Browsing by Author "Prahlad Ram"

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Groundwater quality in the lower Varuna River basin, Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh
(2009) N. Janardhana Raju; Prahlad Ram; Sangita Dey
The lower Varuna River basin in Varanasi district situated in the central Ganga plain is a highly productive agricultural area, and is also one of the fast growing urban areas in India. The agricultural and urbanization activities have a lot of impact on the groundwater quality of the study area. The river basin is underlain by Quaternary alluvial sediments consisting of clay, silt, sand and gravel of various grades. The hydrogeochemical study was undertaken by randomly collecting 75 groundwater samples from dug wells and hand pumps covering the entire basin in order to understand the sources of dissolved ions, and to assess the chemical quality of the groundwater through analysis of major ions. Based on the total dissolved solids, two groundwater samples are considered unsuitable for drinking purpose, but all samples are useful for irrigation. Graphical treatment of major ion chemistry by Piper diagram helps in identifying hydro-geochemical facies of groundwaters and the dominant hydrochemical facies is Ca-Mg-HCO3 with appreciable percentage of the water having mixed facies. As per Wilcox's diagram and US Salinity laboratory classification, most of the groundwater samples are suitable for irrigation except two samples (No's 30 and 68) which are unsuitable due to the presence of high salinity and medium sodium hazard. Irrigation waters classified based on residual sodium carbonate, have revealed that all groundwaters are in general safe for irrigation except one sample (No. 27), which needs treatment before use. Permeability index indicates that the groundwater samples are suitable for irrigation purpose. Although the general quality of groundwater of the lower Varuna River basin is suitable for irrigation purpose, fifty seven percent of the samples are found having nitrate content more than permissible limit (>45 mg/l) which is not good for human consumption. Application of N-Fertilizers on agricultural land as crop nutrients along the Varuna River course may be responsible for nitrate pollution in the groundwater due to leaching by applied irrigation water. The other potential sources of high nitrate concentration in extreme northern, southern and southwestern parts of study area are poor sewerage and drainage facilities, leakage of human excreta from very old septic tanks, and sanitary landfills. The high fluoride contamination (>1.5 mg/l) in some of the samples may be due to the dissolution of micaceous content in the alluvium. Nitrate and fluoride contamination of groundwater is a serious problem for its domestic use. Hence an immediate protective measure must be put into action in the study area. © Geol. Soc. India.
Hydrogeochemical characterisation and evaluation of seasonal variation in groundwater chemistry in upper Panda river Basin, India
(Springer International Publishing, 2015) Sangita Dey; N. Janardhana Raju; Prahlad Ram; Janmejoy Singh
The shortage of water resources of good quality is becoming an important issue in hard rock and semi-arid zones and rapid declining of groundwater supplies are common (Raju and Reddy, 2007). Groundwater is the primary source of water for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses in many countries, and its contamination has been recognised as one of the most serious problems in India (Raju, 2007; Reddy et al., 2010; Raju et al 2009a). Major ion-chemistry of ground water provides the basis to investigate the weathering reactions in the basin (Das and Kaur, 2007; Raju et al., 2011). Each groundwater system, in the area, has a unique chemistry, acquired as a result of chemical alteration of meteoric water recharging the system (Back, 1966; Drever, 1997; Raju, 2012). The assessment of the suitability of groundwater for domestic water supply requires knowledge of the concentrations of inorganic constituents and their comparison with existing standards. Irrigation water quality concerns the amounts of salts present in ground water and their effects on crop growth and development. Since there is no adequate surface water supply, about 80-90 % of drinking and irrigation use is from available groundwater resources and the importance of groundwater utilization has increased at an alarming rate in parts of Panda River basin, Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh (Dey, 2010). Some parts of the study area are facing severe groundwater problems i.e. fluoride contamination which makes the water unfit for human consumption (Raju et al., 2009b). The main objective of the study is to assess spatial distribution of hydrogeochemical parameters and evaluate seasonal variation in groundwater chemistry of the upper Panda River basin, Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, India. © Capital Publishing Company 2015.
Hydrogeochemistry for the assessment of groundwater quality in Varanasi: A fast-urbanizing center in Uttar Pradesh, India
(2011) Nandimandalam Janardhana Raju; U.K. Shukla; Prahlad Ram
The hydrogeochemical parameters for groundwater samples of the Varanasi area, a fast-urbanizing region in India, were studied to evaluate the major ion chemistry, weathering and solute acquisition processes controlling water composition, and suitability of water quality for domestic and irrigation uses. Sixty-eight groundwater samples were collected randomly from dug wells and hand pumps in the urban Varanasi area and analyzed for various chemical parameters. Geologically, the study area comprises Quaternary alluvium made up of an alternating succession of clay, silty clay, and sand deposits. The Total dissolved solids classification reveals that except two locations, the groundwater samples are desirable for drinking, and all are useful for irrigation purposes. The cationic and anionic concentrations indicated that the majority of the groundwater samples belong to the order of Na > Ca > Mg > K and HCO3 > Cl > SO4 types, respectively. Geochemical classification of groundwater based on the Chadha rectangular diagram shows that the majority (81%) of groundwater samples belong to the calcium-bicarbonate type. The HCO3/ (HCO3 + SO 4) ratio (0.87) indicates mostly carbonic acid weathering process due to presence of kankar carbonate mixed with clay/fine sand. The high nitrate concentration (>45 mg/l) of about 18% of the groundwater samples may be due to the local domestic sewage, leakage of septic tanks, and improper management of sanitary landfills. In general, the calculated values of sodium adsorption ratio, percent sodium, residual sodium carbonate, and permeability index indicate good to permissible use of water for irrigation, and only a few locations demand remedial measures for better crop yields. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.