Hydrogeochemistry and Quality Assessment using Water Quality Indices of Surface and Groundwater of Konar Reservoir Region, Hazaribag District, Jharkhand, India

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the present paper, the water quality of the Konar reservoir area in the Hazaribag district of Jharkhand, India, has been investigated and with this view, the different physico-chemical variables, including pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Electrical Conductivity, TDS, Temperature, cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+), anions (CO32−, HCO3−, Cl−, F−, SO42−, NO3−) have been analyzed. According to Schoeller diagram, the order of major cations and anions for groundwater are Ca2+ > Na+ > Mg2+ > K+ and HCO3− > SO42− > Cl− > NO3− and for surface water are Na+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+ and Cl− > HCO3− > NO3− > SO42− respectively. The calculated water quality index shows that 100% of the samples of surface water are of excellent water quality, while 17% of the samples of groundwater are of excellent and 83% fall under the good category. The Gibbs Plot indicates that the rock-water interaction mechanism is dominant, Giggenbach triangle indicates that the waters have not yet reached equilibrium and are still in an immature state, although the Piper plot demonstrates that most of the surface water samples (78%) are mixed facies of Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl− and 22% are of Na+–Cl− type. All groundwater samples are mixed facies of Ca2+– HCO3− type. According to the Durov plot, 100% of surface water samples exhibit simple dissolution or mixing and majority of the ions in all groundwater samples are calcium and bicarbonate, showing the influence of limestone deposits. Almost all of the water samples from the Konar reservoir area were found to be appropriate for irrigation, according to the Residual Sodium Carbonate, Residual Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Percentage, Permeability Index, Kelley’s Ratio, Sodium Adsorption Ratio, United States Salinity Laboratory (USSL) and Wilcox diagrams.