The State of Ground Water Today

Water is the most important resource. Animals require it for drinking and plants require it for their growth.Hence life depends on it for survival. Fresh water is becoming scarce and it is facing a serious threat. Many people in the world are not receiving enough water every day to survive.

75% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. More than 97% of Earth’s water is in oceans. Only 3 percent of all water on Earth is freshwater, more than two-thirds of which is locked up in glaciers and ice caps. Of the other third, trickles of water collect on the surface of lakes, rivers, streams and swamps and that represents only 0.5 percent. Further average rainfall of the world is merely 850mm.Global warming and climate change have resulted in less rainfall. So, several regions on the Earth are facing severe drought like conditions and no rainfall.

World consumption of water is more than 20 lakh billion liters every year. Worldwide, agriculture accounts for 70% of all water consumption, compared to 20% for industry and 10% for domestic use. In industrialized nations, industries consume more than half of the water available for human use. A large amount of water is required for agriculture, and for industries.

Demand for freshwater has increased by 64 billion cubic meters a year. The world’s population is growing by 80 million people each year. Changes in lifestyles and eating habits in recent years have resulted in more water consumption per capita. Hence the scarcity of water. Since we have to meet the demands of the overgrowing population we have to tap other resources of water for our human activities.

Groundwater is one of the major resources of drinking water. Springs, ponds, rivers, marshlands, swamps, streams contribute to groundwater. Groundwater is an important resource of water for both agriculture and industrial sector. Demand for water has increased over the last few decades leading to scarcity of water.The situation has gone from bad to worse due to water pollution and water contamination.

During Water cycle, precipitation of water infiltrates the ground and percolates down until it  reaches a depth where all the fractures, crevices and pore spaces are saturated with water.  In this saturated zone the water is called groundwater. The upper surface of the zone of  saturation is the water table. In other words, the water table is the first occurrence of   ground water.

Above the water table is the Zone of Aeration. Aquifers are geologic formations – layers of sand, gravel and rock , where significant amount of water can be stored, transported or supplied to well or a spring. They are irregular in shape, and can be close to the surface, or very deep.

Ground Water Pollution:

Groundwater is an integral part of our ecosystem. We have neglected the ground water resources because of our hectic life schedule.Now that we are facing shortage of drinking water and scarcity of rainfall we have understood the value of wells, springs rivers etc.Unfortunately the groundwater is comntaminated and polluted. This is not due to natural factors but due to hectic human activity like rapid industrialisation,growth, over extraction of groundwater and so on. The quality of groundwater is severely affected due to widespread pollution of surface water. The contributory factors contaminatiing and polluting groundwater are:

· Discharge of untreated waste water through bores from the industries.

· Unscientific disposal of solid wastes.

· Unplanned disposal of radioactive wastes.

· Defaecation and urination in the open.

· Excessive use of chemical pesticides and artificial fertilizers.

· Unplanned disposal of municipal waste water.

· Discharge of petrol, gasoline,paint thinners, bleach etc.

· Leaking or overflowing sewers and septic tanks can release bacteria-laden human waste into surface water and soil.

· Drilling, mining, and other defense activities .

· Intrusion of salt water from the sea and ocean.

· Improper disposal of Bio- medical wastes.

Water is indispensable to all forms of life. We are using water at an alarming rate. It is our responsibility to see that ground water resources are not depleted of it but is replenished. The growing needs of population and urbanisation have generated an urgency to evolve innovative methods of recharge activities. Ground water is also necessary for improving agricultural production and drinking water facilities. Since, water is a renewable resource we can improve the ground water situation by artificially recharging the depleted ground water aquifers. Ample supply of ground water ensures progress of industries.

Ground water is Liquid Gold because it is getting as precious as gold. All living forms depend on it to sustain life on this Earth. The ground water is getting depleted and water table is going below because of human intervention and over extraction. At this rate, the earth will become dry very shortly. That means there is real threat to the Earth’s biodiversity. So it is essential that we should take appropriate steps to conserve, harness ground water to increase the water table to nurture life on this planet. We have to device proper methods of irrigation, harnessing rain water, setting up water treatment plants etc to conserve ground water.

“Harness  and  Conserve Ground Water to Save Earth”