research paper about water pollution

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Climate Change, Water Quality and Water-Related Challenges: A Review with Focus on Pakistan

Toqeer ahmed.

1 Centre for Climate Research and Development, COMSATS University Islamabad, Park Road, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad 45550, Pakistan; [email protected]

Mohammad Zounemat-Kermani

2 Department of Water Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman 7616913439, Iran; [email protected]

Miklas Scholz

3 Division of Water Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Lund University, PO Box 118, 22100 Lund, Sweden

4 Department of Civil Engineering Science, School of Civil Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, Kingsway Campus, Aukland Park 2006, Johannesburg PO Box 524, South Africa

5 Civil Engineering Research Group, School of Computing, Science and Engineering, The University of Salford, Newton Building, Peel Park Campus, Salford M5 4WT, UK

Climate variability is heavily impacting human health all around the globe, in particular, on residents of developing countries. Impacts on surface water and groundwater resources and water-related illnesses are increasing, especially under changing climate scenarios such as diversity in rainfall patterns, increasing temperature, flash floods, severe droughts, heatwaves and heavy precipitation. Emerging water-related diseases such as dengue fever and chikungunya are reappearing and impacting on the life of the deprived; as such, the provision of safe water and health care is in great demand in developing countries to combat the spread of infectious diseases. Government, academia and private water bodies are conducting water quality surveys and providing health care facilities, but there is still a need to improve the present strategies concerning water treatment and management, as well as governance. In this review paper, climate change pattern and risks associated with water-related diseases in developing countries, with particular focus on Pakistan, and novel methods for controlling both waterborne and water-related diseases are discussed. This study is important for public health care, particularly in developing countries, for policy makers, and researchers working in the area of climate change, water quality and risk assessment.

1. Introduction

Climate variability involving changes in temperature, rainfall pattern and precipitation is increasing and heavily impacting on water resources, water-related diseases and, subsequently, human health, which is reliant on clean water. Water-related infectious diseases like malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya, along with their causative agents and the mode of transmission of these diseases have been affected by climate variability. Similarly, waterborne diseases like typhoid and cholera are influenced by climate change patterns, and subsequent risks related to these diseases are increasing [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. About five cases of dengue develop into a hemorrhagic fever from 390 million dengue fever infections around the globe [ 5 ]. In order to save people from disaster, it has been suggested that poor and developing countries need to save, grow, invest, and protect poor and vulnerable people from economic crises [ 6 ]. Adaptation strategies related to these changes are important for policy and impact assessments [ 7 ].

Globally, almost all countries are affected by climate change impacts, particularly the developing countries, which are more vulnerable and prone to disasters like extreme floods, droughts, storms and heatwaves. In the last decade, a decline in economic growth has been observed in some developing countries, and people living in these countries are most affected as they do not have the resources to cope with the occurring natural disasters [ 8 , 9 ]. Half of the world’s poor population lives in Sub-Saharan Africa. Significant poverty reductions have been observed in East Asia, especially China and Indonesia, between 2012 and 2013 [ 6 ]. However, developing countries are still suffering from economic problems, especially people living in rural agricultural areas with no access to essential resources in order to gain education [ 6 , 10 ].

Roser and Ortiz-Ospina [ 11 ] reported that people earning less than 3.10 US $/day (less than Pak Rs (PKR). 500) mostly live in countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Ethiopia. Poor people are more vulnerable to natural disasters. Pakistan is at number 7 in a list of endangered countries, with 70% of its population exposed to natural hazards [ 12 ]. Millions of people in India and Bangladesh are exposed to floods. Due to climate variability, even developed countries like Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan have been exposed to at least one type of natural hazard in the past few years. The global Climate Risk Index indicates the extent of vulnerability of a country from weather-related events like flooding, drought, heat waves and storms [ 13 ]. A low climate risk index (CRI) value indicates the highest vulnerability as some countries are more prone to frequent disaster. Of the top ten most affected countries by natural disasters, nine were from developing countries with low-middle-income, all except for Thailand ( Table 1 ). Among them, Serbia, Afghanistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina were the most affected [ 14 ]. Pakistan and the Philippines are affected recurrently by catastrophes. They are commonly ranked among the most affected countries. According to CRI 2018, the Philippines are the second most affected country among the top ten climate change-affected countries. The CRI [ 10 ] indicated that Pakistan was at number eight in the list of most affected countries between 1995 and 2014 ( Table 1 ) [ 10 ].

The list of the top 10 countries most affected in the Climate Risk Index (CRI; annual averages; adopted from [ 14 ]) between 1995 and 2014.

More than 2.5 billion individuals (30% of the world’s residents) are at risk of dengue fever, particularly in Southeast Asia, the Americas, and the Western Pacific. According to the UN water report [ 15 ], world water demand will increase by up to 55% by 2050 due to more demand by industry, domestic consumption, food production and electric generation use. Similarly, global demand for food will increase by 60% (100% in the developing countries) by 2050 due to an increase in population [ 15 ]. Stress on sustainable water management will increase due to poverty, unequal distribution of resources, inequitable access to resources and poor management.

The current situation indicates that mitigation and improved adaptation strategies are required to minimize the impacts of climate variability. This study analyzes recent scenarios impacted on by population increase, water-related disasters, water pollution and how to control diseases linked to water. The main objectives of this paper are to analyze climate variability and water-related disasters as well as their impacts on human health. Finally, some key recommendations are made for policy-makers.

2. Methodology and Review

2.1. literature selection.

In this study, the authors assessed peer reviewed research papers, reports and grey literature published after 1979. Websites including google scholar ( https://scholar.google.com.pk ), Web of Knowledge ( http://isiknowledge.com ), ScienceDirect ( http://www.sciencedirect.com ) and Scopus ( https://www.scopus.com ) were searched for relevant literature. More attention has been paid to recent but already well-referenced literature. Relevant literature was selected based predominantly on the following inclusion criteria: (a) peer-reviewed research papers published by impact factor-listed research journals; (b) peer-reviewed scientific reports from world-known publishers; (c) literature was screened by using keywords (climate variability; climate and water quality; waterborne; water-related disease; dengue fever and health impacts; Zika virus; Chikungunya; method for controlling waterborne diseases; temperature and precipitation effects; developing countries; population and water quality; climate change impacts on chemical water quality; water quality in Pakistan; water governance; water management; and water pollution); and (d) preference was given to studies published in English language.

2.2. Climate Variability

Climate variability is a growing concern worldwide [ 16 ]. Climate change deeply impacts on social and natural environments and is one of the major threats to public health [ 17 , 18 ]. The water quality of recreational waterbodies such as coastal waters is considerably affected by extreme weather conditions like storms and typhoons, which increase the contamination of drinking water leading to water-borne diseases [ 19 ].

Changes in climate have varied greatly and influenced water resources, groundwater contamination, health and subsequently human life [ 20 , 21 ]. High uncertainty regarding expected changes in temperature and rainfall in the upcoming years has been reported in some studies [ 22 ]. It has been estimated that the average global temperature for the last hundred years has increased overall by approximately 0.8 °C due to the emission of greenhouse gases, and recent years were announced as the hottest in recent history. Due to the increase in global temperature, changes in precipitation levels have not been uniform in recent decades. As a result, monsoon rainfalls are more likely to happen in humid and sub-humid areas, whereas there will be a decrease in winter and summer rainfalls in coastal and hyper-arid areas. Besides, it has been claimed that sea levels will rise to a range of 1 to 3 mm per year [ 23 , 24 ]. There is also uncertainty about rainfalls with uneven temporal and spatial distribution, and longer dry spells evoking drought conditions [ 25 ].

Indeed, due to human activities, the mean temperature on the surface of the earth has been increasing over the past century [ 26 ]. It has been estimated that hot summer days have also become more extended and regular in some parts of the globe. Increased surface temperature is leading to an increase in evaporation from the oceans and land. Accordingly, there will be an increase in global average precipitation. Some regions also experience droughts due to high evaporation levels and shifting of wind patterns while some parts of the world receive flash floods. However, it is very difficult to differentiate whether an extreme weather event is caused by natural or human influences [ 27 ]. In a study by Levy et al. [ 28 ], the general effects of climate change on water-borne diseases have been investigated. Other studies have focused on specific components of climate change such as the impact of short-term extreme flood events on infectious diseases [ 20 , 29 ].

Global warming causes the temperature to rise and, as a result, low-level glaciers are melting [ 30 ]. About 76 lakes covering an average area of 545 ha in high mountainous regions were studied. Regular monitoring of glaciers was recommended to support water management in the context of climate variability [ 31 ]. Temperature may increase this century by 2%–6 °C, which will particularly impact negatively on water resources in Central Asia which depend commonly on river water for agriculture [ 32 ].

Glaciers are one of the most important sources of water for Asian countries. About 41% of the area of glaciers are vulnerable to climate change in China [ 33 ]. Climate change is linked to an increase in mean temperature [ 23 ] and is the main factor in the melting of glaciers [ 34 ]. This has also led to changes in precipitation pattern, diversity and rate. Since 1900, changes in precipitation patterns amounted to an approximately 2% increase over the land area of the globe [ 35 , 36 ]. Likewise, a correlation between the increase in streamflow and precipitation has been identified [ 37 , 38 , 39 ].

It was reported that roughly 80% of diseases in developing countries such as Pakistan are related to waterborne diseases [ 40 ]. In Pakistan, water quality is being impacted by climate change through temperature and rainfall fluctuations [ 41 ]. A study showed that the maximum temperature has significantly augmented (in over 30% of sites) during the pre-monsoon season annually [ 42 ]. A considerable increase was observed in March. The minimum temperature showed positive trends for the pre-monsoon season at the annual scale. There was a cooling trend in the northern areas during the study period. The maximum temperature increased faster than the minimum temperature in the northern areas during all seasons studied and at annual resolution, while the opposite occurred for the rest of the country (except during the pre-monsoon season). It has been estimated that the highest correlation coefficients between patterns and both minimum and maximum temperatures were observed in the months of the pre-monsoon season [ 43 ].

2.3. Water Pollution, Population and Water Quality

The world population is expanding, with a total of 7.4 billion in 2016, and is expected to increase in the upcoming decades [ 44 ]. The eight most populous countries have a combined population of over 4.054 billion, which is expected to increase to 4.980 billion by 2050 ( Table 2 ). With this increase in population, water resources are under stress, especially in the developing countries.

Eight most populous countries in 2016 and their prospective population by 2050 (adapted from [ 44 , 46 ]).

Water pollution is directly related to population growth and has a direct impact on human health. Population growth and anthropogenic activities heavily influence water resources. The demand for water is augmented along with an increase of population, and ultimately the quality of water resources will be affected [ 45 ]. According to data for the world’s most water-stressed countries [ 46 ], Pakistan is among the most vulnerable, and will become a water-stressed country by 2040 [ 47 , 48 ].

According to Vineis et al. [ 49 ], about 884 million people are living without access to clean drinking water in 2019. Poor quality of water, especially drinking water, increases the chances of waterborne diseases [ 40 ]. About 1.8 million people die every year due to cholera and diarrhea, and 3900 children die every day due to poor water and sanitation conditions [ 50 ]. Similarly, more than one billion people lack access to improved drinking water, particularly those living in Asia [ 51 ]. In developing countries, the population is increasing, and cities will be overpopulated in the next 20 years. Accordingly, demand for improved water resources management, water quality control and enhanced flood and drought management will increase [ 52 ].

As reported by the WHO [ 53 ], half of the world’s population will suffer water stress conditions by 2025. Similarly, along with water shortage, water quality is also negatively affected, so that 1.8 billion people around the world are obliged to consume water contaminated by sewerage for drinking, which practice transfers diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery and polio. Empirical studies have already indicated the downside effects on human health of pollution and poor water quality due to the rapid increase in population and urbanization [ 54 ]. Regions or countries facing climate challenges and natural disasters such as drought and floods have also to endure population growth problems, and inevitably anthropogenic activities alter water systems [ 55 ]. A decrease in water resources due to less income and slow development will increase the problems of water quality and health issues. Water availability has been decreasing in all sectors by 7–11% during the last two decades [ 41 ]. Water availability is affected by climate change as well as water governance and management issues. There is a need to increase water storage capacity and installation of water retention wells for groundwater recharge. Groundwater regulations have been approved by all provinces of Pakistan except for Sindh, but implementation of polices in the true sense are lacking. By area, Sindh is the third largest province of Pakistan and by population the second largest. This is important as Karachi city (the former capital) is the largest city of Sindh province. Incentives should be implemented for the general public to obey governmental rules for water saving and fines imposed on violators. The government should implement licensing for the installation of new bore wells and there should be a record of the number of tube and bore wells installed, as no such data exist especially for private bore wells.

Water quality is linked with water availability. Water quality analysis of the major cities of Pakistan has been recently completed by the government. Similarly, other research and development organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGO) are performing water quality analysis especially in rural areas. Bacteriological water quality is often more important than chemical water quality as water resources are contaminated with fecal matter. No data on gastroenteritis have been found in allied hospitals when asked for records of patients suffering from food or waterborne diseases. It is strongly recommended in hospitals that records of people suffering from waterborne diseases are maintained.

2.4. Climate, Water-Related Diseases, and Health Impacts

Climate variability effects climate-sensitive diseases like dengue fever, diarrhea and cholera [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. Microclimatic parameters, especially precipitation and temperature, play a key role in spreading waterborne and water-related diseases [ 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ]. Microbiological, bioinformatics and genomic tools have provided some evidence that El Niño is the main key element in triggering long distance spread of cholera [ 65 ]. Climate change has a direct effect on the reemergence of waterborne infectious diseases such as cholera [ 66 ]. It is expected that diarrhea rates will be aggravated in many developing countries due to changes in climate, but the extent will vary depending on the nature of change, region and local climate [ 67 , 68 ]. A direct relation has been observed between climate-related disasters such as floods, heavy rainfalls and waterborne diseases. Typically, waterborne diseases and zoonotic infections increase after floods and rainfall, and high temperature also supports the growth of waterborne diseases [ 69 ]. There is a correlation between waterborne diseases and wet summer and humid weather. Typhoid is linked to dry weather in Europe [ 70 ]. Climate change could also pose an increased health risk linked to pathogens like Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium and norovirus. Norovirus and Cryptosporidium are less temperature-sensitive and are more resilient than Campylobacter [ 71 ]. Legionella species are ubiquitous in natural settings, share common habitat with human beings and transfer to humans, causing infection on exposure. Rainfall may cause exposure to Legionella infections and lead to the corresponding disease called Legionellosis [ 72 ]. Multiple studies have been devoted to infections related to contaminated water [ 73 ]. Similarly, drought can aggravate the effluent concentration runoff, pH and chemical quality. Contamination of surface water puts treatment plants at risk, leading to poor drinking water quality, which is especially detrimental for the elderly [ 74 ]. Likewise, rainfall and floods may increase waterborne diseases. A study conducted in Vietnam linked the impact of floods to dengue, pink fever, skin problems like dermatitis, and related psychological impacts [ 75 ].

According to the WHO, “Emerging pathogens are defined as pathogens seemed to have existence in a human population for the first time, or previously but are growing in frequency into areas where they have not been reported previously, generally over the last 20 years” [ 76 ]. According to this criterion, 96 genera containing 175 species are considered to be emerging pathogens. Other than common waterborne pathogens, Helminths, Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica , Legionella, Cryptosporidium, H. pylori, E. coli O157 and viruses like norovirus, hepatitis E virus and rotavirus have been confirmed as emerging pathogens that may spread through water [ 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ]. These pathogens spread through changes in climate such as change in rainfall and global weather pattern, and deterioration in the ozone layer along with the destruction associated with UV light [ 54 ]. Different aspects of climate change including rising sea levels, flooding, extreme rainfall and rising temperature have previously been assessed in terms of their transmission and spread of water-borne diseases such as cholera and malaria [ 77 ].

In developing countries like Pakistan, the literacy rate is low, especially in rural areas, and people have no awareness about water quality, waterborne diseases and water pollution. People are using the same water for drinking and agriculture purposes. There is a direct relationship between education, income and awareness about water pollution, waterborne diseases and health impacts. According to a survey, individuals with higher levels of education are well-aware of the consequences of waterborne diseases [ 78 ]. It is worth mentioning that diseases linked to the marine and water ecosystems can be caused by waterborne pathogens, as these microbes are naturally present in different settings.

This literature review shows that there is a research gap in studies that deal with waterborne diseases and climate variability, and, therefore, more research is needed to specifically explore the impacts of climate change on waterborne diseases. Figure 1 represents some of the most important factors regarding climate change-related health impacts on human beings.

Health impacts of climate change (adapted from [ 79 ]).

2.5. Climate Impacts on Chemical Water Quality, Water-Related Diseases, and Health Perspectives

Climate change has significant impacts on chemical water quality when compared to changes in meteorological parameters [ 80 ]. Storm, snowmelt, drought and elevated air temperature have a significant impact on drinking water quality [ 81 ]. For instance, heavy rainfall can increase the turbidity of water resources. Similarly, an imbalance in chemical water quality has been observed due to a rise in temperature [ 82 ]. Chlorine used for decontamination of water may produce more trihalomethanes after reaction with organic acids at high temperature [ 83 ]. As stated earlier, average temperature has been increasing due to global warming, and this can impact on water resources including chemical water quality. Similarly, dissolution of chemicals, especially agriculture waste and fertilizers, can change the quality of water resources. According to Quevauviller and Umezawa [ 84 ], climate change may impact on water chemistry and sea-level rise, so salinization may be affected, which influences the depletion of freshwater and river environments. Different factors like acidification and remobilization of contaminants in sediments due to flooding and an increase in temperature can modify pollutants in water resources, which can affect aquatic life [ 85 ]. A study conducted in the Mekong Delta on climate change impacts on water-related diseases reported that limited work has been done on the relationship of climate change impacts on water quality [ 86 ].

Due to the effects of climate change, the salinization of drinking water has introduced problems for low income countries [ 49 ]. For example, salt intrusion and related health issues are common in Bangladesh [ 87 ]. Approximately 20 million people are at risk of hypertension in Bangladesh, which is a major cause of cardiovascular diseases [ 88 , 89 ], since more salt in water can cause hypertension and associated diseases. A study conducted in Bangladesh using an integrated salinity flux model and hydrodynamic model reported that both salinity and intrusion length has increased in the Gorai river due to the sea-level rise [ 90 ]. A similar study investigated the effects of saline contamination in drinking water on human health hazards in Bangladesh [ 91 ]. Another study reported high levels of arsenic in surface water and 2–4 times the amount, in drinking water in Bangladesh, with respect to the average eligible standards [ 92 ]. The problem of salinity and hypertension will be exacerbated in the future among people living in coastal areas due to the high intake of sodium through drinking water [ 93 , 94 ].

In another study conducted in Beijing, China, post-flood water quality was reported to have quality samples unfit for drinking purposes [ 95 ]. Indeed, both floods and drought conditions deteriorate the chemical quality of water, which leads to significant health impacts and high risks for consumers ( Table 3 ).

Potential health impacts of major physico-chemical contaminants in developing countries including Pakistan.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) Climate Change [ 103 ], climate change-related amendment can affect diseases caused by water, which are categorized as waterborne, water-related, water-washed and water-based. The main considerations proposed in AR4 in order to find the relationship between climate change, water quality and water availability are below:

• 1. The linkage between water availability, access to improved water, and health burden due to diarrheal diseases;
• 2. The role of rainfall in waterborne disease outbreaks through water supply;
• 3. The effect of temperature both on chemical and biological water quality; and
• 4. The direct effect of increased temperature on diarrheal diseases.

It has been reported that climate change can affect water-related diseases like malaria, dengue fever, and other infectious diseases. According to Rogers [ 104 ], one-third of the global population lives in places linked to dengue transmission. Similarly, malaria is a rainfall-dependent disease and decreases with reductions in rainfall.

2.6. Elucidation to Diminish Water-Related Issues

Numerous methods and remedies have been used to control mosquito-related diseases, and the best of these is to control the existence of mosquitoes, which involves chemical, biological, environmental management, personal protective measures and physical methods [ 105 ]. Chemical methods include the use of tested and recommended insecticides, e.g., pyrethroids for killing adults and larvae. These should be used under the supervision of experts and trained staff such as a team of entomologists, a vector control supervisor and field staff [ 106 ].

Direct chemical spraying or aerial spraying of chemicals by low flying aircraft (to cover a large area or when there is limited access by vehicles) should be accomplished at the habitats, resting sites and breeding places of the target insects at regular intervals of 2–3 weeks. In-house spraying should also be done in all bedrooms, washrooms, wall corners, etc. For dengue control, man-made habitats should be screened, and Methoperene/Altosid (Briquets) and Diflubenzuron (Dimlin) should be applied.

As reported by Yi et al. [ 107 ], diesel oil is effective in killing larvae and pupae of mosquitoes in small waterbodies, but this can also kill other aquatic animals and is unsustainable. They suggested golden bear oil as an alternative, but this product is only available in the USA. They also suggested various methods to control mosquitoes using mosquito traps, genetically modified male mosquitoes and mosquito counter devices. Furthermore, indoor fogging or space spraying is an effective way to control dengue [ 108 ]. Larvicides should be applied on clean and stagnant water.

Multi-purpose environmental management of marshes, open drains, standing water in open fields, surface water, gardens and waste is required for disease control. Personal protection measures include personal protective clothing, bed nets (long lasting insecticide treated nets and curtains at doors), use of gauze on doors, and insect repellent lotions. Picaridin/Icaradine and N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (also called DEET) are recommended repellents that can be used in emergency cases. Cloth can be treated with permethrin to control mosquitoes, at the recommended dose of 1.25 mg/m 2 after every five washes. Even simple physical methods such as closing doors, especially in the morning and evening, have a positive impact on preventing diseases. Rapid population growth and urbanization, especially encroachments, provide ideal places for breeding of mosquitoes. In the absence of medicine and therapy, it is better to control this growth and breeding of mosquitoes and other vector-spreading microbes [ 109 , 110 , 111 ].

Concerning the environmental consequences of changing climate, more attention is required from experts, authorities and health departments on preventing the spreading of lethal diseases such as dengue and malaria. It is advisable that malaria and dengue control programs should be a part of national health policy with strong resource commitment and implementation. Increasing awareness and educating society is a vital element to cope with spreading of waterborne diseases (e.g., dengue fever). These programs can be started by educational institutions, offices, meetings, community reunions, etc. Besides, cleaning at household level with detergents, insecticides and other surface cleaning agents is highly recommended. Media can also play an important role in enhancing awareness through newspapers, TV programs, talk shows, etc. Likewise, a reduction of breeding sources of mosquitos and the introduction of waste management campaigns are important at community level. Indeed, health protection campaigns should be the top priority.

According to the literature, people in South Africa spent about eight hours daily in fetching water and only 19% treat their water before use. Government subsidies on water treatment chemicals and fuels for boiling water may help in increasing the percentage of people treating their drinking water and reducing waterborne diseases [ 112 ]. Regarding improving water quality, both adaptation and mitigation measures are required. In this respect, infrastructure improvements, reduction of pipe leakage, introduction of advanced water purification systems, and direct supply of clean water are necessary for the provision of safe drinking water [ 82 ]. During periods of flooding, water treatment is of great importance in controlling waterborne diseases [ 113 ]. Other interventions and home water treatments including chlorination and UV treatment [ 114 ]. There is a strong need to establish new sustainable development policies to preserve water. Without inaugurating new policies, around 40% of the world’s population is projected to experience severe water stress by 2050, especially in Africa and Asia, where the population is projected to increase from 7 billion to over 9 billion by 2050 [ 115 ].

3. Pakistan’s Perspective, the Status Quo

3.1. water quality issues.

Based on the long-term CRI, Pakistan was the fifth most affected country in the world during the period between 1999 and 2018 [ 116 ]. Moreover, Pakistan severely suffers from water shortage and lack of clean drinking water [ 85 ]. In general, just 20% of the country’s residents have access to clean potable water, which makes the remaining 80% dependent on polluted and unhealthy drinking water [ 117 , 118 ]. Many empirical studies have been conducted on water quality issues in Pakistan, but some important studies on biological and chemical water quality conducted in different cities across all the provinces of Pakistan have reported on the deterioration of water quality throughout Pakistan and highlighted an increase in waterborne bacterial and other related diseases ( Table 4 ). The lack of access to safe drinking water causes waterborne diseases, which constitute about 33% of all deaths [ 118 ]. Another study reported that between 20% and 40% of all diseases in Pakistan are due to poor quality of water [ 119 ]. This can be explained by deficiencies in waste management, lack of protection of water resources, poor sanitation, adverse anthropogenic activities and lack of social awareness [ 120 ]. A general analysis of water quality data indicates the poor circumstances of water resources in Pakistan ( Table 4 ), highlighting the need for new water treatment policies. Roughly 60 million Pakistani residents are affected by high levels of arsenic in their drinking water [ 121 ]. Rural areas are more vulnerable in terms of access to safe drinking water compared to major cities or the capital city. A study of the Tehsil of Jehlum district found more than 80% contaminated water [ 122 ]. Even water supplied to schools was poor in terms of drinking quality [ 123 ]. It is worth noting that Pakistan mainly relies on the Indus River as one of the main surface water resources. However, climate change has been negatively impacting on the Indus River, which has increased the pressure on sustainable water resources [ 124 ]. A 50% reduction of the flow rate of the Indus River would have a detrimental impact on public health, environmental protection and public finances [ 125 ]. Similar consequences can be envisaged for other developing countries like Ethiopia, where major rivers have faced decreases in both water quality and quantity [ 126 ].

Water quality situation in different provinces of Pakistan and associated impacts on the parameters studied.

Clean and healthy drinking water has a high impact on recreational activities, fisheries, tourism and sports. However, potable water resources can become polluted, which negatively impacts on both economic and health aspects [ 126 ]. According to reports by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, a survey was conducted in 23 major cities of Pakistan; four major contaminants prevailed in Pakistan; most contaminants were of bacterial nature (69%). This was followed by arsenic (24%), nitrate (14%) and fluoride (5%) [ 167 ]. According to the report, 69% of sources were contaminated according to the National Standards for Drinking Water Quality. According to a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) health survey, in 2017 89% of households had access to improved drinking water. This is similar to the 94% figure regarding Punjab province as reported by the Punjab Government [ 168 ]. Efforts have been made by the Punjab Government to provide clean and contaminant-free water. For example, some important projects including the Punjab Saaf Pani (PSP) project, worth 70 billion PKR (1 US $ = 158 PKR), have been launched to provide clean drinking water to poor urban and rural areas. For 2015–2016, 11 billion PKR were allocated for medium-term development goals. The PSP is designed to provide 3 L of clean drinking water per capita as part of the approved plan. The program promotes the installation of filtration plants, new water supply schemes and rehabilitation of existing schemes. Water treatment plants have been installed in Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Lodhran and Rahimyar to supply safe and clean water to these cities.

Pakistan’s gross domestic product in 2018 was 314.6 billion US $. A project entitled “Changa Pani Programme” was launched to maintain sanitation schemes and provide rural water supply. A total of PKR 1 billion have been allocated for this program. Sustainable operation and maintenance mechanisms of rural water supply schemes are another initiative running in Punjab. Under this scheme, 199 dysfunctional water supply systems have been identified, while an initiative has been taken to rehabilitate 135 rural water supply schemes in Rajanpur, Chakwal, Vehari and DG Khan with the assistance of UNICEF. Similarly, in the 2020–2021 budget, PKR 6 billion were spent on clean drinking water (Punjab Aab-e-Pak Authority) and PKR 3.29 billion on water supply and sanitation [ 169 ]. For KP, 18.6 PKR billion were invested in the water sector [ 170 ]. For Sindh province, PKR 19.3 billion were spent on water supply and sanitation, while PKR 39 billion were invested on water supply and sanitation schemes including 398 projects in 2019–2020. PKR 1.94 billion were spent by Karachi city [ 171 ]. For Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), PKR 700 million were invested on water use charges schemes and PKR 540 million on none-specified water categories. Similarly, GB and Balochistan did not specify water investments, but overall allocations for development work have been recorded. More initiatives and fair use of budgets for clean drinking water and water supply schemes are required in other provinces of Pakistan to fulfill the demand for clean drinking water, and to reduce waterborne diseases.

No specified data have been found on waterborne diseases in hospitals. However, dengue-related data are available, as surveillance teams of public health departments along with the government are monitoring dengue-related cases. It is highly recommended that patients are registered as suffering from, for example, gastroenteritis or shigellosis for proper monitoring at the national level. Typhoid, abdominal cramps and diarrhea are the most common water- and food-related illnesses; the number of patients varies from district to district in each province, but without registration it is very difficult to find and distinguish patients suffering from different specific diseases.

3.2. Water Governance and Sustainability

Water availability and linked water quality are being heavily impacted upon by climate change throughout the world, especially in Pakistan. Changes in rainfall patterns, shifting of seasons, increase in temperature, droughts, heatwaves and storms are affecting water resources. Demand for water is increasing due to an increase in population, urbanization and industrialization. It is important to manage the existing water resources. In order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6, ensuring availability and sustainable management of water sanitation for all, water governance is essential.

Water governance is concerned with the social, economic, administrative and political organization that influences the use of water and its management. It is important to discuss the management of water, rights to water, service provider roles and allied beneficiaries. Water governance discusses the formulation and implementation of water policies, legislation, the role of institutions, civil society and the general public in relation to provision of services and water usage.

A Pakistani national water policy has been approved in April 2018 and the water act has been implemented in almost all provinces except Sindh Province. Lack of coordination among the institutions as well as capacity building and funding constraints are important challenges to be addressed. Equity and social balance are important in addressing water governance-related issues. There are opportunities to address these issues with, for example, IT-based monitoring systems for dealing with accountability and water theft. Public–private partnerships are important in tackling water-related challenges. A good example is the water metering and pricing program of Bhalwal City in the Sargodha District of Punjab Province, where authorities have successfully implemented 24/7 supply of safe drinking water. Similarly, smart water metering has been installed in one of the sectors, named I-8, of Islamabad for the said initiative. (In Islamabad, different sectors are named alphabetically). International collaboration can help in capacity building and knowledge sharing. Awareness regarding water conservation and strategies to conserve water at all levels is necessary to save water. The inclusion of information on climate change and water conservation in the educational curricula at all levels is recommended. Fines should be imposed on violators and incentives should be given to the general public by the water authorities for water conservation and for following water laws. These kinds of initiative can help in water governance and sustainability in the future.

4. Conclusions and Recommendations

This literature review indicates that global warming has led to an increase in the average temperature around the globe, which has been heavily impacting on water resources, especially in Africa and Asia, as agriculture is mostly dependent on river water flow. Several developing Asian countries have already encountered the consequences of water stress. Hence, river water monitoring is an essential requirement, especially due to the impacts of climate change such as glacier melting, rainstorms and droughts.

Increases in population and anthropogenic activities have heavily influenced water resources and increased water pollution. Indeed, various studies have reported that water pollution has increased in the last decades, and consequently water-related diseases influence the health of many citizens in developing countries. The following are important recommendations which can be helpful in coping with the consequences of climate change in terms of water-related challenges:

• Due to the shift in seasons, in some locations as a result of climate variability, new water resources (e.g., melting glaciers) have been emerging. However, there is a need to manage and store water for present and future use. For instance, watershed management with dam systems might alleviate drought and floods.
• Developing effective treatment methods e.g., [ 172 , 173 , 174 ], for addressing the sixth United Nations sustainable development goal, which deals with fecal contamination (69% fecal pollution has been reported in 23 major cities) and provision of safe drinking water to the general public.
• Adaptation strategies such as protection of water resources and watershed management should be adopted to cope with unforeseen situations and to decrease the water-related disease burden.
• Education and social awareness play a major role in confronting and controlling water pollution, waterborne, and water-related diseases, and subsequently in improving human health in developing countries.

These recommendations are also valid for many other countries with similar challenges to Pakistan.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support received from Centre for Climate Research and Development (CCRD), COMSATS University Islamabad, for providing resources and funding the under COMSATS Research Grant Program No. 16-59/CRGP//CIIT/ISB/17/1092.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, T.A., M.Z.-K. and M.S.; methodology, T.A.; investigation, T.A., M.Z.-K. and M.S.; writing—original draft preparation, T.A; writing—review and editing, M.Z.-K. and M.S.; visualization, T.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Gratefully acknowledge the support received from COMSATS University Islamabad under the grant No. 16-59/CRGP//CIIT/ISB/17/1092.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Sources, risks, and remediation technologies of pollutants in aquatic environments.

1. Introduction

2. overview of this special issue, 3. conclusions, author contributions, conflicts of interest, list of contributions.

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Liu, J.; Feng, W.; Yang, F. Sources, Risks, and Remediation Technologies of Pollutants in Aquatic Environments. Water 2024 , 16 , 1532. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16111532

Liu J, Feng W, Yang F. Sources, Risks, and Remediation Technologies of Pollutants in Aquatic Environments. Water . 2024; 16(11):1532. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16111532

Liu, Jing, Weiying Feng, and Fang Yang. 2024. "Sources, Risks, and Remediation Technologies of Pollutants in Aquatic Environments" Water 16, no. 11: 1532. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16111532

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• Published: 31 July 2019

Reassessing the projections of the World Water Development Report

• Alberto Boretti   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3374-0238 1 , 2 &
• Lorenzo Rosa   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9210-5680 3 , 4  

npj Clean Water volume  2 , Article number:  15 ( 2019 ) Cite this article

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The 2018 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report stated that nearly 6 billion peoples will suffer from clean water scarcity by 2050. This is the result of increasing demand for water, reduction of water resources, and increasing pollution of water, driven by dramatic population and economic growth. It is suggested that this number may be an underestimation, and scarcity of clean water by 2050 may be worse as the effects of the three drivers of water scarcity, as well as of unequal growth, accessibility and needs, are underrated. While the report promotes the spontaneous adoption of nature-based-solutions within an unconstrained population and economic expansion, there is an urgent need to regulate demography and economy, while enforcing clear rules to limit pollution, preserve aquifers and save water, equally applying everywhere. The aim of this paper is to highlight the inter-linkage in between population and economic growth and water demand, resources and pollution, that ultimately drive water scarcity, and the relevance of these aspects in local, rather than global, perspective, with a view to stimulating debate.

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Introduction.

The 2018 edition of the United Nations (UN) World Water Development Report (WWDR) 1 has provided an update on the present trends of clean water availability and future expectations. Water security, the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of water of acceptable quality, is already at risk for many, and the situation will become worse in the next few decades. 2 Clean water scarcity is a major issue in today’s’ world of 7.7 billion people. The strain on the water system will grow by 2050 when the world population will reach between 9.4 and 10.2 billion, a 22 to 34% increase. The strain will be aggravated by unequal population growth in different areas unrelated to local resources. Most of this population growth is expected in developing countries, first in Africa, and then in Asia, where scarcity of clean water is already a major issue.

At present, slightly less than one half of the global population, 3.6 billion people or 47%, live in areas that suffer water scarcity at least 1 month each year. 1 According to, 3 the number is even larger, 4.0 billion people, or 52% of the global population. By 2050, more than half of the global population (57%) will live in areas that suffer water scarcity at least one month each year. 1 This estimate by 1 may be an underestimation. The water demand, water resources, and water quality forecast by 1 depends on many geopolitical factors that are difficult to predict. The decline of water resources and water quality only partially discussed in, 1 may be much harder to control.

The WWDR 1 focuses on the application of nature-based-solutions (NBS), measures inspired by nature such as the adoption of dry toilets, which will have a negligible effect on the huge problem. More concrete regulatory measures are needed to tackle the clean water crisis, directly acting on water use and conservation. There are major obstacles to providing adequate water planning. First is the refusal to admit that unbounded growth is unsustainable. 4 Overpopulation arguments are portrayed as “anti-poor”, “anti-developing country” and “anti-human”. 4 Population size as a fundamental driver of scarcity is dubbed as a “faulty notion”. 5 This denial is partly responsible for lack of good water planning, supported by overconfidence in NBS. The key points of the WWDR 1 are summarized and discussed in the following sections.

Water demand by 2050

Increasing water demand follows population growth, economic development and changing consumption patterns. 1 Global water demand has increased by 600% over the past 100 years. 5 This corresponds to an annual increment rate of 1.8%. According to, 6 the present annual growth rate is less, only 1%, but this figure may be optimistic. Global water demand will grow significantly over the next two decades in all the three components, industry, domestic and agriculture. 1 Industrial and domestic demand will grow faster than agricultural demand but demand for agriculture will remain the largest. 1 The growth in non-agricultural demand will exceed the growth in agricultural demand. 7

Global water demand for all uses, presently about 4,600 km 3 per year, will increase by 20% to 30% by 2050, up to 5,500 to 6,000 km 3 per year. 2 Global water demand for agriculture will increase by 60% by 2025. 8 By 2050 the global population will increase to between 9.4 to 10.2 billion people, an increment of 22% to 32%. 1 Most of the population growth will occur in Africa, +1.3 billion, or +108% of the present value, and Asia, +0.75 billion, or +18% of the present value. 9 Two-thirds of the world population will live in cities. 1 These estimates of future population and water demand are the best we have, though it is realized such forecasts are difficult. 5

Globally, water use for agriculture presently accounts for 70% of the total. Most are used for irrigation. Global estimates and projections are uncertain. 1 The food demand by 2050 will increase by 60%, 1 and this increment will require more arable land and intensification of production. This will translate into increased use of water. 10 Global use of water for industry presently accounts for 20% of the total. Energy production accounts for 75% of the industry total and manufacturing the remaining 25%. 11 Water demand for the industry by 2050 will increase everywhere around the world, with the possible exceptions of North America and Western Europe. 5 Water demand for the industry will increase by 800% in Africa, where present industry use is negligible. Water demand for the industry will increase by 250% in Asia. Global water demand for manufacturing will increase by 400%.

Global water use for energy will increase 20% over the period 2010–2035, 5 and by 2050 will increase by 85%. 12 Domestic global water use currently accounts for 10% of the total. Domestic water demand is expected to increase significantly over the period 2010–2050 in all the world regions except for Western Europe. The greatest increment, 300%, will occur in Africa and Asia. The increase will be 200% in Central and South America. 5 This growth is attributed to the increase in water supply services to urban settlements. 5

Clearly, the demand for water by 2050 will increase dramatically, but unequally, across all the continents. Quantitative estimates are difficult to provide with accuracy. The estimates of the WWDR 1 are not expected to be very accurate, and likely optimistic.

Water resources by 2050

Water demand cannot exceed water availability. While water demand is increasing, water availability is shrinking, because of shrinking resources and, as discussed in the next paragraph, pollution. The available surface water resources are forecast to remain about constant at continental level, 5 although quality will deteriorate, and spatial and temporal distribution will change. More likely, aquifers will shrink, and salt intrusion in coastal areas will be very dramatic. In contrast, the growth of population, gross domestic product (GDP), and water demand will increase globally and unequally. 5 Changes will be much more pronounced at the sub-regional level than at the country level, and the global average. 5

Many countries are already experiencing water scarcity conditions. 13 Many more countries will face a reduced availability of surface water resources by 2050. 13 In the early to mid-2010s, 1.9 billion people, or 27% of the global population, lived in potential severely water-scarce areas. 1 In 2050, this number will increase 42 to 95%, or 2.7 to 3.2 billion peoples. 1 If monthly, rather than annual, variability is considered, 3.6 billion people worldwide, slightly less than 50% of the global population, presently live in potential water-scarce areas at least 1 month per year. This number will increase from 33 to 58% to 4.8 to 5.7 billion by 2050. 13 About 73% of the people affected by water scarcity presently live in Asia. 1

In the 2010s, groundwater use globally amounted to 800 km 3 per year. 5 India, the United States, China, Iran, and Pakistan accounted for 67% of the global extractions. 5 Water withdrawals for irrigation are the primary driver of groundwater depletion worldwide. The increment of groundwater extractions by 2050 will be 1,100 km 3 per year, or 39%. 5 Improving the efficiency of irrigation water use may lead to an overall intensification of water depletion at the basin level. 14 At about 4,600 km 3 per year, current global withdrawals are already near maximum sustainable levels. 15

More than 30% of the world largest groundwater systems are now in distress. 16 The largest groundwater basins are being rapidly depleted. In many places, there is no accurate knowledge about how much water remains in these basins 17 and. 18 People are consuming groundwater quickly without knowing when it will run out, 17 and. 18 According to, 19 the world’s supply of fresh water may be much more limited than what is thought because unlimited groundwater was assumed. Challenges more severe than global are expected at regional and local scales. 16

Coastal zones have special problems. They are more densely populated than the hinterland, and they exhibit higher population growth rates and urbanization. Water withdrawal is already causing significant land subsidence, that combined to thermo-steric sea level rise, translate in relative sea level rise in coastal areas and salinization of aquifers, 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 Water withdrawal-induced subsidence is reported in many coastal areas of the world, from North America, 24 , 25 , 26 to East Asia, 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 Population growth rates and urbanization in coastal areas are expected to further increase in the future, 32 , 33 Thermo-steric and land subsidence driven relative sea level rise will also reduce arable lands along the coast and within estuaries, 29 , 30 and reshape coastal regions. Especially coastal regions, which are home to a large and growing share of the global population, are undergoing an environmental decline 33 impacting water availability. The neglected dramatic changes of coastal areas, due to relative sea level rise by land subsidence and thermo-steric effects, that directly and indirectly affect water availability, are missing points in the WWDR. 1

Coral islands are a special case, however affecting a small share of the global population, as they depend on a lens of groundwater for their water supply. Overuse of water causes shrinkage of the groundwater lens, which eventually leads to saltwater intrusion. Increasing population also leads to more contamination of the groundwater, so many islands are suffering a reduction in water resources as well as increasing pollution.

Apart from the discovery of new aquifers, desalination is the most effective measure to increase water resources. However, it is expensive, and it requires significant energy inputs. Currently, about 1% of the world’s population living in coastal areas is dependent on desalination. The progress of desalination to 2050 is hard to predict, depending on economic and energetic energy issues.

The simple message is that water resources will decrease dramatically by 2050. Likely, the estimates of the WWDR 1 are not very accurate, and probably optimistic.

Water quality by 2050

The problem of water pollution is a weak part of the WWDR. 1 Pollution is becoming worse, especially in the last few decades, but seems to be inadequately reported. Pollution of water is correlated with population density and economic growth. 34 At present 12% of the world population drinks water from unimproved and unsafe sources. 34 More than 30% of the world population, or 2.4 billion people, lives without any form of sanitation. 34 Lack of sanitation contributes to water pollution. 90% of sewage in developing countries is discharged into the water untreated. 35 Every year 730 million tons of sewage and other effluents are discharged into the water. 36 Industry discharges 300 to 400 megatons of waste into the water every year.

Non-point source pollution from agriculture and urban areas and industry point source pollution contribute to the pollutant load. More than 30% of the global biodiversity has been lost because of the degradation of fresh-water ecosystems due to the pollution of water resources and aquatic ecosystems. 37 Wastewater recycling in agriculture, that is important for livelihoods also brings serious health risks. 1 Over the last 3 decades, water pollution has worsened, affecting almost every river in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 38

Water pollution will intensify over the next few decades 39 and become a serious threat to sustainable development. 39 At present 80% of industrial and municipal wastewaters are released untreated. 40 Effluents from wastewater are projected to increase because of rapid urbanization and the high cost of wastewater treatment. 41 Nutrient loading is the most dangerous water quality threat, often associated with pathogen loading. 38 Agriculture is the predominant source of nitrogen and a significant source of phosphorus. 38 Current levels of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from agriculture may already exceed the globally sustainable limits. 42 Global fertilizer use is projected to increase from around 90 million tons in 2000 43 to more than 150 million tons by 2050. 44 Intensified biofuel production will lead to high nitrogen fertilizer consumption. 43 Nitrogen and phosphorus effluents by 2050 will increase by 180 % and 150 % respectively. 45 Other chemicals also impact on water quality. Global chemicals used for agriculture currently amount to 2 million tons per year, with herbicides 47.5%, insecticides 29.5%, fungicides 17.5% and other chemicals 5.5%. 46

The list of contaminants of concern is increasing, 47 as a novel or varied contaminants are used, often suddenly detected at concentrations much higher than expected. 47 Novel contaminants include pharmaceuticals, hormones, industrial chemicals, personal care products, flame retardants, detergents, perfluorinated compounds, caffeine, fragrances, cyanotoxins, nanomaterials and cleaning agents. 47 Exposure to pollutants will increase dramatically in low-income and lower-middle income countries. 38 Pollution will be driven by higher population and economic growth in these countries, 38 and the lack of wastewater treatment. 40 Pollution will be particularly strong in Africa. 38

In brief, the demand for water will increase by 2050 but the availability of water will be reduced. Water resources will reduce. Pollution will further reduce the amount of clean fresh water. This aspect is marginally factored in the WWDR. 1

Other ecological changes by 2050

Changes in the ecosystems will be affected by changes in the water demand and availability and vice versa. Conservation or restoration of the ecosystems will impact on water availability for human consumption, both resources, and quality. 1 About 30% of the global land area is forested, and 65% of this area is already in a degraded state. 48 Grasslands and areas with trees, but dominated by grass, presently exceed the area of forests. Large areas of forests and wetlands have been converted into grasslands, for livestock grazing or production of crops. Wetlands only cover 2.6% of the land but play a significant role in hydrology. 49

The loss of natural wetland area has been 87% since 1700. The rate of wetland loss has been 370% faster during the 20 th and early 21st centuries. 49 Since 1900 there has been a loss of 64% to 71% of wetlands. 49 Losses have been larger, and are now faster, for inland, rather than coastal, wetlands. 49 The rate of loss is presently highest in Asia. The effects of sea level rise are underrated in. 49

Soils are also changing. Most of the world’s soils are in only fair, poor or very poor condition, 50 and the situation is expected to worsen in the future. 50 The major global issues are soil erosion, loss of soil organic carbon and nutrient imbalance. Presently, soil erosion from croplands carries away 25 to 40 billion tons of soil every year. Crop yields and soil’s ability to regulate water, carbon, and nutrients are reduced. 23 to 42 million tons of nitrogen and 15 to 26 million tons of phosphorus are presently transported off the land. Soil erosion and nutrient run-off have negative effects on water quality. 50 Sodicity and salinity of the soils are global issues in both irrigated and non-irrigated areas. Sodicity and salinity take out 0.3 to 1.5 million ha of farmland each year. 50 The production potential is also reduced by 20 to 46 million ha. 50

Ecosystems, biodiversity, and soil degradation are expected to continue to 2050, at an ever-faster rate. This will have an impact on the availability and quality of water, which is only partially considered in the WWDR. 1

The data presented in, 1 provide an optimistic, but still dramatic, estimation of water scarcity by 2050. Their gentle, nature-based-solutions (NBS) are quite inadequate to tackle this serious problem. Limitation of population and economic growth cannot be enforced easily. Ad hoc responses seem to be necessary but hard to be implemented.

Figure 1 presents in (a) the global water withdrawal, the GPD pro-capita and the world population since the year 1900, and in (b) the population of the world and of selected countries of Asia and Africa since the year 1950. The figure also presents in (c) the graphical concept of water scarcity, resulting from a more than linear growing demand, and a similarly more than linear reducing availability of clean water. It is intuitive that growing demand and shrinking availability will ultimately cross each other, locally earlier than globally.

a Water withdrawal, GDP pro-capita, and world population. The water withdrawal data to 2014 is from. 71 The GPD pro-capita data to 2016 is from. 73 The population data to 2018 is from. 72 b The population of the world and selected countries of Asia and Africa. The data to 2018 is from ref. 72 The values for 2050 are obtained by linear extrapolations from recent years. c Graphical concept of water scarcity, resulting from a more than linear growing demand and a similarly more than a linear reduction of clean water availability

Demand for water, same of food or energy, increases with the growth of population and gross domestic product (GDP) pro-capita. 51 In addition to the growth of population, also the generation of wealth worldwide translates in increased consumption, resulting in increased water demand. The expected changes in wealth are coupled to alterations in the consumption patterns, including changes to diet. As agriculture worldwide accounts for up to 70% of the total consumption of water, 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 with much higher levels in arid and semi-arid regions, food and water demands are on a collision path. One example of conflicting demands for water, food, and energy, within a context of regional population and economic growth, is the Mekong Delta. The morphology of the Mekong Delta as we know today developed in between 5.5 and 3.5 ka (thousand years before present). The relatively stable configuration experienced during the last 3.5 ka has been dramatically undermined during the last few decades. The delta itself may completely disappear in less than one century.

The increased demand for food, water, and energy of a growing population and a growing economy has translated in the extraction of larger quantities of groundwater in the delta, the construction of hydroelectric dams along the course of the river, the diverted water flow for increased upstream water uses, and the riverbed mining for sand. The reduced flow of water and sediments to the delta, 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 coupled to the subsidence from excessive groundwater withdrawal and soil compaction, 58 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 and the thermo-steric sea level rise, 66 , 68 , 74 have translated in the sinking and shrinking of the delta. In the short term, this has translated in salinization of coastal aquifers, depletion of aquifers, and arsenic pollution of deep groundwater, additional to salinization of soil, flooding, destruction of rice harvesting and depletion of wild fish stocks, impacting on water and food availability, 67 , 68 In the longer term, the delta itself may completely disappear as the result of not sustainable growth. 69 , 70

As previously mentioned, apart from the discovery of new aquifers, increased use of desalination and water purification may lessen the reduction of available water. However, desalination needs significant economic and energetic energy input, difficult to predict. The water withdrawal data is obtained from. 71 The population data is obtained from. 72 The GPD pro-capita data is obtained from. 73 The values by 2050 are obtained by linear extrapolations. The global water withdrawal is correlated to the world population, but it has been growing faster than the world population. The GPD pro-capita has been growing even faster than the world population. While we do not have any reliable data on water quality and resources vs. time, over the same time window, we expect that the water quality and resources have also been deteriorating more than proportionally to the economic and population growth.

Use of fertilizers has grown even faster than the global water withdrawal. 74 Production and consumption of nitrogen, phosphate and potash fertilizers since 1961 has similar growing patterns. 75 Global pesticide production is also growing continuously. 76 The key driver for pollution is the growth of the population and the economy. 41 The groundwater basins are being quickly exhausted by excessive withdrawals. Additionally, because of the relative sea level rise, thermo-steric and groundwater withdrawal generated subsidence, aquifers in coastal lands and estuaries are being rapidly compromised, while fertile lands are turned unproductive, 29 , 30 Similarly, to water demand, also water resources and water quality are thus linked to economic and demographic growths. Opposite to the population and GDP data, the data of fresh water usage, fresh-water resources, and pollution of fresh water, are more difficult to be sorted out with the accuracy needed, making every forecast to 2050 problematic.

Regarding the economy, it must be added that the IMF’s Global Debt Database 77 indicates that the debt has reached globally in 2017 an all-time high of $184 trillion, or 225% of the GDP. The world’s debt now exceeds $86,000 per capita, which is more than 250% of the average income per capita. The most indebted economies in the world are the richer ones, with the United States, China, and Japan accounting for more than half of the global debt, and the poorer countries on their way to becoming indebted.

The three key aspects of water scarcity, water demand, water resources, water pollution, are strongly related to population growth and economic growth. They are strongly interconnected, and dramatically variable in space and time, with local conditions that will be much worse than the global conditions. Many countries are experiencing population growth largely exceeding the already alarming global average. Linear extrapolations to 2050 are in some cases in excess, and in some cases in defect, of the values forecast in, 72 demonstrating complex dynamics. For example, the population forecast to 2050 for Uganda is 105,698,201, or +2,110% vs. the values of 1950. The linear extrapolation to 2050 is 89,313,923, or +1,783% vs. the values of 1950. Opposite, the population forecast to 2050 for the world is, optimistically, 9,771,822,753, or +385% vs. the values of 1950. The linear extrapolation to 2050 is 10,274,650,493, or +405% vs. the values of 1950. Global growths of 385 to 405% over 100 years are everything but sustainable. Even less sustainable are local growths that at the country level are exceeding 2,000% over 100 years. It is impossible to provide clean fresh water to support such growth rates.

As clean water demand is increasing, and clean water availability is reducing, with local situations much worse than global, clean water demand will eventually exceed the availability of clean water at some local levels much earlier than at the global level. These break-points may occur earlier than 2050 in many areas of the world. Considering when a vital resource is in short supply, people will fight for it, provision of water to 2050 will be very likely played against a social background of competition and probably conflict if nothing will be done to prevent a water crisis.

Conclusions

The paper has discussed the correlation between the exponential growth in global population and GDP and water scarcity, that is the result of the competing water demand, water resources, and water pollution. Population and economic growth to 2050 will be very likely strong, and unequal across the globe, with the largest growth rates expected in third world countries. Water demand to 2050 will grow even more than the population and the economy, same of the reduction of water quality and resources. Local patterns will be more critical than global patterns, making the problem more difficult to be solved.

Water is ultimately a finite resource and the marginal solutions for water scarcity currently being proposed in the United Nations (UN) World Water Development Report (WWDR) will prove hopelessly inadequate by 2050 in the absence of any serious effort to tackle these underlying truths. Improvements in the science and technology of water treatment, water management and clean water supply, and in the awareness of water conservation and savings, while developing nature-based-solutions (NBS), may certainly alleviate future clean water scarcity. However, a better policy is much more urgent than scientific, technological and philosophical advances, as this will not be enough. There is a clear regulatory promulgation and enforcement issue especially in the developing countries that needs to be addressed the sooner the better. We need the political will to enforce global regulations, especially where economies and population are building up, as unregulated development is not sustainable anymore.

There is no specific remedial measure to propose, if not to support more sustainable population and economic growths, with local rather than global focus, keeping in mind that growth cannot be infinite in a finite world. As the Economist Kenneth Boulding declared to the United States Congress 78 “Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist”. However, as noted in, 79 the pursuit of economic growth has been the prevalent policy goal across the world for the past 70 years. The aim of this paper is simply to highlight the connection between population and economic growth and water demand, resources and pollution, that ultimately drive water scarcity, and the relevance of these aspects in local, more than global perspective, to stimulate an urgent and comprehensive debate.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Analysis of water pollution using different physicochemical parameters: a study of yamuna river.

• 1 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Delhi- NCR Campus, Ghaziabad, India
• 2 Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology University, Gunupur, India
• 3 School of Computer Engineering, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Deemed to Be University, Bhubaneswar, India
• 4 Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Lulea University of Technology, Lulea, Sweden
• 5 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Krishna Institute of Engineering and Technology, Group of Institutions, Ghaziabad, India
• 6 Department of Computer Science, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, NCR Campus, Ghaziabad, India
• 7 Department of Applied Sciences and Humanities, Teerthankar Mahaveer University, Moradabad, India
• 8 Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam
• 9 Geotechnical Engineering and Artificial Intelligence Research Group (GEOAI), University of Transport Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam

The Yamuna river has become one of the most polluted rivers in India as well as in the world because of the high-density population growth and speedy industrialization. The Yamuna river is severely polluted and needs urgent revival. The Yamuna river in Dehradun is polluted due to exceptional tourist activity, poor sewage facilities, and insufficient wastewater management amenities. The measurement of the quality can be done by water quality assessment. In this study, the water quality index has been calculated for the Yamuna river at Dehradun using monthly measurements of 12 physicochemical parameters. Trend forecasting for river water pollution has been performed using different parameters for the years 2020–2024 at Dehradun. The study shows that the values of four parameters namely, Temperature, Total Coliform, TDS, and Hardness are increasing yearly, whereas the values of pH and DO are not rising heavily. The considered physicochemical parameters for the study are TDS, Chlorides, Alkalinity, DO, Temperature, COD, BOD, pH, Magnesium, Hardness, Total Coliform, and Calcium. As per the results and trend analysis, the value of total coliform, temperature, and hardness are rising year by year, which is a matter of concern. The values of the considered physicochemical parameters have been monitored using various monitoring stations installed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India.

Introduction

Due to historical, geographical, religious, political, and sociocultural reasons, India has a unique place in the world Agarwal et al., 2016 . Pollution-causing activities have caused severe changes in aquatic environments over the last few decades. Serious questions have been raised in context to the safe use of river water for drinking and other purposes in recent times. Numerous contaminants are playing a major role in polluting the river water. It is one of the main concerns for most of the metropolitan cities of developing nations. Rivers play a vital role in shaping up the natural, cultural, and economic aspects of any country ( Rafiq, 2016 ). The Yamuna river is one such river. The Yamuna river provides sustenance to ecology and is therefore considered holy by the people of India. It derives from the glacier called Yamunotri in the Himalayan ranges. States through which the Yamuna river flows are the Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi. The Yamuna river is also divided into several tributaries such as the Hindon, Tons, Giri, Rishiganga, Hanuman Ganga, Sasur Khaderi, Chambal, Betwa, Ken, Sindh, and Baghain as it is flowing through several cities. These cities are the Yamuna Nagar, Delhi, Faridabad, Mathura, Agra, Etawah, and Prayagraj. It is a tributary of the river Ganges in India. Two of them together have had substantial importance in shaping up the history and geography of our country. The river on which our research primarily focuses is the Yamuna river. It passes through several states such as Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Delhi. It has a length of approximately 1,380 km. More than 600 lakh people are dependent on their living and income on this river ( Census Reports of India 2001 , 1971–1991 ). Such is the greatness of this river. Our research is based on the Yamuna river in Dehradun in Uttarakhand.

The process, in which the people from rustic areas shift to the town areas in search of a brighter future, thus resulting in a drastic increment in the population of people living in cities, is called urbanization. As a result, the number of cities and towns increases exponentially. There is an atrocious amount of stress on the weakening natural resources. As it is, the natural resources are facing major deterioration issues considering the unthoughtful plundering by the people. In the last few decades, the rate of spread in various segments of the world has been unprecedented and unimaginable. The proportion of the rate of infrastructure expansion has not been able to match up to the pace of urbanization in most cities. The amplified requirement of water, deficiency of sewage facilities, and scarce wastewater treatment facilities rigorously affect the water resources, and change the environment and ecology. Agricultural lands, rural unpaved areas, and natural wetlands are converted into paved and impervious urban areas, during urbanization. Augmented impervious land surface in urbanized areas leads to severe and radical changes in the natural order of things ( Ahmad et al., 2017 ). There has been a drastic decline in the Yamuna river water quality since the last few years. The water is highly polluted, and it is a joint responsibility of the government and all the citizens to make sure that the Yamuna river is clean again. The primary step toward understanding and deliberating about the sorts of water pollution and developing effective reduction strategies is monitoring ( Marale, 2012 ). Physical, chemical, and biological compositions determine the quality of water ( Allee and Johnson, 1999 ). The substances such as heavy metals, pesticides, detergents, and petroleum form the chemical composition ( Tiwari et al., 2020 ). Turbidity, color, and temperature comprise the physical composition, whereas the biological arrangement includes pigments and planktons. Observation and analysis of these water quality parameters need sampling from extensively distributed locations, which is time consuming and requires a lot of field and lab efforts to come up with statistical results ( Wang et al., 2004 ; Icaga, 2007 ; Kazi et al., 2009 ; Amandeep, 2011 ; Duong, 2012 ; Singh et al., 2013 ; Nazeer and Nichol, 2015 ; Shi et al., 2018 ).

Conventionally, monitoring-based methods are used to find out the water quality parameters. They involve wide-ranging field sampling and expensive lab analysis, which is time inefficient and can only be accomplished for areas that are smaller ( Song et al., 2012 ). Hence, these restraints and drawbacks make the conventional methods challenging for continuous water quality prediction at spatial scales ( Panwar et al., 2015 ; Chabuk et al., 2017 ). For observing and analyzing water quality parameters, such as turbidity, chlorophyll, temperature, and suspended inorganic materials, techniques, such as optical remote sensing, are being used ( Pattiaratchi et al., 1994 ; Fraser, 1998 ; Kondratyev et al., 1998 ). To calculate the measure of solar irradiance at varied wavelength bands reflected by the surface water, remote sensing satellite sensors are used ( Zhang et al., 2003 ; Dwivedi and Pathak, 2007 ; Girgin et al., 2010 ; Ronghang et al., 2019 ). Amplified demand for water, poor sewage facility, and insufficient wastewater management amenities, relentlessly affect the resources of water resources. Models such as hydrological models have been used to evaluate the effect of numerous factors in rain-related procedures of the cosmopolitan areas ( Trombadore et al., 2020 ). Knowledge and information about interconnections between climate, population, and ecology are essential for understanding and promoting sustainable development ( Sharma et al., 2020 ). It also requires better knowledge of equipment and methodical planning. Proper management will reduce the degradation of rivers ( Shukla et al., 2018 ). In this study, we focus on trying to find out contaminants in the river, finding the water pollution index, and subsequently enforcing measures to curb water pollution.

Contribution of the Study:

1. In the present study, water samples were collected every year from the Yamuna river canal in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.

2. The samples have been analyzed for 12 different physicochemical attributes like ph, BOD, COD, Total Coliform, Temp, DO, Alkalinity, Chlorides, Calcium, Magnesium, and Hardness as Calcium Carbonate and TDS.

3. The measurement of the water quality index has been taken into consideration for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019.

4. Forecasting the pollution trend for the Yamuna river water from 2016 to 2024.

Materials and Methods

Mathematical model.

In this research paper, the water sample of the Yamuna river is considered for analysis. The 12 physicochemical parameters in the water are studied and analyzed. The water sample of the Holy River called the Yamuna river is considered for a certain period. The ratio of water components mainly Temperature, Total Coliform, TDS, and Hardness are varied irregularly at various locations of India. Due to the abrupt changes in the water component, the water quality is also changed. In this research paper, a sampling distribution-based analytical model called Equipoise Evaluator (EE) is proposed for the discrete parameter value of the water components. The EE model is suitable to analyze random discrete parameters. The EE model can be applied for any kind of sample analysis where the analysis is based on sample molecules. To analyze the discrete sample in the form of the symmetric normal distribution for a particular location, the EE model is applied. In this research paper, the water sample varies based on the molecules of e water components. This EE model is also applicable for the analysis of metallurgy to detect the impurity of the metal. In this research paper, the EE model is deployed for the water sample of the Yamuna river.

Sampling distribution is proposed to transform the variable at different levels.

As per the linear transformation

Now, by applying the Jacobian transformation on a non-singular matrix M,

From Equation (2), the relational equation for all connected differential elements is defined as Equation (3)

As M is considered as an orthogonal matrix, hence Z = MW, which transformed into a quadratic form of preserving from the standard value.

To determine the dissimilarity distance from a standard sample value, the partitioning matrix is deployed.

Assume that matrix M is partitioned into qth numbers, then M i M j ′ = 0    ∀ i ≠ j .

As per the partitioning matrix, all q sub-matrices are orthogonal to each other except orthogonal themselves. Now, Equation (1) is rewritten as

where, M 1 ,…., M q are an exclusive subset of the tested variables.

Applying transformation in Equation (7)

where, B i = ( M i M i ′ ) - 1     a n d   η i = M i μ

Equation (8) determines the transformation of each partition into quadratic form with exclusive subsets of tested parameters. In this analysis, M is considered as fully orthogonal, with each row orthogonal to every other row. The result of transforming all the variables to test bed data variables of D is then,

It is considered that the water molecules of the sample water have symmetric normally distributed for a particular location. The mean of the water molecules is z ¯ = 1 q ∑ i = 1 q w i .

As per orthogonal transformation

where u 1 = q z ̄ and σ = u 1 2 + u 2 2 + . . . . + u q 2 .

u 1 and σ are independently distributed. The sample mean and sample variance of the experimented sample water are independently distributed.

Water Quality Index and Trend Analysis

The primary focus of this study is to measure and analyze the drastic changes in the Yamuna river water quality at Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Standardized and the universally accepted water quality index (WQI) has been adopted to measure the variation in water quality of the Yamuna river at the prime location of the study—Dehradun over 3 years. The standard method has been used to examine and evaluate the water quality for 12 Physicochemical parameters (TDS, Chlorides, Alkalinity, DO, Temperature, COD, BOD, pH, Magnesium, Hardness, Total Coliform, and Calcium). In this study, the water quality index has been calculated using the different Physicochemical parameters documented and verified from the monitored locations. The water quality index (WQI) is stated by

where Ii signifies the ith water quality parameters, the weight associated and related to the parameters is denoted by Wi, and p notifies us about the number of water quality parameters. This WQI is based on the index introduced by the NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) ( Bhutiani et al., 2016 ). This index is established by the Central Pollution Control board with different advancements in terms of water quality criteria. The Water quality index is supported and developed by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) ( Brown et al., 1970 ). It is also known as NSF-WQI. This water quality index is denoted as

where P denotes the ith parameter measured values, quality rating is denoted by q i , and the relative weight of the ith parameters is denoted by w i .

The water quality index arithmetic index was presented ( Cude, 2001 ). It is a very popular and standard method used by many investors and researchers in their studies ( Ramakrishniah et al., 2009 ; Ahmad et al., 2012 ).

In this study, the quality rating can be calculated using the following equation:

where q i signifies the ith parameter quality rating for n water quality parameters, water.

The quality parameters' actual and definite value is denoted by V actual , the parameters ideal value is symbolized by V ideal , and the standard value of the parameters, which is suggested by the WHO, is denoted by V standard . The ideal values for DO and pH are 14.6 and 7 mg/L, whereas for the other parameters, it is equal to zero. After the calculation of quality rating, (relative weight), Wi has to be calculated by inversing the standard value of the parameter. Finally, the following equation was used to calculate the overall water quality index (WQI):

Here, signifying the relative weight and quality rating is symbolized by Wi and qi .

Trend Analysis

In this study, to forecast the pollution trend analysis, the linear regression model has been used. According to the linear regression model, the relationship between the two variables a and b can be expressed as:

Where x and y are the model parameters, which are known as regression coefficients, and B is the dependent variable. A is known as an independent variable, and € is the error variable. For making a prediction using a linear regression model is

The parameters x and y are calculated using the following equations:

Methodology

The flow chart for the methodology used is shown in Figure 1 . The water quality index is calculated using the weight arithmetic water quality index method, which has been discussed in the Water Quality Index and Trend Analysis section.

Figure 1 . Flow chart for the methodology used.

The value of the water quality index has been compared with the standard values of WQI, which is shown in Table 1 . The water quality rating is divided into five categories. The range from 0 to 25 is coming under (A) grading with excellent water quality, the range from 26 to 50 is for grading (B) with good water quality, and respectively, (C), (D), and (E) gradings are categorized for different WQI values ( Chauhan and Singh, 2010 ).

Table 1 . The standard values of water quality index (WQI) using weight arithmetic water quality index method.

Dataset Collection

The most populous city of Uttarakhand is Dehradun also spelled Dear Doon. It is the capital of Uttrakhand, which is one among the 28 states in India ( Figure 2 ). It is famous for its Doon Basmati Rice. Dehradun city has famous institutions like IMA (Indian Military Academy) regarded as one of the best officer training academies in India, Forest Research Institute, Indian Institute of Petroleum, and the famous ONGC training institute. This city is also famous among the tourists. It has many adventurous activities like rafting, bungee jumping, paragliding, etc. ( Rafiq, 2016 ). The city is located about 255 km from New Delhi and 168 km from Chandigarh. The climate condition of Dehradun is humid, subtropical, and a summer temperature can reach a maximum of 44°C. This city is also located very close to Nainital, which has the famous Jim Corbett National Park attracting many tourists ( Bhutiani et al., 2015 ).

Figure 2 . Map for considering location for Yamuna, Dehradun ( https://www.bcmtouring.com/forums/thread ).

The present study was undertaken for a period of 3 years from 2017 to 2019 to check the water quality analysis for the physicochemical attributes below. In the present study, water samples were collected on a yearly basis from the Yamuna river canal in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. The samples were analyzed for 12 different physicochemical attributes like ph, BOD, COD, Total Coliform, Temp, DO, Alkalinity, Chlorides, Calcium, Magnesium, and Hardness as Calcium Carbonate, and TDS ( Tyagi et al., 2020 ). The Yamuna river plays a very crucial role in Dehradun's geography. The Yamuna river is severely polluted and needs urgent revival. The river passes through Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand has always been a tourist spot and experiences heavy tourists perennially, and Dehradun, being the capital city, also bears the brunt. The Yamuna river in Dehradun is polluted due to the exceptional tourist activities. Dehradun is also famous for the Kumaoni Holi, Jhanda Fair, Tapkeshwar Mela, and Bissu Mela. A lot of waste materials are dumped into the Yamuna river, and they contaminate the river. Water might be untreated for long spans of time. Also, a lot of industries–primarily biotechnology and food processing, are set up in Dehradun; they also mindlessly dump their waste in the Yamuna river. Industrial waste is not fully responsible for the pollution, but some poor sewage systems and human activities are also responsible for it ( Bhutiani and Khanna, 2007 ).

Dehradun is a home to many agricultural and horticulture activities such as rice, litchi, and tea plantations. Agricultural waste also plays a major role in polluting the Yamuna river in Dehradun. The pollution is also increased by the excessive usage of insecticides and pesticides ( Tiwari et al., 2020 ). There are also people who wash their clothes, utensils, and defecate in or around the river, thus leading to pollution. The stretch of the Yamuna river in Dehradun thus has a lot of coliform bacteria. Government projects such as road construction might also be responsible for dumping waste, although rules have been drastically upgraded in the last two decades or so. Some cattle washing activities and religious activities also polluted the Yamuna river ( Bhutiani et al., 2018 ).

Results and Discussion

The study aims to examine the alteration in the quality of water of the Yamuna river at Dehradun in the year 2017. Water quality index (WQI) is going to be used in the study so that the changes and variations in the quality of water of the Yamuna river can be measured. The conventional method by which inspection can be done for the water quality has 12 physicochemical parameters (TDS, Chlorides, Alkalinity, DO, Temperature, COD, BOD, pH, Magnesium, Hardness, Total Coliform, and Calcium). These parameters will be measured carefully, and their respective value will be found. So, the standard value and observed value will be compared with each other, and the variation is going to be measured between them. By this variation, identification of the quality of water can be done.

Measurement of Physicochemical Parameters at Dehradun for 2017

Water samples have been taken at different months for the year 2017 ( Table 2 ). The mean and standard deviation for the measured values have been also calculated. The mean is the number found by summing every data point and dividing by the number of data points. It is also called average. The standard deviation is defined as the number that is going to tell about the measurements for a group that is spread out from the mean or expected value. A low standard deviation signifies that many numbers are very close to the mean ( Bisht et al., 2017 ). A high standard deviation signifies that the numbers are very much spread out. So, the accurate value for the quality of water can be found out easily using this.

Table 2 . Physicochemical parameters and water quality analysis at Dehradun for 2017.

The maximum value of pH is in the month of January when the water is a little more basic, and the minimum value is in July when it is less basic. The mean pH is 7.735, and the standard deviation is 0.086986589. The maximum value of the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is in January, which indicates more polluted water, and the minimum value is in the months of April, July, and October, which indicates less polluted water. The mean of BOD is 1.05, and the standard deviation is 0.1. The maximum value of COD is in January and October, which indicates a large quantity of oxidizable organic materials in the sample, and the minimum value is in April and July which indicates a lesser quantity of oxidizable organic materials in the sample. The mean COD is 5 and the standard deviation is 1.154700538.

The maximum value of Total Coliform is in July, which indicates that the water-borne illness is increased, and the minimum value is in October which indicates that the water-borne illness is decreased. The mean of Total Coliform is 65, and the standard deviation is 17.32050808. The maximum value of Temp is in July, which indicates increased chemical reactions generally, and the minimum value is in January, which indicates decreased chemical reactions. The mean of Temp is 17.75, and the standard deviation is 2.62995564. The maximum value of DO is in October, and the minimum value is in January, April, and July. The mean of DO is 8.7, and the standard deviation is 0.2. The maximum value of Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 is in July, which indicates greater buffering capacity against pH changes, and the minimum value is in April, which indicates lesser buffering capacity against pH changes. The mean of Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 is 64, and the standard deviation is 5.887840578. The maximum value of Chlorides is in July, which indicates body-related diseases, and the minimum value is in April and October. The mean of Chlorides is 5.75, and the standard deviation is 0.9574271078. The maximum value of Calcium as CaCO 3 is in July, which has a positive effect on the body, and the minimum value is in April, which has a lesser positive effect on the body. The mean of CaCO 3 is 41, and the standard deviation is 4.760952286. The maximum value of Magnesium as CaCO 3 is in July, which has a positive effect on the body, and the minimum value is in January, which has a lesser positive effect on the body. The mean of Magnesium as CaCO 3 is 32.5, and the standard deviation is 2.516611478. The maximum value of Hardness as CaCO 3 is in July, which has a good effect on the body, and the minimum value is in April. The mean of Hardness as CaCO 3 is 73.5, and the standard deviation is 6.191391874. The maximum value of TDS is in July, which specifies more toxic minerals, and the minimum value is in April, which specifies less toxic minerals. The mean of TDS is 83.75, and the standard deviation is 14.7507062. Water quality index (WQI) was used for the evaluation of the variation in the water quality of the Yamuna river at Dehradun over 3 years. The standard and prescribed methods have been used to analyze the water quality for 12 physicochemical parameters (TDS, Chlorides, Alkalinity, DO, Temperature, COD, BOD, pH, Magnesium, Hardness, Total Coliform, and Calcium). Calculations have been performed using the standardized formula and mathematical models. Detailed calculations and methodology have been used to find the water quality index as accurately as possible. The WQI of the Yamuna river in Dehradun for the year 2017 was 42.87 ( Table 2 ). According to WHO, the WQI should be below 60 for its quality to be at least fair. Here, it can be easily concluded that the Yamuna river is polluted, but it is still revivable. Developmental and maintaining efforts can be adopted to make the Yamuna river clean again and improve the WQI drastically.

Total coliform is positively correlated with CaCO 3 , chlorides, and hardness of CaCO 3 .Temp is positively correlated with the magnesium of CaCO 3 and TDS and negatively correlated with pH, BOD, and COD. DO is positively correlated with COD and negatively correlated with chlorides. Alkalinity is positively correlated with chlorides, TDS, hardness, and the magnesium of CaCO 3 and negatively correlated with pH. Chlorides are positively correlated with calcium and hardness of CaCO 3 and negatively correlated with pH and DO. Magnesium (CaCO 3 ) is positively correlated with hardness and TDS, and negative with pH, BOD, and COD. Hardness (CaCO 3 ) is positive for TDS, Chlorides, Magnesium, and negative for pH. TDS is negative for pH and positive for all. The dendrogram and graphical representation for physicochemical parameters at Dehradun for 2017 are plotted between the months (January, April, July, and October) and the parameters [TDS, Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml), Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 , Hardness as CaCO 3 , Calcium as CaCO 3 , Magnesium as CaCO 3 , Temp, BOD, pH, DO, COD, and Chlorides] ( Figures 3 , 4 ).

Figure 3 . Dendrogram for physicochemical parameters at Dehradun for 2017.

Figure 4 . Graphical representation of physicochemical parameters at Dehradun for 2017.

Cluster 1 (blue) represents lightly polluted, and the parameters include TDS, Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml), Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 , and Hardness as CaCO 3 . Cluster 2 (red) represents moderately polluted, and the parameters include Calcium as CaCO 3 , Magnesium as CaCO 3 , Temp, BOD, pH, DO, COD, and Chlorides. Cluster 3 (black) represents heavily polluted and the parameters include Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml), Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 , Hardness as CaCO 3 , Calcium as CaCO 3 , Magnesium as CaCO 3 , and Temp.

Measurement of Physicochemical Parameters at Dehradun for 2018

Water samples have been taken in different months for the year 2018 ( Table 3 ). Mean and standard deviation for the measured values have been also calculated. The maximum value of pH is in October so the water is a little more basic, and the minimum value is in January, which means the water is less basic. The mean pH is 7.6325, and the standard deviation is 0.420585. The maximum value and minimum value of BOD are equal every month. The mean of BOD is 1, and the standard deviation is 0.

Table 3 . Physicochemical parameters and water quality analysis at Dehradun for 2018.

The maximum value of COD is in April indicating a large quantity of oxidizable organic material in the sample, and the minimum value is in January, July, and October indicating a lesser quantity of oxidizable organic materials in the sample. The mean of COD is 4.5, and the standard deviation is 1. The maximum value of Total Coliform is in July indicating the water-borne illness is increased, and the minimum value is in January, April, and October indicating the water-borne illness is decreased. The mean of Total Coliform is 50, and the standard deviation is 20. The maximum value of Temp is in July indicating increased chemical reactions generally, and the minimum value is in January indicating decreased chemical reactions. The mean of Temp is 18.25, and the standard deviation is 1.707825. The maximum value of DO is in April, and the minimum value is in January and July. The mean of DO is 8.85, and the standard deviation is 0.251661. The maximum value of Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 is in July indicating higher buffering capacity against pH changes, and the minimum value is in April indicating lower buffering capacity against pH changes. The mean of Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 is 64.5, and the standard deviation is 6.608076.

The maximum value of Chlorides is in January, July, and October indicating body-related diseases, and the minimum value is in April. The mean of Chlorides is 5.75, and the standard deviation is 0.5. The maximum value of Calcium as CaCO 3 is in July, which has a positive effect on the body, and the minimum value is in January, April, and October, which has a less positive effect on the body. The mean of CaCO 3 is 41.5, and the standard deviation is 3. The maximum value of Magnesium as CaCO 3 is in July, which has a positive effect on the body, and the minimum value is in April, which has a less positive effect on the body. The mean of Magnesium as CaCO 3 is 33, and the standard deviation is 2.581989. The maximum value of Hardness as CaCO 3 is in July, which has a good effect on the body, and the minimum value is in April. The mean of Hardness as CaCO 3 is 74.5, and the standard deviation is 5.259911. The maximum value of TDS is in July specifying the presence of toxic minerals, and the minimum value is in January specifying the presence of less toxic minerals. The mean of TDS is 87.5, and the standard deviation is 15.60983.

Water quality index (WQI) was used in the evaluation of the variation in water quality of the Yamuna river at Dehradun over 3 years. The standard and prescribed method has been used to analyze the water quality for the 12 physicochemical parameters (TDS, Chlorides, Alkalinity, DO, Temperature, COD, BOD, pH, Magnesium, Hardness, Total Coliform, and Calcium). Calculations have been performed using the standardized formula and mathematical models. Detailed calculations and methodology have been used to find the water quality index as accurately as possible. The WQI of the Yamuna river in Dehradun for the year 2018 was 40.47 ( Table 3 ). According to WHO, the WQI should be below 60 for its quality to be at least fair. Here, it can be easily concluded that the Yamuna river is polluted, but it is still revivable. Developmental and maintaining efforts can be adopted to make the Yamuna river clean again and improve the WQI severely. Moreover, it is a positive sign that the WQI of the Yamuna river has improved greatly for the year 2018 compared to the year 2017.

The dendrogram and graphical representation for the physicochemical parameters at Dehradun for 2018 are plotted between the months (January, April, July, and October) and also the parameters [TDS, Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml), Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 , Hardness as CaCO 3 , Calcium as CaCO 3 , Magnesium as CaCO 3 , Temp, BOD, pH, DO, COD, and Chlorides] ( Figures 5 , 6 ). Cluster 1 (blue) represents lightly polluted and the parameters include Temp, BOD, pH, DO, COD, and Chlorides.

Figure 5 . Dendrogram for physicochemical parameters at Dehradun for 2018.

Figure 6 . Graphical representation of physicochemical parameters at Dehradun for 2018.

Cluster 2 (red) represents moderately polluted, and the parameters include Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml), Calcium as CaCO 3 , Magnesium as CaCO 3 , TDS, Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 , Hardness as CaCO 3 . Cluster 3 (black) represents heavily polluted, and the parameters include BOD, pH, DO, COD, Chlorides, Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml), Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 , Hardness as CaCO 3 , Calcium as CaCO 3 , and Magnesium as CaCO 3 .

Measurement of Physicochemical Parameters at Dehradun for 2019

Water samples have been taken in different months for the year 2019 ( Table 4 ). The mean and standard deviation for the measured values have been also calculated. The mean is the number found by summing every data point and dividing by the number of data points. Standard deviation is defined as the number that is going to tell about the measurements for a group that is spread out from the mean or expected value. Comparing the values of this year with those of the previous years leads to the outcomes being observed.

Table 4 . Physicochemical parameters and water quality analysis at Dehradun for 2019.

The maximum value of pH is in the month of January when the, water is a little more basic and the minimum value is in the month of October when the water is less basic. The mean pH is 7.6225, and the standard deviation is 0.411208. The maximum value of BOD is in July when there is a large quantity of polluted water, and the minimum value is in January, April, and October when there is less quantity of polluted water. The mean of BOD is 1.05, and the standard deviation is 0.1. The maximum value of COD is in July and October indicating a greater amount of oxidizable organic materials in the sample, and the minimum value is in January and April indicating a lesser amount of oxidizable organic materials in the sample. The mean of COD is 5, and the standard deviation is 1.154701. The maximum value of Total Coliform is in April indicating that water-borne illness is increased, and the minimum value is in January indicating that water-borne illness is decreased. The mean of Total Coliform is 182.5, and the standard deviation is 93.22911. The maximum value of Temp is in October indicating increased chemical reactions generally, and the minimum value is in January indicating decreased chemical reactions. The mean of Temp is 18.5, and the standard deviation is 1.290994. The maximum value of DO is in April, and the minimum value is in July. The mean of DO is 8.9, and the standard deviation is 0.258199. The maximum value of Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 is in April indicating higher buffering capacity against pH changes, and the minimum value is in October indicating lower buffering capacity against pH changes. The mean of Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 is 68, and the standard deviation is 5.416026.

The maximum value of Chlorides is in October indicating body-related diseases, and the minimum value is in January, July, and April. The mean of Chlorides is 7.5, and the standard deviation is 3. The maximum value of Calcium as CaCO 3 is in October, which has a positive effect on the body, and the minimum value is in April, the month which has a less positive effect on the body. The mean of CaCO 3 is 49.5, and the standard deviation is 8.386497. The maximum value of Magnesium as CaCO 3 is in April, which has a positive effect on the body, and the minimum value is in October, which has a less positive effect on the body. The mean of Magnesium as CaCO 3 is 29, and the standard deviation is 7.745967. The maximum value of Hardness as CaCO 3 is in April and October, which has a good effect on the body, and the minimum value is in July. The mean of Hardness as CaCO 3 is 78.5, and the standard deviation is 1.914854. The maximum value of TDS is in July specifying the presence of toxic minerals, and the minimum value is in October specifying the presence of less toxic minerals. The mean of TDS is 99.25, and the standard deviation is 12.84199.

Water quality index (WQI) was used to evaluate the variation in water quality of the Yamuna river at Dehradun over 3 years. The standard and prescribed method has been used to analyze the water quality for 12 physiochemical parameters (TDS, Chlorides, Alkalinity, DO, Temperature, COD, BOD, pH, Magnesium, Hardness, Total Coliform, and Calcium). Calculations have been performed using the standardized formula and mathematical models. Detailed calculations and methodology have been used to find the water quality index as accurately as possible. The WQI of the Yamuna river in Dehradun for the year 2019 was 40.82 ( Table 4 ). According to WHO, the WQI should be below 60 for its quality to be at least fair. Here, it can be easily concluded that the Yamuna river is polluted, but it is still revivable. Developmental and maintaining efforts can be adopted to make the Yamuna river clean again and improve the WQI drastically. Moreover, it is a positive sign that the WQI of the Yamuna river has improved for year 2019 compared to the year 2017, whereas the WQI has increased again in 2019 compared to 2018. It can be documented that the Yamuna river was the cleanest in the year 2018, and its water quality in 2019 has improved in collation to the year 2017.

The correlation coefficients between the inspected parameters of the Yamuna river water at Dehradun in the year 2019 are shown in Table 5 . Ph is positive for TDS, alkalinity, and Magnesium (CaCO 3 ) and negative for COD, Temp, and Calcium (CaCO 3 ). BOD is positive for COD and TDS and negative for DO and hardness (CaCO 3 ). COD is positive for Temp, Chlorides, and Calcium and negative for DO, magnesium (CaCO 3 ), and alkalinity. Temp is positive for calcium (CaCO 3 ) and negative for alkalinity. DO is positive for Magnesium (CaCO 3 ). Alkalinity is positive for TDS and negative for Calcium, Magnesium, and hardness of CaCO 3 . The dendrogram and graphical representation for physicochemical parameters at Dehradun for 2017 are plotted between months (January, April, July, and October) and parameters (TDS, Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml), Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 , Hardness as CaCO 3 , Calcium as CaCO 3 , Magnesium as CaCO 3 , Temp, BOD, pH, DO, COD, and Chlorides) ( Figures 7 , 8 ).

Table 5 . Correlation table for physicochemical parameters at Dehradun for 2019.

Figure 7 . Dendrogram for physicochemical parameters at Dehradun for 2019.

Figure 8 . Graphical representation of physicochemical parameters at Dehradun for 2019.

Cluster 1 (blue) represents lightly polluted, and the parameters include BOD, pH, DO, COD, Chlorides, Temp, and Magnesium as CaCO 3 . Cluster 2 (red) represents moderately polluted, and the parameters include Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml), TDS, Calcium as CaCO 3 , Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 , and Hardness as CaCO 3 . Cluster 3 (black) represents heavily polluted, and the parameters include COD, Chlorides, Temp, Magnesium as CaCO 3 , Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml), and TDS.

In Table 6 , the variations in the 12 physicochemical parameter values for Yamuna water at Dehradun for 2017, 2018, and 2019 are shown.

Table 6 . Water quality index (WQI) for Yamuna river at Dehradun for 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Trend Forecasting

This section is briefing about the Yamuna river water pollution trend in the next 4 years. The study demonstrates the trend of six physicochemical parameters for the years 2020 to 2024. The considered parameters for calculating the trend forecasting are Temp, Total Coliform, TDS, Hardness, pH, and DO. The forecasting for the said parameters are shown in Figures 9 – 11 .

Figure 9 . Trend forecasting of TDS at Dehradun for the years from 2020 to 2024.

Figure 10 . Trend forecasting of total Coliform at Dehradun for the years from 2020 to 2024.

Figure 11 . Trend forecasting of hardness at Dehradun for the years from 2020 to 2024.

According to the trend analysis, the values of four parameters named Temperature, Total Coliform, TDS, and Hardness are increasing yearly, whereas the values of pH and DO are not rising year by year. The trend forecasting is verifying whether the exceptional tourist activity, poor sewage facility, and insufficient wastewater management amenities, is degrading the water of the Yamuna river at Dehradun year by year.

The dendrogram of the mean is plotted between years (2017, 2018, and 2019) and parameters [TDS, Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml), Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 , Hardness as CaCO 3 , Calcium as CaCO 3 , Magnesium as CaCO 3 , Temp, BOD, pH, DO, COD, and Chlorides] ( Figure 12 ). Cluster 1 (blue) represents lightly polluted, and the parameters include Total Coliform (MPN/100 ml), TDS, Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 , and Hardness as CaCO 3 . Cluster 2 (red) represents moderately polluted, and the parameters include Calcium as CaCO 3 and Magnesium as CaCO 3 . Cluster 3 (black) represents heavily polluted, and the parameters include TDS, Alkalinity/visual titration CaCO 3 , Hardness as CaCO 3 , Calcium as CaCO 3 , Magnesium as CaCO 3 , and Temp. Cluster 4 (green) represents equal parameters, and it includes Temp, BOD, pH, DO, COD, and Chlorides.

Figure 12 . Dendrogram for physicochemical parameter mean values for 2017, 2018, and 2019.

The variation in observed values, quality rating, and Wiqi can be analyzed using Tables 2 , 4 , 6 .

According to WHO, the WQI should be below 60 for its quality to be at least fair. If it is more than 60, then the quality of the water is surely poor. If the WQI is <30, then the water quality is good. The WQI of the Yamuna river in Dehradun for the year 2017 was 42.87. It can be easily said that the Yamuna river was quite polluted back then. Developmental and maintaining plans were implemented to make the Yamuna river clean again and improve the WQI drastically. The WQI of the Yamuna river in 2017 was the highest in collation to the subsequent years. This must have set the alarm bells ringing for the government and the citizens. The government has introduced many measures to curb water pollution and revive the Yamuna river as quickly as possible. It is a positive sign that the WQI of the Yamuna river has improved significantly for the years 2018 to 40.47. It was a marked difference in comparison to that of the year 2017. Joint efforts and collaboration by the government and the citizens ensured that the Yamuna river is much cleaner than before, although in 2019, the WQI rose by a small margin to 40.82. It is a sign of relief that it is still much better than the quality of the water in the year 2017. If the measures of the government and corporation by the citizens continue to go hand in hand, the results will be for everyone to see. Even regions in the west would emulate the policies adopted to revive the rivers. Policies included a big budget for the revival project, strict norms for the industries, and appropriate penalties for the defaulters. A common concern for the degrading water quality index of the Yamuna river resulted in some swift actions from the citizens as well as from those who became more aware and conscious. It can be easily and comfortably said that the Yamuna river would be much cleaner and in a much-improved condition by the year 2025.

A comparative analysis is shown in Table 7 . A comparison in description and limitations with previously published approaches are organized in this table.

Table 7 . Comparative analysis with previous work done.

Due to historical, geographical, religious, political, and sociocultural reasons, India has a unique place in the world. Pollution-causing activities have caused severe changes in aquatic environments over the last few decades. This paper aims to calculate the water quality index of the Yamuna river in Uttarakhand using 12 physicochemical parameters for a while for 3 years from 2017 to 2019. The values of the considered physicochemical parameters have been monitored using the various examining stations installed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India. According to WHO, the WQI should be below 60 for its quality to be at least fair. If it is more than 60, then the quality of the water is surely poor. If the WQI is <30, then the water quality is good. The WQI of the Yamuna river in Dehradun for the year 2017 was 42.87. It can be easily said that the Yamuna river was quite polluted back then. Developmental and maintaining plans were implemented to make the Yamuna river clean again and improve the WQI drastically. The WQI of the Yamuna river in 2017 was the highest in collation to the subsequent years. This must have set the alarm bells ringing for the government and the citizens.

According to the trend analysis, the values of four parameters named Temperature, Total Coliform, TDS, and Hardness are increasing yearly, whereas the values of pH and DO are not rising year by year. The trend forecasting verifies whether the exceptional tourist activity, poor sewage facilities, and insufficient wastewater management amenities is degrading the water of the Yamuna river at Dehradun year by year. It is a positive sign that the WQI of the Yamuna river has improved significantly for the years 2018 to 40.47. It was a marked difference in comparison to the year 2017. Joint efforts and collaboration by the government and the citizens ensured that the Yamuna river is much cleaner than before, although in 2019, the WQI raised by a small margin to 40.82. It is a sign of relief that it is still much better than the quality of the water in the year 2017. If the measures of the government and corporation by the citizens continue to go hand in hand, the results will be for everyone to see. Even regions in the west would emulate the policies adopted to revive the rivers. A common concern for the degrading water quality index of the Yamuna river resulted in some swift actions from the citizens as well as those who became more aware and conscious.

Data Availability Statement

The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found in the article/supplementary material.

Author Contributions

Data curation was done by RS and RK. Formal analysis was made by RS, RK, and SS. The investigation was done by RS, RK, and KS. The methodology was done by RS, NA-A, and RM. Project administration was performed by HL and AA. BP was in charge of the resources and software. BP and NA-A supervised the study. Visualization was done by BP and NA-A. RS, AA, RM, and BP wrote the original draft. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords: water quality index, Yamuna river, physico-chemical parameters, water pollution, Dehradun city

Citation: Sharma R, Kumar R, Satapathy SC, Al-Ansari N, Singh KK, Mahapatra RP, Agarwal AK, Le HV and Pham BT (2020) Analysis of Water Pollution Using Different Physicochemical Parameters: A Study of Yamuna River. Front. Environ. Sci. 8:581591. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2020.581591

Received: 09 July 2020; Accepted: 11 November 2020; Published: 11 December 2020.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2020 Sharma, Kumar, Satapathy, Al-Ansari, Singh, Mahapatra, Agarwal, Le and Pham. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Nadhir Al-Ansari, nadhir.alansari@ltu.se ; Hiep Van Le, levanhiep2@duytan.edu.vn ; Binh Thai Pham, binhpt@utt.edu.vn

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Water environment and recent advances in pollution control technologies

• Published: 16 November 2021
• Volume 29 , pages 12462–12464, ( 2022 )

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• Chih-Huang Weng 1  

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Initiation of this special issue

This special issue (SI) of Environmental Science and Pollution Research (ESPR) entitled “Water Environment and Recent Advances in Pollution Control Technologies” collected the best papers that were formally presented at “The 6 th International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2020)” from August 23rd to 26th, 2020. The WRE2020 conference was a great success with 137 participants from 27 countries; three keynote speeches delivered by Prof. Jun Xia, Prof. Zhongbo Yu, and Prof. Chih-Huang Weng; 53 oral presentation papers; and 9 poster presentation papers. The conference themes covered various aspects of water environment, environmental science, and pollution control technologies, including, but not limited to, water resources, water quality, pollution control, groundwater issues, water and wastewater treatment technologies, wetland system, climate changes adaptation and mitigation strategies, ecological environments, waste utilization, and flood risk management and impact assessment.

The WRE conference aims to provide a forum for scientific professionals and specialists to exchange the up-to-date knowledge relating to water resources and environmental issues, specifically focusing on understanding the issue of indispensable water resources in achieving a sustainable manner and targeting advanced vital technologies to protect the fragile water environments under the growing concern of intensive water usage that we are facing today (Weng 2020 ). Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the WRE 2020 stopped being held in Tokyo as initially scheduled and transitioned online via virtual presentations. The WRE conference debuted in 2015 when the first WRE was launched in Beijing with more than one hundred participants. As an annually held conference, this conference has been successfully held in Shanghai, Qingdao, Kaohsiung, and Macau in the past years. The upcoming 7th WRE conference is prescheduled held in Xi’an, China, from November 1st to 4th, 2021; however, because of the continued influence of the current pandemic worldwide, WRE2021 will be launched in online mode via Microsoft Teams ( http://www.wreconf.org ).

The present SI of ESPR was guest-edited by Professor Chih-Huang Weng from I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The papers were selected based on a rigorous process of unbiased peer-review by at least two reviewers. The present issue contains a detailed review article on persistent organic pollutants removal and articles relating to water quality, water treatment technologies, pollution control, waste utilization, and ecosystem protection.

Key findings of selected papers

A brief statement of the importance and the key findings of the papers included in this SI are outlined as follows:

Membrane technology in conjunction with photocatalysis has been proven to have synergistic effects in combating wastewater containing various emerging organic pollutants. The immense potential of employing a hybrid photocatalytic membrane in treating persistent organic pollutants (POP) is because it can overcome the limitation of both membrane and photocatalysis technology encountered as applied individuals while keeping satisfactory removal efficiency. An excellent review highlighted the recent development of POP removal by photocatalytic membranes was performed by Subramaniam et al. ( 2021 ). They provided an in-depth review of both the role of photocatalysis and membrane in treating POP using a hybrid photocatalytic membrane. The fundamental of photocatalytic mechanism, the design of photocatalyst, and POP that can be treated by photocatalysis were included in this review. They also discussed the development of different configurations of fabrication and performance evaluation of photocatalytic membranes technology. By separating and destroying various types of POPs simultaneously, the hybrid photocatalytic membranes have significant potential in treating real wastewater at an industrial scale. Thus, they pointed out the challenges and future research direction in the field of hybrid photocatalytic membranes.

Combustion of liquid fuel (gasoline and diesel) containing organosulfur compounds (OSCs) could release noxious sulfur oxides and result in detrimental effects to public health. Feliciano et al. ( 2021 ) demonstrated that organo-sulfur compounds could be recovered from saturated neutral activated alumina via eluents, including acetone, ethanol, and the mixture of acetone and ethanol. Based on the thermodynamics and kinetics studies, Feliciano et al. concluded that acetone is more favorable for OSC desorption. The recovery efficiency is higher than that of ethanol due mainly to higher molar polarization and dipole moment. However, the recovery yield of OSCs did not improve significantly by the mixture of acetone and alcohol. They also indicated that the spent neutral activated alumina is reusable and remains effective in adsorption sulfur, with a regeneration efficiency of 93% attained after the 2nd cycle.

Houjing River, a well-known river located in northern Kaohsiung, Taiwan, flows through four major heavily industrialized zones, i.e., Dashe Industrial Park, Renwu Industrial Pard, Kaohsiung Oil Refinery, and Nanzih Processing Zone. These parks house highly polluted processing manufactories, such as chemical processing, metal surface processing, oil refinery, semiconductor packaging, and plastics. In the past, several pollution incidences of Houjing River have dragged public attention and have raised concerns. To develop comprehensive and sound policies for sustainable management of this river, Yeh et al. ( 2021 ) showed the spatial and temporal trend of water quality and heavy metals of Houjing River based on a five-year sampling investigation. Although the dissolved oxygen has improved recently, the electrical conductivity remains high, which is not permitted for irrigation. They found that the spatial trend of the total heavy metal mass flux is in conjunction with metal-related industries’ location and increased gradually from upstream to downstream.

Because of the extensive use of Ni-containing plumbing materials, the leaching of Ni into the drinking water distribution systems is expected to increase over time, posing a long-term exposure risk to users. In Taiwan, stainless-steel pipes are the primary plumbing material used in drinking water supplies. Adhikari et al. ( 2021 ) assessed the levels of Ni contamination in drinking water samples collected from dispensers of 58 elementary schools in Taichung, Taiwan. They indicated that drinking water is the potential source of Ni, and the extent of Ni contamination varied with the size and age of the school. The schools with student populations of over 500 with age over 50 years were more likely to exhibit Ni levels exceeding the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) standard value (20 μg/L). Moreover, summer and weekend samples showed a higher tendency to exceed the regulatory standard.

The fast-economic development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) in China resulted in an impact on the ecosystem and increased awareness of environmental problems. Research on studying the ecosystem service mechanism in YREB is needed. Based on a study of 5-years data of the development of the ecosystem environment in the YREB, Li et al. ( 2021 ) showed that the spatial distribution of the studied five ecological services in YREM was different, while the spatial changes of the ecological services did not alter much. By accounting for three constraints, i.e., land category, watershed, and landscape, in the analysis of YREB paired ecological services from 2015 to 2020, they indicated that the type of service constraints was diverse and could be affected by the climate, terrain, and gross domestic product. Also, the scale of water supply, soil retention, and net primary productivity in this region was governed by meteorological factors.

Waste utilization is one of the goals of the circular economy. Municipal incinerator bottom ash (MIBA) is the residue derived from incinerating municipal solid wastes, which is reusable and can be fitted in the circular economy scheme. The idea of MIBA utilization as construction materials can also be considered a win–win strategy because it alleviates the impact of landfill disposal and turns the MIBA into a valuable product. Although extensive works have been done on using MIBA as an additive for making ceramic products, the quality of tile products remains unstable. The critical point is that bending strength, water absorption, and linear shrinkage of such tile produced are very sensitive to the sintering temperature and the replacement level of MIBA. Lin et al. ( 2021 ) tested the MIBA samples from a municipal waste incineration plant, Taichung City, Taiwan, to evaluate the interactions between MIBA replacement level and various operative conditions in making ceramic floor tiles. Based on the results of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), Lin et al. revealed that less amount of Si in MIBA than clay leads to a decrease in bending strength. They concluded that up to 20% of MIBA in replacing kaolinite at kiln temperature 1050 °C or 1100 °C resulted in quality tiles that met with CNS (Chinese National Standard) standards of interior and exterior flooring applications.

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Acknowledgements

The Guest Editor (GE) appreciates all of the authors that contributed to this SI. GE believes that their scientific works will further improve the water environment and advance pollution control technologies. The numerous reviewers who provided extensive comments and strong criticisms raised on the manuscripts submitted to this SI are gratefully acknowledged. The GE would like to express sincere appreciation to the Editor-in-Chief of ESPR (Prof. Philippe Garrigues) and Editors (Prof. Angeles Blanco, Prof. Tito Roberto Cadaval Jr, and Prof. Xianliang Yi) for handling the heavy reviewing work. Special thanks go to the Editorial team (Ms. Florence Delavaud and Ms. Fanny Creusot) and the entire publishing team for the constant assistance during the reviewing process and the support of publishing this SI. In addition, GE would like to thank the support of co-organizers, Tokyo University of Agriculture and I-Shou University. The GE is also deeply indebted to the Organizing Committee members and the Technical Program Committee members of WRE2020, who provide their professional guidance and valuable advice in coordinating the conference. Last but not least, appreciation also goes to all the conference participants for contributing their latest findings and making the WRE2020 a successful event.

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Weng, CH. Water environment and recent advances in pollution control technologies. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29 , 12462–12464 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17392-8

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Published : 16 November 2021

Issue Date : February 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17392-8

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Water Pollution and its Sources, Effects & Management: A Case Study of Delhi

Shahid Ahmed and Saba Ismail (2018) 'Water Pollution and its Sources, Effects & Management: A Case Study of Delhi', International Journal of Current Advanced Research, 07(2), pp. 10436-10442

7 Pages Posted: 31 Mar 2018

Shahid Ahmed

Jamia Millia Islamia - Economics

Saba Ismail

Jamia Millia Islamia

Date Written: 2018

Water pollution is a national and global issue. Humans and all living species in the world are facing worst results of polluted water. The present study investigates the level of awareness about water pollution in Delhi, its causes, its health effects and solutions among the youth in Delhi. The paper has used primary data collected through a schedule from university/college students in Delhi. The study concludes that the majority of educated youth (94%) perceives water pollution as environmental challenge and 52% respondents ranked it (1-3) as most important threat. The study identified dumping of waste as one of the most important causes of water pollution; untreated sewage as the second most important cause of water pollution and industrial discharge as the third most important cause of water pollution. The study identified Typhoid, Diarrhoea, Dengue, Cholera, Jaundice, Malaria, Chikungunya, etc are associated with water pollution on the basis of survey. The study suggests awareness campaign involving citizens and strict enforcement of environmental laws by concerned agencies as the appropriate solution to control environment degradation. It is recommended that there should be proper waste disposal system and waste should be treated before entering in to river and water bodies.

Keywords: Environment Sustainability, Water Pollution, Health Effects

JEL Classification: Q50, Q53, I12

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Shahid Ahmed (Contact Author)

Jamia millia islamia - economics ( email ).

Jamia Nagar New Delhi, 110025 India

HOME PAGE: http://jmi.ac.in/economics/faculty-members/Prof_Shahid_Ahmed-1783

Jamia Millia Islamia ( email )

Jamia Nagar, New Delhi Delhi, 110025 India

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