The differences are evident in the following examples:
Although the River Ganges is very important for irrigation, washing and drinking and it has a special role as a sacred place for religious purification, a river report has stated that ‘everyday 350 human corpses, 1500 tonnes of wood and almost the same weight of animal carcasses are thrown into the River Ganges.’
The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) reports that the main sources of pollution of the river are urban wastes, industrial liquids and sewage. This pollution is thought to have been responsible for large-scale ecosystem destruction.
Figure 1 Water Pollution - A Major Problem In LEDCs
Egypt is mainly dependent on the River Nile for its water resources, which provides 55.5 billion m3/year (according to present agreements with Sudan), and groundwater, which currently provides 2.5 billion m3/year (of which 1.18 billion m3/year infiltrates from the Nile). The Nile provides, both directly and indirectly, 98% of all water consumed. Some deterioration of the Nile's water quality has occurred over the past few years.
Fighting Nile pollution is at the top of the National Plan priorities. A major effort in this concern is being exerted in collaboration with many international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). Clearing up the Nile tributaries addresses water pollution, wild papyrus proliferation and, most importantly, the shells that cause epidemic Bilharziasis, a renal track disease that is widely spread in the Nile delta region.
A project is also being implemented with funding from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). It is the Manzala engineered wetland project which aims at cleaning up the Nile water before it flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
Another important project financed by GEF is the coastal clean-up project of the Red Sea. Coral reef and tourist areas are to be protected by this project from oil spills from Egyptian oil fields and the tankers passing through the Suez Canal.
Regulations have also been made which include Laws 48 (1982) and Law 93 (1962). These laws address the protection of the Nile and its waterways from pollution, and regulate the discharge of wastewater into the sewerage system.
As recently as the 1960s, the Thames was biologically 'dead' - only a few bacteria and tubifex worms could live in the polluted waters. Since then, considerable investment in waste water treatment and the decline of the manufacturing industry have caused a dramatic improvement in the river environment.
The quality of the water in the River Thames is better now than at any time in the last century and the Thames is now the cleanest metropolitan estuary in the whole of Europe.
However, vast quantities of litter are still deposited in the Thames each year, spoiling the clean environment. The litter includes cans, bottles and even shopping trolleys. A lot of litter is also blown into the Thames from open skips and badly stored waste. Litter on streets is also washed into the river during times of heavy rain.
The River Rhine is regarded as being Europe's dirtiest river. Almost one fifth of all the chemical production in the world takes place along its banks. Despite the best attempt to purify the river water before it becomes drinking water, Cornelius van der Veen, the head of the Dutch water works in the Rhine catchment area, once said "Even well-thought-out purification and reprocessing systems mean that just about every substance present in untreated water is also to be found in drinking water."
On 1st November 1986, the Sandoz chemical factory in Switzerland had a warehouse fire. While the firemen were extinguishing the flames they sprayed water over drums of chemicals that were exploding due to the heat. The water and chemical mixture was washed into the Rhine, dumping 30 tonnes of pesticides, chemical dyes and fungicides into the river. As a result the river life died up to 100 miles downstream.
After the fire had been put out, the German government checked the water as it passed through Germany. They discovered a high level of a chemical called Atrazine (a herbicide) that wasn't listed as having been stored at the Sandoz site. Eventually another giant chemical company, Ciba-Geigy, admitted that they'd had an accident the day before and spilled 100 gallons of Atrazine into the river. The West German government didn't believe this figure and stated that nearer to 1500 gallons must have entered the river.
As the monitoring of the Sandoz chemicals continued, more chemicals were discovered and it emerged that many different companies were discharging chemicals unlawfully. BASF, well known for their recording tapes, admitted to spilling 1100kg of herbicide, Hoechst admitted to a major leak of chlorobenzene, and Lonza confessed that they had lost 4,500 litres of chemicals from their plant.
Despite this worrying state over 20 million people were, and still are, getting their drinking water from the Rhine.
Figure 2 Water Pollution - smells like trouble to me
The main similarity between schemes tackling water pollution in the developed world and the less developed world is that they both try and eradicate the pollution at its source and also try to educate people about the problems associated with water pollution and how to dispose of their rubbish properly.
The difference is the amount of money ploughed into correcting the problem. Although the Indian and Egyptian governments have initiated some schemes of action, they do not have the financial power to match the British and German Governments in their clear up operations. They have to receive help from the World Banks and other aid organisations.
