08-A Project Report on Water Quality Assessment of River Ganga at Haridwar (Uttarakhand)

Abstract

As the river Ganga is a sacred river & also the lifeline for people living nearby, increased settlement in and around Haridwar has increased concerns about the quality of river Ganga. This study is an overview of the current water quality of river Ganga at Haridwar. Water samples were collected at an interval of 15 days from 5 study sites and analyzed for pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Turbidity (NTU), Total Alkalinity (TA), Total Hardness (TH), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Sodium (Na+), Potassium (10, Calcium (CaH), Magnesium (MgH), Sulphate (5042), Nitrate (NO3), Chloride (Cr), Phosphate (P043-), Silica (Si), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Total Coliform (TC) and Faecal Coliform (FC). In order to get a view on the current river water quality, an attempt of has been made to develop WQI for Drinking & Irrigation purposes. Chemical analyses of water samples showed that calcium and bicarbonate are the dominant cation and anion, respectively. The water type is Ca-Mg-HCO3 based on hydro-chemical facies using Piper's diagram. The results were compared with the drinking water standard (BIS 10500: 2012) and it clearly indicates that water quality for drinking purpose is of poor quality while it is of Excellent quality for Irrigation Purposes.