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The suitability of surface waters from small west-flowing rivers for drinking, irrigation, and aquatic life from a global biodiversity hotspot (Western Ghats, India)

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Abstract

The present study provides surface water types and water quality indices (WQI) for 70 large coastal rivers of the Western Ghats (WG). Irrespective of seasons and lithology, concentration of cations (Ca2+ > Na+ > Mg2+ > K+) and anions (HCO3- > Cl− >SO42- > NO3- > PO43-) follow a typical trend all along the coast. The WG rivers can broadly be classified as calcium-bicarbonate-chloride (Ca2+-HCO3--Cl-) type. Pearson correlation analysis of major ions demonstrates natural sources influence on the riverine water composition across the WG region. Gibbs plot suggests water composition of these rivers is the result of the interaction of rock and precipitation. It means that ionic contributions from precipitation and chemical weathering of rock-forming minerals largely determine surface water quality. This biodiversity hotspot is facing high population pressure and anthropogenic activities. Despite it, quantitatively, all the physical parameters and chemical constituents are within the permissible limits of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), thus making it suitable for drinking and domestic purposes. About 86% of the surface water samples are found to be suitable for irrigation (KR < 1) in non-monsoon seasons. Rivers near to Goa coast are only found unsuitable (KR > 1) for irrigation exclusively during non-monsoon seasons. From the majority of the calculated indices, it may be inferred that the river waters draining from the WG region are suitable for irrigation. Overall, the calculated WQI for studied rivers showed excellent to good water quality for drinking, agriculture, and aquatic life in monsoon seasons, which are then ranked from good to marginal in non-monsoon seasons.

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Acknowledgments

KKR is grateful to the DST-INSPIRE fellowship program (IF150795) for financial support. HG is thankful to the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India for an appointment, and start-up grant under Faculty Recharge Program. The Director, CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute is acknowledged for extending necessary analytical facilities. G. Vamshi Krishna and P. Linga Raju are appreciated for their help during field sampling. We are highly thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their careful reading and insightful comments and suggestions on our manuscript.

Funding

First author (KKR) is grateful to the Department of Science and Technology (DST)-INSPIRE fellowship program (IF150795) for financial support to pursue a PhD. Corresponding author (HG) is thankful to the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India for an appointment, and start-up grant under Faculty Recharge Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, India

    S. Kiran Kumar Reddy, D. Venkat Reddy & Devender Kumar

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India

    Harish Gupta

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  1. S. Kiran Kumar Reddy
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  2. Harish Gupta
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Contributions

Kiran Kumar Reddy: Writing original draft, data collection and analysis, software and interpretation; Harish Gupta: Conception of the work and review; Venkat Reddy: Editing and critical revision of the article; Devender Kumar: Editing and critical revision of the article.

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Correspondence to Harish Gupta.

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Reddy, S.K.K., Gupta, H., Reddy, D.V. et al. The suitability of surface waters from small west-flowing rivers for drinking, irrigation, and aquatic life from a global biodiversity hotspot (Western Ghats, India). Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 38613–38628 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13154-8

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