Spatio-temporal variations in hydro-geochemistry of groundwater at rural, urban and industrial areas of Kanpur, India

Abstract

Physicochemical characteristics of groundwater provide vital information regarding prevailing geochemical, geomorphological and predominant pollution conditions in an area. In the present work, hydro-geochemical properties of ground water were examined at rural, urban and industrial areas of Kanpur to determine its aptness for drinking and irrigation. Groundwater samples were randomly collected from deep borewell pumps across the city. The samples were examined for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), nitrate, sulphate, chloride, hardness, alkalinity, total dissolved solids, sodium, potassium, calcium, which ranged between 7.10 and 8.60, 140–3990 mS cm−1, 0.02–13.67, 4.67–285.37, 4–747.77, 108–1555.2, 32–532, 89.60–2550, 18–720, 2–19 and 5–290 mg L−1 in pre-monsoon season and 7.1–8.2, 400–5450 mS cm−1, 0.02–24.09, 7.62–258.21, 4–538.84, 122–750, 240–988, 256–3490, 29–730, 3–53 and 10–185 mg L−1 in post-monsoon season respectively. Water Quality Index of groundwater during post-monsoon were recorded to be better than the pre-monsoon season, reason being percolation of water during rainfall in monsoon. The pre and post-monsoon data provided valuable information regarding the suitability of groundwater for various purposes such as drinking and irrigation. Results showed ‘fairly’ and ‘good’ categories of water quality in the pre-monsoon season which further improved in post monsoon season. Results clearly specify that the natural process of groundwater recharge is an important mechanism to maintain the quality of groundwater.