Drinking and Irrigation Water Quality in Jalandhar and Kapurthala Districts, Punjab, India: Using Hydrochemsitry

Abstract

The physical and chemical parameters of groundwater play a significant role in classifying and assessing water quality. Hydrochemical study reveals quality of water that is suitable for irrigation, agriculture, drinking and industrial purposes. In this study groundwater samples from different aquifers, shallow, medium and deep, were collected and analysed for major ions. The analysed samples were used for classifying water type, source and quality for irrigation purpose. The major ionic abundance in the area shows that trend Ca++>Mg+>Na+>K+ (Shallow and Medium aquifer) Na+>Ca++>Mg+>K+ (Deep aquifer) and HCO3->Cl->SO4--. The dominant hydrochemical facies in shallow and medium aquifer is CaMgHCO3 type and in deep aquifer is NaHCO3 type. The drinking water quality is very good with the water quality for irrigation purpose is good in the study area. The study reveals that there is a chance of precipitation of carbonate minerals which may poses risk for soils in the study area.