**Abstract**

Due to urbanization, there is an increasing need for infrastructure and services, leading to pressure on the sewage system. As a result, water contamination and sewagerelated illnesses are emerging. On-site sanitary facilities are insufficient, and current sewage systems are outdated, causing freshwater contamination and diseases such as typhoid, malaria, etc. Untreated domestic sewage/wastewater, mining waste, industrial wastewater, agricultural waste, and other contaminants are polluting most aquatic ecosystems worldwide, leading to harm to surface water bodies, sewage drainage systems, surface water, and groundwater. Various sewage disposal methods are discussed, but they are not sustainable. The UN proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in response to the need for sustainability and the effects of pollution and population growth. SDG 6 aims to ensure equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene. It also includes goals to enhance water quality, increase water usage efficiency, develop integrated water resource management, and restore aquatic ecosystems. Efficient sewage disposal is crucial to reduce detrimental effects on the environment and public health. It is necessary to emphasize SDGs to protect the environment sustainably. It is crucial for the international community to work together to find effective and sustainable solutions to the problem of sewage management.

**Keywords:** sewage disposal, sustainable development goals, sanitation, eutrophication, contamination

### **1. Introduction**

Water scarcity is a major global issue. It is so relevant that United Nation has given priority to water management across the globe. Similarly, India also is dealing with water crisis and there is a growing need for freshwater at household and commercial level. As per the latest reports by the committee of the Ministry of Water Resources (2000), India is overall consuming 1093 billion m3 and this consumption will increase to 1447 billion m3 by the next 30 years. The common man is enraged and agitated

about the pollution issues in India and worried about it getting worse each passing day. Negligent disposal of industrial and domestic wastewater is polluting the waterbodies of India. In Indian culture, the water bodies are not only the source of life but are considered very sacred. Indians are religiously sentimental about the water bodies of the nation are getting serious about their detriment [1].

Population wise India wears an inglorious crown as a second-highest population on the entire planet. India is known as a land of agriculture, thus 93% of freshwater water goes in agricultural practices and remaining 7% is consumed by industrial and domestic processes. Due to consistent utilization of surface freshwater, currently in India, the three fourth of freshwater bodies are now contaminated by the discharge of untreated sewage wastewater. Owing to regrettable sanitation practices, 80% of the total water consumption of Indian subcontinent is returned as wastewater, polluting the waterbodies and soils.

As per recent reports by environmentalists and environmental scientists, many major Indian cities and suburbs are facing persistent issues in the matter of solid liquid waste management including sewage management, especially in rural areas. Current situation of rural India paints a really bad picture of sewage and sanitation management. Villages of the country are still lagging behind in the matter of proper sanitation practices and better sewer lines in domestic surroundings. Mixing of sewage waste in open freshwater is a major cause of pathogenic contamination in domestic water supplies and diseases related to it. Water borne pathogens are responsible for approximately 3.5 million human deaths as per recent reports by UNDP [2]. According to a report of WHO-UNICEF, Indian villages contributes to more than 50% open defecation practices responsible for many health concerns including high infant mortality, spread of water-borne diseases and child stunting [2]. Freshwater bodies such as lakes, rivers, ponds and groundwater are getting contaminated by sewage due to ignorant open defecation practices in their catchments.

Similar situation is recognized in urban settlements as well, according to some recent reports, urban domestic sewage is a primary cause of decline in aquatic freshwater ecosystem of India. On account of inadequate treatment systems in most the Indian cities, untreated or half treated sewage run offs are fusing with the natural water resources, also contaminating the rivers of cities with effective treatment plants as well. Domestic sewage contributes more than 70% of total pollutants in water as per reported in Water Aid (2016a) [1].

Domestic sewage from major cities and towns of north India alone contributes for the 1528 million m3 sewage waste along the banks of the river Ganga every day. Unfortunately, due to ever growing population and urbanization along with the languid implementation of Government policies, the sanitation practices are still not on the path of any improvement [3].

In developing nations, sewage or domestic wastewater is main source of water supply due to growing water scarcity but to avail that water, it needs to be properly treated and analyzed before use. Owing to lack of awareness and improper treatment methods, maximum population is consuming this contaminated water on daily basis which is posing serious threat to the community as a whole. The gray wastewater constitutes the washes coming out from households, institutions, industries, business establishments etc. However, the main constituent in sewage wastewater is fecal matter of human and animal activities. Due to the presence of fecal matter, sewage water is rich in organic compounds and pathogenic enterobacteria [4].

Organic wastes, mainly in the form of sewage sludge is recently been considered an important resource available to meet the ever-increasing demand of renewable

#### *Achieving Sustainable Development Goal Related to Water and Sanitation through Proper… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109970*

energy across the globe. Organic compounds can be employed as a resourceful substrate to generate energy in the form of heat and can be utilized in advanced new age technologies as well. In addition, the organic contaminants in sewage can be used as a source of fertilizers for soils and bioremediation of infertile lands [5]. But most of the time these organic contaminants are considered pollutants and cause serious harm to the ecosystem.

In lieu of changing environment and challenges posed by water scarcity and growing demand of clean and hygienic water for consumption, United Nations (UN) general assembly reinforced the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development in September, 2015. Out of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined for different societal issues, SDG 6 was dedicated completely to the access of clean and adequate water to every individual. The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) adopted SDG 6 as clean water and sanitation, which is subdivided into targets to be achieved by the end of 2030. The main elements of the SDG 6 include the availability of quality water to each individual, treatment of wastewater, efficient use of available freshwater, integrated water resource management and sustainable ecosystem. In totality, the SDG 6 aims to ensure the sustainable management and availability of proper sanitation and clean water for one and all by the end of this decade.

These diverse set of objectives is a reflection of the growing realization that a lot of problems with water management, adaptability, and administration must be rectified if the humanity ought to be experiencing overall growth in sustainable manner [6]. In order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), it is essential to carefully monitor and evaluate social and fiscal water demand at the regional level in a way that does not harm the environment on global scale. India holds a crucial position among developing nations with a complex interrelated web of a rapidly expanding population, geophysical pressure, social insecurity, and economic disparity pertaining to the usage, availability, and access to water and basic sanitation systems [7].

#### **2. Evolution of sewerage systems**

"The history of men is reflected in the history of sewers" famously quoted by Victor Hugo in 1892 in his equally famous literature "Les Misérables". He claimed that "it has been a sepulchre, it has served as asylum, crime, cleverness, social protest, the liberty of conscience, thought, theft, all that the human law persecutes or have persecuted is hidden in that hole."

It is well acknowledged that people's interactions with sanitation and drinking water have changed significantly over time as a consequence of societal, cultural, and religious factors. Urban communities have been conscious of the need for potable drinking water since ancient times. However, modern communities did not entirely comprehend the significance of basic sanitation for the safeguarding of public health until the 19th century. Historically, for both individuals and governments, managing wastewater had always presented political challenges and substantial need for technological advancement. The history of waste and sewage management is a reflection of both human brilliance and human frailty. The progress of sewage management over time has been addressed by many economists and scholars, but it is common that they typically lack an engineering insight on the issue.

Evolution of sanitation and sewage management over time is divided into few significant eras to understand the development of sanitation methods chronologically:


In Frankfurt, the development of a system in 1867 marked the beginning of the widespread installation of sewers in German cities. The reconstruction of Paris began in June, 1853, when George-Eugene Haussmann took his oath of office as prefect of the Seine. Eugène Belgrand was given the task by Haussmann of conducting a significant restructuring of the city's existing sewerage system beginning in 1854.

The Pugliese Aqueduct, which brought water from the Sele River to Bari, was the last of the major public works projects in Italy that were built between 1870 and 1915. These projects included the aqueducts of Serino and Selino. Almost invariably, building aqueducts for "aristocratic" drinking water was favored over building sewers *Achieving Sustainable Development Goal Related to Water and Sanitation through Proper… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109970*

to collect effluent, partly because the cost of aqueducts was relatively low due to the reusing of old Roman pipeline infrastructure and the construction & maintenance were funded by overseas companies.

The construction of "sewers" utilizing hollowed-out logs began in the 1700s in large towns like Boston and Chicago. The first "water pollution control" law was implemented in Massachusetts, a British colony, in 1647.

5.**The Era of Strict Environmental Regulations**: The twentieth century ultimately saw a breakthrough in environmental research, sewage treatment, and people's sentiments towards pollution. Throughout the century, scientific advancement, societal values, and government actions changed, starting with unregulated pollution and concluding with efforts to strengthen control (10).

The 8th Report of the Royal Commission on Sewer Systems in 1912, established rules and Biochemical tests to be performed on sewage and sewage sludge and introduced the idea of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), was a defining moment and was already imitated by many other nations.

Scientists were capable of predicting the permissible limits of BOD loads to surface freshwaters owing to the creation of aeration/deaeration models by Streeter and Phelps (1925) and later developed by Imhoff and Mahr (1932) [10, 11]. Meanwhile, authorities made waste management mandatory. Wastewater treatment plants were built in the major cities of Europe prior to the World War I, but warfare contributed in their construction to be suspended [12, 13].

However, political ideologies in several nations impeded the management of sewage. For instance, when the national socialist party was elected to power in Germany, they changed the way wastewater was handled. The "Blood and Soil" philosophy emphasized agricultural exploitation over eliminating the contaminants before use, resulting in massive irrigation of sewage wastewater for agriculture practices.

Later on, the World War II also slowed down the sewage treatment systems till 1948, resulting in increased water pollution. Furthermore, several wastewater treatment facilities suffered damage during the conflict and were never repaired [12].

The United Kingdom and the United States saw tremendous advancements in sewage waste management after the war, but not Europe [13]. Pollution discussions by 1950 were centered on stream use categorization and freshwater quality standards, which were prerequisites to the development of a strategy for sewage management [14]. The general relationship between industrial water pollution and toxicity was established as early as the first decade of the 20th century [15].

In the late 1970s, publicly available gas chromatography and atomic absorption spectrophotometry techniques contributed to the further advancement in our knowledge of environmental pollution [16, 17]. This made possible to identify environmental contaminants accurately. In the early 21st century, a roadmap for the advancement of analytical techniques was established [18].

#### **3. Access to sanitation: current Indian scenario**

The extent to which modern sanitation systems are utilized is significantly influenced by the availability of water [1]. In metropolitan areas, over 90% of individuals have safe drinking water, and therefore more than two-thirds have access to basic sanitation facilities, based on research by World Bank in 2011. Access to reliable,

cost-effective, and sustainable water supply and sanitation (WSS) services, however, is still a challenge. None of the Indian cities have constant piped water access. Flowing water is never delivered for more than a few hours on daily basis, regardless of the quantity supplied. Untreated sewage regularly spills in exposed sewers. Those who live in cities make up only about half of the population. Between 30 and 70 percent of the water delivered is thought to be non-revenue water, which is caused by leakage, faulty connections, inefficient billing and collection practices, etc. Less than 30–40% of maintenance and operational expenses are covered by user fees. The bulk of urban businesses depend heavily on grants for operating and capital to survive [19].
