Abstract
The study comprised suitability assessment of groundwater for drinking, irrigation, and industrial use. A total of 34 groundwater samples were collected from Rewari town and its perimeter from the land chiefly used for agriculture. Physico-chemical characterization of the samples revealed that groundwater from most of the sources was not fit for drinking owing to a high concentration of calcium, magnesium, hardness and fluoride. Suitability for irrigation, too, was low since most of the sources had high value of sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), soluble sodium percentage (SSP) and magnesium hazard which can render salinity and alkali hazard to soils on long term use in irrigation. No source of water was found to be suitable for industrial application since it had high concentration of calcium carbonate which can precipitate very easily. It was observed that sodium, sulphate, and chloride were the chief ions present in water and based on the abundance of ions and their correlation type, most of the groundwater samples are of sodium sulphate and/or sodium chloride type. The high concentration of the chemical constituents is attributed to the lithologic composition of the area. It was observed that the water of deep meteoric percolation type was of sodium sulphate type and the shallow of sodium chloride type.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdel Moneim, A. A. (1988). Hydrogeology of the Nile Basin in Sohag Province. M.Sc.Thesis, Geol. Dept., Fac. Sci., Assiut Univ., Assiut, Egypt.
Ayers, R. S., & Branson, R. L. (1975). Guidelines for interpretation of water quality for agriculture. University of California Extension Mimeographed, (p. 13).
Banks, D., Midtgard, A. K., Morland, G., Reimann, C., Strand, T., Bjorvatn, K., et al. (1998). Is pure groundwater safe to drink? Natural contamination of groundwater in Norway, Geology Today, 14(3), 104–133.
Bhatt, S. C. (1998). Encyclopaedic gazetter of India, Northern Zone. New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House, 3, 159.
Bhumbla, D. R., & Abrol, I. P. (1972). Is your water suitable for irrigation. Indian Farming, 22, 15–17.
Bishnoi, S. R., Brar, S. P. S., & Kumar, D. (1984). Underground water quality of Dhuri block, Distt. Sangrur (Punjab). Indian Journal of Ecology, 11(2), 220–228.
Bruce, B. W., & McMahon, P. B. (1996). Shallow ground water quality beneath a major urban center: Denver, Colorado, USA. Journal of Hydrology, 186, 129–151.
Chakroborty, P. K. (1999). Need of applied research on water quality management. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, 19(8), 595–597.
Chandrawanshi, C. K., & Patel, K. S. (1999). Fluoride deposition in central India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 55(2), 251–265.
Dean, H. T. (1936). Chronic endemic dental fluorosis (mottled enamel). Journal of the American Medical Association, 107, 1269–1272.
Eaton, F. M. (1950). Significance of carbonates in irrigation waters. Soil Science, 39, 123–133.
Eaton, A. D., Clesceri, L. S., & Greenberg, A. E. (1995). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, APHA, 19th edition.
Kaushik, A., Sharma, H. R., Mehta, B., Pragya, Shilpa, & Sapna (2000a). Groundwater quality of Ambala and Nilokheri cities in Haryana in relation land use. Environment & Ecology, 18(3), 616–623.
Kaushik, A., Sharma, H. R., Sharma, P., Mehta, B., Sikka, & Shilpa (2000b). Variability in ground water quality of two industrial towns of Haryana in relation to anthropogenic activities. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, 20(3), 208–216.
Manchanda, H. R., Manchanda, M. L., & Siyag, R. S. (1972). Distribution of different qualities of underground waters in Rewari tehsil of Haryana state. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 42(9), 835–839.
Matthess, G. (1982). The properties of ground water (1st Ed.). New York: Wiley.
Paliwal, K. V. (1972). Irrigation with saline water. I.A.R.I. Monograph No. 2 (New Series), New Delhi, 198.
Rhades, J. D., & Bernstein, L. (1971). Chemical, physical and biological characteristics of irrigation and soil water. In L. L. Ciaccio (Ed.) Water and water pollution, Chapter 3. New York: Marcel Dekker.
Richards, L. A. (1954). Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. USDA Handbook No. 60.
Sarma, D. R. R., & Rao, S. L. N. (1997). Fluoride concentrations in ground waters of Vishakhapatnam. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 58, 241–247.
Singh, O., Kumar, V., & Rai, S. P. (2005). Water quality aspects of some wells, springs and rivers in parts of Udhampur district (J&K). Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering, 47(1), 25–32.
Singh, K. P., & Parwana, H. K. (1999). Ground water pollution due to industrial waste water in Punjab state and strategies for its control. Indian Journal of Environmental Protection, 19(4), 241–244.
Soltan, M. E. (1998). Characterisation, classification, and evaluation of some ground water samples in upper Egypt. Chemosphere, 37(4), 735–745.
Srikanth, R., Anees, K., & Madhu, M. R. (1994). Fluoride in borehole waters in 20 villages in Medak district, A.P. India. Fluoride, 27, 97.
Thussu, J. L. (1993). Quanternary geology and geomorphological mapping in parts of Haryana. Records of the Geological Survey of India, 126(8), 5–10.
U.S. Salinity Laboratory Staff (1954). Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. U.S.D.A. Handbook No. 60, (p. 160).
Wilcox, L. V. (1948). The quality of water for irrigation use. Washington: US Department of Agricultural Technical Bulletin.
Wilcox, L. V. (1955). Classification and use of irrigation water. U.S.D.A. Circ., 969, Washington, DC, (p. 19).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Haritash, A.K., Kaushik, C.P., Kaushik, A. et al. Suitability assessment of groundwater for drinking, irrigation and industrial use in some North Indian villages. Environ Monit Assess 145, 397–406 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-0048-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-0048-x