pp. 78-91

Umesh Saxena 1* and Swati Saxena2

1Principal and Professor, Chanakya Technical Campus, Jaipur (Raj.)-302022 (India)

2Research Scholar, Gyan Vihar University, Jaipur, Rajasthan (India)

*Corresponding Author email: saxenaumesh@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Water is an essential natural resource for sustaining life and environment but over the last few decades the water quality is deteriorating due to it’s over exploitation. Water quality is essential parameter to be studied when the overall focus is sustainable development keeping mankind at focal point. Groundwater is the major source of drinking water in rural as well as in urban areas and over 94% of the drinking water demand is met by groundwater. The study was carried out to assess the ground water quality and its suitability for drinking purpose in most rural habitations of Bassi tehsil of district Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. For this purpose, 50 water samples collected from hand pumps, open wells and bore wells of villages of study area were analysed for different physico-chemical parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, total alkalinity, total hardness, calcium hardness, magnesium hardness, chloride, nitrate, fluoride and total dissolved solids. pH value in the study area found from 7.0 to 8.1. EC ranges from 392-5152 µ mhos/cm and total alkalinity between 190 to 980 mg/L. Total hardness ranged from 60 to 2400 mg/L and calcium hardness from 20 to 1150 mg/L. Magnesium hardness varied from 40 to 1250 mg/L and chloride from 20 to 2000 mg/L. Values of nitrate concentration varied from 2 to 380 mg/L and fluoride from 0.3 to 9.6 mg/L while value of TDS ranges from 560 to 7360 mg/L. The study reveals that almost all parameters were exceeding the permissible limits. As per the desirable and maximum permissible limit for fluoride, nitrate, total dissolved solids and chloride in drinking water, determined by WHO BIS and ICMR standards, 44%, 14%, 24% and 42% of groundwater sources are unfit for drinking purposes respectively. Due to the higher fluoride level in drinking water several cases of dental and skeletal fluorosis have appeared in this region. After evaluating the data of this study it is concluded that drinking water of Bassi tehsil is not potable and there is an instant need to take ameliorative steps in this region to prevent the population from adverse health effects.

Keywords:   Groundwater   quality,   Physico-chemical   parameters,   Statistical   Parameters

INTRODUCTION

“Water is life’s matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.” In now days, the modern civilization, urbanization and expanded population with resulting industrial  operation  has intensified the old problem of  polluting our life, mother and medium.  At  present our life, mother and medium is being polluted and even worse  situation  is  that we encounter with scarcity  of  this degraded quality of water too. It has raised certain basic challenges in  our environment and we are suffering both the problems of quality and quantity of water. In India  groundwater is  the major source of drinking water and over 94% of the drinking water demand is met by groundwater. Water quality is essential parameter to be studied when the overall focus  is  sustainable  development  keeping mankind at focal point, since it is directly linked with human welfare. (Saxena and Saxena,2013)

Statistical investigation offers more attractive options in environment science, though the result may deviate more from real situations (Nemade and Shrivastava, 1997). The correlation provides an excellent tool for the prediction of parametric values within a reasonable degree of accuracy (Venkatachalam and Jabenesan, 1998). The quality of water is described by its physical, chemical and microbial characteristics. But, if some correlations are possible among these parameters, then the more significant ones would be useful to indicate fairly the quality of water (Dhembare and Pondhe, 1997). A systematic study of correlation of the water quality parameters not only helps to assess the overall water quality but also to quantify relative concentration  of various pollutants in water and provide necessary cue for implementation of rapid water quality management programmes (Dash et al, 2006).

Rajasthan is the largest state in the country in terms of geographic spread. It has  an area of 342,239 lakh Sq kms being largest state of the country having 10.41 % of the country’s area and 5.5% of nation’s population but has low water resources i.e. 1% of the country’s resources.  The  state has extreme climatic and geographical condition and it suffers both the problems of quantity and quality of water.

Review on the literature showed that no studies have been undertaken in the study area with regard to physico-chemical characteristics of water yet. So  the objective of this study was to investigate the quality of drinking water (underground water) in most rural habitations of Bassi Tehsil of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study Area

Jaipur district with geographical area of 11,151 sq. km forms East-central part of the Rajasthan which is administered by 13 tehsils and 13 blocks. The district covers about 3.3% of total area of the State. Jaipur, the capital city is also popularly known as Pink city and is situated towards central part of the  district.  The  semi-arid district receives normal annual rainfall of 527mm (1901-71) while average annual rainfall for the last 30 years (1977-2006) is 565mm. Over 90% of total annual rainfall is received during monsoon. (CGWB, 2007; JDA,2012).

Bassi Tehsil of Jaipur district is almost 29 KM far away from the main city having the area of 654.69 sq.km. It is located at 26096’ N latitude and 75062’E longitude. In Bassi Tehsil there are 210 villages (famous for their leather footwear and Embroidery beading). There are no major surface water sources  in  the  study  area  however,  main sources of drinking water are open wells, hand pumps and bore wells.

Water Sampling

Ground water samples of a total of 50 villages in Bassi Tehsil of Jaipur district were collected in pre-cleaned and rinsed polythene bottles of two litre capacity with necessary precautions. (Brown et al. 1974) The samples were collected, during April 2013 to March 2014 from manually operated hand pumps, open wells and bore wells.

Physico-chemical  Analysis

All the samples were analyzed for the following Physico-chemical  parameters; pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Alkalinity (TA), Total Hardness (TH), Calcium hardness (Ca H), Magnesium hardness (Mg H), Chloride, Nitrate, Fluoride and Total Dissolved Solid (TDS). The analysis of water samples were out carried in accordance  to  standard analytical methods (APHA, 2005). All the chemicals used were of AR grade and double distilled water used for preparation of solutions. Details of the analysis methods are summarized in Table-1.

Table-1: Parameters and methods employed in the physicochemical examination of water samples

Statistical Analysis

In the present study Minimum, Maximum, Average, Standard Deviation and Correlation coefficient (r) has been calculated for each pair of water quality parameters by using Excel spreadsheet for the experimental data.

The standard formulae  were  used in the calculation for statistical parameters are as follows (S.P. Gupta, 1999):

x = Value of Observation

N = Number of Observation

x = Values of Parameter

n = Number of Observations

x,y = Values of array 1 and array 2 respectively.

n = Number of Observations

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The respective values of all water quality parameters in the groundwater samples are illustrated in Table-2. All the results are compared with standard permissible limit recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and World Health Organization (WHO), depicted in Table-3. Statistical Parameters of groundwater samples of study area are summarized in Table-4.

5. pH: pH is measure of intensity of acidity or alkalinity of water. All chemical and biological reactions are directly dependent upon the pH of water system (Rao, 2006). In our findings pH varied between 7.0-1. Maximum pH was recorded at S18 in village Ghata and minimum pH was recorded at S12 in village Chatarpura, which are not within the permissible limit prescribed by BIS, ICMR and WHO. The variation of pH in ground water samples of study area is depicted in Figure – 1, which shows that most of the samples are alkaline in nature. The pH of water is very important indication of its quality and provides information in many types of geochemical equilibrium or solubility calculations (Mitharwal et al., 2009).
6. Electrical Conductivity: The electrical conductivity of water depends upon the concentration of ions and its nutrient status. Based on electrical conductivity values the water quality can be classified as poor, medium or good (Gulta, Sunita, & Saharan, 2009). In the present investigation  maximum conductivity 5152 µ mhos/cm was observed at S21 in village Hans Mahal and minimum 392 µmhos/cm at S11 in village Chakrod Wali. The maximum limit of EC in drinking water is prescribed as 1400 µ mhos/cm (WHO: 2006), Samples are exceeding the permissible limit as shown in Figure- 2.
7. Total Alkalinity: Total Alkalinity ranges from 190 mg/L to 980  mg/L,  the maximum value was recorded in village Jhar (S26) and minimum in village Chakrod Wali (S11). Variation in total alkalinity of ground water samples is represented in Figure- 3 which clearly depicts that these values are more than the permissible limits of BIS, ICMR and    In   ground   water,   most   of   the alkalinity is caused due to carbonates and bicarbonates.
8. Total Hardness: Hardness is the property of water which prevents lather formation with soap and increases the boiling point of water. Hardness of water mainly depends upon the amount of calcium or magnesium salt or both (Singh et al. 2012). It is an important criterion for determining the usability of water for domestic, drinking and many industrial supplies (Mitharwal et al., 2009). In our findings the value of hardness fluctuates from 60 mg/L to 2400 mg/L (Figure-4), which are beyond the permissible limit as prescribed by BIS, ICMR and WHO. The minimum value was found in S12 (Village- Chatarpura) and maximum value was found in samples S8 (village- Benada).
9. Calcium Hardness: Calcium Hardness varies from 20 mg/L to 1150 mg/L as illustrated in Figure- It may be due to the presence of high amounts of calcium salts in ground water samples.

Table-2: Analysis of ground water quality parameters in villages of Bassi Tehsil (Jaipur, Rajasthan, India)

10. Magnesium Hardness: Magnesium Hardness of groundwater is varying from 40 mg/L to 1250 mg/L as shown in Figure-
    6. High values of magnesium hardness can be   attributed   to   the   large   amounts   of magnesium salts in ground water.
11. Chloride: Chloride contents in fresh water are largely influenced by evaporation and precipitati Chloride ions are generally more toxic than sulphate to most of the plants and are best indicator of pollution (Rao, 2006). Chloride found high during the study ranged from 20 mg/l to 2000 mg/l (Figure-7). Minimum value was observed at samples S3, S10 and S49 and maximum value was observed at S21 in village Hans Mahal. These unusual concentrations may indicate pollution by organic waste. Chloride salts in excess of 100 mg/1 give salty taste to water and when combined with calcium and magnesium, may increase the corrosive activity of water (Tatawat and Singh- Chandel, 2007).
12. Nitrate: During the study  Nitrate fluctuated between 0 to  380  mg/l (Figure -8). Which are beyond the permissible limit of BIS, ICMR and WHO. In presence of high concentration of nitrate drinking water is toxic (Umavathi et al. 2007).  Due  to  higher  concentration  (over 100 mg/L) of nitrate in water, infants, less than six month old, are suffering from methamoglobinemia or blue baby disease.
13. Fluoride: Fluoride is important in human nutrition for the normal development of bone The required level of fluoride is 1.0 to 1.5 mg/L. Higher concentration of fluoride in ground water appears to create dental, skeletal and non-skeletal fluorosis (Saxena and Saxena, 2013). Fluoride concentration in sampling sites ranges from 0.3 to 9.6 mg/L in ground water samples, with lowest value 0.3 mg/L (S17, S39 and S42) in village Ghasipura, Nayagav, Patalabas and highest value 9.6 mg/L (S37) in village Mundali. As shown in Figure-9 and Table-2 most of the samples are having fluoride concentration more   than   the   permissible   limit   and suffering from the acute fluoride problems.
14. Total Dissolved Solids: Total dissolved solid is an important parameter  for drinking water and water to be used for other purposes beyond the prescribed limit, it imparts a peculiar taste to water and reduce its potability (Sandeep Mitharwal et al., 2009). Total dissolved solids are composed mainly of carbonates, bicarbonates, chlorides, phosphates and nitrates of Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Manganese, organic matter salt and other particles (Siebert et al., 2010). In the present finding TDS value varied from 560 to 7360 mg/L (Figure-10), which  is also not within the prescribed permissible limit Maximum TDS recorded at S21 in village Hans Mahal and minimum at S11 in village Chakrod Wali.

Table-3: Standards for drinking water quality

Table-4: Statistical parameters of the different chemical constituents of ground water of the study area

Correlation of water quality parameters

In the present study the correlation coefficients (r) among  various  water quality parameters have been calculated and the numerical values of correlation coefficients (r) are tabulated in Table- 5.Correlation coefficient (r) between any two parameters, x & y is calculated for parameter such as water pH, electrical conductivity,      total      alkalinity,      total hardness,   calcium   hardness,   magnesium hardness, chloride, nitrate, and total dissolved solids and negative correlations with total alkalinity and fluoride. EC has been found to show negative correlations with fluoride  while all other parameters are  positively correlated with EC. Out of the 55 correlation coefficients, 6 correlation coefficients (r) between the TDS and EC, Cl-    and   EC   (0.9356),   Ca   H   and   TH (0.9960),  Mg  H  and  TH  (0.9967),  Ca  H–hardness,  chloride,   nitrate,  fluoride  and Mg H (0.9856), Cl and TDS (0.9356) total dissolved solids of the ground water samples. The degree of line association between any two of the water quality parameters as measured  by the simple correlation coefficient (r) is presented as 10 x 10  correlation  matrix.

The pH has been found to show positive correlation with electrical conductivity, total       hardness,       calcium       hardness, are  found  to  be  with  highly  significant levels (0.8< r < 1.0), and 1 correlation coefficient gives the significant (0.5< r < 0.6) level of r values. There are 11 value of r which belongs to the moderate significant coefficient levels (0.6< r < 0.8). 42 cases were calculated out positive correlation while 13 cases were  calculated  out negative.

Table-5: Correlation coefficient (r) among water quality parameters

Figure 1- Variation in pH with sampling sites of Bassi Tehsil

Figure 2- Variation in EC with sampling sites of Bassi Tehsil

Figure 3- Variation in Total Alkalinity (mg/L) with sampling sites of Bassi Tehsil

Figure 4- Variation in Total Hardness (mg/L) with sampling sites of Bassi Tehsil

Figure 5- Variation in Ca Hardness (mg/L) with sampling sites of Bassi Tehsil

Figure 6- Variation in Mg Hardness (mg/L) with sampling sites of Bassi Tehsil

Figure 7- Variation in Chloride (mg/L) with sampling sites of Bassi Tehsil

Figure 8- Variation in Nitrate (mg/L) with sampling sites of Bassi Tehsil

Figure 9- Variation in Chloride (mg/L) with sampling sites of Bassi Tehsil

Figure 10- Variation in TDS (mg/L) with sampling sites of Bassi Tehsil

CONCLUSION

The analysis of ground water samples collected from different villages of Bassi Tehsil in District Jaipur revealed that, in samples almost all water quality parameters (pH, electrical conductivity, total alkalinity, total hardness, calcium hardness, magnesium hardness, chloride, nitrate, fluoride and TDS) are beyond the permissible limit as per BIS, ICMR and WHO standards. In comparison to all other parameters there is an acute problem of extremely high levels of Fluoride, Nitrate, Total Dissolved Solids and Chloride. As only 56% of ground water samples have fluoride content with in the permissible limit (> 1.5  mg/L, WHO) and remaining 44% of villages are having very high fluoride concentrations. The favourable factor which contributes to rise of fluoride in ground water is presence of fluoride rich rock salt system.

The nitrate ion concentration of 14%    of total        samples was more than 45 mg/L. Some samples contain this concentration u p to   380   mg/L.  The increased  nitrate level   in  the  ground  water  samples may be  due to  the  consumption  of             large quantity   of  nitrogenous  fertilizers  like urea,   NPK   and   cattle-shed along   with municipal         wastes. 24% of ground water samples are having TDS more than 2000 mg/L (relaxed permissible limit as per BIS standards) and 42% ground water samples reported the Chloride level more than 200 mg/L.

The results of current study indicate that the drinking water, used by the people residing in villages of Bassi Tehsil, is not potable. So, the proper environment management plan must be adopted to control drinking water pollution immediately. Based on these results and analysis of water samples, it is also recommended to use water only after boiling and filtering or  by  Reverse Osmosis treatment for drinking purpose by the individuals to prevent adverse health effects.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Authors are  equally very thankful to Mr. S. Devenda Suptt. Chemist  and Ms. Sunita Yadav Jr. Chemist Public Health Engineering Engineering Department, Jaipur. Authors are also grateful to Dr. Yashoda Kumari Verma for her valuable motivational support in this research work.

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