The present investigation deals with the analysis of physico-chemical characteristics, concentration of heavy metals and textural analysis of sediments in Poovar estuary of Kerala during the period 2004-2005. Three sampling stations were selected and sediments were collected for the study.

The Root Zone Treatment System (RZTS) has been used widely for nutrient removal in European countries. In spite of having its more adaptability in tropical region like India its use to address nutrient induced issues in the country is very less.

Cities in the developing countries have multiple modes of human and animal waste treatment and disposal that finally decide the overall impact on the urban ecosystem, and these have been studied for the city of Bangalore. Four modes are found, namely underground sewage systems, decentralized soak pits and septic tanks, open defecation and a miniscule effort at composting. The extent of N released per unit area is high, ranging between 0.44 and 1.4 t ha

The discharge of municipal sewage, industrial effluents and biomedical waste into the Mahanadi has raised concerns about environmental sustainability and also posed a serious threat to the health of people living on the banks. This article critically examines the river pollution caused by the spiralling urbanisation and industrialisation along with dumping of waste by many medical facilities. There is an urgent need to address this enormous challenge which is a direct outcome of inefficient planning and management.

A former US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientist is suing the agency's officials and researchers at the University of Georgia in Athens, alleging that they manufactured and published false data to support the use of potentially harmful sewage sludges as fertilizers. The sludges have been linked to health problems in humans and cattle

Some 30 years ago, as the United States began to tighten its environmental regulations on residential and industrial wastewater, operators of sewage-treatment plants embraced what seemed an eminently sensible idea. They decided to take the rich organic sludge left over after clean water is extracted and sell it to farmers as fertilizer. The programme might well be as sensible as it seems. It is possible that the millions of tonnes of sludge being spread across the rural landscape contain no significant levels of toxic chemicals, heavy metals or disease-causing organisms.