Essay On Ground Water Hydrochemistry

CHAPTER - II

HYDROCHEMISTRY

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Water is naturally occurring resource on the earth surface in the form of surface water (ponds, lake, rivers, streams etc) and as ground water (aquifers and underground streams). It is a critical issue for the survival of all living organisms on the earth. The study of hydrochemistry of fresh water involves description of occurrence of various constituents in surface and groundwater along with their relationship with water use. There are several processes and factors which affect the hydrochemistry and have interdependent effect in controlling the overall chemical quality of ground water and surface water of an area. The hydrochemistry of surface and ground water is interrelated with the hydrogeology

In Ropar wetland, TDS concentration for surface water samples in the pre monsoon varies from 225 - 468 mg/l with an average around 317.6 mg/l and in the post monsoon varies from 191 to 236 mg/l with an average around 209.5 mg/l whereas in ground water samples TDS varies from 275 to 1083 mg/l with an average of 729 mg/l. BIS (1991) have prescribed the desirable limit of total dissolved solids as 500 mg/l in drinking water and 2000 mg/l as permissible limit. WHO (2006) has also prescribed the desirable limit of total dissolved solids as 500 mg/l for drinking water. The results indicate that all the samples are well within the desirable and maximum permissible limit of BIS (1991) and WHO (2006) for drinking water in both the wetlands, except one surface water sample and two ground water samples in Sukhna wetland and eight ground water samples in Ropar wetland which are above the desirable limit of BIS (1991) and WHO