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Studies of River Water Quality Using River Bank Filtration in Uttarakhand, India

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Abstract

The poor water quality, bacterial contamination, seasonal variation, uncertainty in monsoon, lack of sustainability etc. are some major challenges of the water sector in the Himalayan region of India. To tackle the major problem of water quality, River Bank Filtration (RBF) has been applied in Uttarakhand as a domestic water pre-treatment technology. This technique is found to be effective for removal of turbidity and bacterial contamination present in surface water of four rivers of Uttarakhand, namely Alaknanda, Mandakini, East Nayar, and Pinder. The present paper reveals the improved water quality of rivers produced through RBF in a sustainable manner as compared to surface river water being supplied for drinking purpose. The classification of water quality using Pearson correlation followed by Piper trilinear and Chadha’s diagrams further provide support to the better water quality through RBF. Moreover, the results of Water Quality Index (WQI) also reflect the excellent water quality with ‘A-Grade’ of all river water samples obtained after RBF process in comparison to normal river water samples having good water quality with ‘B-Grade’ except the Srinagar site, where the river water sample was found to be unsuitable for drinking purpose with ‘E-Grade’. Alluvial deposits of RBF sites along the banks of the four rivers show the potential of replication of RBF at large scale in the hill state of Uttarakhand.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Water Technology Initiative (WTI) Programme, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi and Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST), Dehradun for financial assistance provided for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, DAV (PG) College, Dehradun, 248 001, India

    Shweta Tyagi & Prashant Singh

  2. Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology, Dehradun, 248 006, India

    Rajendra Dobhal & D. P. Uniyal

  3. Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan (UJS), Dehradun, 248 001, India

    P. C. Kimothi & L. K. Adlakha

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  1. Shweta Tyagi
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  2. Rajendra Dobhal
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  3. P. C. Kimothi
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  4. L. K. Adlakha
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  5. Prashant Singh
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  6. D. P. Uniyal
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Correspondence to Rajendra Dobhal.

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Tyagi, S., Dobhal, R., Kimothi, P.C. et al. Studies of River Water Quality Using River Bank Filtration in Uttarakhand, India. Water Qual Expo Health 5, 139–148 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-013-0097-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-013-0097-z

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