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Reflecting on changes in the drinking and irrigation water quality of rivers Beas, Satluj and confluence waters

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Abstract

Prevention and control of water pollution for maintaining and restoring the wholesomeness of rivers are unavoidable. The current water quality approach of designated best use has some limitations such as it is non-integrative and inflexible with regard to the consideration of variables and does not provide a separate rating scale for a given designated use. We thus used water quality index approach proposed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME WQI) to evaluate and develop a separate rating system for drinking and irrigation purposes of rivers Beas, Satluj and their confluence water of the Indian Punjab using information collected over 4 years (2016 to 2019). River Beas exhibited better water quality compared to river Satluj for irrigation as well as for drinking. The overall drinking water quality index (DWQI) for Beas was marginal (45.5), whereas it was poor for Satluj (37.7) and confluence waters (40.1). The spatial variation in DWQI was greater for Satluj compared to Beas and confluence waters reflecting the effect of dumping of untreated industrial and domestic waste waters. Variables such as Total coliform (T. coli), dissolved oxygen (DO), turbidity and biological oxygen demand (BOD) contributed to the deterioration of DWQI. The irrigation water quality index (IWQI) was good for Beas (86), marginal for Satluj (60.1) and fair for confluence waters (71.2). Faecal coliform (F. coli), Kelly ratio (KR) and %Na contributed to the deterioration of IWQI. Calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate (Ca-Mg-HCO3) was the dominant water type in Beas and confluence waters, whereas for Satluj, in addition to Ca-Mg-HCO3, sodium-potassium-chloride-sulphate and mixed water types were also prevalent. The river waters witnessed salinity hazard but did not pose sodicity hazard except at a few locations of Satluj. The study indicates the need to take location specific measures for improving river water quality for drinking as well as irrigation purposes. The current status of water quality calls for an urgent need to formulate stringent policy regulations to maintain the surface water quality.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the funding received from Punjab Pollution Control Board, India under the project Misc-179 (PC-4964) “Water quality status of Beas: Past and Present trend analysis for future prediction”.

Funding

This work was supported by Punjab Pollution Control Board, under the project Misc-179 (PC-4964) “Water quality status of Beas: Past and Present trend analysis for future prediction”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India

    Sumita Chandel, Harsimran Kaur, Dinesh Kumar Benbi, Dhanwinder Singh, Manpreet Kaur & Kuldip Singh

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  1. Sumita Chandel
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  2. Harsimran Kaur
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  3. Dinesh Kumar Benbi
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  4. Dhanwinder Singh
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Contributions

SC: conceptualization and designing of the research work; analysis of data and interpretation; manuscript writing

HK: conceptualization and designing of the research work; analysis of data and interpretation; manuscript writing

DKB: conceptualization and designing of the research work; interpretation of data; manuscript editing; expert opinion and funding

DS: conceptualization and designing of the research work

MK: analysis of data

KS: help in project management

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Correspondence to Sumita Chandel.

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Chandel, S., Kaur, H., Benbi, D.K. et al. Reflecting on changes in the drinking and irrigation water quality of rivers Beas, Satluj and confluence waters. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 126132–126147 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-30849-2

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