How safe is Drinking Water? An insight into Water Contamination and Water Adulteration

The very basic need for human existence is Water. Water is an indispensable natural resource and is a bare essential to perform our daily chores. However, living in a developing nation, it’s not easy to curb the detrimental issues like contaminated water. According to a report by the United Nations, 90% of wastewater discharged in developing countries is left untreated everyday and the damaging effect of the same can be well understood by the fact that over 3 million people around the world die each year by drinking water which is deemed unfit for human consumption.

Looking at the figures back home, 37.7 million Indians are affected by waterborne diseases each year. Water contamination in India is majorly contributed by untreated sewerage which contaminates surface as well as ground water. Apart from sanitation issues, rivers like Yamuna, Ganga, Gomti, Ghaggar, Chambal flow through highly populated cities and get polluted due to the industries they cross.  A study has found that tap water may contain toxics like mercury.

However, with the increase in the literacy rate, more and more Indians are becoming aware of consuming safe drinking water. Amongst the common usages of water like drinking, washing clothes & utensils, taking a bath, watering plants, etc... a lot of care is taken by the Indians for the Drinking water. Most of us prefer Bottled water over using Tap water as we are aware that the tap water may be contaminated by chemicals, microbes, pathogens, sanitation issues, etc...

Adulterated Water in India has been a menace since long. Every now and then we come across news on adulterated water which unveils the fact that even the bottled water or mineral water can be spurious. Many a times Authorities pick up samples of mineral water and find them contaminated with Microbes and toxics. Therefore, it becomes quintessential for us to consume Quality marked Bottled Water which is processed at water plants using aseptic filling technologies ensuring delivery of Safe Drinking water.

People have to become aware of the fact that Bottled Water can be adulterated too. By consuming bottled water from a not so reliable outlet is like you are paying for the adulterated water and furthermore helping grow the spurious business of adulterated water.