Groundwater Contamination for Sustainable Environment.

What is it about?

Most water systems that support ecosystems and feed humans are depleted or stressed. Aquifer characteristics, topography, subsurface activities, climate, and geochemical processes regulate groundwater availability, a reliable source of fresh water. Globally, agriculture, industries, and the domestic sector are the three major sectors that consume vast quantities of freshwater resources. Further anthropogenic activities, such as soil leaching, acid rain, fertilizer, pesticides, mining, and other industrial activities, resulted in the release of organic and inorganic pollutants that affected global water resources. In India, groundwater is used in huge quantities, resulting in groundwater depletion of 1 to 2 m a year. Low-income countries face many issues related to water pollution, and the availability of safe water is minimal. In 2019, deaths due to unsafe sanitation accounted for 2.2% of the total global deaths, amounting to 1.2 million people’s deaths. India recorded 6.6% of deaths due to unsafe sanitation in 2019. India and China accounted for around 90.41% and 60.4% of the groundwater utilization for agricultural purposes, respectively. In 2020, China and India utilized vast quantities of nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) for crop growth to enhance crop yield, resulting in the highest nitrate and phosphate concentrations in groundwater. Remediating contaminants from different sources requires knowledge of their concentration, behavior, cycling, and degradation pathways. According to safety guidelines, limiting and optimizing crop organic and inorganic fertilizer, pesticide waste disposal, and empty container disposal can reduce groundwater contamination. The present study summarized groundwater utilization in various sectors, potential sources of groundwater contamination impacts on human health and the environment, preventive measures, and mitigation methods to overcome groundwater pollution.

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Why is it important?

The increase in population, rapid urbanization, and industrial revolution resulted in the utilization of an enormous amount of fresh water [1]. The world’s freshwater source is not readily available for the human population since only 3% of the total water available is fresh water, and the remaining 97% is salt water [2]. Out of the 3% of the total fresh water available, 69% is in the form of ice and glaciers, 30% in the form of groundwater, and 1% in the form of surface water. A total of 87% of the total surface water is available in lakes, 11% in swamps, and 2% in rivers. So, approximately only 1% of the fresh water is available for the human population to meet its daily demands. The major drawback of this available fresh water is that it is not evenly distributed worldwide [3,4]. Most available fresh water is accumulated in Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Indonesia, Russia, and the United States. This results in most countries being in water scarcity and stress categories [5]. Globally, one-fifth of the total population needs to get the required amount of groundwater due to water stress or scarcity, resulting in a decrease in the economic growth of those developing countries [6].Groundwater is the primary source for drinking, agricultural and industrial development. Around one-third of the total human population globally depends on groundwater for drinking purposes [7,8]. Groundwater is the only source in many arid and semi-arid regions where the rainfall is limited [9]. The leading sustainable development of nations is to provide a safe and renewable groundwater supply to the population [10].

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