Drinking Water

River water quality data by Central Pollution Control Board (2005)

Rivers are one of the prime suppliers of drinking water. They are also important for agriculture, fisheries and recreational activities. However some of these activities also pollute the rivers. Pollution can be either from point sources such as industrial or sewage effluent discharges, or can be diffused from roads or agricultural run-off. Therefore it is necessary that rivers are protected from pollution and are managed as a sustainable resource for all of the activities that depend on their water quality.

Author : Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)

Published:19th Mar, 2013 at 6:41 PM

Updated:19th Mar, 2013 at 6:41 PM

Against this backdrop, this document by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) elaborates on the river water quality in India. The Central and State Pollution Control Boards / Pollution Control Committees in Union-Territories of India are responsible for restoration and maintenance of the wholesomeness of aquatic resources. To ensure that the water quality is being maintained or restored at desired level it is important that the pollution control boards regularly monitor the water quality. The water quality monitoring is performed with following objectives:

For rational planning of pollution control strategies and their prioritisation;
To assess nature and extent of pollution control needed in different water bodies or their part;
To evaluate effectiveness of pollution control measures already is existence;
To evaluate water quality trend over a period of time;
To assess assimilative capacity of a water body thereby reducing cost on pollution control;
To understand the environmental fate of different pollutants.
To assess the fitness of water for different uses.
Present Approach to Water Quality Management

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has established a network of monitoring stations on rivers across the country. The present network comprises of 870 stations in 26 States and 5 Union Territories spread over the country. The monitoring is done on monthly or quarterly basis in surface waters and on half yearly basis in case of ground water. The monitoring network covers 189 Rivers, 51 Lakes, 4 Tanks, 2 Ponds, 3 Creeks,

4 Canals, 10 Drains and 218 Wells. Among the 870 stations, 566 are on rivers, 55 on lakes, 10 on drains, 12 on canals, 4 on tank, 3 on creeks and 2 on pond and 218 are groundwater stations.

To know more about the details of the water quality monitoring click here.

Click on the respective river basins to acquire its data on water quality. It provides monitoring locations on canals, creeks and drains; lakes, ponds and tanks; and groundwater aquifers are listed out alphabetically for States and Union Territories.

Click below to download the data of all the basins mentioned above.

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