Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Water quality characterization and pollution source apportionment in the Himalayan river flowing through Jammu City, India, using multivariate statistical approach and geospatial techniques

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present study evaluates and characterizes the water quality of River Tawi in Jammu city of Union Territory of J&K, using water quality index, multivariate statistical methods, and geospatial techniques. Water quality parameters were measured at fourteen selected sites along a 12 km (approx.) stretch of river (passing through the city) over two seasons (pre-monsoon and post-monsoon) using standard methods. Water quality index (WQI) results demonstrated spatial and temporal variations and the pollution level of the river increased from upstream to downstream sites. Calculated WQI revealed 35.71% of the water samples in the unfit for drinking category, 28.57% in good and poor category each, and 7.14% samples in very poor drinking water category during the study period. Comparison of analysis results with the drinking water standards prescribed by the World Health Organization and Bureau of Indian standards recorded elevated ranges of parameters like turbidity, BOD, total alkalinity, nitrate, and faecal coliform beyond the permissible limits. Hierarchical cluster analysis has transformed the sites into two clusters during pre-monsoon and three clusters during post-monsoon season indicating more water quality variation during post-monsoon season. Principal component analysis resulted in two PCs for the water quality, explaining 80.827% and 73.672% of the variance for pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods. The prepared WQI maps confirmed and depicted deterioration of river water quality towards the midstream and downstream sites of the river basin. Entry of major sewage drains from the city particularly at the midstream sites and dumping of solid waste and agricultural runoff towards the downstream sites of the river constituted the main anthropogenic sources that decreased the river water quality. The study establishes first step towards spatial zoning of River Tawi based on pollution level which would help in improving the river water quality through proper basin management. The study also recommends installation of sewage treatment plants particularly at the midstream and downstream sites.

Graphical abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig 2.
Fig 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data used during the current study is available from the corresponding author on request.

References

  • Abdollahi AA, Babazadeh H, Yargholi B, Taghavi L (2020) Zoning the rate of pollution in domestic river using spatial multi-criteria evaluation model. Civil Environ Eng 16(1):49–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Public Health Association APHA (2005) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 21st edn. American Public Health Association, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Aqualogus and Oiltech (2018) Feasibility and detailed project report for flood mitigation and comprehensive river management measures in Tawi basin. Preliminary Hydrology Report, Jhelum ad Tawi flood recovery project. http://jtfrp.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/220.01-D1b0_Preliminary_Hydrology_Report_29102018.pdf Accessed 12 May 2021

  • Bansal J, Dwivedi AK (2018) Assessment of ground water quality by using water quality index and physico chemical parameters. Int J Eng Sci & Res Technol 7(2):170–174

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bowes MJ, Read DS, Joshi H, Sinha R, Ansari A, Hazra M et al (2020) Nutrient and microbial water quality of the upper Ganga River, India: identification of pollution sources. Environ Monit Assess 192(8):1–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brindha K, Rajesh R, Murugun R, Eango L (2012) Nitrate pollution in groundwater in some rural areas of Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Environ Sci Eng 54(1):64–70

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brown RM, McCleiland NJ, Deininger RA, Tozer RG (1970) A water quality index - do we dare? Water Sewage Works 117(10):339–343

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown RM, McCleiland NJ, Deininger RA, O'Connor MF (1972) A water quality index—crossing the psychological barrier. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Water Pollution Research, Jerusalem 787–797

  • Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) (2012) Indian standard drinking water — specification (Second Revision). IS 10500: 2012.Publication Unit, BIS, New Delhi, India. pp 13. http://cgwb.gov.in/Documents/WQ-standards.pdf. Accessed 10 May 2021

  • Chakraborty B, Roy S, Bera A, Adhikary PP, Bera B, Sengupta D, Bhunia GS, Shit PK (2021) Eco-restoration of river water quality during COVID-19 lockdown in the industrial belt of eastern India. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12461-4

  • de Andrade CD, Soares de Azevedo JP, Dos Santos MA, dos Santos Facchetti Vinhaes Assumpção R (2020) Water quality assessment based on multivariate statistics and water quality index of a strategic river in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Sci Rep 10(1):1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunca AM (2018) Water pollution and water quality assessment of major transboundary rivers from Banat (Romania). J Chem. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/9073763

  • Dutta S, Dwivedi A, Kumar SM (2018) Use of water quality index and multivariate statistical techniques for the assessment of spatial variations in water quality of a small river. Environ Monit Assess 190(12):1–17

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El Najjar P, Kassouf A, Probst A, Probst JL, Ouaini N, Daou C, El Azzi D (2019) High-frequency monitoring of surface water quality at the outlet of the Ibrahim River (Lebanon): a multivariate assessment. Ecol Indic 104:13–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fathi E, Zamani-Ahmadmahmoodi R, Zare-Bidaki R (2018) Water quality evaluation using water quality index and multivariate methods, Beheshtabad River, Iran. Appl Water Sci 8:210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-018-0859-7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ferronato N, Torretta V (2019) Waste mismanagement in developing countries: a review of global issues. Int J Environ Res Public Health 16(6):1060. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16061060

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guber AK, Shelton DR, Pachepsky YA, Sadeghi AM, Sikora J (2006) Rainfall-induced release of fecal coliforms and other manure constituents: comparison and modeling. Appl Environ Microbiol 72(12):7531–7539. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01121-06

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta M, Srivastava PK (2010) Integrating GIS and remote sensing for identification of groundwater potential zones in the hilly terrain of Pavagarh, Gujarat, India. Water Int 35(2):233–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huchhe MR, Bandela NN (2016) Study of water quality parameter assessment using GIS and remote sensing in DR. BAM University, Aurangabad, MS. Int J Latest Technol Eng, Manag Appl Sci 5(6):46–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Illegal mining in River Tawi posing threat to Jammu Ropeway Project (2019) Daily Excelsior, Jammu. Available at https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/illegal-mining-in-river-tawi-posing-threat-to-jammu-ropeway-project/. Accessed 12 May 2021

  • Jamwal KD, Slathia D (2019) Geospatial mapping and drinking water quality status of fluoride endemic hilly District Doda (J&K), India. J Nat Appl Sci 11(2):410–423

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jhariya DC, Kumar T, Dewangan R, Pal D, Dewangan PK (2017) Assessment of groundwater quality index for drinking purpose in the Durg district, Chhattisgarh using geographical information system (GIS) and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques. J Geol Soc India 89:453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-017-0628-5

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaurish FW, Younos T (2007) Developing a standardized water quality index for evaluating surface water quality. J Am Water Resour As 43(2):533–545

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kinzelman J, McLellan SL, Daniels AD, Cashin S, Singh A, Gradus S, Bagley R (2004) Non-point source pollution: determination of replication versus persistence of Escherichia coli in surface water and sediments with correlation of levels to readily measurable environmental parameters. J Water Health 2(2):103–114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kundan P, Slathia D (2018) Investigation of water quality changes in drinking water supplied from Sitlee water treatment plant on River Tawi to Old Jammu City, Jammu, J&K, India. J Appl Nat Sci 10(2):601–607. https://doi.org/10.31018/jans.v10i2.1742

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Levantesi C, Bonadonna L, Briancesco R, Grohmann E, Toze S, Tandoi V (2012) Salmonella in surface and drinking water: occurrence and water-mediated transmission. Food Res Int 45(2):587-602

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li H, Li Y, Lee M-K, Liu Z, Miao C (2015) Spatiotemporal analysis of heavy metal water pollution in transitional China. Sustainability 7:9067–9087

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, Li H, Cui G, Cao Y (2020) Water quality attribution and simulation of non-point source pollution load flux in the Hulan river basin. Sci Rep 10:3012. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-59980-7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Madhloom HM, Al-Ansari N, Laue J, Chabuk A (2018) Modeling spatial distribution of some contamination within the lower reaches of Diyala river using IDW interpolation. Sustainability 10(1):22. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10010022

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) (2019) Water quality status of Maharashtra 2017-18. Prepared by TERI-The Energy and Resource Institute, Western Regional Centre, Navi Mumbai, p 288

    Google Scholar 

  • Mancosu N, Snyder RL, Kyriakakis G, Spano D (2015) Water scarcity and future challenges for food production. Water 7(3):975–992

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mateo-Sagasta J, Zadeh SM Turral H (2017) Water pollution from agriculture: a global review. Published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome and the International Water Management Institute on behalf of the Water Land and Ecosystems research program Colombo. http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7754e.pdf. Accessed 12 May 2021

  • Meybeck M (1982) Carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus transport by world rivers. Am J Sci 282(4):401–450. https://doi.org/10.2475/ajs.282.4.401

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meybeck M, Helmer R (1989) The quality of rivers: from pristine stage to global pollution. Glob Planet Chang 1(4):283–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’sullivan D, Unwin D (2014) Geographic information analysis, 2nd edn. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, p 432

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogbozige DB, Adie UA, Abubakar (2018) Water quality assessment and mapping using inverse distance weighted interpolation: a case of River Kaduna, Nigeria F. J Nigerian J Technol (NIJOTECH) 37(1):249–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oke AO, Sangodoyin AY, Ogedengbe K, Omodele T (2013) Mapping of river water quality using inverse distance weighted interpolation in Ogun-Osun Basin. Nigeria Adebayo Olubukoa Landscape Environ 7(2):48–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Opperman J, Orr S, Baleta H, Garrick D, Goichot M, McCoy A, ... Vermeulen A (2018) Valuing rivers: how the diverse benefits of healthy rivers underpin economies. https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:123222

  • Oseke FI, Anornu GK, Adjei KA, Eduvie MO (2021) Assessment of water quality using GIS techniques and water quality index in reservoirs affected by water diversion. Water-Energy Nexus 4:25–34

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Osiemo MM, Ogendi GM, M’Erimba C (2019) Microbial quality of drinking water and prevalence of water-related diseases in Marigat Urban Centre, Kenya. Environ Health Insights 13:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panwar A, Bartwal S, Dangwal S, Aswal A, Bhandari A, Rawat S (2015) Water quality assessment of river Ganga using remote sensing and GIS technique. Int J Adv Remote Sens GIS 4:1253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patel PP, Mondal S, Ghosh KG (2020) Some respite for India’s dirtiest river? Examining the Yamuna’s water quality at Delhi during the COVID-19 lockdown period. Sci Total Environ 744:140851

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Polluting Tawi (2017) Daily excelsior, Jammu. Available at https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/polluting-tawi/. Accessed 14 April 2021

  • Rabeiy RE (2017) Assessment and modeling of groundwater quality using WQI and GIS in Upper Egypt area. Environ Sci Pollut Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-8617-1

  • Rashid MAH, Manzoor MM, Mukhtar S (2018) Urbanization and its effects on water resources: an exploratory analysis. Asian J Water Environ Pollut 15(1):67–74. https://doi.org/10.3233/AJW-180007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reda M (2015) Response of nitrate reductase activity and NIA genes expression in roots of Arabidopsis hxk1 mutant treated with selected carbon and nitrogen metabolites. Plant Sci 230:51–58

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Selvam S, Manimaran G, Sivasubramanian P, Balasubramanian N, Seshunarayana T (2013) GIS-based evaluation of water quality index of groundwater resources around Tuticorin coastal city, south India. Environ Earth Sci 716:2847–2867. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2662-y

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sener S, Sener E, Davraz A (2017) Assessment of groundwater quality and health risk in drinking water basin using GIS. J Water Health 15(1):112–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shah KA, Joshi GS (2017) Evaluation of water quality index for river Sabarmati, Gujarat, India. Appl Water Sci 7(3):1349–1358

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shah CA, Aris AZ, Yusoff MK, Ramli MF, Juahir H (2015) Classification of river water quality using multivariate analysis. International Conference on Environmental Forensics 2015 (iENFORCE2015). Procedia Environ Sci 30:79–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma R, Kumar R, Sharma DK, Sarkar M, Mishra BK, Puri V, ... Nhu VH (2021) Water pollution examination through quality analysis of different rivers: a case study in India. Environment, Development and Sustainability :1-22

  • Soo CL, Ling TY, Lee N, Apun K (2016) Assessment of the characteristic of nutrients, total metals, and fecal coliform in Sibu Laut River, Sarawak, Malaysia. Appl Water Sci 6:77–96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-014-0205-7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thelin R, Gifford GF (1983) Fecal coliform release patterns from fecal material of cattle. J Environ Qual 12:57–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uddin MN, Alam MS, Mobin MN, Miah MA (2014) An assessment of the river water quality parameters: A case of Jamuna River. J Environ Sci Nat Res 7(1):249–256

    Google Scholar 

  • USGS (2001) A primer on water quality. https://pubs.usgs.gov accessed on 05-05-2021.

  • Varol M, Gokot B, Bekleyen A, Sen B (2012) Spatial and temporal variations in surface water quality of the dam reservoirs in the Tigris River Basin, Turkey. Catena 92:11–21

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Verma M, Singh BP, Srivastava A, Mishra M (2012) Chemical behavior of suspended sediments in a small river draining out of the Himalaya, Tawi River, northern India: implications on provenance and weathering Himalayan. Geology 33(1):1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Wetzel RG (2001) Limnology: lake and river ecosystems, Third edn. Academic Press, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Willi K, Back J (2018) Evaluation of state water quality assessments and the national wild and scenic rivers system. A technical paper of the interagency wild and scenic rivers coordinating council (SRC). National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, Washington, p 112 Available at fromhttps://www.rivers.gov/documents/state-water-quality-assessments.pdf Accessed 24 April 2021

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO (1997) Guidelines for drinking-water quality 2nd Edn Volume 3. Surveillance and control of community supplies. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO (2008) Guidelines for drinking water quality. 3rd Edn. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO (2012) Guidelines for drinking water quality, 4th Ed. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO (2017) World Health Statistics. Monitoring health for SDGs. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Yan CA, Zhang W, Zhang Z, Liu Y, Deng C, Nie N (2015) Assessment of water quality and identification of polluted risky regions based on field observations & GIS in the Honghe river watershed, China. PLoS One 10(3):e0119130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z, Tao F, Du J, Shi P, Yu D, Meng Y, Sun Y (2010) Surface water quality and its control in a river with intensive human impacts–a case study of the Xiangjiang River, China. J Environ Manag 91(12):2483–2490

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou F, Liu Y, Guo H (2007) Application of multivariate statistical methods to water quality assessment of the watercourses in northwestern New Territories, Hong Kong. Environ Monit Assess 132(1-3):1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-006-9497-x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Head, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Jammu, for providing the necessary facilities during the present work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Jammu, Jammu, J&K, India

    Deepika Slathia & Karan Dev Jamwal

Authors
  1. Deepika Slathia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Karan Dev Jamwal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

D. Slathia. Conceptualization; methodology; formal analysis; resources; visualization; supervision; writing, reviewing and editing; preparation of maps

KD Jamwal. Investigation, data curation, software validation, writing—original draft preparation.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deepika Slathia.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Xianliang Yi

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Highlights

• The study is an attempt to evaluate the water quality of the River Tawi in Jammu city.

• Fifteen water quality parameters of Tawi water were analysed using standard methods.

• The water quality for drinking purposes was evaluated using the water quality index (WQI) method.

• Turbidity, BOD, total alkalinity, nitrate, and faecal coliform are the most effective water quality parameters.

• River Tawi raw water is not suitable for supplying to the city without proper treatment.

Supplementary information

ESM 1

(DOCX 14 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Slathia, D., Jamwal, K.D. Water quality characterization and pollution source apportionment in the Himalayan river flowing through Jammu City, India, using multivariate statistical approach and geospatial techniques. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 76712–76727 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21147-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21147-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation