TRIBHUBVAN UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING
KANTIPUR ENGINEERING COLLEGE
Dhapakhel, Lalitpur




ASSIGNMENT:-
TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY




Submitted To: Submitted By:
ER. SUKRA RAJ PAUDEL MAHENDRA ADHIKARI(15/BEX/063)
RAHUL JHA(20/BEX/063)
RAVI POUDEL(21/BEX/063)
SABIN BHANDARI (23/BEX/063)
SABIN SHRESTHA (24/BEX/063)
SABITA NEPAL(25/BEX/063)
SANTOSH SUBEDI(31/BEX/063)
SAURAV DAHAL(32/BEX/063)
SHISHIR RAJ ACHARYA(33/BEX/063)




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2065 Baishakh

1. Define information society. Describe in detail how industrial society entered into
information society.

Industrial revolution describes the historical transformation of traditional societies into
modern societies by industrialization of the economy. The main defining feature of the
revolution was dramatic increase in per capita production that was made possible by the
mechanization of manufacturing and other processes that were carried out in factories. Its
main social impact was that it changed an agricultural society into an urban industrial
society.

In similar terms, the information revolution describes the transformation of the industrial
society into the information society. The defining feature of the information society is
that the economy of a state or a nation is driven by the creation and the efficient use of
information. This does not mean that there is no manufacturing process. However, the
construction and manufacturing sector has expanded little while the information sector
has experienced a tremendous growth. The information society is based on the motto that
knowledge is power. The information is basically future oriented.

In an information society (in most of the developed countries)most of the service workers
are engaged in the creation , processing and distributing of the information as
programmers, teachers, engineers, system analysis, accountants, lawyers, stock brokers,
insurance people, scientist, technicians, bureauerats, etc. with in goods manufacturing
factory it selves many workers hold information jobs. In industrial society also some kind
of the knowledge was required to do jobs. The difference between industrial and
information workers is that for the industrial worker the information is a mean to achieve
the final result, while for the information worker the information is in itself the final
result i.e. the creation, processing and distribution of the information is itself the job. In
an industrial society, the essential resource was capital and since not many people had
access to enough capital, the access to the economic system was limited. But in the
information society, the harnessing of the collective information has been critical, where
creative and innovative use of information can provide a competitive advantage.
2065 Baishakh and 2064 poush

2. What are water pollution and its causes? Describe in detail the causes, impacts and
mitigation measures for a) BOD b) fertilizers and pesticides c) arsenic d) pathogenic
organism e) iron and manganese e) nitrate on water pollution.
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Water pollution means the process of foreign organic, inorganic, biological and physical
substances or property in the water that tends to degrade its quality either creating a
health hazard or otherwise decrease the utility of water.

Causes

The major causes of water pollution are chemical, biological or physical material that
degrades water quality. The causes can be classified into eight category each of which
presents its own set of hazards.
Petroleum products
Pesticides and herbicides
Heavy metal
Excessive organic matter
Sediments
Infectious organism
Thermal pollution
Though the problem of water pollution is age old but in the modern era the problem like
population increase sewage disposal, industrial waste etc have polluted our water
resources considerably. The contributions to water pollution are sewage, oil, and
industries waste, and medical waste, agricultural and radioactive waste. Water pollution
not only change the physical properties of water like colour, odour and turbidity, taste
and temperature but also make it acidic and saline due to presence of dissolve and
suspended chemical pollutants.

a.BOD
Sewage also carries oxygen-demanding sub-stances-the organic wastes that exert a
biochemical oxygen demand as they are decomposed by microbes. This is the BOD.
BOD changes the ecological balance in a body of water by depleting the dissolved
oxygen (DO) content. The higher the BOD that is, the more organic matter, the greater is
the problem created by the decomposition of the organic matter. Microbial activity by
bacteria requiring oxygen may reduce the normal dissolved oxygen (DO) content in a
stream or lakes to less than 4mg/L below which most fish cannot survive. When all DO
disappear, anaerobic conditions occur and objectionable odors ensue. Because the amount
of dissolved oxygen (DO) in water decreases with increasing temperature the amount of
oxygen in streams is more critical to aquatic life in summer than it is in winter.
b. fertilizers and pesticides
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chemical used to kill unwanted animals and plants, for instance on farms or in suburban
yards, may be collected by rainwater runoff and carried into streams, especially if these
substances are applied by rainwater runoff and carried into streams, especially if these
substances are applied too lavishly. Some of these chemicals are biodegradable and
quickly decay into harmless forms, while others are nonbiodegradable and quickly decay
into harmless or less harmful forms, while others are nonbiodegradable and remain
dangerous for a long time.
c. arsenic
It is toxic to living organisms, including humans and to the microbial population utilized
in waste water treatment processes.
d. pathogenic organism
Domestic sewage is a primary source of pathogens. Concern for the public health arises
when sewage that may contain pathogens is discharged into receiving waters used for
water supplies or recreation. Although limitations on the density of indicator organisms
control the degree of pollution from human wastes, they do not assure the absolute safety
of the water.
e. iron and manganese






2065 baishakh
3. What causes the climate change? Explain in detail its impact on earth. Also describe
measures to mitigate global warming gases.

Climate change is the measurable change in the average temperature of the earth atmosphere,
oceans and land mass. Scientist believe the earth is currently facing a period of rapid
warming bought by raising level of heat trapping gases, known as green house gases present
at the upper level of the atmosphere.
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The causes of climate change can be divided into two categories, human and natural causes.
It is now a global concern that the climatic changes occurring today have been speeded up
because of man's activities.
The main contributors of manmade causes of climate change in are:
carbon emissions come from industrial processes
from agriculture for example methane emissions from livestock and manure, and
nitrous oxide emissions from chemical fertilizers
carbon emissions from transport
the use of fuel to generate energy (excluding transport)
About 40% of carbon emissions are the result of decisions taken directly by individuals. The
biggest sources of emissions for most people are likely to be:
energy use in the home (the main use is heating)
driving a car
air travel
There are other elements of peoples homes that contribute to climate change indirectly.
Everything, from furniture to computers, from clothes to carpets, all use energy when it is
produced and transported and this causes carbon emissions to be released.

The natural variability and the climate fluctuations of the climate system have always been
part of the Earths history however there have been changes in concentrations of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere growing at an unprecedented rate and magnitude. The United
Nations, governments and many top scientists around the world believe that we must act now
to stabilize and arrest further changes.

The general state of the Earth's climate is largely affected by how much heat is stored in the
atmosphere. Processes which affect this storage of heat can cause the climate of the Earth to
change. It is not just man-made pollution of the atmosphere which can cause climate change.
Changes in the amount of greenhouse gases in the air have occurred naturally during the
history of the Earth, leading to climate changes. Changes in the way ocean water circulates
around the world can also influence climate, because the oceans store even more heat than
the atmosphere. Changes in the amount of heat from the Sun will affect the Earth's climate
too.
Large volcanic eruptions can cause the Earth to cool over a couple of years, because huge
amounts of pollution injected in to the air block out a lot more sunlight. This type of climate
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change can also occur when a large comet or meteorite strikes the Earth. Luckily, this only
happens every few million years.
Other processes can change the Earth's climate, but only very, very slowly, over millions of
years. When continents move around the world, and when mountains ranges are built, the
changing patterns of landmasses affects the way the heat in the atmosphere and in the oceans
is stored. Continental drift however, takes millions of years, and so therefore does any
climate change caused by it.
Global warming refers to the increase in average temperature of the earth, particularly at the
lower atmosphere due to the abundant increase of greenhouse gases. This is primarily due to
the humans intervention and the life style they have adapted in the recent years.
There are many easy solutions to reduce global warming and its impact. First of all, people
should understand the problem and take measures accordingly to save the world.
The measures to mitigate global warming gases:
People should reduce the usage of electrical appliances which emits green house
gases. For e.g. the refrigerator releases chloro fluro carbon (CFC) and the incandescent
light lamp emits 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. This can be replaced by a compact
fluorescent light bulb which saves much energy.
Follow RRR-Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. People should not dump waste products in the
ground. Plant products, food waste, vegetable dump undergoes anaerobic decomposition
i.e. they break down to produce methane, a green house gas instead of oxygen. Hence the
product usage and wastage should be reduced or recycled for a healthy atmosphere.
Trees absorb a large amount of carbon dioxide. Many trees should be planted since
they involve in photosynthesis, food preparation with the help of sunlight. During this
process, trees absorb carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. Also, existing forests should be
saved and usage of plant byproducts shouldnt be wasted.
Usage of green power prevents 300 kg of carbon dioxide to be emitted into the
atmosphere. The electricity obtained from the renewable resources like wind and water
is called green power. The cost is also low in case of green power.
Insulation of the ceiling of a house and power saving is the important factor to reduce
global warming. The electric appliances should be switched off instead to hold it in stand
by mode. This will save more power since standby mode consumes 40% of the energy.
People should use only energy efficient appliances. Thermostat should be used for air
conditioners since it reduces the temperature automatically.
Consumption of organic food should be increased because organic soil absorb large
amount of carbon dioxide. Buying local food reduces the consumption of fuel. Cows
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emits large amount of methane due to their vegetarian diet. Hence meat consumption
should be reduced. Also tetra packs should be used instead of tinned food.
Periodic maintenance of the vehicles helps in efficient usage of fuel and reduces release
of green house gases. Proper inflation of tyres should be done and fuel wastage should be
avoided.
Teach your neighborhood and friends about the cause and impacts of global warming
and methods to reduce it. Conservation of forests also forms a factor to reduce global
warming.





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Q. No. 13 Development and Environment: Two Side of Same Coin.
Answer:
Development is the gradual process of growing. It is in fact becoming or making something more mature, advanced
and organized. . And environment is the natural condition in which we live in. Development is ever happening
process. Industrialization, urbanization, etc are the part of development work. These development works has an
impact on environment in one way or other.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the world's population was only 635 million. The global population is more
than 6 billion now. This growing population needs more resources for survival. All these people should have reach
to the development works. To meet their demand the forest area is being narrowed everyday which has negative
impact on environment.
Industrial development and environmental destruction are two sides of the same coin. Market liberalization and
globalization have had unforeseen consequences for the environment. For example Japan's decision to begin
liberalizing imports of lumber products in the 1960s contributed to the degradation of tropical rain forests in the
Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Different types of gases from industries results in different environmental problems like acid rain,depletion of ozone
layer which results in global warming. Moreover, the industrial waste if dumped directly in water sources causes
serious water and soil pollution. Hence any industry has a potential to pollute almost all aspect of environment.
Development works cannot be stopped and hence there is the need of sustainable development which doesnt have
or has lesser negative impact on the environment. We can have enterprises that can be both green and profitable.
Without a bare minimum level of food, medicine and education, developing countries will not be able to guarantee
decent living standards for their people -- a prerequisite to eradicating social inequality, preserving a balance
between development and the ecosystem, and achieving sustainable development. Such objectives can only be
achieved with economic growth of 5 percent. But the advanced industrialized nations will have to cut back their
emissions of contaminants by 4.4 percent per year in order to preserve the quality of the global environment at
current levels.
Eco-efficiency alone will not necessarily bring environmental improvement. For instance, more efficient central
heating means that, instead of saving energy, we now tend to make use of more living space within our houses.
Similarly, the improved fuel efficiency of automotive engines has not brought an overall reduction in oil
consumption, but rather has led to a proliferation of faster, more comprehensively equipped and thus heavier
vehicles.

Theoretically, it would be feasible for an organisation to propose to its automotive industry members that they all
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agree to produce cars capable of only, say, 120 km/hrs.This doubtly save fuel but would inevitably be branded as
anti-competitive.

The real solution is for the public to be educated and persuaded to adopt sustainable patterns of consumption. This
would permit a truly ecological use of technology with everyone enjoying a lifestyle of elegant sufficiency, while
living within self-imposed limits.

Thus we can say that development will be efficient and sustainable if and only if we will consider our environment
in which we live in. That is any development process should adversely affect our environment.



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INDUSTRIAL AND MECHANICAL REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND:
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain during the 1700s. It started spreading to other
parts of Europe and to North America in the early 1800s. By the mid-1800s, industrialization had
become widespread in Western Europe and the northeastern United States. The Industrial
Revolution created an enormous increase in the production of many kinds of goods. Some of this
increase in production resulted from the introduction of power-driven machinery and the
development of factory organization. Before the revolution, manufacturing was done by hand or
simple machines. Most people worked at home in rural areas. A few worked in shops in towns as
part of associations called guilds. The Industrial Revolution eventually took manufacturing out
of the home and workshop. Power-driven machines replaced handwork, and factories developed
as the best way of bringing together the machines and the workers to operate them.

As the Industrial Revolution grew, private investors and financial institutions were needed to
provide money for the further expansion of industrialization. Financiers and banks thus became
as important as industrialists and factories in the growth of the revolution. For the first time in
European history, wealthy business leaders called capitalists took over the control and
organization of manufacturing. Today, most historians agree that the Industrial Revolution was a
great turning point in the history of the world. It changed the Western world from a basically
rural and agricultural society to a basically urban and industrial society. Industrialization brought
many material benefits, but it also created a large number of problems that still remain critical in
the modern world. For example, most industrial countries face problems of air and water
pollution.
Before the Industrial Revolution, some industry existed throughout western Europe. A little
manufacturing was carried on in guild shops in towns. Craftworkers in the shops worked with
simple tools to make such products as cloth, hardware, jewelry, leather goods, silverware, and
weapons. Some products made in the towns were exchanged for food raised in the countryside.
Town products were also exported to pay for luxuries imported from abroad, or they were sent to
the colonies in payment for raw materials. Life was hard for most people. They lived under the
constant threat that their crops might fail. Although few people starved, many of them suffered
from malnutrition. As a result, they caught diseases readily, and epidemics were common. Most
workers produced little and earned little. Only a few people enjoyed large incomes, usually
because they owned land, held public office, or had succeeded in business. Little money was
saved or invested in business ventures. In fact, there were few opportunities for investment.
Before the Industrial Revolution, most European countries were ruled by a monarch who had
much personal power. Great landowners, rich merchants, and some members of the clergy also
had considerable political influence. But the workers and farmers had no voice in the
government. Many countries did not even hold elections. Although Great Britain had a
Parliament, only male members of the Church of England who paid a certain amount of taxes
could vote. A handful of voters often determined who would represent a district in Great Britain.
All these social, economic, and political conditions changed in Great Britain as the Industrial
Revolution developed. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain for several reasons. The
country had large deposits of coal and iron, the two natural resources on which early
industrialization largely depended. Other industrial raw materials came from Great Britain's
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colonies. By the mid-1700's, the country had become the world's leading colonial power. Great
Britain's colonies not only provided raw materials, but also provided markets for manufactured
products. These colonial markets helped stimulate the textile and iron industries, which were
probably the two most important industries during the Industrial Revolution.
The demand for British goods grew rapidly during the late 1700's both in Britain and in other
countries. This demand forced businesses to compete with one another for the limited supply of
labor and raw materials, which raised production costs. The rising costs of production began to
cut into profits. Further demand could not be satisfied until Britain enlarged its capacity to
produce goods inexpensively. British merchants did not want to raise the prices of their goods
and thus discourage demand. They sought more economical and efficient ways of using capital
and labor so the amount each worker produced would increase faster than the cost of production.
The merchants achieved their goal through the development of factories, machines, and technical
skills.
In this way, industrial and mechanical revolution took place in England.



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From industrial Society to information Society
An information society is a society in which the creation, distribution, diffusion, uses, integration
and manipulation of information is a significant economic, political, and cultural activity. The
knowledge economy is its economic counterpart whereby wealth is created through the economic
exploitation of understanding. Industrial society refers to a society driven by the use of
technology to enable mass production, supporting a large population with a high capacity for
division of labor. Such a structure developed in the west in the period of time following the
Industrial Revolution, and replaced the agrarian societies of the Pre-modern, Pre-industrial age.
Industrial societies are generally mass societies, and may be succeeded by an Information
society.
There is currently no universally accepted concept of what exactly can be termed information
society and what shall rather not so be termed. Most theoreticians agree that a transformation can
be seen that started somewhere between the 1970s and today and is changing the way societies
work fundamentally. Information technology is not only internet, and there are discussions about
how big the influence of specific media or specific modes of production really is. Some people,
such as Antonio Negri and Newt Gingrich, characterize the information society as one in which
people do immaterial labor. By this, they appear to refer to the production of knowledge or
cultural artifacts. One problem with this model is that it ignores the material and essentially
industrial basis of the society. However it does point to a problem for workers, namely how
many creative people does this society need to function? For example, it may be that you only
need a few star performers, rather than a plethora of non-celebrities, as the work of those
performers can be easily distributed, forcing all secondary players to the bottom of the market. It
is now common for publishers to promote only their best selling authors and to try to avoid the
resteven if they still sell steadily. Films are becoming more and more judged, in terms of
distribution, by their first weekend's performance, in many cases cutting out opportunity for
word-of-mouth development. Considering that metaphors and technologies of information move
forward in a reciprocal relationship, we can describe some societies (especially the Japanese
society) as an information society because we think of it as such.

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Industrial society is characterized by the use of external energy sources, such as fossil fuels, to
increase the rate and scale of production.
[1]
The production of food is shifted to large commercial
farms where the products of industry, such as combine harvesters and fossil fuel based fertilizers,
are used to decrease required human labor while increasing production. No longer needed for the
production of food, excess labor is moved into these factories where mechanization is utilized to
further increase efficiency. As populations grow, and mechanization is further refined, often to
the level of automation, many workers shift to expanding industries. Industrial society makes
urbanization desirable, in part so that workers can be closer to centers of production, and the
service industry can provide labor to workers and those that benefit financially from them, in
exchange for a piece of production profits with which they can buy goods. This leads to the rise
of very large cities and surrounding suburban areas with a high rate of activity. These urban
centers require the input of external energy sources in order to overcome the diminishing
returns
[2]
of agricultural consolidation, due partially to the lack of nearby arable land, associated
transportation and storage costs, and are otherwise unsustainable. This makes the reliable
availability of the needed energy resources high priority in industrial government policies. Some
theoreticians -- namely Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens and Manuel Castells argue that we are
located in the middle of a transformation or transition from industrial societies to post-modern
societies. The triggering technology for the change from an agricultural to an industrial
organization was steam power, allowing mass production and reducing the agricultural work
necessary. Thus many industrial cities are built around rivers. Identified as catalyst or trigger for
the transition to post-modern or informational society is global information technology.






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The comparison between Industrial Society and Information Society:



Industrial Society Information Society
Core Steam engine (power) Computer (memory, computation, control)
Basic Function
Replacement, amplification of
physical labor
Replacement, amplification of mental labor
Production
Power
Material productive power
(increase in per capita production)
Information productive power (increase in
optimal action-selection capabilities)
Products Useful goods and services Information, technology, knowledge
Leading
Industries
Manufacturing industries
(machinery industry, chemical
industry)
Intellectual industries (information
industry, knowledge industry
Industrial
structure
Primary, secondary, tertiary
industries
Matrix industrial structure (primary,
secondary, tertiary, quaternary/system
industries)
Socio-economic
principle
Law of price (equilibrium of
supply and demand)
Law of goals (principle of synergetic feed
forward)
Socio- economic
system
Private ownership of capital, free
competition, profit maximization
Infrastructure, principle of synergy,
precedence of social benefit
Form of society
Class society (centralized power,
classes, control)
Functional society (multi- centre, function,
autonomy)
National goal GNW (gross national welfare) GNS (gross national satisfaction)
Force of social
change
Labor movement, strikes Citizens' movements, litigation
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Social problems Unemployment, war, fascism Future shock, terror, invasion of privacy
Most advanced
stage
High mass consumption High mass knowledge creation
Value standards
Material values (satisfaction of
physical needs)
Time- value (satisfaction of goal
achievement needs)
Ethical
standards
Fundamental human rights,
humanity
Self- discipline, social contribution
Spirit of the
times
Renaissance (human liberation) Globalism (symbiosis of man and nature)

The information age is somewhat limiting, in that it refers to 30 years period between the wide
spread use of computers and the knowledge economy rather than an emerging economic order.
The information relates with the industrial revolution .the information economy and the
knowledge economy emphasize the content or intellectual property that is being traded through
an information market.


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The Development of Material Knowledge
THROUGHOUT the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the opening years of the
nineteenth century, while these conflicts of the powers and princes were going on in Europe, and
the patchwork of the treaty of Westphalia (1648) was changing kaleidoscopically into the
patchwork of the treaty of Vienna (1815), and while the sailing ship was spreading European
influence throughout the world, a steady growth of knowledge and a general clearing up of
mens ideas about the world in which they lived was in progress in the European and
Europeanized world.
It went on disconnected from political life, and producing throughout the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries no striking immediate results in political life. Nor was it affecting popular
thought very profoundly during this period. These reactions were to come later, and only in their
full force in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It was a process that went on chiefly in a
small world of prosperous and independent-spirited people. Without what the English call the
private gentleman, the scientific process could not have begun in Greece, and could not have
been renewed in Europe. The universities played a part but not a leading part in the philosophical
and scientific thought of this period. Endowed learning is apt to be timid and conservative
learning, lacking in initiative and resistent to innovation, unless it has the spur of contact with
independent minds.
The progress of physical science reacted upon metallurgy. Improved metallurgy, affording the
possibility of a larger and bolder handling of masses of metal and other materials, reacted upon
practical inventions. Machinery on a new scale and in a new abundance appeared to
revolutionize industry.
In 1804 Trevithick adapted the Watt engine to transport and made the first locomotive. In 1825
the first railway, between Stockton and Darlington, was opened, and Stephensons Rocket,
with a thirteen-ton train, got up to a speed of forty-four miles per hour. From 1830 onward
railways multiplied. By the middle of the century a network of railways had spread all over
Europe.
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Concurrently with the development of steam transport upon land and sea a new and striking
addition to the facilities of human intercourse arose out of the investigations of Volta, Galvani
and Faraday into various electrical phenomena. The electric telegraph came into existence in
1835. The first underseas cable was laid in 1851 between France and England. In a few years the
telegraph system had spread over the civilized world, and news which had hitherto travelled
slowly from point to point became practically simultaneous throughout the earth.

Parallel with this extension of mechanical possibilities the new science of electricity grew up. It
was only in the eighties of the nineteenth century that this body of enquiry began to yield results
to impress the vulgar mind. Then suddenly came electric light and electric traction, and the
transmutation of forces, the possibility of sending power, that could be changed into mechanical
motion or light or heat as one chose, along a copper wire, as water is sent along a pipe, began to
come through to the ideas of ordinary people.
A fresh phase in the history of invention opened when in the eighties a new type of engine came
into use, an engine in which the expansive force of an explosive mixture replaced the expansive
force of steam. The light, highly efficient engines that were thus made possible were applied to
the automobile, and developed at last to reach such a pitch of lightness and efficiency as to
render flightlong known to be possiblea practical achievement. A successful flying
machinebut not a machine large enough to take up a human bodywas made by Professor
Langley of the Smithsonian Institute of Washington as early as 1897. By 1909 the aeroplane was
available for human locomotion. There had seemed to be a pause in the increase of human speed
with the perfection of railways and automobile road traction, but with the flying machine came
fresh reductions in the effective distance between one point of the earths surface and another. In
the eighteenth century the distance from London to Edinburgh was an eight days journey; in
1918 the British Civil Air Transport Commission reported that the journey from London to
Melbourne, halfway round the earth, would probably in a few years time be accomplished in
that same period of eight days.
Too much stress must not be laid upon these striking reductions in the time distances of one
place from another. They are merely one aspect of a much profounder and more momentous
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enlargement of human possibility. The science of agriculture and agricultural chemistry, for
instance, made quite parallel advances during the nineteenth century. Men learnt so to fertilize
the soil as to produce quadruple and quintuple the crops got from the same area in the
seventeenth century. There was a still more extraordinary advance in medical science; the
average duration of life rose, the daily efficiency increased the waste of life through ill-health
diminished.
Clearly it demands great readjustments of our social, economical and political methods. But
these readjustments have necessarily waited upon the development of the mechanical revolution,
and they are still only in their opening stage to-day.

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WATER POLLUTION: EMERGING ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN
KATHMANDU VALLEY

Water is the important constituent of life support system. No one can live and even
dream to live without water. Water pollution means the presence of foreign organic,
inorganic, biological and physical substance or property in the water that tends to
degrade its quality either creating a health hazard or otherwise decrease the utility of
water.

Water pollution is contamination of stream, lakes, underground water, bays or oceans
by substance harmful to living things. Water is very crucial element for sustaining
different forms of life. All living organism rely on it for various metabolic process.
Not a single one can live without it. Plants and animal require water that is moderately
and in natural way, but if water is loaded with heavy toxic chemical they cannot
survive. So water has a great importance and if this is underestimated the life of all
will be in danger. Due to the water pollution there will be imbalance in the ecosystem.
The food chain may be disturbed, all the biotic components are imbalanced and
finally the unstable situation is created.

Major types of water pollutants

The major types of water pollutants are chemical, biological or physical material that
degrades water quality. Pollutants can be classified into eight categories each of
which presents its own set of hazards.
Petroleum products
Pesticides and herbicides
Heavy metal
Excessive organic matter
Sediments
Infectious organism
Thermal pollution

Though the problem of water is age old but in the modern era the problem like
population increase sewage disposal, industrial waste etc have polluted our water
resources considerably. The contributors to water pollution are sewage, oil, industries
waste, medical waste, agricultural and radioactive waste. Water pollution not only
change the physical properties of water like colour, odour and turbidity, taste and
temperature but also make it acidic and saline due to presence of dissolve and
suspended chemical pollutants.

For the people of the Kathmandu valley clean river water is just a memory. Today the
rivers can only be said to be clean at their source and river pollution has become a
major problem in the valley. The major rivers of the valley, Bagmati, Bishnumati, and
Tukucha are no longer the important natural resources that they once were. This is
because of the mis-management of the drainage system of houses and local industries
at a time of increasing urbanization. Even the outlets of hospitals flow directly into
the rivers.
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Surface water in the Kathmandu Valley is severely polluted by industrial effluence,
domestic waste, and by the discharge of untreated sewage from residential areas.

Emerging issues

Inadequate supply of water
This is basically related to the demand for water for household
consumption and other economic activities such as industry, hotels and
restaurants, transport and others. The piped water supply is far below the need of
people. The gap between demand and supply is widening each year.

Deteriorating quality of water
The quality of water for drinking purposes has deteriorated because of the
inadequacy of treatment plants, direct discharge of untreated sewages into rivers,
and inefficient technical management of the piped water distribution system. Also
the quality of water in rivers, ponds and lakes in major urban area is deteriorating
rapidly. At the consequence of such unhygienic water quality condition, water
borne diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery and gastroenteritis often occurs. These
diseases are prevalent in both urban and rural areas throughout the kingdom. The
aesthetic value of so called sacred rivers, lakes and ponds has been badly
damaged. Therefore, the religious importance and recreational activities such as
bathing, swimming and fishing in the rivers has declined.

Depletion of ground water table and drying up of sources and ponds
The over exploitation of ground water not only affects the ground water
table but may also have adverse effect on health due to the change in the
geological sources.

Water rights
Awareness in local communities of Nepal is rising about water-use rights
to the streams following through their own areas.


Challenges in Kathmandu valley

It is estimated that Kathmandu produces 150 tons of waste each day, nearly half of
which is dumped into the river. More than 40 million liters a day of wastewater is
generated in Kathmandu and a whopping over 80 percent of this is generated by
households.

The problem of excreta disposal is clearly as old as mankind itself and the need for
careful disposal is highlighted in a number of religious books including Hindu,
Islamic and Christian texts. The proper management of excreta acts as the primary
barrier to
Prevent the spread of pathogens in the environment. It directly impacts disease
transmission through person-to person contact, water and the food chain.
The potable water contaminated with faeces is the chief cause of some important
disease of man. About 98% of the people of rural areas use open field for defecation.
Faeces are the most common pollutant of potable water. They consist primarily of
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intestinal bacteria. Empirical studies of drinking water throughout Nepal have found
that faecal coli form contamination in the water consistently exceeds WHO guidelines
for water considered fit for human consumption. A report by international consultants
concludes, "Kathmandu's drinking water is hosting disease-causing microbes and
hazardous chemicals." According to the same study, when tap water from
representative locations of Kathmandu's urban areas was analyzed in the laboratory,
almost 90% of the sample was not potable.

An increase in the quantity of water has a greater health impact than improved water
quality, because an adequate water supply makes it possible or at least more feasible
for people to adopt safe hygiene behaviors. Since a primary cause of contamination of
water is inadequate or improper disposal of human and animal excreta, better water
quality only improves health when sanitation is improved as well and when the
quantity of water is sufficient.

Conclusion

Out of the total population of Nepal, only 84% have access to safe drinking water. In
rural Nepal, millions of people do not have access to safe drinking water or basic
sanitation sources. Only 27% of the population as a whole has access to sanitary
facilities.

All water is susceptible to contamination. It may accumulate contaminants from the
air, the ground, or from rocks. Some of these contaminants, such as low levels of
certain minerals or compounds, are not harmful to health, whereas others, such as
pathogens, may be.

In cities in the developing countries of the region, most water bodies are now heavily
polluted with domestic sewage, industrial effluents, chemicals and solid wastes. Most
rivers in Nepals urban areas have been polluted and their waters are now unfit for
human use, whereas drinking water in Kathmandu is contaminated with coliform
bacteria, iron, ammonia and other contaminants.
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