Assessment of groundwater and surface water quality for irrigation suitability in Rupnagar District, Punjab, India

<p>Groundwater and Sutlej river water are major sources of irrigation in Rupnagar district of Punjab. Water quality was examined for their agricultural suitability using a total of 54 surface water (16 from Sutlej and 6 from Sirsa River) and groundwater (total 32 of ~160 m depth) samples from Pre- (June 2019) and post-monsoon (Dec 2018) seasons. On-site parameters (electrical conductivity, pH, total dissolved solids) indicate permissible pH (pH 6.6-8.2) and conductivity (147-1953 μS/cm), while 18.5% of samples are brackish salt to salt category type on salinity index. The results of these parameters were further interpreted and measured with different irrigation indexes like sodium percent (SP), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), chloride concentrations and Wilcox diagram. Similarly, most of the samples (except Sutlej river water samples) were found to be above permissible limits with respect to SP (5.36-81.01) and RSC (0-6.23), but SAR is indicative of suitability for irrigation purposes (0.11-8.3). The suitability for irrigation as per SAR is because of low sodium content in all the samples relative to calcium and magnesium. The Wilcox diagram of pre-monsoon samples indicate high, medium and low saline to low sodium hazard except 1 sample with high saline to medium sodium hazard and salinity-sodium hazard in post-monsoon is comparatively lower than that of pre-monsoon. However careful observation of the complete data analysis suggests that all the parameters in Sutlej river water samples were found to be suitable for irrigation while most of the groundwater samples and 3 samples from Sirsa river were unfit for irrigation purposes as inferred from SP, RSC and Wilcox diagram.</p>

Impact Appraisal of Industrialization on Heavy Metal Contamination of Sirsa River Located in the Shivalik Foothills of North Western Himalayas

In the era of industrialization, deterioration in the quality of aquatic systems has necessitated the monitoring of the environmental contaminants amongst which heavy metals are one of the dangerous pollutants owing to their high toxicity and bioaccumulation. Therefore, heavy metal status of Sirsa river flowing through Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh (BBN) industrial region was assessed dividing it into six equal stretches and taking river’s entry point to this region as control. In total there were seven treatments which were replicated six times. The nine heavy metals namely As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni, Zn and Mn were in the range of 0-0.02, 0-0.07, 0.02-0.10, 0.04-0.29, 0.09-1.20, 0.03-0.55, 0.03-0.27, 0.30-0.25 and 0.02-0.32 mg/l, respectively. All the metals were within the permissible limit prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) except Ni and Pb. The mean value of Heavy metal pollution index (HPI) and Metal index (MI) was 999 and 13, respectively and waster was rated under poor to very poor category for drinking purposes. A strong positive correlation was observed between Cr, Fe, Cd, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn representing corresponding increase in their concentrations specifying thereby the common origin of these metals from industrial activities. Therefore, the strict compliance of regulatory standards enacted for emission and discharges from industrial areas is needed to maintain the homeostasis of these riverine ecosystems as well as to aid in designing strategies for long-term management of valuable water resources.

SuitabilityAssessment of Sirsa River Water for irrigation in Shiwalik Foothills of North Western Himalaya

Sirsa river runs through the central part of the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh (BBN) industrial region in district Solan of Himachal Pradesh. The water of this river is used for irrigating agricultural fields by the farmers. The increased industrial and urbanization activities in the valley are being pointed out as the cause of river water pollution by the farmers and other habitations in the region. Therefore, such reports prompted the idea to conduct this study to assess the river water suitability for irrigational commitments. Thus, Sirsa river water quality was assessed during the year 2018 by taking seven sampling sites as treatments which were replicated six times. To assess the suitability of Sirsa river water for irrigation purposes, various quality parameters such as pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), Soluble Sodium Percentage (SSP), Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC), Permeability Index (PI), Kelly’s Ratio (KR), Magnesium Hazard (Mg. Haz.)and Chloro-Alkaline Index (CAI) were determined. In the Sirsa river water pH, EC,RSC,SSP,SAR,PI,KR,Mg Hazand CAI were found in the range of 6.64-7.55, 129.50-719.67 µS/cm, -5.27 - -2.18 meq/l, 13.49-49.44%, 0.41-4.00%, 28.20-57.89%, 2.94-21.24%, 14.97-37.83%and 0.04-0.58%, respectively. All the factors were within the safe range for irrigation purposes except KR values. The high KR values above unity pointed out towards sodicity hazard of water which, therefore can not be used for irrigation purposes.