Water is the resource that sustains all life on earth and is a key element of sustainable development. It is essential if human beings are to enjoy healthy and safe lives or realize social and economic development.
Water pollution occurs when a body of water is adversely affected due to the addition of large amounts of materials to the water. Water pollution means such contaminations of water or such alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties of water likely to create a nuisance or render such water harmful to public health or safety.
Present study deals with the study of the pollution levels of Kshipra river at Bherugarh, Ujjain. There are many small scale textile, dyeing and printing industries in this locality. In these industries many chemicals, dyes, detergents, waxes, starch and cellulose are used. These industrial effluents are directly thrown in the river without prior treatment. Due to this effluent, river water gets polluted hence this water becomes unfit for drinking, bathing and even washing purposes.
The physicochemical study of river indicates that river water is highly polluted. All parameters showed higher values than the prescribed standard values.