Sewage
Figure 4 untreated sewage discharge into Ganges river (Jaiswal, 2012)
On the Ganges river alone there is an estimated 29 cities and 70 towns; along with 1000's of small villages (Vass, 2010). This population is responsible for the generation of approximately 1.3 billion liters of sewage per day (Sampat, 1996). Sewage treatment facilities are primarily located in large cities. However, it is not rare for a facility to be operating below standard levels. For example, in the state of Delhi, 26 sewage treatment plants were examined and 6 failed to meet the minimum treatment requirement. Of the total 115 facilities studied across India, 45 failed (CPCB, 2005). That means approximately 40% of sewage treatment plants are operating below requirements. After treatment the majority of plants discharge their sewage into rivers and waterways. Similarly, small cities, towns and villages deposit their sewage directly into river systems. Some towns contain treatment facilities but the vast majority do not. By volume, 80% of the total waste in the Ganges river is sewage (Vass, 2010). Due to the high amount of sewage in many of the Ganges basin rivers, high levels of coliform have been found in various regions. Coliform is an indicator of human and animal waste (Morrison, 2011). Sewage problems stem back to overpopulation and poor governmental planning. The task of solving this issue is only going to become more troublesome and expensive as the population rises.