Abstract

The major part of Gujarat in Western India is arid to semi arid with an average annual rainfall of about 500-700 mm. Baroda is an important industrial center of India situated in Gujarat. The city has experienced a heavy influx of population with a rise in industrialization. This has resulted in scarcity of water in the city area. Water pollution has become a major issue in the development of surface and groundwater resources for the protection of the fragile ecosystem. In the present chapter the quality of drinking water, and techniques for water harvesting, are discussed.

The main sources of pollution are the industrial effluents from industries producing, for example, fertilizers, petrochemicals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, corrosive materials, organic wastes etc. The domestic sector also produces solid and liquid wastes. In all, 26 physico-chemical parameters and a few heavy metals were analyzed season-wise for a period of 2 y in the five ponds of Baroda city, to study the impact of urbanization and industrialization on the quality of the water. Parameters like pH, turbidity, total hardness, sulfates, chlorides, fluorides, TDS, BOD, COD, DO etc were estimated and are discussed in the chapter.

All the studied parameters were in higher concentrations than the control. This is because of biotic activities in the pond, such as the decomposition of dead organic matter. During the study arsenic, lead and mercury were not observed, whereas cadmium and chromium were recorded a little higher than the permissible limit in two ponds only. This may be due to some small-scale industries in the area. The correlation coefficient between the physico-chemical characters of the surface waters was calculated. The water is not suitable for direct consumption and a slight abnormality in the quality of water was indicated.

The surface and ground water systems are inextricably linked. In most cases, this surface water system recharges the underlying aquifer. Various techniques to harvest water include tube well recharging, percolation pits, check dams, rooftop-water harvesting, underground tanks, open area harvesting, and artificial recharging pits connected to drains in the urban areas.

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