Spring water quality assessment of Anantnag district of Kashmir Himalaya: towards understanding the looming threats to spring ecosystem services

Abstract

This study reports the significance of freshwater springs primarily in meeting drinking water demands besides offering various ecosystem services. We analyzed a total of eighteen hydrochemical quality parameters using standard methods from various representative springs of Anantnag district, Kashmir Himalaya. Groundwater quality profiles were generated in a GIS environment for each parameter. Additionally, statistical methods were employed to understand the interdependence of water quality parameters. Highly variable dissolved oxygen (0.4–9.2 mg L−1) and relatively higher values of nitrate ranging from 57 to 2668 µg L−1 noticed during the study may be mostly related to contamination from agricultural waste. The findings of this study revealed that the springs are predominantly hard water type as the water samples found were calcium-rich and exhibited higher total phosphorus in a few samples owing to limestone lithology in the catchment. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to the data generated chiefly three components (VF1, VF2, and VF3) having Eigen values of 2.0 or more (2.28–5.37) contributing for 31.63%, 17.99% and 13.44% of the total variance, respectively. The water quality index (WQI) of the samples for drinking purpose ranged from good to excellent. In light of our findings, it is argued that springs offer a potential, although partial, solution to the drinking water demands of a burgeoning population in Indian Himalayan region. However, equally important is to have a thorough investigation of springs to explore the impacts of other forms of pollution, including heavy metals, pesticides and antibiotic wastes, which can diminish much-needed ecosystem services.