Topic: Assessment of water resource: A case study of Yamuna Nagar and Karnal district

Abstract

Ground water is the major source of drinking and irrigation water in both urban and
rural areas. The industrial waste and domestic sewage are the leading causes of ground water pollution. The main focus of this study is to assess the suitability of ground water quality for drinking and irrigation purposes in vicinity of three selected industries (sugar mill, paper mill, thermal power plant) and along Yamuna River located in Yamuna Nagar District of Haryana state, India. Twenty ground water samples were collected for physico-chemical analysis with reference to BIS and WHO standards. The concentrations of pH, Na, Cl, So 4 and Ca were well within the desirable limits at all the locations. However the concentration of EC, TDS, total hardness, alkalinity, potassium and magnesium exceeded the desirable limit in about 65%, 40%, 70%, 95%, 70% and 50% respectively of all the samples. The analysis shows that the area in general is characterized by hard water, hence is not suitable for drinking purpose. Order of abundance of chemical ions were Na> Ca>K>Mg = HCO 3 >Cl>SO 4 >CO 3. The plot for ground water samples in Piper trainer diagram determine that most of the groundwater samples were of Ca Mg Hco 3 and bicarbonate type water. However, the values of SAR, Na%, and RSC indicate that groundwater is suitable for irrigation purposes.