Safe water in sufficient quantities is fundamental to human health. The most important water-associated health problem is diarrhea, accounting for 3 to 5 million deaths per year around the globe, especially among children. Availability of safe drinking water, combined with sanitary facilities for disposal of feces and improved hygiene standards, could prevent diarrheal disease to a great extent in developing countries like India. Much emphasis has been placed on reducing biological contamination, but contamination from naturally occurring chemicals in groundwater and from industrial and agricultural waste is also becoming a serious problem in India. Conventional strategies that treat the drinking-water supply separately from water used for other purposes have limitations. Many emerging water-quality problems—and potential solutions—come from the interactions among uses, especially between domestic use and irrigation. 

According to a  survey by CPCB,  the groundwater quality at 138 sampling locations in 22 industrialized zones of India revealed that water in all 22 zones was not fit for drinking, due to high bacteriological and heavy metal contamination . It is estimated that 1.5 million pre-school children in India die every year from diarrhoea, and that cholera, dysentery and gastroenteritis are responsible for 60% of the total urban deaths. 

All these diseases are water-borne and claim a large number of lives every year in spite of better health facilities and increased expenditure on health. In urban regions, river water is, to a large extent, treated before it is supplied by the municipal authorities to the people for drinking and other domestic purposes. However, most Indian rivers today fall short of Central Pollution Control Boards standards, due to excessive pollution by untreated sewage, and domestic and industrial waste. Biological oxygen demand (BOD) and most probable number (MPN) coliform are direct measures of the extent of organic pollution of any water body.

So ,the water quality of water resources at any place should be as per WHO( World Health Organization) or BIS ( Bureau  of Indian Standards ). To see the BIS standards Click here

Surface and groundwater resources provide drinking water supply in the state of Punjab.  the south-western district of the state are served by surface water whereas central and northern districts of the state receive drinking water supplies from tubewells which tap shallow and deeper aquifer system.  Quality of surface water is getting deteriorated due to waste disposal, municipal waste waters and surface runoff containing agro-chemicals from agricultural fields.  

Quality or River water :-

Pollution of the rivers in the state has been progressively increasing over a time due to industrialization and urbanization etc. The Punjab Pollution Control Board has identified 15547 polluting industries under the provision of Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act and Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. Out of these 9465 are Red Category Units ( 288 LSUs, 340 MSUs & 8837 SSUs ) and 6082  are Green Category Units ( 2775 SS Moderately Polluting & 3307 SS Marginally Polluting)(PPC. These industries have caused serious water, air and land pollution problems in the state. Punjab pollution control board (PPCB), Patiala has been monitoring quality of river water in the state since 1986 under the Govt. of India scheme MINAR (Monitoring of India National Aquatic Resources). According to the study of PPCB (1995), the quality of river Sutlej at Nangal (in the upstream area) is good with sufficient high dissolved oxygen and well bufferal pH which favour occurrence of diverse photo and zoo-plankton.  The water quality can be designated as a “A’ category (designated best use-drinking water source without conventional treatment but after disinfection). As the river flows downwards, its quality degrades due to addition of pollutants and the quality category becomes ‘C’  (it can be used for drinking only after conventional treatment and disinfection). It is also not fit for bathing.  The quality further degrades to ‘D’ category (pH between 6.5 and 8.5, dissolved oxygen 4 mg/1 or more) as Budha Nallah from Ludhiana disposes industrial waste waters and domestic sewage  into the river.  Due to degradation of quality, there is no fish in the river upto 20 km down stream of Ludhiana.

            The quality of river Beas on entering the Punjab State is generally ‘A’ category.  It falls to ‘D’ category immediately after it receives the industrial and domestic waste of Mukerian and Goindwal Industrial Complex.  Water quality is lowered mainly due to high count of coliform.  The quality of Ravi river is maintained at ‘A’ category due to less human and industrial activity and water is well oxygenated and relatively free from organic load.

                           Status of River water Quality of Punjab