Physicochemical Assessment of Ground Water Qualities of some areas of Imphal East District of Manipur during Post-Monsoon-5^th Phase

Nandababu Singh Laishram

Post-Graduate Department of Chemistry, D.M. College of Science, Imphal – 795001, Manipur, India

*Corresponding Author E-mail: l.nandababu@yahoo.com.

ABSTRACT:

Fifteen ground water samples (S-1 to S-15) were collected from fifteen different hand pumps of Imphal East district during post-monsoon period (November) of 2016. They were analyzed for physico-chemical parameters such as temperature, pH, TDS (total dissolved solids), electrical conductivity (EC), total alkalinity (TA) (and hence CO₃^2- and HCO₃^-), total hardness (TH), Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ and Cl^-. Ground water (S-3) of Khanarok Awang Leikai (near foothill) was found to be fit for drinking purpose as the values of above mentioned physicochemical parameters for S-3, were below or within the acceptable limits of BIS standard for drinking water as well as that of WHO. But some suitable treatments are necessary in order to keep the values of pH (for S-13), TDS (for S-1), total alkalinity (for S-1, S-2 and S-4 to S-15), total hardness (for S-2 and S-9), Mg²⁺ (for S-2 and S-9) and Na⁺(for S-1 and S-13) within or below the acceptable limits of BIS standard for drinking water as well as that of WHO. However ground waters represented by S-1 to S-2, S-4 to S-12 and S-14 to S-15 may also be used for drinking purpose in absence of alternate sources as their above mentioned physicochemical parameter values are below the corresponding permissible limits of BIS standard for drinking water. All the fifteen ground waters may be used for other domestic purposes. However, except S-13 other remaining fourteen ground waters are suitable and well fit for irrigation purpose.

Na⁺ shows strong positive correlations with HCO₃^-(r=0.860) and with TA (r=0.856) showing main attribution of NaHCO₃ towards total alkalinity for different ground waters. EC shows strong positive correlations with TDS (r=0.916). Again TDS shows strong positive correlations with Na⁺, K⁺, HCO₃^- and Cl^- (r=0.917, 0.605, 0.754 and 0.857 respectively). This, further, indicates that the high values of TDS for different ground waters are due to the presence of high concentrations of NaHCO₃, NaCl and KCl mainly. Above all, TH also shows strong positive correlations with Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺.

KEYWORDS: Physicochemical parameters, drinking, irrigation, post-monsoon, BIS, WHO and correlation co-efficient.

INTRODUCTION:

Nowadays rate of urbanization as well as expansion of urban areas increase due to increasing population growth all over the world day by day. This leads to loss of many surface water bodies for making sites of construction of houses, buildings, commercial areas, many institutions, offices etc.

As a result of it, there is great demand for ground water for human consumption in daily life, irrigation and other industrial purposes mainly in addition to use of surface water.

Ground water is about 0.6% out of the total global water resources and only 0.3% is extractable economically¹. But it should not be taken for granted that such ground waters are always safe for drinking, other domestic, irrigation and industrial purposes.

So, it is necessary to examine such ground waters not only the surface waters from time to time so as to ascertain whether they are fit for human consumption (drinking), other domestic, irrigation purposes etc. With a view to this objective many researchers in different countries of the world, had carried out extensive researches on qualities of ground waters as well as surface water for drinking, irrigation and other purposes^2-7.

Similarly, many researchers in different states of India also had carried out extensive investigations on qualities of ground waters and surface waters for human consumption, irrigation and other purposes.^8-13

The present aim of this research work is to carry out physicochemical assessment of ground water qualities of some areas of Imphal East district of Manipur during post-monsoon period (November) of 2016. This is in continuation of my former research work on ground water qualities of some areas of Imphal East and Senapati districts of Manipur ¹⁴.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

All the chemicals were of AR grade and were used as received. Fifteen ground water samples (S-1 to S-15) were collected in well sterilized polythene bottles of 1 litre capacity each. For sampling and preservation, guidelines of APHA were strictly followed¹⁵.

The fifteen ground water samples were collected during post-monsoon period (November), 2016. All the ground water sampling sites along with geographical positions (measured with a GPS instrument) are shown in the following table:-1;

Table 1: Sampling sites (with geographical positions) of ground water samples

Sample code no. (with source)	Sampling sites (Locations)	Longitude	Latitude
S-1 (Hand pump)	Langdum Makha Leikai (1) (Near foothill)	93⁰59^/6^//E	24⁰43^/35^//N
S-2 (Hand pump)	Langdum Makha Leikai (2) (Near Langdum High School)	93⁰58^/55^//E	24⁰43^/37^//N
S-3 (Hand pump)	Khanarok Awang Leikai (Near foothill)	93⁰59^/10^//E	24⁰43^/10^//N
S-4 (Hand pump)	Khanarok Lai Leirak (Near Crech Centre, Khanarok)	93⁰59^/10^//E	24⁰43^/5^//N
S-5 (Hand pump)	Khanarok Mayai Leikai	93⁰59^/8^//E	24⁰43^/0^//N
S-6 (Hand pump)	Khanarok Makha Leikai (Near foothill)	93⁰59^/21^//E	24⁰42^/58^//N
S-7 (Hand pump)	Chanam Sandrok Awang Leikai (Near foothill)	93⁰59^/28^//E	24⁰42^/35^//N
S-8 (Hand pump)	Chanam Sandrok Mayai Leikai (Near Community Hall)	93⁰59^/26^//E	24⁰42^/28^//N
S-9 (Hand pump)	Waithou Chiru (1), (Near Church)	93⁰58^/12^//E	24⁰40^/56^//N
S-10 (Hand pump)	Waithou Chiru (2) (Near foothill)	93⁰58^/19^//E	24⁰40^/54^//N
S-11 (Hand pump)	Saman Tangkhul (1) (Near church)	93⁰58^/23^//E	24⁰40^/54^//N
S-12 (Hand pump)	Saman Tangkhul (2) (Near waiting set)	93⁰58^/24^//E	24⁰40^/48^//N
S-13 (Hand pump)	Thiyam Konjil Khongballou Leikai (Near Paddy field)	93⁰58^/45^//E	24⁰41^/9^//N
S-14 (Hand pump)	Thiyam Konjil Samanjing Leikai (Near Solo Club)	93⁰58^/50^//E	24⁰41^/21^//N
S-15 (Hand pump)	Thiyam Konjil Mamang Leikai (Near Pan dukan)	93⁰58^/53^//E	24⁰41^/39^//N

Table -3: Values of physicochemical parameters of ground water samples from different sampling sites.

Sample code no.	Temp (ᵒC)	pH	TDS (mg/L)	Electrical conductivity (EC) (µS/cm)	Total alkalinity (as CaCO₃) (mg/L)	CO₃^2-(mg/L)
S-1	22.8	7.6	589	1224	372.2	0
S-2	22.4	7.6	249	546	286.3	0
S-3	23.2	7.4	182	378	192.2	0
S-4	21.5	7.2	212	451	241.3	0
S-5	21.2	7.6	255	540	302.7	0
S-6	21.8	7.6	223	485	278.1	0
S-7	22.3	7.7	386	783	317	0
S-8	21.5	7.5	195	401	220.9	0
S-9	23.1	7.7	258	512	306.6	0
S-10	23.2	7.8	217	478	243.4	0
S-11	23.4	7.4	234	516	276.1	0
S-12	23.4	7.7	270	589	300.6	0
S-13	23.2	8.8	422	897	513.3	22.1
S-14	22.8	7.5	254	566	314.9	0
S-15	22.6	7.6	286	622	339.5	0

Table -3 Continue.............

Sample code no.	HCO₃^-(mg/L)	Total hardness(as CaCO₃)(mg/L)	Ca²⁺(mg/L)	Mg²⁺(mg/L)	Na⁺(mg/L)	K⁺(mg/L)	Cl^-(mg/L)
S-1	454.1	144	23.2	23.3	216.4	1.5	214.1
S-2	349.3	230	37.7	33	35.3	0.7	2.8
S-3	234.5	114	20	15.6	36.2	0.9	5.7
S-4	294.4	148	27.3	19.4	42.8	0.9	4.3
S-5	369.3	138	21.6	20.4	83.4	1.1	14.2
S-6	339.3	192	39.3	22.8	39.5	0.9	7.1
S-7	386.7	138	25.7	18	115.7	1	95
S-8	269.5	148	21.6	22.8	36.8	0.8	7.1
S-9	374.1	228	39.3	31.6	39.8	1.1	4.3
S-10	296.9	166	27.3	23.8	43	1.0	4.3
S-11	336.8	178	32.1	23.8	52.8	0.8	4.3
S-12	366.7	190	33.7	25.8	59.2	1.2	8.5
S-13	581.3	26	4	3.9	218.1	0.8	4.3
S-14	384.2	100	20	12.2	94.8	0.9	8.5
S-15	414.2	142	30.5	16	92	0.9	12.8

Based on the table -3, the following discussion has been made:

Temperature:

The temperatures of the fifteen ground waters (S-1 to S-15) are in the range 21.2-23.4⁰C (table -3). Ground water represented by S-5 has the lowest temperature (21.2⁰C) while each of S-11 and S-12 has highest temperature (23.4⁰C).

pH:

The pH values of all the fifteen ground waters (S-1 to S-15) ranges from 7.2. to 8.8 (table – 3). S-4 has the lowest pH values (7.2) while that of S-13 is highest (8.8). Except S-13, all other remaining ground waters (S-1 to S-12 and S-14 to S-15) have their pH values within the acceptable limit (6.5 to 8.5) for drinking water of BIS (Bureau of Indian standards) as well as that of WHO (World Health Organization)^18-19.

TDS (Total dissolved solids):

The values of total dissolved solids (TDS) for all the fifteen ground waters ( S-1 to S-15) ranges from 182 mg/L to 589 mg/L ( table-3). S-3 has the lowest value of TDS (182mg/L) while that of S-1 is highest (589 mg/L).Except S-I, other remaining fourteen ground waters (S-2 to S-15) have their TDS values within acceptable limit of BIS standard for drinking water ( 500 mg / L)¹⁸.However, in case of S-1, the TDS value is below the permissible limit ( 1000 mg /L). All the ground waters (S-1 to S-15) may be used for other domestic purposes also as their TDS values are less than 1000 mg/L²⁰.

Electrical Conductivity (EC):

The electrical conductivity values for all the fifteen ground waters (S-1 to S-15) are in the range 378-1224mS/cm(table-3). S-3 has the lowest value of EC (378mS/cm) while that of S-1 is the highest( 1224mS/cm).

Total alkalinity (TA):

The total alkalinity values for all the ground waters ( S-1to S-15) range from 192.2 mg/L to 513.3 mg/L (table-3). S-3 has the lowest value of it (192.2 mg/L) while that of S-13 is the highest (513.3 mg/L). Only S-3 has value of total alkalinity below the acceptable limit (200 mg/L) of BIS standard for drinking water while those of remaining fourteen ground waters ( S-1 to S-2 and S-4 to S-15) are above the acceptable limit but below the permissible limit (600 mg/L) of BIS standard for drinking water¹⁸.

CO₃^2- and HCO₃^- :

The concentrations of CO₃^2- for fourteen ground waters (S-1 to S-12 and S-14 to S-15) are found to be zero but in case of S-13, its value is found to be 22.1 mg/L (table-3). However, the concentrations of HCO₃^- for all the fifteen ground waters (S-1 to S-15) are in the range 234.5 – 581.3 mg/L (table -3). S-3 has lowest concentration of HCO₃^- (234.5 mg/L) while that of S-13 is highest (581.3 mg/L). For S-1 to S-12 and S-14 to S-15, the alkalinity is due to the presence of bicarbonate salts while that of S-13 is due to carbonate and bicarbonate salts.

Total hardness (TH) :

The total hardness values for all the fifteen ground waters (S-1 to S-15) ranges from 26 mg/L to 230 mg/L (table-3). Except S-2 and S-9, other remaining thirteen ground waters (S-1, S-3 to S-8 and S-10 to S-15) have their total hardness values below the acceptable limit (200 mg/L) of BIS standard for drinking water¹⁸. But the values of total hardness for S-2 and S-9 are also below the permissible limit (600 mg/L) of BIS standard for drinking water¹⁸. From tables-3 it is clearly seen that only S-13 belongs to soft water category (0-75mg/L); S-1, S-3toS-5, S-7, S-8, S-14 and S-15 belong to moderately hard water category ( 75-150 mg/L) while S-2, S-6 and S-9 to S-12 belong to hard water category ( 150-300 mg/L )²⁰.

Calcium (Ca²⁺):

The fifteen ground waters ( S-1 to S-15) have their concentrations of Ca²⁺ ranging from 4 mg/L to 39.3 mg/L(table-3). So all these values ( concentrations) of Ca²⁺ for all the fifteen ground waters are below the acceptable limit (75 mg/L) of BIS standard for drinking water¹⁸. S-13 has lowest concentration of Ca²⁺ (4 mg/L) while that of S-6 and S-9 are highest ( 39.3 mg/L each ).

Magnesium (Mg²⁺) :

The fifteen ground waters (S-1 to S-15) have their concentration sof Mg²⁺ ranging from 3.9 mg/L to 33 mg/L (table -3). S-13 has lowest concentration of Mg²⁺(3.9 mg/L) while that of S-2 is highest (33 mg/L). S-1, S-3 to S-8 and S-10 to S-15 have their corresponding concentrations of Mg²⁺below the acceptable limit (30 mg/L) but S-2 and S-9 have their concentrations of Mg²⁺ above the acceptable limit but below the permissible limit (100 mg/L) of BIS standard for drinking water¹⁸.

Sodium (Na⁺) :

Regarding Sodium (Na⁺) contents in these different ground waters ( S-1 to S-15), their concentration values are in the range 35.3 – 218.1 mg/L ( table-3).S-2 to S-12, S-14 and S-15 have their concentrations of sodium (Na⁺) below the threshold limit(200 mg/L) of WHO while those of S-1 and S-13 are above this threshold limit.¹⁹

Potassium (K⁺):

All the fifteen ground waters (S-1 to S-15) have low concentrations of K⁺ ranging from 0.7 mg/L to 1.5 mg/L (table – 3). S-2 has lowest concentration of K⁺ (0.7mg/L) while that of S-1 is highest (1.5 mg/L).

Chloride (Cl^-):

All the fifteen ground waters (S-1 to S-15) have their concentration of Cl^- ranging from 2.8 mg/L to 214 mg/L(table-3). All the concentration values of Cl^- for the different ground waters, are below the acceptable limit (250 mg/L) of BIS standard for drinking water¹⁸. S-2 has lowest concentration of Cl^- (2.8 mg/L) while that of S-1 is highest (214.1 mg/L).

Ground water quality for irrigation:

The values of RSC (residual sodium carbonate) and SAR (sodium adsorption ratio) for the fifteen ground waters (S-1 to S-15) are given below:

Table-4: Values of RSC and SAR for different ground water samples

Sample code no.	S-1	S-2	S-3	S-4	S-5	S-6	S-7	S-8
RSC (Residual sodium carbonate) (meq/L)	4.37	1.13	1.56	1.87	3.30	1.73	3.58	1.96
SAR (sodium adsorption ratio)	7.6	1.0	1.5	1.5	3.0	1.2	4.3	1.3

Table-4 Cont............

Sample code no.	S-9	S-10	S-11	S-12	S-13	S-14	S-15
RSC (Residual sodium carbonate) (meq/L)	1.57	1.55	1.96	2.21	9.74	4.30	3.95
SAR (sodium adsorption ratio)	1.1	1.5	1.7	1.9	18.6	4.1	3.4

Table – 5: Correlation co-efficient (r) values between different variable pairs of physicochemical parameters of ground water samples

	Temp.	pH	TDS	EC	TA	CO₃^2-	HCO₃^-	TH	Ca²⁺	Mg²⁺	Na⁺	K⁺	Cl^-
Temp.	1
pH	0.331	1
TDS	0.191	0.437	1
EC	0.211	0.448	0.996	1
TA	0.248	0.820	0.727	0.746	1
CO₃^2-	0.237	0.906	0.361	0.376	0.786	1
HCO₃^-	0.241	0.780	0.754	0.773	0.996	0.730	1
TH	-0.052	-0.513	-0.323	-0.336	-0.506	-0.684	-0.464	1
Ca²⁺	-0.030	-0.529	-0.341	-0.346	-0.462	-0.683	-0.415	0.951	1
Mg²⁺	-0.055	-0.466	-0.219	-0.237	-0.482	-0.643	-0.443	0.963	0.838	1
Na⁺	0.189	0.622	0.917	0.926	0.856	0.623	0.860	-0.645	-0.637	-0.553	1
K⁺	0.125	-0.058	0.605	0.586	0.157	-0.232	0.206	0.096	0.051	0.189	0.411	1
Cl^-	0.024	-0.025	0.857	0.838	0.279	-0.108	0.324	-0.083	-0.123	0.032	0.651	0.735	1

From the table –5, it is clearly seen that Na⁺ has strong positive correlations with HCO₃^-(r=0.951) and with TA (total alkalinity) (r=0.856) showing that alkalinity of ground waters (S-1 to S-15), is mainly due to the presence of NaHCO₃.TH has strong positive correlations with Ca²⁺(r=0.951) and with Mg²⁺(r=0.963), which shows that hardness of such ground waters is due to the presence of calcium and magnesium salts.EC shows strong positive correlation with TDS (r=0.996) showing that EC values of different ground waters (S-1 to S-15), are directly proportional to corresponding values of TDS. Again TDS shows strong positive correlation with TA (r=0.727). Further TDS also shows strong positive correlations with Na⁺, K⁺, HCO₃^-and Cl^-(r=0.917, 0.605, 0.754 and 0.857 respectively). Na⁺ shows strong positive correlations with HCO₃^- and Cl^- (r=0.860 and 0.651 respectively) but K⁺ shows strong positive correlation with Cl^-(r=0.735). This shows that high values of TDS for various ground waters are mainly due to the presence of high concentrations of NaHCO₃, NaCl and KCl.

CONCLUSIONS:

From the above discussion based on various experimental results for the fifteen ground waters, the following conclusions are drawn:

i. Ground water (S-3) of Khanarok Awang Leikai (Near foothill) is fit for drinking purpose from physicochemical analyses point of view.

ii. Some suitable treatments are necessary so as to keep the values of pH (for S-13), TDS (for S-1), total alkalinity (for S-1, S-2 and S-4 to S-15), total hardness (for S-2 and S-9), Mg²⁺ (for S-2 and S-9) and Na⁺ (for S-1 and S-13) within their corresponding acceptable limit of BIS standard for drinking water. However, ground waters represented by S-1, S-2, S-4 to S-12 and S-14 to S-15 may also be used for drinking purpose in absence of alternate sources.

iii. All the fifteen ground waters (S-1 to S-15) may be used for other domestic purposes.

iv. Ground waters represented by S-1 to S-12 and S-14 to S-15, are fit for irrigation purpose.

v. Strong positive correlations of TA with Na⁺ and HCO₃^-show that alkalinity of different ground waters, is mainly due the presence of NaHCO₃. High values of TDS for different ground waters (S-1 to S-15) are attributed to the presence of mainly NaHCO₃, NaCl and KCl as TDS shows strong positive correlations with Na⁺, K⁺, HCO₃^-and Cl^-. Lastly, strong positive correlations of total hardness with Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ indicates that total hardness for different ground waters (S-1 to S-15), is due to the presence of calcium and magnesium salts.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

The author is thankful to the principal, D.M. College of Science, Imphal for some of the laboratory facilities provided for the research work. Further, the author is also thankful to those local people of different sampling sites for their cooperation.

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Received on 25.11.2017 Modified on 12.12.2017

Asian J. Research Chem. 2017; 10(6):839-844.

DOI: 10.5958/0974-4150.2017.00140.7

Physicochemical parameters measured / determined	Instruments and brief methods used
Temperature	TDS Meter (TDS-3) (TDS/Temp.) (HIMEDIA, India).
pH	pHep® Pocket-sized pH Meter (HI98107) (HANNA Instruments, Romania)
TDS (Total dissolved solids)	TDS Meter (TDS-3) (TDS/Temp.) (HIMEDIA, India)
Electrical conductivity (EC)	Conductivity Tester (Dist3: HI 98303) (HANNA Instruments, Romania)
Total alkalinity (TA)	Titrimetric method with standard HCl solution using phenolphthalein and methyl orange indicators
CO₃^2- and HCO₃^-	By calculation method from total alkalinity values
Total Hardness (TH)	EDTA titrimetric method (using Eriochrome Black T indicator)
Calcium (Ca²⁺)	EDTA titrimetric method (using Murexide indicator)
Magnesium (Mg²⁺)	By calculation method
Sodium (Na⁺) and Potassium (K⁺)	Flame Photometer 128 (Systronics, India)
Chloride (Cl^-)	Argentometric titrimetric method (Using K₂CrO₄ indicator solution)