Water Quality in India
Access to safe drinking water is a fundamental human right and a cornerstone of public health worldwide. With growing concerns over waterborne diseases and contamination, governments and international organizations have established drinking water standards to ensure the quality and safety of water consumed by populations. These standards encompass a range of parameters, from microbiological contaminants to chemical pollutants, aiming to protect public health and promote well-being.
Many places in India do not have clean drinking water. People live on a day to day basis drinking polluted water. In order to truly gauge the quality of water in different states of India, I looked at different parameters and compared them to the acceptable standards. Following are the important drinking water quality parameters and their standard as defined by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS):
pH: pH measures how acidic or basic water is. Water with a pH of 7 is considered neutral. Anything below 7 is acidic, and anything above 7 is basic. For drinking water, pH should ideally be between 6.5 and 8.5 to ensure it doesn't taste too sour or too bitter and is safe to drink.
Nitrate: Nitrate is a type of chemical compound that can sometimes be found in water, especially if there's a lot of agricultural activity nearby. While small amounts of nitrate are generally harmless, high levels can be dangerous, especially for babies and pregnant women. It's important to keep nitrate levels in drinking water below 45 milligrams per liter (mg/L).
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): TDS refers to the total amount of dissolved substances in water, including minerals, salts, and other compounds. While some TDS in water is natural and harmless, excessively high levels can affect taste and indicate contamination. The recommended limit for TDS in drinking water is 500 milligrams per liter (mg/L).
Fluoride: Fluoride is a mineral that's often added to drinking water to help prevent tooth decay. In small amounts, fluoride is safe and beneficial for dental health. However, excessive fluoride intake can lead to dental fluorosis or skeletal fluorosis, which are conditions caused by fluoride poisoning. The recommended limit for fluoride in drinking water is 1.0 milligram per liter (mg/L).
By using data from the central pollution control board (CPCB), I created a program to group the water quality parameters by state, and plotted multiple graphs comparing the values to the standard. The blue lines represent the minimum recorded level for the given parameter for the state, while the orange lines represent the maximum recorded level for the given parameter. The lower dashed red line represents the acceptable standard limit for drinking water. The upper red dashed line represents the maximum threshold before the water is unsafe to drink.
Through this program, I was able to view which states’ quality of drinking water was not great. I was shocked to see so many states suffering from bad drinking water. Both Kerala and Tripura fall under the standard pH; Assam, Chandigarh, Kerala, Rajasthan, and more do not have the standard TDS; Every single state also falls under the standard fluoride level. As we can see, water quality is beyond bad. It is undrinkable. In India, adherence to these standards is essential for maintaining the health and well-being of its people. By monitoring levels of pH, nitrate,, total dissolved solids, and fluoride levels, we can identify areas where water quality may be compromised and take steps to address these issues. Through data analysis and visualization, it's evident that many states in India are facing challenges in providing safe drinking water to their residents, highlighting the urgent need for concerted efforts to improve water quality and safeguard public health.
Citations:
“CPCB | Central Pollution Control Board.” Cpcb.nic.in, cpcb.nic.in/nwmp-data-2022/.
Global Drinking Water Quality Index Development and Sensitivity Analysis Report, https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/pdf/global_drinking_water_quality_index.pdf
“INFORMATION on DRINKING WATER QUALITY of the INSTITUTE.” Iitk.ac.in, iitk.ac.in/iwd/wq/drinkingwater.htm.
