Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Assessment of surface water quality and its spatial variation. A case study of Ramganga River, Ganga Basin, India

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Arabian Journal of Geosciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ramganga River is the main tributary of the Ganges River which is the most sacred and largest river basin of India. For effective management of Ganges, assessment of water quality in its tributaries is must, and this river lacks it so far. The present study focuses on the evaluation of water quality of this river and its adjoining tributaries. Organic pollution indicators, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD5) of river water ranges from 15.2 to 55.5 mg/L and 7.1 to 29 mg/L, respectively. Nutrient parameters nitrate (NO3 −-N) and phosphate (PO4 2−-P) of river water ranges from 0.2 to 12.7 mg/L and 0.02 to 0.76 mg/L, respectively. While in tributaries, these parameters range from 0.2 to 9.9 mg/L and 0.03 to 1.47 mg/L, respectively. The most polluted stretches of river were from Moradabad to Farrukhabad via Bareilly especially in terms of organic pollution. Pair sample t test applied to compare the water quality of river and its tributaries revealed no significant difference in COD, NO3 −-N, PO4 2—P, and fluoride (F−) while sulfate (SO4 2−) was significantly large (25.1 mg/L) in tributaries. The spatial variation in water quality of river was addressed by cluster analysis (CA) which grouped the 16 sampling points into three significant clusters corresponding to lower pollution, moderate pollution, and severe pollution regions. The results from CA restructure the entire sampling campaign to a cheaper and less-effort sampling program that will be helpful in water quality assessment and management of the river.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams S, Titus R, Pietesen K, Tredoux G, Harris C (2001) Hydro chemical characteristic of aquifers near Sutherland in the Western Karoo, South Africa. J Hydrol 241:91–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Public Health Association (APHA) (1998) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 20th edn. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhardwaj V, Singh DS, Singh AK (2010) Water quality of the Chhoti Gandak River using principal component analysis, Ganga Plain, India. J Earth Syst Sci 119(1):117–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bureau of Indian Standard (1989) Indian Standard specification for drinking water, BIS Publication No. IS: 10500, New Delhi

  • Carpenter SR, Caraco NF, Correll DL, Howarth RW, Sharpley AN, Smith VH (1998) Nonpoint pollution of surface waters with phosphorus and nitrogen. Ecol Appl 8(3):559–568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman D (1992) Water quality assessment; a guide to the use of biota sediments and water in environmental monitoring. University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chetana SA, Somasekhar RK (1997) Ecological study on the riverine ecosystem of Karnataka. I. Physico-chemical characteristics of river Cauvery. J Environ Pollut 4(1):57–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Central Water Commission (CWC) (2012) Environmental evaluation study of Ramganga major irrigation project. vol 1. Central Water Commission, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, New Delhi 

  • Dixon W, Chiswell B (1996) Review of aquatic monitoring program design. Water Res 30:1935–1948

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finnveden G, Hauschild MZ, Ekvall T, Guinée J, Heijungs R, Hellweg S, Koehler A, Pennington D, Suh S (2009) Recent developments in life cycle assessment. J Environ Manag 91(1):1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gangapedia. About us: Gangapedia. Retrieved Dec 20, 2013, from http://gangapedia.iitk.ac.in/?q=content/about-us

  • Guoa H, Chena C, Lee DJ, Liua L, Xua X, Wanga L, Wanga A, Gaoa D, Rena N (2014) Sulfate reduction and denitrifying sulfide removal as a natural remediation process in an inland river. Ecol Eng 71:605–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvie HP, Whitton BA, Neal C (1998) Nitrogen and phosphorus in east coast British rivers: speciation, sources and biological significance. Sci Total Environ 210:79–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kazi TG, Arain MB, Jamali MK, Jalbani N, Afridi HI, Sarfraz RA, Baig JA, Shah AQ (2009) Assessment of water quality of polluted lake using multivariate statistical techniques: a case study. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 72:301–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan MYA, Hasan F, Panwar S, Chakrapani GJ (2015) Neural network model for discharge and water level prediction for Ramganga river catchment of Ganga Basin, India. Hydrol Sci J. doi:10.1080/02626667.2015.1083650

  • Kim JO, Mueller CW (1978) Introduction to factor analysis: what it is and how to do it. Quantitative applications in the social sciences series. Sage University Press, Newbury Park

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee JY, Cheon JY, Lee KK, Lee SY, Lee MH (2001) Statistical evaluation of geochemical parameter distribution in a ground water system contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. J Environ Qual 30:1548–1563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manahan SE (1993) Environmental chemistry of water: in fundamentals of environmental chemistry. LEWIS publishers, London, p 373–413

  • Mathur A, Shrama YC, Rupainwar DC, Murthy RC, Chandra S (1987) A study of river Ganga at Varanasi with special emphasis on heavy metal pollution. Pollut Res 6(1):37–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Misra AK, Mishra A (2007) Study of quaternary aquifers in Ganga Plain, India: focus on groundwater salinity, fluoride and fluorosis. J Hazard Mater 144(1):438–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MoEF (2009) Status paper on River Ganga, state of environment and water quality. National River Conservation Directorate Minis- try of Environment and Forests, Government of India

    Google Scholar 

  • Sawyer CN, McCarty PL, Parkin GF (2003) Chemistry for environmental engineering and science, 5th edn. Tata McGraw-Hill

  • Shrestha S, Kazama F (2007) Assessment of surface water quality using multivariate statistical techniques, a case study of the Fuji river basin, Japan. Environ Model Softw 22(4):464–475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh N (2010) Physicochemical properties of polluted water of river Ganga at Varanasi. Int J Energy Environ 1(5):823–832

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh KP, Malik A, Mohan D, Sinha S (2004) Multivariate statistical techniques for the evaluation of spatial and temporal variations in water quality of Gomati River (India)—a case study. Water Res 38(18):3980–3992

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh KP, Malik A, Sinha S (2005) Water quality assessment and apportionment of pollution sources of Gomti river (India) using multivariate statistical techniques—a case study. Anal Chim Acta 538:355–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoate C, Báldi A, Beja P, Boatman ND, Herzon I, van Doorn A, de Snoo GR, Rakosy L, Ramwell C (2009) Recent developments in life cycle assessment ecological impacts of early 21st century agricultural change in Europe—a review. J Environ Manag 91(1):22–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Templ M, Filzmoser P, Reimann C (2008) Cluster analysis applied to regional geochemical data, problems and possibilities. Appl Geochem 23(8):2198–2213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyagi VK, Bhatia A, Gaur RZ, Khan AA, Ali M, Khursheed A, Kazmi AA (2013) Impairment in water quality of Ganges river and consequential health risks on account of mass ritualistic bathing. Desalin Water Treat 51(10–12):2121–2129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valipour M, Mousavi SM, Valipour R, Rezaei E (2012) Air, water, and soil pollution study in industrial units using environmental flow diagram. J Basic Appl Sci Res 2(12):12365–12372

    Google Scholar 

  • Valipour M, Mousavi SM, Valipour R, Rezaei E (2013a) Deal with environmental challenges in civil and energy engineering projects using a new technology. J Civil Environ Eng 3:127. doi:10.4172/2165-784X.1000127

  • Valipour M, Mousavi SM, Valipour R, Rezaei E (2013b) A new approach for environmental crises and its solutions by computer modeling. In: the 1st international conference on environmental crises and its solutions, Kish Island, Iran. http://www.civilica.com/EnPaper--ICECS01_005.html

  • World Health Organization (WHO) (1963) International standards for drinking water, 3rd edn. WHO, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO) (1999) Determination of hardness of water. Method WHO/M/26.R1. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO) (2008) Guidelines for drinking water quality: recommendations, 3rd edn. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

MYAK thanks the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi for providing research fellowship. Big credit goes to Mr. Akbar, Mr. Umar, Mr. Ammar, Mr. Faaiz, Mr. Tariq, and Mr. Phool (driver) and for their support in collecting samples.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India

    Mohd Yawar Ali Khan & Govind Joseph Chakrapani

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India

    Khalid Muzamil Gani

Authors
  1. Mohd Yawar Ali Khan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Khalid Muzamil Gani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Govind Joseph Chakrapani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohd Yawar Ali Khan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Khan, M.Y.A., Gani, K.M. & Chakrapani, G.J. Assessment of surface water quality and its spatial variation. A case study of Ramganga River, Ganga Basin, India. Arab J Geosci 9, 28 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-015-2134-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-015-2134-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation