Underground Water Quality Degradation along Luni River in Thar Desert due to Industrial Effluent Discharge

Abstract

This study aims to assess degradation of underground water quality in an area lying in the core of Desert Thar along Luni river in India. Luni river is non-perennial river flowing in the desert of Rajasthan state of India. This river is known as life line of the area. Balotra is a town situated on the bank of river Luni and is well known textile industrial hub of the country. The industries are mostly cotton textile which utilizes certain types of dyes for manufacturing their products. The untreated/partially treated and uncontrolled disposal of industrial waste water is continuously discharged in the river Luni since many years, which is degrading the underground water along the river stretch. The study has been carried out with the objectives: (a) Assessment of effect of industrial waste water discharge in river on ground water quality, (b) Estimation of future contamination in groundwater if present practice of wastewater disposal persists at any given time. Samples of underground water were collected from various bore wells, hand pumps and open wells situated along the river and tested for various parameters of water quality for different time steps. The water quality parameters considered in this study includes TDS, Ammonia, Fluoride, Chloride, Nitrate, Calcium, Magnesium, Sulphide, Arsenic, Chromium, Nickel, Copper, Iron, Cadmium, Zinc, Lead, Benzene, Mercury, Detergent, Xylene, E-Coli, COD, Phenolic compound and Phosphate etc. The analysis of test results indicates continuous variations in the concentration of almost all the parameters. TDS variation was recorded as high as 100000 mg/l. Presence of anionic detergent in the underground water indicates start of uncontrollable situation of underground water pollution in the region. The spatio-temporal comparison of water quality parameters has been also included in the results. The entire underground water in the region is bound to be contaminated if present condition of disposal of industrial wastewater are being followed as depicted in spatio-temporal GIS maps. Finally, the study demonstrates how contaminated water has health effects on human being under different scenarios along with their remedial plans.