International Journal of Ecosystem 2015, 5(3A): 89-92 DOI: 10.5923/c.ije.201501.13 Importance of Groundwater as Compatible with Environment Sagar Simlandy Asst. Professor in History, Sripat Singh College, Jiaganj, Murshidabad Abstract Groundwater is highly useful and often with abundant sources and it is highly useful for the human beings. But it can cause major problems to the society and environment. It is also ecologically important. The importance of groundwater and even of fresh water to Ecosystem is often overlooked by biologists and ecologists. Groundwater is a prime natural resource in the Earth. It not only supports all types of life forms to exist in the Earth but also helps in the growth of human civilization. It quenches thirst and fulfils all the house-hold demands. Groundwater is used for the irrigation purposes. The newly growing up industries catering to the various needs and luxuries of people consume volumes of water for their use. Arsenic contamination of groundwater is often due to naturally occurring high concentrations of arsenic in deeper levels of groundwater. A high profile problem arises because the use of deep-tube wells for water supply in the Ganges Delta causes serious arsenic poisoning to a large number of people. In the beginning, water from rainfall, snow and rivers was the only source of water to mankind. As these surface water sources were dependent on rainfall, local shortage was often witnessed. But men were not able to build sustainable water reservoir which can be useful for them in the drought period. Then, man came to know about groundwater and his dependence on it increased with the progress in civilization. At present about two billion people in the world are dependent on groundwater. Fortunately, groundwater is a renewable source that is recharged every year through rainfall. Groundwater in a large part of Bengal Basin contains high levels of arsenic. To combat this deadly arsenic menace we need to make people aware and to educate villagers about the problem. We should also preferable utilize our vast available surface water and rainwater instead of reckless use of groundwater to control the arsenic poisoning. Keywords Groundwater, Arsenic, Environment, Bengal, Rainfall Groundwater is highly useful and often with abundant sources and it is highly useful for the human beings. But it can cause major problems to the society and environment. It is also ecologically important. The importance of groundwater and even of fresh water to Ecosystem is often overlooked by biologists and ecologists. Groundwater is a prime natural resource in the Earth. It not only supports all types of life forms to exist in the Earth but also helps in the growth of human civilization. It quenches thirst and fulfils all the house-hold demands. Groundwater is used for the irrigation purposes. The newly growing up industries catering to the various needs and luxuries of people consume volumes of water for their use. Arsenic contamination of groundwater is often due to naturally occurring high concentrations of arsenic in deeper levels of groundwater. A high profile problem arises because the use of deep-tube wells for water supply in the Ganges Delta causes serious arsenic poisoning to a large number of people. Arsenic contamination of groundwater is often due to naturally occurring high concentrations of arsenic in deeper * Corresponding author: sagar.hist@gmail.com (Sagar Simlandy) Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/ije Copyright © 2015 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved levels of groundwater. It is a high-profile problem due to the use of deep tube wells for water supply in the Ganges Delta, [1] causing serious arsenic poisoning to large numbers of people. A 2007 study found that over 137 million people in more than 70 countries are probably affected by arsenic poisoning of drinking water. Arsenic contamination of ground water is found in many countries throughout the world, including the USA. [2] Arsenic contaminated water typically contains and arsenic acid or their derivatives. Their names as "acids" is a formality, these species are not aggressive acids but are merely the soluble forms of arsenic near neutral PH. [2] These compounds are extracted from the underlying rocks that surround the aquifer. Arsenic acid tends to exist as the ions [HAsO 4 ] 2- and [H 2 AsO 4 ] - in neutral water, whereas arsenics acid is not ionized. Groundwater is the water located beneath the earth's surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table. Groundwater is recharged from, and eventually flows to, the surface naturally; natural discharge often occurs