WaterQualityandPurity
Content Table
Even an advanced country like the United States is facing significant water problems relating to availability, purity, and quality. Over 700 chemicals have been detected in U.S. drinking water as it comes out of the tap. EPA has classified 129 of them as being particularly dangerous. Drinking bottled water does not assure the absence of contaminants. The sad fact is that pollution of drinking water is a problem for about half of the world’s population. It should be noted that human development has great impact on water quality. Satinder Ahuja, provides a full outline of this in chapter 4 of the Handbook of Water Purity and Quality.
The luxury of municipal water purified for human consumption is unavailable for a very large number of people. This necessitates water purification by other means as is exemplified by the horrendous problem of arsenic-contaminated groundwater. This is a worldwide problem that affects even highly developed countries. To help solve the problem, a million-dollar Grainger prize was offered to an inventor for designing a simple filter that would economically remedy the arsenic-contaminated groundwater problem.
Resources
The issues raised in this article are explored in the recently published book, Handbook of Water Purity and Quality, edited by Satinder Ahuja.
Synopsis
The book provides a rich source of methods for analyzing water to assure its safety from natural, man-made, and deliberate contaminants, including those that are added because of carelessness of human endeavors (for example, see Chapter 7 from EPA on ensuring clean and safe water). The first four chapters (see Table of Contents below) provide an overview of the subject and discuss major water-related issues in developing and developed countries. Chapters 5–7 report on issues of sampling for water analysis, regulatory considerations, and forensics in water quality and purity investigations. Chapters 8–14 deal with microbial as well chemical contaminations from inorganic compounds, radionuclides, volatile and semivolatile compounds, disinfectants, herbicides, and pharmaceuticals including endocrine disruptors. Potential terrorist-related contamination and how it should be monitored is covered in Chapter 15.
A million-dollar Grainger prize was offered to an inventor for designing a simple filter that would economically remedy the arsenic-contaminated groundwater problem. Chapter 16 describes such a filter that can remove arsenic sufficiently to protect the health of large numbers of people.
Table of Contents (with Principal Authors)
- Overview, Satinder Ahuja, Ahuja Academy of Water Quality
- Delineation of a Major Worldwide Problem of Arsenic-Contaminated Groundwater, Satinder Ahuja, Ahuja Academy of Water Quality
- Water Quality Issues in Eastern Africa, Shem O. Wandiga, University of Nairobi
- Effect of Human Land Development on Water Quality, Michael A. Mallin, University of North Carolina Wilmington
- Sampling and Analysis of Arsenic in Groundwater in West Bengal, India, and Bangladesh, Dipankar Chakraborti, Jadavpur University
- Forensic Water Quality Investigations: Identifying Pollution Sources and Polluters, Lawrence B. Cahoon, University of North Carolina Wilmington
- Regulatory Considerations to Ensure Clean and Safe Drinking Water, Craig L. Patterson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Microbiological Threats to Water Quality, Lawrence B. Cahoon, University of North Carolina Wilmington
- Monitoring Inorganic Compounds, Pamela Heckel, University of Cincinnati
- Radionuclides in Surface Water and Groundwater, Kate M. Campbell, U.S. Geological Survey
- Volatile and Semivolatile Contaminants, Satinder Ahuja, Ahuja Academy of Water Quality
- Monitoring Disinfectants, Taha F. Marhaba, New Jersey Institute of Technology
- The Evolution of Analytical Technology and Its Impact on Water-Quality Studies for Selected Herbicides and Their Degradation Products in Water, Michael T. Meyer, U.S. Geological Survey
- Monitoring of Pharmaceutical Residues in Sewage Effluents, Zulin Zhang, The Macaulay Institute
- Monitoring for Terrorist-Related Contamination, Dan Kroll, Hach Homeland Security Technologies
- Groundwater Arsenic Removal Technologies Based on Sorbents: Field Applications and Sustainability, Abul Hussam, George Mason University
Important Characteristics
| Provides scope of water contamination problems worldwide | Includes a large number of EPA methods |
| Highlights the problems that occur in both developing and developed countries | Helps readers find assistance with their application |
| Describes various contaminants | Highlights important arsenic-removal technologies |
| Provides a rich resource of methods | Describes a filter that won the million-dollar Grainger prize |
Areas of Interest
- Water contamination in developing and developed countries
- Drinking-water quality
- Environment / waste management
- Health-related water microbiology
- Monitoring and control
- Pollution
- Sludge management
- Urban drainage / sewage
- Water policy / legislation / finance / governance
- Water resources
- Water supply and distribution
- Water treatment
- Watershed / catchments / river basin
References
1.Satinder Ahuja, Handbook of Water Quality and Purity, Elsevier/IWA, 2009.
2. Satinder Ahuja, Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater: Mechanism, Analysis, and Remediation, Wiley, 2008.
