Impact of Urbanization on Groundwater and Microbial QualityBrooke BlankenshipWichita State UniversityBiology ConferenceMay 6, 2014Groundwater, a valuable natural resource, is the essential source of drinking water in the world. Groundwater can be polluted by human activities, but it is considered much cleaner than surface water. In areas with high populations, the rate of groundwater removal is faster than its replenishment. This article will cover the article Impact of Urbanization on Microbiological Quality of Groundwater – A Case Study of Visakhapatnam City, AP. India, as a focal point and introduction, discusses the effect of urbanization on groundwater, identifies sources of water pollution and suggests methods for improvement. In India, water quality is increasingly deteriorating. Fecal pollution can lead to the introduction of intestinal pathogens such as Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli, Campylobacter and Vibrio cholera. These can cause illnesses causing gastroenteritis, dysentery, cholera, typhoid fever or meningitis. Polluted waters may also contain viral pathogens (e.g. hepatitis). Monitoring drinking water plays an important role because it reveals water quality and the risk of epidemics. The importance of this study was to assess water quality and then prove the need to prevent water pollution as well as disinfect groundwater before human consumption (Chandran 2013). For the study, 25 groundwater samples were observed to measure microbial pollution as well as inspect for pathogens. The two common microbes targeted were fecal coliforms (FC) and fecal streptococci (FS). The specific goal of the study was to find not only the amount of each in the water samples, but also the ratio...... middle of paper ......chapter/001714.pdfReddy, RK (2009). General microbiology. New Age 1, 1-6 http://water.columbia.edu/files/2012/06/FICCI_CWC_IndiaWaterCrisisPaper.pdf Perveen, S., Sen, R., Ghosh, M. (2012) The deepening water crisis water in India. FICCI, 3-19 http://www.aces.edu/waterquality/articles/0121001/0121001.pdf Hairston, J. (2001) Urbanization and its effects on water quality. Alabama coop, 1-3Elledge, MF, McClatchey, M. (2013) India, urban sanitation and the toilet challenge. RTI Press 9.13, 1-4 http://www.rti.org/pubs/rb-0006-1309-elledge.pdf http://orbit.dtu.dk/fedora/objects/orbit:113168/datastreams/file_9826908/ contentGozdereliler, E. (2012) Groundwater bacteria: diversity, activity and physiology of pesticide degradation at low concentrations. Geus 49-51California recycling wastewaterhttp://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/urban2/Urbwater.pdf