Hydrogeochemical characterization and quality assessment of groundwater around Umrer coal mine area Nagpur District, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Quality assessment as well as hydrogeochemical characterization of 45 representative groundwater samples around Umrer coal mine area was undertaken. The pH of the water lies in the normal range i.e. from 7.5 to 8.5, the electrical conductivity varies from 826 to 1,741, the total hardness varies from 289 to 1,302 and the TDS values range from 528.6 to 1,114.2 mg/l which reflects variation in lithology and thus, the distinction in hydrogeological regime. The cation chemistry is dominated by Ca2+ and Mg2+ while anion chemistry is dominated by Cl− and HCO3−. Out of total ten hydrochemical facies, the two dominant facies are Mg–Ca–HCO3 (37.7 %) and Ca–Mg–SO4–HCO3 (17.7 %). The groundwater in the study area, in general, is useful for drinking and domestic use; however, it has marginal utility for irrigation purpose. Standard US Salinity Laboratory classification shows that water of the study area belongs to C2–S1 and C3–S1 classes. The concentration of 9 trace elements analysed from 18 samples did not exceed the desirable limit.