Green practices to save our precious water resource

Abstract

Population explosion and increasing urbanization and industrialization are the major reasons behind the increasing water pollution causing a major threat to the quality of water content. To a large extent, due to human activities and to some extent due to natural processes, a large number of organic toxicants such as petroleum hydrocarbons, halogenated and nitroaromatic compounds, phthalate esters, solvents, and pesticides pollute the aquatic environments. Conventional methods used for water purification can be costly and cumbersome leading to secondary pollution. Eco-friendly and cheaper alternates are always the need of the day. In this chapter, the properties and behavior of water, the pollutants responsible for water borne illness and the precautions and preventions against water pollution are discussed in the frame of new Green technologies which are being actively researched on and applied at larger scale to clean up the polluted water resources. The focus here is on Green practices to save this precious resource.