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Hyderabad is one of the fastest growing Indian megacities which have significant impact on its environment. The surface and groundwater resources are severely affected by uncontrolled expansion and densification of the city. For the better understanding, recovery and to prevent future deterioration of these significance resources, it is necessary to have knowledge of the impact of urban growth in various ways on environment. Historical groundwater level and quality data obtained from different sources as well as by field study data is used for this analysis. In some cases missing data points were interpolated and verified by providing certain criteria. The map of rate of groundwater level change per year showed the locations of recharge activity by sewage and other effluents as well as overexploitations by industrial and some upper middle class residential areas. The results obtained from groundwater quality analysis are then compared with the BIS (Bureau of India) as well as WHO (World Health Organization) standards for drinking water. It had been observed that many water samples had heavy metal elements and bacterial formation above permissible limits and it is not suitable for drinking purpose. The water samples obtained from locations which do not qualify for drinking water use according to WHO as well as BIS standards are identified. These results are then overlapped with map of rate of groundwater level change to establish the relation between urban groundwater recharge and its effect on groundwater quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing and newly industrialized countries, population growth and migration contribute immensely to the development of megacities and mega urban areas. In most cases, the rapid development of cities has far-reaching consequences for the ecosystem in general and the hydrological cycle in particular. The developments in China within the last decades show an interesting, but complex setting. Massive and rapidly occurring land use changes in the economically booming South-Chinese Pearl River Delta result in rising hazards and risks for the urban water resources and often in a severe deterioration of water quality. The quantity and quality of local groundwater sources is, however, much less investigated than the situation of the surface waters. In order to supporting a better protection of the urban groundwater resources, the aims of this article are to analyze the vulnerability of the groundwater and the potential hazards and risks for groundwater resulting from land use changes - taking Guangzhou as a case study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This interdisciplinary paper aims at Guangzhou's development and its effects on surface and groundwater quality taking the new city axis as an example. Qualitative morphological analyses, field mappings, interviews and water sampling of standard in-situ and various hydrochemical parameters were conducted between 2007 and 2009 in order to examine the following research questions: Which types of land use can be found within the new city axis? Are there infrastructure differences of water supply and wastewater disposal? How does land use affect the quality of surface and groundwater? How do inhabitants perceive and appraise settlement structures, infrastructures and environmental quality and how do they cope with their individual situation? Within four small-scale research areas, so-called urban units, different stages and types of development and factors influencing the water resources as well as spatial variations of water quality could be identified. Deficits in city planning, water supply and sanitation lead, for example, to informal building expansion and groundwater use as well as to high concentrations of coliform bacteria in urban rivers. A wide range of ecological and social vulnerabilities became obvious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]