Author(s): Shadananan Nair
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Abstract: Environment friendly, low-cost technology that uses locally available cheap material and measures to control the input of pollutants can improve water quality in regional water bodies. This paper explains the success story from a tropical wetland region in India. Climate change and anthropogenic impacts such as encroachment and release of untreated wastewater and solid wastes highly degraded the water quality, leading to the shortage of reliable water. Routine analysis of water sample on a monthly basis from selected locations showed that presence of organic and inorganic pollutants are very high, water quality is much below safety limits and serious health hazards could be expected in near future. Hardness of water shows that water is totally unfit for human use. Amount of dissolved oxygen has become so low that organisms such as fish and frog disappeared from most of the region. Vector-borne and water-borne diseases affected thousands. Extremes in rainfall and failure in a wetland agriculture development project affected natural flushing of water. Rainfall is becoming more seasonal, causing erosion and sedimentation and making parts of the wetland dry for a few months. However, experiments in the test plot with local technology using locally available material like charcoal and lime shell, and locally made cheap aerators prove that condition can be made better without much financial expense. Deepening and cleaning of the canal to enhance water circulation and erosion control using local plants and proper awareness to the public made a lot of changes.
Year: 2018