Groundwater Contamination-an overview

Abstract

Water is limited in quality rather than quantity in many semi-arid regions of the world, India being one of them. The rapid growth of industrialization and urbanization has started to take toil on the freshwater resources all around the world during the past few decades. Thus, proper monitoring, assessment and knowledge of contamination at local/regional levels is required as a cost-effective measure to prevent this vital resource from further getting contaminated. Groundwater contamination is an artificially induced degradation of the quality of groundwater. It comes from two types of sources (point and non-point sources). A point source theoretically means those pollution sources that comes from a single, recognizable source or point. The effects of such sources usually remain relatively local to the point from which the pollution is originating. Non-point sources include naturally occurring contaminants and are less obvious. It is not focused around a specific point or source. Henceforth, a large number of sources and causes can alter the groundwater quality, making its use inapt and can cause various health hazards if consumed in contaminated states. With the rising recognition of the significance of groundwater resources, efforts are growing to prevent, decrease and eradicate groundwater contamination.