Abstract
The rivers draining from the Himalayan range distribute enormous amount of fresh water to the people living in downstream regions. Trace metals flowed with river water can lead to serious impact on ecological system and human health. Nevertheless, the documentation on trace elements of Himalayan rivers is inadequately documented. The current study deals with the spatial and temporal variability of the major and trace elements of Ganga river water in epirhithron, metarhithron and hyporhithron zone belonging to Himalayan segment. Water samples from nineteen monitoring locations were collected in pre-monsoon (May–June), monsoon (August–September) and post-monsoon (December) seasons and subjected to be assessed for 20 elements (Ag, Al, Ba, Cd, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, K, Mn, Mg, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr, Th, U, Zn, and Zr) using ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometer). Different water pollution indexes such as HPI (Heavy Metal Pollution Index), MI (Metal Index) and PI (Pollution Index) were used to describe current water quality status at each monitoring station under particular classified ecological zone. The studied stations in hyporhithron zone had the value of Metal Index (MI>1), indicating threshold of warning. Further, the highest values of HPI in hyporhithron zone correspond to poor water quality status. Sites with poor water quality were also found to be contaminated as per the Pollution Index (PI), exhibiting high concentrations for element (Fe). However, the epirhithron and metarhithron zone in Himalayan segment showed excellent water quality mainly contributed from natural sources. Cluster Analysis (CA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were applied to identify the main influential sources for Ganga river water pollution. The Kriging interpolation method was also applied to prepare spatial distribution map of computed indexes (HPI, MI, and PI). With the help of index of local Moran’s I (LMI), identified spatial clusters and spatial outliers revealed the elevated concentration of most elements in hyporhithron zone. The dataset presented in this study would be convenient for government officials in developing more effective management policies and necessary steps to check and monitor the Ganga river water quality. It was also suggested that further investigations in terms of trace elemental sources and their role in self-purification properties of Ganga water can be addressed in future.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anselin L (1995) Local indicators of spatial association—LISA. Geogr Anal 27(2): 93–115. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098014542487
Bakan G, Özkoç HB, Tülek S, et al. (2010) Integrated environmental quality assessment of Kızılırmak River and its coastal environment. Turk J Fish Quat Sci 10(4): 453–462. https://doi.org/10.4194/trjfas.2010.0403
Bhattacharya AK, Mandal SN, Das SK (2008) Heavy metals accumulation in water, sediment and tissues of different edible fishes in upper stretch of Gangetic West Bengal. Trends Appl Sci Res 3(1): 61–68. https://doi.org/10.3923/tasr.2008.61.68
Binda G, Pozzi A, Livio F (2020) An integrated interdisciplinary approach to evaluate potentially toxic element sources in a mountainous watershed. Environ Geochem Health 42(5): 1255–1272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-019-00405-4
BIS ISDWS (2012) Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. 2–3.
Bolch T, Kulkarni A, Kääb A, et al. (2012) The state and fate of Himalayan glaciers. Science 336(6079): 310–314. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215828
Caeiro S, Costa MH, Ramos TB, et al. (2005) Assessing heavy metal contamination in Sado Estuary sediment: an index analysis approach. Ecol Indic 5(2): 151–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2005.02.001
Cengiz MF, Kilic S, Yalcin F, et al. (2017) Evaluation of heavy metal risk potential in Bogacayi River water (Antalya, Turkey). Environ Monit Assess 189(6): 248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-5925-3
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) 2016. Bulletin Vol-I.
Chakrapani GJ (2005) Major and trace element geochemistry in upper Ganga River in the Himalayas, India. Environ Geol 48(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-005-1287-1
Chakrapani GJ, Saini RK (2009) Temporal and spatial variations in water discharge and sediment load in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Rivers in Himalaya, India. J Asian Earth Sci 35(6): 545–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2009.04.002
Dimri D, Daverey A, Kumar A, et al. (2021) Monitoring water quality of River Ganga using multivariate techniques and WQI (Water Quality Index) in Western Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, India. Environ Nanotechnol Monit Manag 15: 100375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enmm.2020.100375
Dong P, Wang C, Ding J (2013) Estimating glacier volume loss using remotely sensed images, digital elevation data, and GIS modelling. Int J Remote Sens 34(24): 8881–8892. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2013.853893
Dong Z, Kang S, Qin D, et al. (2017) Temporal and diurnal analysis of trace elements in the Cryospheric water at remote Laohugou basin in northeast Tibetan Plateau. Chemosphere 171: 386–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.12.088
Dwivedi S, Mishra S, Tripathi RD (2018) Ganga water pollution: a potential health threat to inhabitants of Ganga basin. Environ Int 117: 327–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.05.015
Dwivedi S, Tripathi RD, Rai UN, et al. (2006) Dominance of algae in Ganga water polluted through fly-ash leaching: metal bioaccumulation potential of selected algal species. Bull Environ ContamToxicol 77(3): 427–436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-006-1083-y
Gabrielli P, Cozzi G, Torcini S, et al. (2008) Trace elements in winter snow of the Dolomites (Italy): a statistical study of natural and anthropogenic contributions. Chemosphere 72(10): 1504–1509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2008.04.076
Gaillardet J, Viers J, Dupré B (2003) Trace elements in river waters. TrGeo 5: 605. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043751-6/05165-3
Goher ME, Hassan AM, Abdel-Moniem IA, et al. (2014) Evaluation of surface water quality and heavy metal indices of Ismailia Canal, Nile River, Egypt. Egypt J Aquat Res 40(3): 225–233.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2014.09.001
Gupta A, Rai DK, Pandey RS, et al. (2009) Analysis of some heavy metals in the riverine water, sediments and fish from river Ganges at Allahabad. Environ Monit Assess 157(1–4): 449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0547-4
Gupta RP (2005) Remote Sensing Geology, second ed. Springer International Edition 627.
Immerzeel WW, Van Beek LP, Bierkens MF (2010) Climate change will affect the Asian water towers. Science 328(5984): 1382–1385. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1183188
Islam AT, Shen SH, Bodrud-Doza M (2017) Assessment of arsenic health risk and source apportionment of groundwater pollutants using multivariate statistical techniques in Chapai-Nawabganj district, Bangladesh. J Geol Soc India 90(2): 239–248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-017-0705-9
Jain K, Sreenivas V, Velpandian T, et al. (2013) Risk factors for gallbladder cancer: a case-control study. Int J Cancer 132(7): 1660–1666. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.27777
Kaiser HF (1974) An index of factorial simplicity. Psychometrika 39(1): 31–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02291575
Katiyar S (2011) Impact of tannery effluent with special reference to seasonal variation on physico-chemical characteristics of river water at Kanpur (UP), India. J Environ Anal Toxicol 1(117): 4. https://doi.org/10.4172/2161-0525.1000115
Kaur L, Rishi MS (2018) Integrated geospatial, geostatistical, and remote-sensing approach to estimate groundwater level in North-western India. Environ Earth Sci 77(23): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7971-8
Khan AA, Pant NC, Sarkar A, et al. (2017) The Himalayan cryosphere: A critical assessment and evaluation of glacial melt fraction in the Bhagirathi basin. Geosci Front 8(1): 107–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2015.12.009
Krishna AK, Satyanarayanan M, Govil PK (2009) Assessment of heavy metal pollution in water using multivariate statistical techniques in an industrial area: a case study from Patancheru, Medak District, Andhra Pradesh, India. J Hazard Mater 167(1–3): 366–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.12.131
Kulkarni AV, Karyakarte Y (2014) Observed changes in Himalayan glaciers. Curr Sci 106: 2.
Liu CW, Lin KH, Kuo YM (2003) Application of factor analysis in the assessment of groundwater quality in a blackfoot disease area in Taiwan. Sci Total Environ 313(1–3): 77–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-9697(02)00683-6
Mathur RP, Kapoor V (2015) Concept of keystone species and assessment of flows (Himalayan segment-Ganga river). In: Int Conf Hydropower Sustain Dev 387–397.
Milivojević J, Krstić D, Šmit B, et al. (2016) Assessment of heavy metal contamination and calculation of its pollution index for Uglješnica River, Serbia. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 97(5): 737–742. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-016-1918-0
Misra AK (2011) Impact of urbanization on the hydrology of Ganga Basin (India). Water Resour Manag 25(2): 705–719. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-010-9722-9
Mitra A, Chowdhury R, Banerjee K (2012) Concentrations of some heavy metals in commercially important finfish and shellfish of the River Ganga. Environ Monit Assess 184(4): 2219–2230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2111-x
Modak DP, Singh KP, Ahmed S, Ray PK (1990) Trace metal ions in Ganga water system. Chemosphere 21(1–2): 275–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/0045-6535(90)90400-N
NMCG-NEERI Ganga Report (2017) Assessment of Water Quality and Sediment to understand the Special Properties of River Ganga. https://nmcg.nic.in/writereaddata/fileupload/NMCGNEERI%20Ganga%20Report.pdf (Accessed on 20 June 2018)
Obregón PL, Espinoza-Quiñones FR, Módenes AN (2014) Water quality monitoring of the Bezerra River (Cascavel, Brazil) using SR-TXRF technique. JCCE 8(6).
Palmer MR, Edmond JM (1993) Uranium in river water. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 57(20): 4947–4955. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(93)90131-F
Pandey J, Shubhashish K, Pandey R, et al. (2010) Heavy metal contamination of Ganga river at Varanasi in relation to atmospheric deposition. Trop Ecol 51(2): 365–373.
Pant RR, Zhang F, Rehman FU, et al. (2020) Spatiotemporal characterization of dissolved trace elements in the Gandaki River, Central Himalaya Nepal. J Hazard Mater 389: 121913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.121913
Paudyal R, Kang S, Sharma CM, et al. (2016) Major ions and trace elements of two selected rivers near Everest region, southern Himalayas, Nepal. Environ Earth Sci 75(1): 46. https://doi.org/10.1007/2Fs12665-015-4811-y
Prasad B, Bose J (2001) Evaluation of the heavy metal pollution index for surface and spring water near a limestone mining area of the lower Himalayas. Environ Geol 41(1–2):183–188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002540100380
Rai PK., Mishra A, Tripathi BD (2010) Heavy metal and microbial pollution of the River Ganga: A case study of water quality at Varanasi. Aquat Ecosyst Health Manag 13(4):352–361. https://doi.org/10.1080/14634988.2010.528739
Rai UN, Prasad D, Verma S, et al. (2012) Biomonitoring of metals in Ganga water at different ghats of Haridwar: implications of constructed wetland for sewage detoxification. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 89(4): 805–810. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-012-0766-9
Raut R, Bajracharya RM, Sharma S, et al. (2017) Potentially toxic trace metals in water and lake-bed sediment of panchpokhari, an alpine lake series in the central Himalayan region of Nepal. Water Air Soil Pollu 228(8): 303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-017-3467-5
Reza R, Singh G (2010) Heavy metal contamination and its indexing approach for river water. Int J Environ Sci Technol 7(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03326187
Sarin MM, Krishnaswami S, Sharma KK, et al. (1992) Uranium isotopes and radium in the Bhagirathi—Alaknanda river system: Evidence for high uranium mobilization in the Himalaya. Curr Sci 62:801–805.
Sati SP, Sharma S, Sundriyal YP, et al. (2020) Geoenvironmental consequences of obstructing the Bhagirathi River, Uttarakhand Himalaya, India. Geomatics Nat Hazards Risk 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/19475705.2020.1756464
Shah MH, Iqbal J, Shaheen N, et al. (2012) Assessment of background levels of trace metals in water and soil from a remote region of Himalaya. Environ Monit Assess 184(3): 1243–1252. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2036-4
Sharma RC (2015) Water quality of the Upper Ganga. Geogr You 15(91): 38–43.
Shi R, Zhao J, Shi W, et al. (2020) Comprehensive Assessment of Water Quality and Pollution Source Apportionment in Wuliangsuhai Lake, Inner Mongolia, China. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17(14): 5054. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17145054
Shil S, Singh UK (2019) Health risk assessment and spatial variations of dissolved heavy metals and metalloids in a tropical river basin system. Ecol Indic 106: 105455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105455
Singh P (2009) Major, trace and REE geochemistry of the Ganga River sediments: influence of provenance and sedimentary processes. Chem Geol 266(3–4):242–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2009.06.013
Singh P (2010) Geochemistry and provenance of stream sediments of the Ganga River and its major tributaries in the Himalayan region, India. Chem Geol 269(3–4): 220–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2009.09.020
Singh SM, Avinash K, Sharma P, et al. (2017) Elemental variations in glacier cryoconites of Indian Himalaya and Spitsbergen, Arctic. Geosci Front 8(6): 1339–1347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2017.01.002
Singh V, Ngpoore NK, Chand J, et al. (2020) Monitoring and assessment of pollution load in surface water of River Ganga around Kanpur, India: A study for suitability of this water for different uses. Environ Technol Innov 100676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2020.100676
Sudhakar UB (2014) Effect of pollutants on the fishes of Ganga and Sai River of Raebareli District in Uttar Pradesh in India. Res J Ani Vet Fish Sci 11: 1–6.
Tamasi G, Cini R (2004) Heavy metals in drinking waters from Mount Amiata (Tuscany, Italy). Possible risks from arsenic for public health in the Province of Siena. Sci Total Environ 327(1–3): 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2003.10.011
Tare V, Gurjar SK, Mohanta H, et al. (2017) Ecogeomorphological approach for environmental flows assessment in monsoon-driven highland rivers: a case study of Upper Ganga, India. J Hydrol Reg Stud 13: 110–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2017.07.005
Tepanosyan G, Sahakyan L, Zhang C, et al. (2019) The application of Local Moran’s I to identify spatial clusters and hot spots of Pb, Mo and Ti in urban soils of Yerevan. J Appl Geochem 104: 116–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2019.03.022
Tranter M (2003) Geochemical weathering in glacial and proglacial environments. Treatise on Geochemistry 5: 605. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043751-6/05078-7
Tripathee L, Kang S, Sharma CM, et al. (2016) Preliminary health risk assessment of potentially toxic metals in surface water of the Himalayan Rivers, Nepal. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 97(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-016-1945-x
Unda-Calvo J, Ruiz-Romera E, Martínez-Santos M, et al. (2020) Multivariate statistical analyses for water and sediment quality index development: A study of susceptibility in an urban river. Sci Total Environ 711: 135026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135026
Wong CM, Williams CE, Pittock J, et al. (2007) World’s top 10 rivers at risk. Gland, Switzerland: WWF International.
World Health Organization (1993) Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality.
Zhang C, Luo L, Xau W, et al. (2008) Use of local Moran’s I and GIS to identify pollution hotspots of Pb in urban soils of Galway, Ireland. Sci Total Environ 398(1–3): 212–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.03.011
Zhang Y, Sillanpää M, Li C, et al. (2015) River water quality across the Himalayan regions: elemental concentrations in headwaters of Yarlung Tsangbo, Indus and Ganges River. Environ Earth Sci 73(8): 4151–4163. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3702-y
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the Doon University, Dehradun, India, for the financial support to carry out the research work. The authors are thankful to the Ex-Chancellor, Dr. K.K. Paul, of Uttarakhand and Ex-Vice Chancellor, Prof. V.K. Jain, Doon University for their encouragement, support, and suggestions. We also thank IIT, Roorkee for performing trace element analysis
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic Supplementary Material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dimri, D., Kumar, A., Mishra, D.K. et al. Spatio-temporal variation of trace elements distributed over surface water of Upper Ganga River Basin in Western Himalayan Region. J. Mt. Sci. 20, 145–162 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-021-6703-9
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-021-6703-9