Current Science

Riyaz Ahmad Mir ¹, Gh. Jeelani ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247 667, IN
2 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190 006, IN

Abstract

Fifty water samples were collected during high flow (June 2008) and low flow (January 2009) periods from River Jhelum and its tributaries located in Kashmir valley, Western Himalaya, to carry out hydrogeochemical assessment for domestic, livestock and irrigation purposes. The high flow period represents the summer season, and the low flow period represents the winter season. In general, water was alkaline in nature. Ca²⁺ among the cationic budget, and HCO^-₃ among the anionic budget, dominate the chemical quality of water. The higher annual average discharge (~1124.6 m³/s) during high flow period resulted in lower ionic concentration in water through the effect of dilution than during the lower annual average discharge of ~406.4 m³/s during low flow period. The water classification suggested the water to be of fresh category (100%<1000 mg/l TDS), which is therefore desirable for drinking purposes. Moreover, the mean values of major ions were within the permissible limits of WHO and ISI standards, suggesting that the water is suitable for domestic and livestock purposes. For irrigational practices, the calculated indices show that the water is of 'excellent to good quality'.

Keywords

Anionic and Cationic Budget, Domestic and Irrigation Purposes, Hydrogeochemical Assessment, Water Quality.

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Nadeem A. Bhat ¹, Gh. Jeelani ¹, M. Yaseen Bhat ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190 006, IN
2 Geology and Mining, Srinagar 190 015, IN

Abstract

Hydrogeochemical assessment of precipitation, streams and springs of Bringi watershed, SE Kashmir has revealed that Ca and HCO₃ are the dominant ions, making up more than 50% of the total ions, which indicates carbonate lithology as the dominant source of ionic species. However, increased Na in some samples, particularly Kongamnag, indicates the impact of silicate weathering on water chemistry. The dominant order of cations and anions in the water samples is Ca > Mg > Na > K and HCO₃ > SO₄ > Cl respectively. In both streams and springs, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), Ca, HCO₃ are high during winter when the discharge is low and low during summer when the discharge is high. However, Kokernag and Achabalnag springs also show higher concentrations during July, resulting from piston effect. The springs show a significant variability of TDS, with highest value of 180 mg/l observed at Achabalnag followed by Kokernag (130 mg/l) and Kongamnag (90 mg/l). The high variability of TDS indicates rapid and strong reaction of Achabalnag to hydrological events followed by Kokernag and Kongamnag.

Keywords

Bringi Watershed, Hydrogeochemistry, Karst Springs, Kashmir Himalayas.

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