 Ground water

 Ground water cycle

 Ground water quality
 Ground water pollution and its sources
 Ground water pollution in Pakistan
 Land fill site , location and construction
 How to solve these problems
 Ground Water

“Water that exists in the pore spaces and

fractures in rock and sediment beneath the
earth's surface”.
Originates as rainfall and snow moves through the soil back
to surface streams, lakes, or oceans .
 Flowing
artesian well

Precipitation
Evaporation and transpiration
Well requiring a pump

Evaporation
Confined
Recharge Area

Runoff

Aquifer Stream
Infiltration Water table
Lake
Infiltration
Unconfined aquifer

Confined aquifer
Less permeable material
such as clay
Confirming permeable rock layer
 contains essential chemical elements and
minerals of water at very low levels and do
not pose a significant risk to health.
 occurs when waste products or other
substances change the chemical or biological
characteristics of the water and degrade
water quality so that animals, plants or
human uses of the water are affected.
 Include plant nutrients, bacteria, viruses,

pesticides, herbicides, hydrocarbons

(including petrol and oil), heavy metals and
other toxic chemicals
Water quality refers to the physical, chemical and biological
characteristics of water.

It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the

requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any
human need or purpose.
Water quality is primarily from two factors.
 1. Contamination (natural)
 2. Pollution (unnatural)
 TDS is referred as a basic measure of water quality.

 TDS: total dissolved solids is the amount of solids in mg/lit

that remain when water sample is evaporated.

 Water classification based on TDS

 Class TDS(Mg/Lit)
 Fresh 0-1000
 Brackish 1,000-10,000
 Saline 10,000-100,000
 Brine >100,000
 Water pollution is defined as the addition of
harmful or objectionable material causing
an alteration of water quality.
 Water Pollution Comes from Point and
Nonpoint Sources.
Sources of water pollution

Sources of water pollution

• Municipal Sewage
• Industrial Water Pollution
• Agriculture Water Pollution
 Point sources

 Nonpoint sources
 Point Source

 Located at specific places ,Easy to identify, monitor, and

regulate e.g.

Piped (sewage, oils)

Storm water drains

 Nonpoint sources

 Broad, diffuse areas, Difficult to identify and control,

Expensive to clean up e.g.
Agricultural runoff
Atmospheric pollution
Seepage from mine/urban areas
 NONPOINT SOURCES

Rural homes

Urban streets Cropland

Animal feedlot

Suburban POINT
development SOURCES
Factory

Wastewater
treatment
plant
Industrial Water Pollution
In K.P, 80,000 m3 of industrial effluents
containing a very high level of pollutants are
discharged every day into the river Kabul
In Karachi, Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) and
Korangi Industrial and Trading Estate (KITE), two of
the biggest industrial estates in Pakistan, there is no
effluent treatment plant and the waste containing
hazardous materials, heavy metals, oil etc. is
discharged into rivers.
In Multan, a fertilizer factory discharges its waste untreated
to cultivated land causing death of livestock and increasing
health risk to humans. (WB-CWRAS Paper 8, 2005)
In Faisalabad, one of
the biggest industrial
cities, there is little
segregation of
domestic and
industrial wastes
Agriculture Water Pollution
This includes runoff and leaching
Fertilizers
pesticide drift and volatilization
erosion and dust from cultivation,
animal manure
 Classification of the Cause of Water
Pollution

• Inorganic Water Pollution

• Organic Water Pollution
• Pre-production industrial raw
material

• Heavy metals including acid mine

drainage
• Chemical waste as industrial by-
products

• Acidity due to industrial

discharges like sulphur dioxide
• The combustion of coal leads to the release of
mercury in the atmosphere. This enters the rivers,
lakes and groundwater.

 gdg
Organic water pollution
 • Bacteria from sewage or livestock
operation

• Food processing waste, which can include oxygen

demand substance like fat
 Pakistan Enviornmental Protection Act (PEPA) describes the
functions of Enviornmental Protection Agency (EPA)

 PEPA advises EPA to “establish standards for discharge and

emission of ambient water, coordinate enviornmental
policies and programmes, nationally and internationally,
designate laboratories for conducting tests and analysis
for monitoring, measurement, examination, investigation,
research, inspection and audits to prevent and control
pollution
 It provides a framework for addressing the
key issues and challenges facing Pakistan in
the provision of safe drinking water to the
people
 Its targets include
 To provide safe drinking water to 93% of the population
in 2015
 To provide at least one hand pump for every 250 persons
 To establish water treatment plants in all urban areas by
the year 2015
 To ensure water quality standards
 A landfill site is a licensed facility where waste is
deposited for permanent disposal
 Modern landfills are designed to minimise these
problems:

 -Location
-Landfill Liner
-Compaction of waste
-Daily Cover
-Landfill Cap
-Leachate Management System
-Landfill Gas management System
 In order to obtain a permit a landfill operator must first
carry out a detailed investigation and prove to the
satisfaction of the planning authority and the EA that the
site:

-is located in a geologically stable area

-is not located on a major aquifer;
-Is not located in a vulnerable area;
-is designed to reduce the risk of damage to the
environment and human health;
-will be monitored regularly for the duration of operations
and aftercare period.
 Solutions

Water Pollution

• Prevent groundwater contamination

• Greatly reduce nonpoint runoff
• Reuse treated wastewater for irrigation
• Find substitutes for toxic pollutants
• Work with nature to treat sewage
• Practice four R's of resource use (refuse,
reduce, recycle, reuse)
• Reduce resource waste
• Reduce Soil Erosion
 ? ?
?
? ?
? ?
 Lecturer in Geology Department
 Bacha Khan University Charsadda