Assessment of Ground Water Quality of Beed City, Maharashtra, India

Introduction

Ground  water   is   precious  natural  resource  for  several  vital functions such  as  for  public, industrial and  agricultural water supply. It is the surface water that  seeps  into  the  ground. The  water  seep down through the fine gaps between sand  particles displacing the air until it finds its level. The ground water acts as a reservoir by virtue of large pore spaces in earth materials. It is stored in Karstic, Fissured and porous aquifiers. It provides drinking water to almost a third of the population  and  irrigates  about 18% of the crop land.

Due to the increased  demand  the  ground   is being  excessively  exploited. The ground water is used for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes. Now a days ground water sources are observed to be affected of pollution and over exploitation, this  presents a serious threat. Therefore it is essential to study the ground water quality. Many workers such as Tiwari and Manzoor (1989), Dayal (1992), Mittal et al (1994), Kataria (2000), Tripathi (2003), Meenambai (2006), Pawar (2005), had carried  out studies on  various  ground water sources at different locations.

The  present  work  is undertaken  to study the physicochemical characteristics of  the ground water from Beed city. Beed is a district head quarter, with a population  of about  400,000. Most  of  the population  relies on various ground water sources like Dug wells; Bore wells etc. for their water requirements. The physicochemical  characteristics  such  as  temperature, pH, alkalinity, salinity acidity, Total hardness, calcium hardness, chlorides, nitrite, Total Dissolved Solids, Free Cabon dioxide,Dissolved Oxygen were studied on the water samples collected from ground water sources (borewells).

Methodology

The sample were collected from ten(10) different locations situated at different geographical  locations  in the city, the site  selection  is made randomly. Samples were collected  from every sampling  station   and analysed by following APHA manual.

Table 1: PHYSICO-CHEMICAL  CHARACTERSTICS OF GROUND WATER SAMPLES  OF BEED CITY OF MAHARASHTARA          

Parameters	MCC	AP		SR		BP		MC	MSN		MJ	SHN		HG	SPO
Temperature(o C)	28		29		30		29	28		28	30	28	28		30
PH	7.52		7.13		7.25		7.25	7.1		8.61	7.73	6.74	6.85		7.13
Alkalinity	325		425		265		360	350		305	175	340	300		300
Acidity	165		198		132		203	99		165	66	198	99		165
Total hardness	240		240		330		440	132		186	100	460	540		340
Mg hardness	22		47		58		72	21		35	16	94	117		70
Ca hardness	60		48.8		92		108	48		36.8	32	78.1	60.1		52.1
Chlorides	71		80.94		71		109	65		351	50	166	142		146
Salinity	128		146		128		197	117		634	89	300	256		263
Sulphates	65		80		190		75	75		250	40	260	40		50
Nitrites	0.5		0.05		0.25		0.05	0.16		0.55	0.62	0.5	0.1		–
TDS	3050		4450		6400		6250	1800		4800	3350	3650	1200		1800
Free  CO2	58		87.12		87.12		58.08	87.12		58.08	22.41	174	58		87
DO	4.16		4.58		4.5		10	13.05		6	6.25	4.16	3.54		3.54

All parameters are expressed in mg/l except temperature and pH.

MCC-MIlliya campus, AP-azizpura, SR-subhash road, BP-Balepeer, MC- Masoom coloney, MSN-Masaratnagar,MJ-Maheboobganj,SN-shahenshahnagar,HG-Hafizgalli,SPO-S.P.office

The physicochemical parameters are recorded are given in the table 1. Water temperature is the most important factor of the water which has a great deal of influence on various chemical and biological  reactions  taking  place in the water. The water temperature ranged between 28^o C to 30^o C in all the stations sampled. The pH values of all the samples were found in the range of suitable drinking water standards. Alkalinity is  imparted  by salts  like  carbonates, bicarbonates ,nitrates. The alkalinity  ranged  between 175 to 425 mg/liter  with   maximum  being at Aziz pura tube well ( 425 mg/liter) and minimum being at Maheboobganj bore well (175 mg/liter). Acidity is caused by mineral acids, salts and Carbon dioxide. Acidity ranged between 66 mg/liter to 203 mg/liter with highest being at Bale Peer bore well (203 mg/liter) and minimum being at Maheboob ganj. Calcium hardness was found to be maximum at Balepeer bore well (108 mg/liter) and minimum at Maheboob ganj (32 mg/liter). The Magnesium hardness was found to be maximum at Hafiz galli bore well (117 mg/liter) and minimum at Maheboob ganj bore well (16.59 mg /liter). High chloride level indicates pollution from domestic sewage. Chlorides were found maximum at Masarat nagar (351.45 mg/liter) and minimum at Maheboob ganj bore well (49.7 mg/liter). Salinity was found maximum at Masarat nagar (634.397 mg/ liter) and minimum at Maheboob Ganj (89.738 mg/liter). Natural  water  contains  higher  level of sulphates  due to  weathering  of  rocks. Sulphates ware found  maximum  at  Shahinshah  Nagar (260 mg/liter) and minimum at Hafiz galli bore well (40mg/ liter). Presesnce of small quantity of nitrite indicates  organic pollution . Nitrites  were found  maximum at Maheboob ganj bore well (0.625 mg/ liter) and maximum at Azizpura bore well (0.05 mg/liter). Total Dissolved  solids  were found maximum  at Subhash road bore well (6400 mg/liter) and minimum at Masoom Colony bore well (1800 mg/liter). Ground water used for drinking   purpose  is  rich in carbon dioxide because it come from percolation through  various  strata  and  it  absorbs  a large amount of carbon dioxide.Free Carbon dioxide was found  maximum at  Shahinshah Nagar bore well (147.24 mg /liter) and  minimum  at Hafiz galli bore well (58.08 mg/liter).Dissolved oxygen is one  of  the  most  important  parameter  in  assessing  water  quality  and reflects physical and chemical processes prevailing in the water. Dissolved Oxygen was found maximum at Masoom Colony (13.05 mg/liter) and minimum at Hafiz galli bore well (3.054 mg/liter).

The physico – chemical analysis of ground water samples in Beed city reveals that most of the parameters were found within permissible limit except nitrite concentration. Areas BP, MSN, HG, SHN appears to be fairly polluted water samples may be potable after proper treatment. However monitoring is important to detect drinking water contamination.

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