Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Assessment of water quality of river Sutlej, Punjab (India)

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sustainable Water Resources Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Sutlej River is the longest river of Punjab, India, and a major source of water supply for irrigation, drinking, washing, and bathing in the region was studied through monthly surveys in two consecutive years (November, 2009–October, 2011). In Punjab region, river Sutlej receives a large amount of effluents from various industries and city sewage drains via “Budha Nallah and East Bein” which degraded the water quality of the river at different stretches. Keeping in view these point pollution sources, four collection sites (S1–S4) were selected to assess the Sutlej River. Additionally, groundwater sites (G1–G8) were selected in the 2 km surrounding to S1–S4 to check impact on groundwater. Fifteen physicochemical parameters were studied, which provide an idea for the portability of water for irrigation and drinking purposes as per permissible limits of WHO, ICMR, and ISI standards. Pearson correlation revealed a significant positive relationship between COD and BOD with chloride, total hardness, nitrate, phosphate and negative correlation with DO and water current. The mean values of water quality index (WQI) at sites S1–S4 were 20.79, 160.37, 36.31, and 104.70, respectively, which clearly indicated very high pollution load at S2 and S4. WQI at different groundwater sites (10.67 at G1, 8.93 at G2, 89.35 at G3, 62.15 at G4, 23.55 at G5, 21.95 at G6, 59.48 at G7 and 39.92 at G8) showed pollution load to different levels. On the basis of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines, the water at sampling stations S1, G1 and G2 could be categorized as ‘A–B’, water of station at S3, G6, G5 and G8 as ‘B–C’, water at station S4 as ‘C–D’ and the water at station S2, G3, G4 and G7 as ‘D–E’. Agglomerative cluster analysis (CA) was performed for delineating and grouping the similar pollution causing areas, which produced the same results as WQI. The results indicated that these point pollution sources clearly deteriorated the water quality of river Sutlej at sites S2 and S4, which in turn affected the groundwater in the surrounding areas.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • APHA, AWWA, WEF (2005) Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water (21st edn). Jointly prepared and published by American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association and Water Environment Federation, New York, Washington, DC

  • Bhatnagar A, Garg SK (1998) Environmental impact assessment in river Ghaggar in Haryana. J Nat Conserv 10(2):215–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhutiani R, Khanna DR (2007) Ecological study of Suswa River: modeling DO and BOD. Environ Monit Assess 125:1–3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bordalo AA, Teixeira R, Wiebe WJ (2006) A water quality index applied to an international shared river basin: the case of the Douro River. Environ Manag 38:910–920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Celik M (2001) Water quality assessment and the investigation of the relationship between the river Delice and the aquifer systems in the vicinity of Yerkoy (Yozgat, Turkey). Environ Geol 42:690–700

    Google Scholar 

  • Dhanapakiam P, Sampoorni V, Kavitha R (1999) Assessment of water quality of the river Cauvery. J Environ Biol 20(4):347–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Drusilla R, Kumaresan A, Narayanan M (2004) Studies on water quality parameters of lotic systems in and around Courtallam (Tamil Nadu) (part 1). Pollut Res 23(3):515–521

    Google Scholar 

  • Dudeja D, Bartaya SK, Biyani AK (2011) Hydrochemical and water quality assessment of groundwater in Doon Valley of Outer Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India. Environ Monit Assess 81:180–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Dwvedi P, Odi P (2003) Evolution of potable water quality in streams and the Dickrong River in the district PapumPore, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Ecol Environ Conserv 9(4):437–440

    Google Scholar 

  • Edet A, Worden RH (2009) Monitoring of the physical parameters and evaluation of the chemical composition of river and groundwater in Calabar (Southeastern Nigeria). Environ Monit Assess 157:243–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernald AG, Guldan SJ (2004) River, Acequia and Shallow groundwater interactions. Water task force-report 2. New Mexico State University, New Mexico

  • Ganapati SV (1960) Ecology of tropical waters. In: Proceedings of symposium on algalogy, ICAR, New Delhi

  • Gupta K, Sharma A (2005) Macroinvertebrates as indicators of pollution. J Environ Biol 26(5):205–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Gupta S, Kumar A, Ojha CK, Seth G (2004) Chemical analysis of groundwater of Sanganer area, Jaipur in Rajasthan. J Environ Sci Eng 46(1):74–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurumayum SD, Daimari P, Goswami BSJ, Sarkar A, Chaudhury M (2001) Ecology of river Subansiri in Arunachal Pradesh. J Inland Fish Soc India 33(2):50–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Gyananath G, Shewdiker SV, Samiuddin S (2000) Water quality analysis of river Godavari during ‘HoliMela’ at Nanded. Pollut Res 19(4):673–674

    Google Scholar 

  • Hema S, Suvramani T, Elango L (2010) GIS study on vulnerability assessment of water quality in part of Cauvery River. Int J Environ Sci 1(1):1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Horne AJ, Goldman CR (1994) Limnology, 2nd edn. McGraw Hill International Book Company, New Delhi

    Google Scholar 

  • ICMR (1975) Drinking water standards. Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingole NA, Ram RN, Ranjan R, Shankhwar AK (2015) Advance application of geospatial technology for fisheries perspective in Tarai region of Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Sustain Water Resour Manag (Springer-Verlag, Berlin) 1(2):181–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ISI (1973) Indian standard methods for sampling and test (physical and chemical) for water used in industry. Indian Standard Institute, Manak Bhawan, New Delhi

  • Jain CK, Bandyopadhyay A, Bhadra A (2010) Assessment of groundwater quality for drinking purpose, district Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. Environ Monit Assess 166:663–676

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jalali M (2005) Nitrate leaching from agricultural land in Hamadan, Western Iran. Agric Ecosyst Environ 110:210–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jindal R, Sharma C (2011) Studies on water of Sutlej River around Ludhiana with reference to physiochemical parameters. Environ Monit Assess 174:417–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jindal R, Thakur RK, Singh UB, Ahluwalia AS (2014) Phytoplankton dynamics and species diversity in a shallow eutrophic, natural mid-altitude lake in Himachal Pradesh (India): role of physicochemical factors. Chem Ecol 4:328–338. doi:10.1080/02757540.2013.871267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jindal R, Thakur RK, Singh UB, Ahluwalia AS (2015) Phytoplankton dynamics and water quality of Prashar Lake, Himachal Pradesh, India. Sustain Water Qual Ecol (Elsevier). doi:10.1016/j.swaqe.2014.12.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaur S (2006) Studies on the impact of tourism on stream Banganga and the indwelling micro and macro organisms. PhD Thesis, University of Jammu, Jammu

  • Khaiwal R, Ameena, Meenakshi, Monika, Rani, Kaushik A (2003) Seasonal variation in physiochemical characteristics of river Yamuna in Haryana and its ecological best designated use. J Environ Monit 5:419–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathivanan V, Kayalvizhi A, Selvisabhanayakam K (2005) An assessment of physiochemical parameters of fish culture ponds at Viswanathapuram, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu. J Curr Sci 7:253–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishra T, Ramola S, Shankhwar AK, Rabha AK, Srivastava RK (2015) Pulp and paper mill effluent treatment by hybrid anaerobic upflow fixed bed bioreactor combined with slow sand filter. Desalin Water Treat 57:10528–10536

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohan M, Omana PK (2007) Statistical analysis of water quality data from a Ramsarsite-Vembanadu backwaters, Southeast coast of India. Asian J Microbiol Biotechnol Environ Sci 9(2):313–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Munawar M (1970) Limnological studies on freshwater ponds at Hyderabad, India. I. The biotope. Hydrobiologia 35(1):127–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mustapha A, Aris AZ, Juahir H, Ramli MF, Kura NU (2013) River water quality using environmentric techniques: case study of Jakara River Basin. Environ Sci Pollut Res. doi:10.1007/s11356-013-1542-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pandey J, Usha P, Tyagi HR (2000) Nutrient status and cyanobacterial diversity of a tropical freshwater lake. J Environ Biol 21:133–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne AR (1986) The ecology of tropical lakes and rivers. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Rani N, Sinha RK, Parsad K, Kidia DP (2011) Assessment of temporal variation in water quality of some important rivers in middle Gangetic planes, India. Environ Monit Assess 174:401–415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao BV (2011) Physicochemical analysis of selected groundwater samples of Vijayawada rural and urban in Krishna district, (A.P.) India. Int J Environ Sci 2(2):710–714

    Google Scholar 

  • Rashid I, Romshoo SA (2013) Impact of anthropogenic activities on water quality of Lidder River in Kashmir Himalayas. Environ Monit Assess 185:4705–4719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salve BS, Hiware CJ (2007) Studies on water quality of Wanparakalpa reservoir, Nagpur, Maharashtra. J Aquat Biol 22(1):110–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanap RR, Mohite AK, Pingle SD, Gunale VR (2006) Evaluation of water qualities of Godawari River with reference to physico-chemical parameters, district Nasik (M.S.), India. Pollut Res 25(4):775–778

    Google Scholar 

  • Sawane AP, Puranik PG, Bhate AM (2007) Studies on water quality of Irai River, district Chandrapur with special reference to some physical aspects. Asian J Microbiol Biotechnol Environ Sci 9(2):245–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Shankhwar AK, Srivastava RK (2015) Biomass production through grey water fertigation in Eucalyptus hybrid and its economic significance. Environ Prog Sustain Energy 34(1):222–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shankhwar AK, Ramola S, Mishra T, Srivastava RK (2015) Grey water pollutant loads in residential colony and its economic management. Renew Wind Water Solar (Springer-Verlag, Berlin) 2(1):5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma C (2012) Ecological surveillance and pollution status of river Sutlej from Ropar to Harike (Punjab). Ph.D. Thesis, Punjab University, Chandigarh

  • Sharma NK, Bhardwaj S (2011) An assessment of seasonal variation in phytoplankton community of Mahi River (India). Gene Conserve 10(40):154–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma C, Singh UB (2014) Saprobic status and bioindicators of the river Sutlej. J Res Biol 3(7):1201–1208

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma S, Dixit S, Jain P, Shah KW, Vishwakarma R (2008) Statistical evaluation of hydrobiological parameters of Narmada river water at Hoshangabad city, India. Environ Monit Assess 143:195–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma C, Jindal R, Singh UB, Ahluwalia AS, Thakur RK (2013) Population dynamics and species diversity of plankton in relation to hydrobiological characteristics of river Sutlej, Punjab, India. Ecol Environ Conserv 19(3):717–724

    Google Scholar 

  • Shashi, Singh J, Dwivedi AK (2009) Numerical interdependence in pH, acidity of a polluted river water. J Environ Biol 30(5):733–775

    Google Scholar 

  • Shekhar TRS, Kiran BR, Puttaiah ET, Shivraj Y, Mahadevan KM (2008) Phytoplankton as index of water quality with reference to industrial pollution. J Environ Biol 29(2):233–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Shukla SC, Tripathi BD, Rajanikant Kumari D, Panday VS (1989) Physicochemical and biological characteristics of river Ganga from Mirzapur to Balia. Indian J Environ Health 31(3):218–227

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh UB, Ahluwalia AS (2013) Microalgae: a promising tool for carbon sequestration. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 18:73–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh VK, Bikundia DS, Sarswat A, Mohan D (2012) Groundwater quality assessment in the village of Lutfullapur Nawada, Loni district, Ghaziabad, (U.P.) India. Environ Monit Assess 184(7):4473–4488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh UB, Ahluwalia AS, Sharma C, Jindal R (2013a) Water quality assessment of some freshwater bodies supporting vegetation in and around Chandigarh (India), using multivariate statistical methods. Water Qual Expo Health 5(3):149–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh UB, Ahluwalia AS, Sharma C, Jindal R, Thakur RK (2013b) Planktonic indicators: a promising tool for monitoring water quality (early-warning signals). Ecol Environ Conserv 19(3):793–800

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh UB, Thakur RK, Verma R, Ahluwalia AS (2013c) Nutritional studies of Chara corallina. Recent Res Sci Technol 5(3):10–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Slathia D (2007) Analysis of microbes and zooplankton vis-à-vis water quality of lake Surinsar. PhD Thesis, University of Jammu, Jammu

  • Sreenivasan A (1974) Limnological features of a tropical impoundment, Bhavanisagar Reservoir (Tamil Nadu, India). Int Rev Ges Hydrobiol 59(3):327–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Srivastava SK, Ramanathan AL (2008) Geochemical assessment of groundwater quality in vicinity of Bhalsena landfill, Delhi, India, using graphical and multivariate statistical methods. Environ Geol 53:1509–1528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanson S, Bahr J, Schwar M, Potter K (2001) Two-way cluster analysis of geochemical data to constrain spring source waters. Chem Geol 179:73–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tank DK, Chandel CPS (2010) Ahydrochemical elucidation of the groundwater composition under domestic and irrigated land in Jaipur city. Environ Monit Assess 166:69–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thakur RK, Jindal R, Singh UB, Ahluwalia AS (2013) Plankton diversity and water quality assessment of three freshwater lakes of Mandi (Himachal Pradesh, India) with special reference to planktonic indicators. Environ Monit Assess 185(10):8355–8373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tripti M, Gurumurthy GP, Balakrishna K, Chadaga MD (2012) Dissolved trace element biogeochemistry of a tropical river, Southwestern India. Environ Sci Pollut Res. doi:10.1007/s11356-012-1341-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venkatesharaju K, Mondal MR, Lal MS (2010) Study of seasonal and spatial variations in surface water quality of Cauvery river stretch in Karnataka. J Ecol Nat Environ 2(1):1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Verma R, Singh UB, Singh GP (2012) Seasonal distribution of phytoplankton in Laddia dam in Sikar district of Rajasthan. Vegetos (Bareilly) 25(2):165–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Wai WW, Alkarkhi AFM et al (2010) Comparing biosorbent ability of modified citrus and durian rind pectin. Carbohydr Polym 79(3):584–589

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weng H, Chen X (2000) Impact of polluted canal water on adjacent soil and groundwater systems. Environ Geol 39(8):945–950

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wetzel RG (2000) Limnology-lake and river ecosystems, 3rd edn. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • WHO (2004) Water, sanitation and hygiene links to health: facts and figures. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • WHO (2011) Guidelines for drinking water quality, 4th edn. WHO Press, World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh UB, Ahluwalia AS (2014) Algae: indispensable for sustainability of life. In: Ahluwalia AS, Gaur R (eds) Science technology and environment: perspective and trends. Panjab University, Chandigarh, pp 45–50. doi:10.13140/2.1.1238.4324

  • Zafar AR (1964) On the ecology of algae in certain fish ponds of Hyderabad, India-I, physicochemical complex. Hydrobiologia 23:179–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Chairperson, Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh for providing necessary research facilities during the study period. One of the authors (Uday Bhan Singh) thankfully acknowledges the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi for providing financial assistance in the form of Junior Research Fellowship and Senior Research Fellowship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160 014, India

    C. Sharma & R. Jindal

  2. Laboratory of Algal Biology and Diversity, Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160 014, India

    Uday Bhan Singh & A. S. Ahluwalia

  3. DAV College, Sector 10, Chandigarh, 160 014, India

    Uday Bhan Singh

Authors
  1. C. Sharma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Jindal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Uday Bhan Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. S. Ahluwalia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Uday Bhan Singh.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 40 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sharma, C., Jindal, R., Singh, U.B. et al. Assessment of water quality of river Sutlej, Punjab (India). Sustain. Water Resour. Manag. 4, 809–822 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-017-0173-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-017-0173-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation