Evaluation of underground waters quality for various purposes with special reference to drinking and irrigation parameters
Paper Details
Evaluation of underground waters quality for various purposes with special reference to drinking and irrigation parameters
Abstract
The present study comprised suitability evaluation of underground waters for drinking and irrigational uses. A total of sixteen underground waters samples were collected from the upper Ghaggar river basin starting from Badisher-Koti (Panchkula) to Ratanheri (Patiala) along the Ghaggar river course. The collected water samples were subjected to the physico-chemical and heavy metals characterizations. Physico-chemical and heavy metals characterization of the groundwater samples revealed that many of the water sources were not suitable for drinking purpose owing to the high concentration of one or other parameter above the safe prescribed limit. Suitability for irrigation, too, was low since most of the water sources had high concentration of cadmium and contained medium to high salinity hazard. The high concentration of the chemical parameters may be attributed to the lithologic composition and intensive agricultural activities of the area.
APHA. 2005. Standard methods for examination of water and wastewater. 21th ed. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, USA.
Ayers, RS, Branson, RL. 1975. Guidelines for interpretation of water quality for agriculture. University of California Extension Mimeographed p. 13.
Ayers, RS, Westcot, DW. 1985. Water quality for agriculture. FAO of the United Nations, paper 29, Rev.1, Rome, Italy.
Banks, D, Midtgard, AK, Morland, G, Reimann, C, Strand, T, Bjorvatn, K. 1998. Is pure groundwater safe to drink? Natural contamination of groundwater in Norway. Geology Today 14(3), 104 – 133.
Bruce, BW, McMahon, PB. 1996. Shallow groundwater quality beneath a major urban center: Denver, Colorado, USA. Journal of Hydrology 186, 129 – 151.
Catroll, D. 1962. Rain water as a chemical agent of geological process: a view. USGS Water Supply 1533, 18 – 20.
Chapman, D. 1992. Water quality assessment. Published on behalf of UNESCO/WHO/UNEP, Chapmen and Hall Ltd., London p. 585.
Eaton, FM.1979. Significance of carbonate in irrigation water. Soil Science 69(2), 123 – 133.
Freeze, RA, Cherry, JA. 1979. Groundwater. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs.
Frieden, E. 1972. The chemical elements of life. Scientific America 227, 252 – 260.
FWPCF. 1968. Water Quality. Federation Water Pollution Control Federation, Washington, DC.
Gupta, DC. 1989. Irrigational suitability of surface water for agricultural development of the area around Mandu, District Dhar, M.P. India. Journal of Applied Hydrology II (2), 63 – 71.
Handa, BK. 1975. Geochemistry and genesis of fluoride containing groundwater in India. Groundwater 13, 275 – 281.
Haritash, AK, Kaushik, CP, Kaushik, A, Kansal, A, Yadav, AK. 2008. Suitability assessment of groundwater for drinking, irrigation and industrial use in some North Indian villages. Environment Monitoring and Assessment 145, 397 – 406.
Jeong, CH. 2003. Effect of landuse and urbanization on hydrochemistry and contamination of ground water from Taejon area, Korea. Journal of Hydrology 235, 194 – 210.
Kuchanwar, OD, Kale, CK, Deshpande, VP, Dharmadhikhari, DM. 1999. Irrigation water quality and farm management decisions. Water Science and Technology 40(2), 227 – 234.
Reghunath, HM. 1987. Groundwater (2 ed.). Wiley Eastern Ltd., New Delhi, p. 563.
Rhodes, JD. 1972. Quality of water for irrigation. Soil Science 113(4), 227 – 234.
Richards, LA. 1954. Diagnosis and improvement of saline alkali soils: Agriculture, 160. Handbook 60, US Department of Agriculture, Washington.
Ritzi, RW, Wright, SL, Mann, B, Chen, M. 1993. Analysis of temporal variability in hydrogeochemical data used for multivariate analysis. Groundwater 31, 221 – 229.
Shyamala, R, Shanti, M, Lalitha, P. 2008. Physico-chemical analysis of Borewell water samples of Telungupalayam area in Coimbatore district, Tamilnadu, India. E- Journal of Chemistry 5(4), 924 – 929.
USSL. 1954. Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. US Salinity Laboratory Staff, Agricultural Handbook No. 60, USDA, p. 160.
Wenzel, WW, Blum, WEH 1992. Fluoride speciation and mobility in fluoride contaminated soil and minerals. Journal of Soil Science 153, 357 – 364.
WHO. 1984. Guidelines for drinking water quality. Health criteria and supporting information, World Health Organization, Geneva.
WHO. 1989. Health guidelines for the use of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture. Report of a World Health Organization Scientific Group. Technical Report Series, Geneva 778, 77.
WHO. 2004. Guidelines for drinking water quality (3rd ed.). World Health Organization Geneva, Geneva.
Wilcox, LV. 1955. Classification and use of irrigation waters. US Department of Agriculture Circular No. 969, 19.
Sukhdev Kundu, 2012. Evaluation of underground waters quality for various purposes with special reference to drinking and irrigation parameters. J. Biodiv. Environ. Sci., 2(2), 14-20.
Copyright © 2012 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.