Status of Water Quality in Various Ponds and Lakes in India

Water is one of the most important natural resource because existence of living organisms depends on water. Total amount of water on the earth is approximately 1.4 billion km3 out of which 97% is saline water and 3% is freshwater. Nowadays, water is polluted due to rapid industrialization, urbanization, use of pesticides, and fertilizers and wastewater disposal. Due to use of polluted water, human beings suffer from various waterborne diseases, so availability of good quality water is an essential requirement for prevention of diseases. Almost all lakes and ponds in India are adversely affected by water pollution. The main adverse effects of water pollution are death of aquatic organisms, waterborne diseases, eutrophication, bioaccumulation of contaminants, etc. In the present paper, water pollution, source of water pollution, and adverse effects of water pollution are discussed, and a summary of studies on water quality assessment is presented.