[A-HW28] Hydrology and Water Environment

[AHW28-P17] Comprehensive Assessment of Surface and Groundwater Quality in Etawah Using Water Quality Index and Geospatial Statistical Techniques

*ABDUL GANI¹, Shray Pathak², Athar Hussain¹ (1.Netaji Subhas University of Technology, New Delhi, India, 2.Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Punjab, India)

Keywords:Ground water, Pollutants, Spatial Variability, Water Quality, Yamuna River

The Yamuna River in India serves the needs of multiple cities located along its course and is the most heavily contaminated river in India. Around 85% of the pollution in the river is caused by domestic and industrial origins. Whereas groundwater quality is threatened by anthropogenic causes such as fast and unplanned development, industrial waste leaching, and runoff from strenuous agricultural lands. In the current study, an effort has been made to develop the WQI for the surface and ground water in the Etawah district, Uttar Pradesh. The data of various physio-chemical parameters of Yamuna River and groundwater was collected from the Central Water Commission (CWC) data and the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) for the duration of 8 years from 2015 to 2022. WQI was determined by using weighted arithmetic WQI, which uses weights for different physio-chemical parameters. WQI for groundwater was developed by using pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), calcium (Ca), chloride (Cl), fluoride (F), magnesium (Mg), nitrate (NO3), and sulphate (SO₄). For the development of WQI for surface water, two scenarios were generated because turbidity and total coliforms were the parameters that largely affected the water quality of the Yamuna River. Scenario 1 comprises pH, boron (B), TDS, Ca, Cl, F, Mg, ammonia (NH₃), nitrite (NO₂), NO₃, SO₄, bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD), and dissolved oxygen (DO). Whereas scenario 2 includes pH, TDS, turbidity, B, Ca, Cl, F, Mg, NH₃, NO₂, NO₃, SO₄, BOD, DO and total coliform The assessed WQI values for the groundwater vary from 57.21 to 99.92, which shows that the groundwater quality of Etawah district was good. Whereas for the surface water, WQI for scenarios 1 and 2 varies from 74.71 to 740.88 and 1026.04 to 271586.80, which shows that the water quality of the Yamuna River ranges from poor quality to water quality unsuitable for drinking purposes and unsuitable for drinking purposes for scenarios 1 and 2, respectively. By identifying important pollution zones and possible sources of contamination, the GIS-based technique makes it easier to visualize and analyze trends in water quality. The results can help policymakers and stakeholders to implement appropriate measures for water quality management and sustainable development practices.