Assessment of spring water quality in upper Himalayan villages using water quality index

Springwater is a primary source of water in the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand in India. These spring water sources quickly approach degraded water quality in both quantitively and qualitatively patterns because of its population boom, increased industrialization, and usage of pesticides in agriculture. In the present study, 16 spring water samples were collected from 9 upper Himalayan villages of Chamoli during the pre and post-monsoon period. Physic-chemical assessment and analysis of the collected spring water samples were performed to evaluate the water quality indices for drinking as well as irrigation purposes. The analysis of 14 physicochemical parameters including, pH, TDS, EC, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Cl^-, F^-, HCO^-₃, SO^2-₄ , PO^42- and NO₃^- were performed during pre and post-monsoon periods whereas Sodium percentage (Na%), Sodium Absorption Ratio, and Residual Sodium Carbonate, Soluble sodium percentage, Permeability index, Kelley's ratio, and, Magnesium hazard were evaluated to assess irrigation water quality. Out of 16 spring water samples, only 44% were in the ‘good’ water quality range for drinking during pre-monsoon whereas the significant 75% were in the same category water class during postmonsoon period. Three sampling sites had ‘poor’ water quality during both pre and post-monsoon periods. There were 6 springwater sampling sites that had ‘very poor’ water quality during pre-monsoon, but no site was found in this class during the post-monsoon period. The average value of irrigation water quality parameters Na%, SAR, RSC, SSP, Permeability index, Kelley's ratio, and, Magnesium hazard was observed as 27.43, 1.26, 1.96, 18.97, 0.24, 82.41, and 45.92 meq/l during pre-monsoon and 22.03, 0.71, 1.07, 24.56, 0.34, 83.34, and 39.41 meq/l during the post-monsoon period in the study area.