Environmental pollution is the most important challenge facing by modern world. The Industrial Revolution increased the pollution in every component of the environment. Industries not only emit harmful gases to the atmosphere but they affect the lithosphere and hydrosphere in the form of industrial discharge.
Today in this post I will share a case study of two districts Kohat and Bannu, of Pakistan. In this case study I explore the harmful impact of irrigation with industrial wastewater.
The wastewater discharge from the Bannu woolen mill and other industries is discharged to a stream and this water is used for irrigation of different crops and vegetables. Similarly, the Kohat textile mills also directly discharge wastewater to the Kohat canal and this canal irrigates several thousand acre of land. The wastewater discharge from the industries contains several contaminants such as heavy metals, Persistent organic pollutants, and other harmful chemicals. The concentrations of these contaminants increase with time and according to the recent report, they exceed the threshold rate.
Cultivation of such contaminated soil and water is an alarming threat to humans and other organisms because the plants can accumulate these contaminants such as heavy metals in their tissue and these contaminants magnify when the plant is used by primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers.
Among these contaminants, some are very toxic and can lead to cancer and other chronic health problems. Some of these contaminants cause long-term diseases. It also causes several diseases in plants as well. It reduces the growth and production of plants.

Recommendations

It is requested that a stakeholder treat the wastewater after discharging it into the environment.
The government and legal bodies recommended that strict action be taken against this issue.
The farmers are advised not to irrigate crops with wastewater.

The given below are some pictures captured from the respective site. We can see the wastewater flowing to the crop fields.