Impact of Industrial Development on Groundwater & Surface Water Quality in Industry Dominating Sectors of Chandigarh, India

Abstract

Physico-chemical analysis was carried out to assess the extent of chemical pollution in surface water & ground water as affected by industrial effluents in industry dominating sectors in Chandigarh, India. Sampling was done in the month of November, 2011. Both the groundwater (GW) & surface water (SW) samples collected at selected points were analyzed for temperature, pH, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, total hardness, dissolved oxygen (DO) & chemical oxygen demand (COD). It has been observed that decreased pH & increased alkalinity make this water unpalatable. Both the GW as well as SW, at all the sampling spots are very hard and cannot be considered suitable for drinking purposes. The levels of calcium & magnesium were also not within prescribed limits. The lowest level of DO in some sampling spots indicates that industrial activities consume dissolved oxygen present in the water. COD was found to be in acceptability range in SW as well in GW at most of the sampling spots. The results suggested that SW & GW in most of the sectors is polluted & not fit for human consumption without treatment. It is therefore recommended that careless disposal of the waste should be discouraged & if possible, there is need to treat the waste properly before dumped in to the environment. The values of all the parameters have shown significant variations between GW & SW at 5% level of significance.