examination of groundwater contamination in the district of new delhi, india
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Examination of Groundwater Contamination in the District of
New Delhi, India
By: Lisabeth Tremblay
Research Ques+ons
• Are rural popula5ons in Delhi more suscep5ble to water contamina5on than urban zones?
• Is all drinking water treated, and if not, what areas receive potable water?
Methodology
• Spa5al Analyst • Density analysis
• Geoprocessing
• Ranking
New Delhi, India • New Delhi is the capital of India • Home to 14 million people • Approximately 42.7 km in area • Water is 9.6% of land coverage in India
New Delhi
Water Risks
• 25% of Delhi’s popula5on drinks directly from groundwater • Water contamina5on, par5cularly nitrates, are an issue throughout the country • 80% of India’s sewage flows untreated into the country's rivers
Water Treatment Plants
• There are 6 treatment plants in New Delhi • Only 33% of rural areas are connected to sewage treatment plants • Only 160 out of nearly 8,000 towns have both sewerage systems and a sewage treatment plant
Water Treatment Capacity
• Indian ci5es produce nearly 40 million liters of sewage every day • Only 20% of it is treated • Treatment plants can not keep up with sewage demand
Water Treatment Plants Current Capacity (TLD)
Bhagirathi 397
Chandrawal 389
Haiderpur 776
Nangloi 151
Sonia Vihar 529
Wazirabad 499
Nitrate Contamination • Sewage run-‐off causes
contaminants to seep into the groundwater
• High level of nitrate
concentra5ons are known to cause blue baby syndrome
The Spread of Nitrate Contamination
Population as a Factor
• Water treatment plants are located in urban locales
• The more dense areas, especially around the perimeter of Delhi, are neglected and le^ without resources to purify water
Conclusions
• Rural popula5ons are at a greater risk of groundwater contamina5on due to lack of treatment plants
• Only about 20% of the drinking water is treated through New Delhi’s water treatment plants, leaving the most vulnerable at risk
• Centralized areas of Delhi receive more a_en5on and access to cleaner drinking water
Sources BOARD, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA CENTRAL GROUND WATER. Groundwater
Yearbook 2011-‐2012. 1 October 2012. 12 November 2013 <h_p:// www.downtoearth.org.in/dte/userfiles/images/report_20130422.pdf>.
Maps of India. Water Treatment Plants in Delhi. 15 March 2013. 5 December 2013 <h_p://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/delhi/water-‐treatment-‐plants.html>.
Metro Extracts. Metro Extracts . 1 July 2013. 1 November 2013 <h_p:// metro.teczno.com/#new-‐delhi>.
Narain, Sunita. Nature. 14 June 2012. 1 December 2013 <h_p:// www.nature.com/nature/journal/v486/n7402/full/486185a.html %3FWT.ec_id%3DNATURE-‐20120614>.
Presse, Agence France. Huff Post World. 12 March 2013. 4 December 2013 <h_p://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/india-‐river-‐pollu5on-‐ sewage_n_2810213.html>.