Pantnagar Journal of Research

Abstract

Springs are critical resource for the people of the Bageshwar block of Bageshwar district but are currently facing threats as a result of rapid urbanization and climate change. Here the people mainly depend on springs as the primary source of water. As a result, the majority of people in Bageshwar become reliant on springs to satisfy their daily water demand. The water quality of these springs is declining because of numerous anthropogenic activities, such as construction, deforestation, etc. The current study evaluated the drinking water quality of Bageshwar block springs in Bageshwar district, which are located in Uttarakhand's eastern Kumaon region between latitudes 29degree41'60"N to 29degree53'60" N and longitudes 79degree35'60"E to 80degree5'60"E and has an average elevation of 882.30 m above mean sea level. The study area map was created using the open-source freeware software QGIS, and the geocoding of the selected area was performed by entering latitude and longitude coordinates. Spring water was collected and analysed based on the standard methods for the eleven springs of the Bageshwar block for two seasons the winter (December 2020) and summer (March 2021). The present study assessed the drinking water quality of perennial springs in and around Bageshwar using Weighted Arithmetic Water Quality Index (WAWQI) method. For calculating the Water Quality Index (WQI), 15 physicochemical parameters, namely, pH, alkalinity, Chloride, Electrical Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids, Turbidity, Total Hardness, Potassium, Sodium, Fluoride, Iron, Nitrate, Calcium and Magnesium were taken. The WQI values shows that spring water ranging from 6.84 to 23.46 in the winter season and 5.98 to 16.46 in the summer season falls under the excellent category. A paired t-test was applied to compare significant variations in water quality between two seasons, revealing a significant difference (p-value is less than 0.05) in water quality between seasons. Water from all of the evaluated spring sources is safe to drink, even though some parameters exceed permitted limits. To ensure the quality and security of the water supply to the people of these regions, it is preferable to conduct a simple filtration process before drinking the water sampled from the springs.