An international research team from The University of Manchester, The University of Birmingham and other UK and Indian collaborators, have discovered that water pollutants in rivers are caused by a mixture of chemical cocktail caused by natural chemical processes related to downstream flow.

Human interaction with the environment is also accelerating stress on water at unprecedented rates.

The researchers discovered that characteristic breakpoints – often found when a tributary joins the main river or significant point sources exist – can change the behaviour of some compounds, causing the concentration of these chemicals to change drastically, depending on where they are on their journey down the river.

The experts discovered the phenomenon after piloting a new, systematic approach to understanding hydrogeochemical dynamics in large river systems along the entire length of India’s River Ganges (Ganga) – from close to its source in the Himalayas down to the Indian Ocean.

The study published in Water Research, also revealed that chemicals including nitrate, chloride, sulfate, calcium, sodium and strontium are cut and boosted in different proportion by a series of breakpoints along the Ganga.

Dr Laura Richards, Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Research Fellow at the University, commented: “Our research helps to understand the downstream transitions in the chemistry of the River Ganga providing important baseline information and quantification of solute sources and controls. In addition to improving the understanding of a river system as environmentally and societally important as the Ganga, the systematic approach used may also be applicable to other large river systems.”

• To read the full article, click here.
• You can also read Dr Richard’s blog for United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science here.