Determination of water quality of Ganga River System in Himalayan region, referencing indexing techniques
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Determination of water quality of Ganga River System in Himalayan region, referencing indexing techniques Gagan Matta 1
&
Avinash Kumar 1 & Anjali Nayak 1 & Pawan Kumar 1 & Amit Kumar 2 & Ashwani K. Tiwari 3
Received: 18 September 2019 / Accepted: 10 September 2020 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2020
Abstract The Ganga River system is one of the most important water resources in North India by providing water for drinking and other purposes. This study aimed to determine the suitability of river water for drinking purposes in the Himalayan region by using a water quality index (WQI). The transformation of water quality data set into index value is understandable and usable by the public. To interpret the seasonal water quality, a total of 20 monitoring locations were selected to collect water samples from Gangotri to Roorkee, for various reasons. After applying the WQI, water quality was found in good condition in three seasons except during monsoon season. In winter, summer, and autumn seasons, the value of WQI was observed 41.69, 39.4, and 35.6, respectively, which indicates good water quality, but in monsoon season, the value of WQI was found 65.3 which showed the poor water quality. To assess the metal contamination, metal index (MI) and pollution index (PI) were applied for Fe, Pb, Zn, and Cu. The MI and PI values (MI: > 6 and PI: > 5) represent that the water quality is seriously affected condition which makes river water unfit for drinking purposes. Therefore, it is needed to evaluate the river water quality as well as the implementation and formulation of an integrated plan to control the contamination level. Keywords River Ganga . Water quality . WQI . Metal index . Pollution index
Introduction More than half of the world’s population (3.3 billion people) is affected by water scarcity which is one of the most burring environmental concerns (UN 2008; Mekonnen and Hoekstra 2016). An event held in the UN known as “Water for People, Water for Life” (the first-ever UN system-wide evaluation on global water resources 2003) has kept India a poor water quality nation among all 122 nations covered with a rank of 120th (WWAP 2003). Rivers are life support to the population of Responsible Editor: Amjad Kallel * Gagan Matta [email protected] 1
Department of Zoology and Environmental Science, Gurukula Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar, India
2
Center for Glaciology, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, India
3
DIATI Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Ducadegli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy
India but human health is threatened due to water pollution. There is no harmony data for river water quality in India including River Ganga (Trombadore et al. 2020). Therefore, the determination of surface water quality has become a sever matter of concern. Rivers are most susceptible to pollution because they carry an immense amount of industrial, municipal, and agricultural runoff containing chemical fertilizers (UCOST 2012; Minist
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