. MISCELLANEOUS SOURCES

23. 1. MUNICIPAL SOURCES
SI
NO
TYPES SOURCES EFFECTS
1. SEWER
LEAKAGE
Defective sewer pipe, breakage
by tree roots, Rupture from
heavy load, earthquakes, loss of
foundation support
High concentration of BOD, COD,
Nitrate, Organic chemicals, Bacteria
and Heavy metals.
2. LIQUID
WASTE
Domestic wastes , Runoff Bacteria, Viruses, Trace elements and
heavy metals, inorganic and organic
chemicals
3. SOLID
WASTES
Landfills Leachate-iron, manganese, nitrate,
trace elements

24. 2.INDUSTRIAL SOURCES
SI
NO
TYPES SOURCES EFFECTS
1. LIQUID
WASTES
Industrial waste water discharge into pits,
ponds, lagoons, deep wells injection.
Hazardous and toxic industrial
wastes
2. TANK
AND
PIPELINE
LEAKAGE
Gasoline stations, Fuel oil tanks Petroleum
products from pipelines and tanks
Immiscible liquids like oil ,
Liquid radioactive wastes
3. MINING
ACTIVITI
ES
Coal, Phosphate and Uranium mines
Stone, Sand and Gravel quarries
Low pH, Iron

25. 3.AGRICULTURAL SOURCES
SI
NO
TYPES SOURCES EFFECTS
1. AGRICULTURAL
RUNOFF
surface channels or joins the
underlying water
Salinity, Bicarbonate, Sulphate,
Chlorides, Nitrates
2. ANIMAL WASTES Waste from slaughter houses Salts, organic loads ,bacteria , Nitrate
3. FERTILIZER AND
SOIL
AMENDMENTS
• Leachate of Phosphate and
Potassium fertilizers
• Leachate of soil amendments
like lime, gypsum, Sulphur
Increases salinity of soil
4. PESTICIDES,
INSECTICIDES
AND HERBICIDES
Leachate of pesticides, insecticides
and herbicides
Affects portability of water

26. SI
NO
SOURCES EFFECTS
1. SPILLS AND
SURFACE
DISCHARGE
• Dumping of fluids on ground, flushing hazardous and
flammable liquids into water.
• Washing aircraft with solvents and spills of fuel at airports
can form a layer of hydrocarbons floating on the water
table.
2. SURFACE WATER Polluted surface water bodies that contributes to groundwater
recharge.
3. SALT WATER
INTRUSION
Salinity of groundwater
4. MISCELLANEOUS

27. What Pollutes Ground water?

28. Present status of groundwater
pollution in India

29. • IWT’s 632 groundwater quality districts, only 59 are above BIS
limits.
• Fluoride concentration in groundwater exceeds the permissible
limit across the country from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar to
Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

30.  The yellow and red areas
below indicate places where
chlorine, fluoride, iron,
arsenic, nitrate, and/or
electrical conductivity exceed
national standards.(2013)

32. Geogenic
contaminants
Number of
affected
states
Number
of affected
districts
% Effected
districts
Arsenic 10 68 10.6%
Fluoride 20 276 43.1%
Nitrate 21 387 60.4%
Iron 24 297 46.4%
Source: Central Groundwater Board, July 2014

33. Arsenic Poisoning
• Millions of people in Bihar are showing symptoms of arsenic
poisoning, which is linked to cancer, due to consumption of
contaminated drinking water
• 17 of Bihar's 38 districts have groundwater with arsenic concentrations
above the permissible limit.

34. • Hand pumps in some parts, have been found to have severe arsenic
poisoning with concentrations above 1,500 parts per billion.
• According to the international agency for research on cancer, its
presence in inorganic compounds is highly toxic and carcinogenic.

35. WHY NOW?
• The cause of the upsurge in arsenic concentration is the
overuse of groundwater for irrigation and drinking, which
happens when withdrawal rates exceed recharge rate.
• There is no law to check excessive groundwater withdrawal.
• Overuse changes the chemistry of the aquifer.

36. • Arsenic chemistry –Arsenic is harmless when it forms
insoluble conjugate with iron called arsenopyrite. It splits
due to overuse, contaminating the groundwater with a
soluble ionic form of arsenic that has since been
consumed by millions of people for decades.
• In India, arsenic concentration is particularly high in and
around the Ganges delta in eastern and northeastern India,
affecting the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand,
Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Chhattisgarh.
• This is due to silt from the Himalayas containing
arsenopyrite.

37. Attenuation Of
Groundwater
Pollution

38. •Pollutants in groundwater tend to be removed or
reduced in concentration with time and with
distance travelled.
•The rate of pollution attenuation depends on the
type of pollutant and on the local hydrogeologic
situation.

39. Mechanisms involved
a) FILTRATION
b) SORPTION
c) CHEMICAL PROCESSES
d) MICROBIOLOGICAL
DECOMPOSITION
e) DILUTION
f) DIFFUSION

40. Control Measures

41. 1. Artificial Groundwater recharge
2. Rainwater Harvesting
3. Reverse Osmosis (RO)
4. Following recommended dosage of fertilizers, crop rotation, proper
timing of fertilizer application, and use of organic manure instead of
chemical fertilizers.
5. Household arsenic treatment methods are the ferric chloride
coagulation system

42. Institutions for Ground
Water Management

43. SI
NO INSTITUTIONS ROLES
1. Central Water
Commission
Initiating and coordinating schemes for the
conservation and utilization of water resources in
collaboration with state government and monitoring
water quality.
2. Central Ground
Water Board
Developing and disseminating technology related to
sustainable use of groundwater, monitoring and
implementing policies for the sustainable
management of groundwater resources.

44. SI
NO
INSTITUTIONS ROLES
3. Central Ground
Water Authority
Constituted under Section 3(3) of the
Environment(Protection) Act, 1986 to regulate
and control development and management of
groundwater resources, can resort penal
actions and issue necessary regulatory
directives.
4. Central Pollution
Control Board
Implementation of the Water( Prevention and
Control of Pollution ) Act, 1974 which seeks
to restore water quality
Source : Ministry of Water Resources; Lok Sabha Question 2157, March 10, 2015; PRS

46. OBJECTIVE
1. To develop eco-friendly and low cost technique to mitigate the
arsenic contamination.
2. Stimulation of the indigenous groundwater bacteria for
bioremediation of arsenic toxicity.
3. Evaluate isolated bacteria for resistance of other heavy metals such
as Cr(IV), Ni(II), Co(II), Pb (II), Cu(II), Hg(II), Ag(I) and Cd(II).

47. Materials and methods
1.Sample collection
2.Evaluation of total arsenic in water samples
3.Isolation of arsenic resistant bacteria
4.Evaluation of the MIC value
5.Cellular and morphological characterization

48. 6. Biochemical analysis of the isolated strain.
7. Physiological characterization of the isolated strains
8. pH and temperature optimization
9. Screening of arsenic transforming bacteria by microplate
screening assay
10. Molecular characterization
11. Effect of As on the growth of isolates.
12. Heavy metal tests.

49. SINO Parameters AK1 AK9
1. MIC value 13mM 15mM
2. Morphology Gram negative
coccus
Gram negative
bacillus
3. pH 7 7
4. Temperature (max growth) 30ºC 30ºC
5. Nucleic acid concentration 60ng/µl 160ng/µl
6. Phylogeny Psuedomonas extremorientalis
(99% similarity)
7. Doubling time Absence
of As
1.56h 1.176h
Presence
of As
2.02h 1.447h
RESULTS

54. CONCLUSION
1. Two prominent arsenic oxidizing bacterial strains AK1 and AK9 belong to genus
Pseudomonas has been reported and isolated from middle gangetic plain and both
isolates AK1 and AK9 were able to transform As(V) to As(III).
2. They showed complete aerobic reduction of As(V) after 48 h of incubation.
3. AK1 and AK9, show optimum growth at pH 7.0 and temperature 30ºC.
4. The doubling time of the AK1 decreases while it increases in case of AK9 in the
presence of As(III) which indicates that AK9 was more resistant to As(III) than AK1.
5. AK1and AK9, were also resistance to Pb(II), Cu(II), Ni(II) and Cr(IV) within range
of 4–8 mm.

55. Conclusion

56. 1. Need for Scientific data- Chemistry of Pollutants in
groundwater.
2. Water quality analysis data which includes fertilizers,
pesticides and other organic pollutants.
3. Health impact assessment.
4. Formulation and implementation of laws for protections
and conservation of groundwater.
5. Providing safe drinking water .

58. REFERENCES
Bureau of Indian Standards. Drinking Water Specification (Second Revision of IS 10500 2012) Doc: FAD
25(2047) Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Government of India: New Delhi, India, 2012.
Central Ground Water Board website, FAQs, (http://www.cgwb.gov.in/faq.html)
Deep Wells and Prudence: Towards Pragmatic Action for Addressing Ground water Overexploitation in
India, The World Bank, (March 2010) (http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INDIAEXTN/Resources/295583-
1268190137195/DeepWellsGroundWaterMarch2010.pdf.)
Dipankar, Chakraborti ., K, Sushant Singh., Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman., Rathindra Nath
Dutta., Subhas Chandra Mukherjee., Shyamapada Pati ., Probir Bijoy., (2018) Groundwater Arsenic
Contamination in the Ganga River Basin: A Future Health Danger,, Rev Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health
15, 180
Dynamic groundwater resources of India (as on 31 March 2013): Central Groundwater Board

59. Ghanshyam kumar., Satyapala., B, Santosh Kumar Mishra., Amrita Srivastava., Rajesh
Kumar., Ranjanc., Krishna Prakasha., Rizwanul Haquea., Nitish Kumara., (2018)
Possible bioremediation of arsenic toxicity by isolating indigenousbacteria from the middle
Gangetic plain of Bihar, India , Elsevier Biotechnology reports Vol.17, pp.117-125
Manual in Artificial Recharge of Groundwater: Central Groundwater Board September (2007)
M. Dinesh kumar. and Tushaar Shah, (2006) Groundwater pollution and contamination in
india: the emerging challengeIWMI-TATA water policy research program. 14p.
Tien Shiao., Andrew Maddocks., Chris Carson., Emma Loizeaux.,(2015) World Resource
Institute (http://www.wri.org/blog/2015/02/3-maps-explain-india’s-growing-water-risks)