PAGE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................... 2
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ 3
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 4
Definition of the study ......................................................................................... 5
Causes of water pollution ................................................................................... 5
Human-made (Anthropogenic) pollution.......................................................... 5
Natural causes of pollution .............................................................................. 6
Urbanization ....................................................................................................... 8
Impact of climate change ................................................................................... 9
Conclusion........................................................................................................ 10
Recommendations ........................................................................................... 11
REFERENCES ................................................................................................. 12

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank God in the first place for giving us the gift of life and granting us
blessings that we would not even be able to ask for in prayer. We would especially
like to thank our parents who helped us with moral and financial support,
encouraging us to keep going even in the most difficult times. We would like to
thank all the teacher of this Center, affectionately known as teacher Rui, who
welcomed us and accompanied us throughout this journey with great patience
and charisma. Our thanks go to teacher Domingos Cassinda, our tutor for the
time he gave and guide us and for the friendly and exclusive way in which he
treated us from the moment we met until the end of this journey.

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 ABSTRACT

Water quality and water resources make an impression on the social, economic
and political advancement of society. With the rapid growth of urbanization and
industrialization linked with economic and social needs, the pollution of water has
reached a level of no return. Water is defined as harmful for human and aquatic
lives when it is become contaminated by unexpected substances such as heavy
metals, agricultural and industrial chemicals, hydrocarbon fuels, radioactive
materials, sewage, pharmaceutical drugs, and biologic agents such as bacteria,
parasites, and viruses. We know that every living being needs water for their
survival. All living being intake water directly or indirectly from various water
resources. Intake of polluted water would be harmful for them. Transport of bio-
accumulative pollutants to food chain makes the situation more grievous. So, it is
the need of the hour to examine the magnitude and range of water pollution in
the water bodies,. In the present scenario we can’t prevent water to being polluted
totally but the scaling down of pollution is imperative.

Keywords: Ecological contaminants, Environment pollutions, Water

pollution, Water quality, Water resources.

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 INTRODUCTION

Clean and potable water is necessary for maintenance of life. Water is not only
an important environmental need for all forms of life, but it also plays a significant
role in socio-economic advancement of human population (Praveen et al. 2016).
Water is a basic part of every living being and it is required to fulfill various types
of needs in every stage of the lifecycle. Other than drinking, water is used for
cleaning, food processing, industrial operations, and agricultural work. Water has
always been one of the most essential entities for survival of living systems
almost since the evolution of life form. Studying water systems is very important
for improving water quality because it can have a big impact on living systems,
either directly or indirectly (Bhattacharya et al. 2018). Resources related to water
is very important for maintaining sufficient food source as well as a productive
environment for all the living organisms. The primary causes of water pollution
are atmospheric deposition, radioactive waste, leaks from water tanks, and the
discharge of effluent wastes. Industrial waste and heavy metal disposal can build
up in lakes and rivers, dangerous to the health of people and animals. The main
culprits behind immunological suppression, impaired reproduction, and acute
poisoning are toxic elements found in industrial waste. Infectious diseases like
cholera, typhoid fever (Juneja and Chaudhary 2013) and other diseases like
gastroenteritis, diarrhea, vomiting, problems related to skin, and kidney spreads
through polluted water (Khan and Ghouri 2011) affecting human health.

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 Definition of the study

To start with, (Hashmi 2019). Define As the deterioration in physical,

chemical and biological properties of water brought about mainly by human
activities and natural resources. P. Vivier, 1966) afirms, as a natural or induced
change in the quality of water which renders it unsuitable and toxic as regards
food, man, animal health, industry, agriculture, fishing or leisure pursuits. Water
is said to be polluted if it has not been of sufficiently high quality to be useful for
man in present or future.’ (National Water Commission, 1975) In the next
subsection, the parameters of the Causes of water pollution are presented and
discussed.

Causes of water pollution

The aim of this study is to describe the Causes of water pollution, Water
quality in the desert state of India Rajasthan is afflict by the coexisting presence
of both naturally occurring and man-made pollutants. Naturally occurring
hazardous minerals (Coyte et al. 2019) which are being summarized here.

Human-made (Anthropogenic) pollution

Human activities affect both water quality and quantity. It changes land use and
land cover, that leads to the water balance and usually changes the relative
importance of processes that control water quality (Coyte et al. 2019). Man-made
or anthropogenic water contaminants such as drain aside from home sewage and
agriculture, feces of animals, various pesticides, fertilizers of agriculture,
radioactive wastes, erosion of lands near by water bodies are fouling the existing
water resources. All these pollutants are harmful for both aquatic and human lives
(Coyte et al. 2019). For instance, in Rajasthan there are bunch of textile printing
units releasing waste that contains dyes leading to heavy metal contamination of
groundwater and surface waters (Husain et al. 2013). Jaipur, Pali and Bhilwara
Districts are the major hubs of textile printing units in Rajasthan.

Pollutants added to water resources through such anthropogenic activities

comprise organic material, trace elements (heavy metals), atmospheric acidic

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deposition and run off, salinization, nutrients like primarily nitrogen and
phosphorus, pathogenic agents including coliform like bacteria, viruses that infect
the intestines, protozoa, oil and grease, suspended sediment, synthetic organic
compounds, pesticides and herbicides of agriculture, radioactive residues and
thermal pollution. Each human activity that produces such contaminants has a
potential cascading and cyclical effect on water quality and quantity (Peters et al.
2006). Arsenic, cadmium, and chromium are among the prominent pollutants
discharged in wastewater from industrial units and dreadfully harmful pollutants
(Chen et al. 2019). Wastewater from human activities like from industries,
agriculture, and other practices, affects water quality. It impedes not only the use
of water for drinking purpose but also make it unfit for agriculture and other
utilization (Baluch and Hashmi 2019).

Natural causes of pollution

The natural contaminants are thought to be natural and have delayed health
effects, they can go unnoticed. Examples of these include uranium and fluoride,
which are found in aquifer rocks. The processes like evapotranspiration and
water-rock interactions that affects the quality of water resources in Rajasthan
are common in many other worldwide arid areas. Hence, the lessons learned
from analysis of the mechanisms that affect the surface water quality are same
in worldwide. The biodegraded part of both vegetation and animals gets mixed
with water and pollute it. Erosion of riverbanks causes siltation and that sometime
affects the aquatic lives. Many kinds of natural salts and other substances mix
with rainwater and finally fall in the rivers, ponds and other water bodies
(Chakraborty et al. 2013). Natural processes influence the surface water and
groundwater quality by various events and factors like climate changes, natural
disasters, geological formations, soil-matrix, and hyporheic exchange (Akhtar et
al. 2021).

According to the published reports natural causes of water contamination

able to categorized as into the following categories:

1. Climate change
2. Natural disaster
3. Geological factors
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 4. Soil matrix
5. Industrial waste

Climate change: Prevalent, fast, and intensifying climate change plays an

important role in determining the characteristics of water resources and so can
alter the quality of the available drinking water. According to Baiwen et al. (2022)
continuous emission of greenhouse gases influences the source water quality on
a mandatory basis, and little attention has been paid to the resulting impacts of
climate change on the related drinking water quality, particularly on quantitative
findings and the possibility counteractions. Lack of water and worst water quality
can also impact human health, especially in drought conditions (Baiwen et al.
2022).

Natural disaster: Water pollution is mostly caused by the enormous number of

wastes released by natural disasters like flooding, tsunamis, hurricanes,
tornadoes, and volcanic eruptions (PAHO 1998). Flooding and other natural
disasters have the potential to destroy drinking water wells and contaminate them
with chemicals, animal and human waste, human sewage, livestock waste, and
other contaminants (Sholihah et al. 2020). Large amounts of contaminants in
surface water resources are also a result of natural hazards. The parameters of
the water supply can be impacted by numerous pollutants, including lead, total
dissolved solids, chlorine, nitrates, faeces, and coliform. (Euripidou and Murray
2005).

Geological factors: Numerous minerals that break down in geological

formations trigger variations in water quality over time and space, which in turn
affects human and environmental health. With regard to this, water-rock
interactions in modified areas of Nowadays, geological units have been
considered to be the primary factors impacting the quality of water resources. The
Pre-Cambrian Aravalli system supports the geological structure of many districts
in Rajasthan, and the degree of fluoride contamination is correlated with the
hydro-geo-chemical process that mobilizes fluoride according to Ninama and
Mishra (2018). According to Keshari and Dhiman (2001) mapping of the study
area shows a strong positive correlation between fluoride and ultrabasic rock. It
is the phenomena with other parameters also. The local population’s various
health consequences from consuming such contaminated water are primarily
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caused by these interactions. Higher levels of certain elements, such as fluoride
and arsenic, could be harmful to major illnesses like internal organ cancers,
Alzheimer’s disease, mesothelioma, fluorosis, thyroid goitre issues, and several
others have been linked to human health (Baba and Gündüz 2017).

Soil matrix: The physical characteristics of the soil or sediments matrix regulate
water flow and affect groundwater aquifer storage (Winter et. al. 1998). The
quality and the volume of water flowing through Rajasthan`s inland waters are
determined by the complex interaction of human activities with soil and climate
(Swain et al. 2022). The mosaic of soils that characterize the catchment draining
a waterbody that regulates the water’s flow through a catchment and the
movement of nutrients and contaminants (Daly et al. 2018).

Hyporheic zone exchange: The procedure of solute mixing between the

exchange area and the near-channel and in-channel water exchanged by surface
water and groundwater through streambed sediments within rivers which are
alluvial (Brunner et al. 2011). For karstic, confined, and fractured hard-rock
aquifers, flow and recharge primarily occur inside networks of fractures, cracks,
and other isolated openings allowing for both quick and slow recharging
(Schmadel et al. 2016).

Urbanization

With the increasing population, urbanization and industrialization there is

steady increase in surface water drift. The less availability and distribution of the
surface water bodies puts extra pressure on other water resources, and this has
resulted in their over-exploitation by growing population. A growing population
frequently ends in patterns of extensive urban sprawl, which can contribute to
pollution of surface waters (Kumar 2020). Surface water bodies are adversely
affected by untreated sewage and polluted urban runoff, making them unfit for
use as a freshwater source for urban needs. Urban surface and groundwater are
severely contaminated by sewage littering and effluent from solid waste landfill
sites (Agrawal et al. 2021). Animal wastes, leachate from solid waste, domestic
wastewater leaks in drains, effluent from septic tanks, soak pits, pit latrines, and

8
other the sources pollute surface and groundwater quality garbage disposal
location (Dhania and Rani 2014).

With the growth of human populations and economies, global freshwater

demand has been increasing quickly. With the threatening of the sources of food
supply, water shortages severely lower biodiversity in both aquatic and terrestrial
ecosystems (Kılıç 2020). The most vital and vulnerable freshwater system are
the river, lakes, ponds, and traditional storages like johads, nadi plays a
significant role in the sustenance of all life forms. The downfall in the water’s
quality in freshwater systems threatens its sustainability and has become a cause
for concern (Venkatesharaju et al. 2010). Water is the very precious resource and
highly rich substance that covers the surface of the Earth approximately 71%.
Only 0.5% of the total water on earth is easily available for human use. There are
many different places where this water can be found, including ice caps, ponds,
lakes, reservoirs, rivers, streams, and rainfall. Seawater makes up 97% of all
water on Earth, and desalination is the only process that can make it usable. The
remaining 2.5% is freshwater which is present in the form of ice cap or stored as
ground water (Baker et al. 2016).

Impact of climate change

Climate change affect water quality and even water ecosystems, and
specific effects vary among different regions and different types of water bodies
(Xia et al. 2015). Climate change possesses the potential to directly or indirectly
affect water quality and even water ecosystems through a variety of biochemical
processes (Dalla Valle et al. 2007).

Water bodies in the State are scarce and have been highly random distribution
both spatially and temporally. Climate change causes further stress in specific
areas then it becomes extremely important to have appropriate water
management strategies to deal with these type situations. Thereby important to
understand and determine impact of climate change on various parts of the
state’s waterbodies and to determine the modalities to deal with this type future
scenarios of climate change (Tiwari et al. 2013).

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 Conclusion

Water pollution remains a critical environmental and public health challenge,

requiring concerted efforts at local, national and global levels to address its root
causes and mitigate its impacts. By implementing comprehensive regulatory
measures, promoting sustainable practices, investing in infrastructure, raising
awareness, and fostering innovation, we can work towards ensuring clean and
safe water for present and future generations of the people.

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 Recommendations

To address water pollution, we recommend adopting sustainable

agricultural practices, industrial processes, and waste management strategies to
minimize water pollution. There should be enforcement mechanisms and
penalties for polluters to ensure compliance with environmental regulations. Also,
there should be awareness to educate the public about the importance of water
conservation, pollution prevention, and responsible consumption to foster
behavioral changes and community engagement. Investment in upgrading and
expanding water treatment facilities, sewage systems, and stormwater
management infrastructure will help to prevent pollution and safeguard water
resources and finally allocate resources to research institutions and initiatives
focused on developing innovative solutions for water pollution control and
management.

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