Drinking Water and Its Health Impact

DRINKING WATER AND ITS HEALTH IMPACT Dr. Ratna Roy (Pathak) Professor of Chemistry Govt. M. L. B. Girls PG Autonomous College Bhopal M. P. India E-mail: pathakratnaroy2001@gmail. com Water is the vital resource, necessary for all aspects of human and ecosystem survival and health. Depending on the quality, bore water may be used for human consumption, irrigation purposes and livestock watering. The quality of bore water can vary widely depending on the quality of ground water that is its source. Pollutants are being added to the ground water system through human and natural processes. Solid waste from industrial units is being dumped near the factories, which react with percolating rainwater and reaches the ground water. The percolating water picks up a large number of heavy metals and reaches the aquifer system and contaminates the ground water. The usage of the contaminated bore water causes the diseases. Mercury, Arsenic and Cadmium are used or released by many industries. Many land based, water based activities and over exploitation are causing contamination of aquifers leading to unsafe ground water. In areas of high population density and intensive human use of land, ground water becomes especially vulnerable. The use of water includes water for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing and other purposes. Today, 1.1 billion people lack access to an improved water resource and over three million people, mostly children, die annually from water-related diseases (UNICEF, 2008). Therefore, it is obvious that water quality is of crucial importance to human health. Developed countries always take heed of the consumption of clean water. Unlike developing and least developed countries, most people drink and make use of tainted and unboiled water. Water quality refers to the basic and physical characteristics of water that determine its suitability for life or for human uses.