Surjeet Singh* ,
National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee (Uttarakhand) INDIA
Sumant Kumar ,
National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee (Uttarakhand) INDIA
B. Chakravorty ,
National Institute of Hydrology, Centre for Flood Management Studies, Patna (Bihar) INDIA
A. K. Singh,
National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee (Uttarakhand) INDIA
M. Raju
School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad (Telangana) INDIA
*Corresponding author Email : ssingh_sagar@yahoo.co.in
ABSTRACT
In the present paper, geochemical characteristics of groundwater have been studied using Water Quality Index (WQI)and Piper trilinear diagram. The water quality index offers a quantitative representation of overall quality of water forany intended use and helps in pollution abatement programmes and management. Whereas, the Piper diagram showsgraphical representation of the hydrochemical facies of a set of water samples. In the present work, twenty-fivegroundwater samples were collected from various locations in the Bijnor district. The samples were investigated forpH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate,calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, total hardness, fluoride and trace metals. The Piper trilinear diagram showed++ -that groundwater of the district is Ca-Mg-HCO type. Ca and HCO were found dominant ions among cations and3 3anions, respectively. The WQI was found in the range of 71 to 86, which indicated that the samples fall under the fair togood category. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) checks were also applied to examine the water quality for the drinkingpurpose. The results revealed that most of the water quality parameters are within the permissible limits except iron andmanganese. Based on the results, groundwater of the Bijnor district needs treatment for drinking purpose for thelocations where the WQI is found below 75.
Keywords: Groundwater; Water quality index; Piper diagram; Bijnor.