Effect Of Polluted Surface Water On Groundwater: A Case Study Of Budha Nullah

Abstract

Groundwater is one of the most important natural resources. It is a major source of fresh drinking water in both the rural and urban regions. The groundwater quality, however in recent time has got deteriorated due to the percolation of polluted water in to the soils from the drains, polluted rivers and ponds. As a result its quality has not remained potable in many parts of the country. Contaminated groundwater of Mettupalayam Taluk in Tamil Nadu, Amravati River Basin of Karur District, Tamil Nadu, Eastern Uttar Pradesh are some of the example. Therefore, the evaluation of water quality of the rivers, groundwater and impact of polluted groundwater on environment and health has drawn attention of the researchers. The present thesis is also an attempt on such study. The pollution level of Budha Nullah water and its effect on groundwater and vicinity area have been studied in the present paper. Total eleven groundwater samples, seven Budha Nullah samples and five soil samples were collected from different locations within 6 km stretch of Budha Nullah and its adjoining areas. The samples of the different points were collected from handpumps and tubewells, the water from which is used for drinking and other purposes. All the quality parameters of these samples were analyzed using standard methods prescribed in Standard methods for examination of water and wastewater (18 TH edition). It was observed that pH of all the collected samples was within permissible limit of 6.5-8.5. The surface water analysis of Budha Nullah reveals high values of Total Dissolved solids up to 1642 mg/L, chlorides up to 400 mg/L, Chemical Oxygen Demand values up to 448mg/L, Biochemical Oxygen Demand varying between 52-195 mg/L, Most Potable Number varying from 240+ upto 2400+ per 100ml, heavy metal like Cr in the Budha Nullah has value 0.031 mg/L, Fe 0.913 mg/L, Mn 0.043 mg/L and Ni 0.222 mg/L. The quality of ground water at many places was found to be unfit for drinking mainly due to high amount of total dissolved solids and most potable number being much higher than the prescribed limit as per ISO 10500 standards. SAR of soil ranges from 3.78 to 6.98 mg/kg, which is optimum value for soil, as soils with SAR value less than 10 are considered good for leaching and water percolation. The reason behind the presence of other form of impurities and heavy metals in the ground water could be due to presence of heavy metals in surface water of Budha Nullah and its seepage in the adjacent groundwater aquifers. Objectives Of Study: The rapid industrialization in Ludhiana, though contributed to economic development, has resulted in heavy losses to economic welfare in terms of effects on agricultural activities, human health and ecosystem at large through air and water pollution. Solid and liquid wastes emanating from the industrial activities are the inevitable by-products of manufacturing process. These wastes contain toxic chemicals such as Chromium salts, sulfides and other substances including heavy toxic trace metals. These materials enter the surface water and subsurface aquifers resulting in water pollution. The town which earned the name of Manchester of Punjab landed into dubious distinction of being one of the most polluted human settlements in the country (G.S Gill et al.,1997). Similarly industries located in Mettupalayam taluk, Tamilnadu dispose their effluents on land, and the farmers of the adjacent farmlands have complained that their shallow open wells get polluted and also the salt content of soil has started building up slowly. Study found that continuous disposal of industrial effluents on land, which has limited capacity to assimilate the pollution load, has led to groundwater pollution (Mukherjee at el., 2006). In this dissertation an attempt has been made to study the water quality of the Budha Nullah and groundwater. Grab sampling was done from the different locations through the 12 km stretch of Budha Nullah in the Ludhiana city .