Groundwater Quality Assessment around Industrial Area of Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P., India
Authors: Nigam Neelam 
Published: January 2025

In areas where surface water resources are scarce ground water is used to meet industrial demand. Of great concern is
the large volume of water withdrawn and the much smaller volume actually consumed thus rendering a greater portion of it as
waste water or effluent to be disposed off. It is the volume of these effluents and the concentration of hazardous substances they
contain combined with mode of disposal and the vulnerability of the underlying ground water which determines the risk of
pollution. In assessing industrial impact on ground water, quality issue emerges to be of major concern. Water quality of a
particular source and area depends on its physical, chemical and biological parameters, which are useful in assessing or
monitoring of the water quality for a designated use. If the values of these defining parameters exceed the permissible limit it
may pose threat for human health [1]. The best technique is to evaluate appropriate indices to gain information about water
quality for a specific use.
The present paper deals with the assessment of ground water quality by Geochemical classification of ground water, determining
various statistical correlations and evaluating a new comprehensive and flexible index i.e. Water Pollution Index [2] to provide a
basic or overall knowledge of water quality status in context of any designated use around Gautam Budh Nagar Industrial area,
U.P. India.
Gautam Budh Nagar lies in between 28.3383°N latitude to 77.6078°E longitude. It is a doab, bound on the west and south-west
by the Yamuna River and south-east by the Hindon River. Ground water occur under phreatic conditions in shallow aquifers
down to the depth of 100 mbgl, in intermediate and deeper aquifers it occurs under confined to semi-confined conditions.
The chemical analysis data of eleven ground water samples from tubewell (TW) in and around industrial area confined to Noida
and Greater Noida, Gautam Budh Nagar [3] were systematically computed to determine Water Pollution Index (WPI),
Geochemical classification of ground water and various statistical correlations. It has been observed that the ground water of the
study area is slightly alkaline (pH ranges from 7.37 to 8.23). Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) >2000 mg/l is found in 27% samples
with a maximum of 3587 mg/l in water sample from TW, Subros Air Conditioning System, Phase II, Noida. 17% samples are
associated with Total Hardness (TH) above permissible limit [4] with a maximum of 921mg/l in water sample from TW, Subros
Air Conditioning System, Phase II, Noida. Geochemical classification of ground water shows that alkali metals exceed alkaline
earths and strong acids exceed weak acids. Fluoride (F) content in 66 % samples is found to exceed the maximum permissible
limit of 1.5 mg /l with a maximum of 4.3 mg/l in water sample from TW, New Holland Fiat Pvt. Ltd. Udyog Kendra, Greater
Noida. Various statistical correlations have been evaluated and it has been observed that there exists a positive correlation
between F & HCO3 with correlation Coefficient (r) 0.65 and negative correlation between F & Ca with (r) -0.86 thus indicating
its origin to be geogenic in nature. WPI was evaluated and it was observed that it ranged from 0.76 to 2.85. 64% samples
exhibited highly polluted water with WPI >1.0 with a maximum of 2.85 in water sample from TW Subros Air Conditioning
System, Phase II, Noida and 36% samples showed moderately polluted water with WPI (0.75-1.0) with a minimum of 0.76 in
water from TW Surya Processors Pvt. Ltd.,Chapraula, Greater Noida.