Assessment of groundwater quality with special emphasis on nitrate contamination in parts of Gautam Budh Nagar district,Uttar Pradesh,India

Progressive developments in industrial and agricultural activities are causing a critical stress on groundwater quality in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to assess and evaluate the contamination level of groundwater caused by leachate in 11 villages of the Gautam Budh Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. We systematically sampled 22 groundwater samples and 13 leachate samples to ascertain the source of pollution on groundwater quality. The standard analytical methods given by the American Public Health Association (APHA) (Standard methods for examination of water and wastewater, 23rd edn. APHA, AWWA, WPCF, Washington, 2017) were used for quantitative estimation of hydrochemical parameters of collected samples. The results of the analysis of groundwater samples indicate that pH values range from 7.31 to 8.97. The mean magnesium concentration in groundwater samples is 58.93?±?21.44 mg/L. Out of the groundwater samples taken, approximately 41% and 73% of samples analysis results have been found beyond the acceptable limit with respect to the parameters of turbidity and total dissolved solids, respectively, according to the Bureau of Indian Standards (Indian standard specification for drinking water (IS:10500). BIS, Manak Bhawan, New Delhi, 2012) for drinking water. Around 95.4% of groundwater samples and 92.3% of leachate samples have high nitrate concentrations above the standard limit of BIS (45 mg/L), respectively. The Piper plot shows that 50% of the samples belong to the Ca²⁺–Mg²⁺–HCO₃^? type. Ternary and Durov’s diagrams indicate that the mean concentrations of ions are in the order of Na⁺?>?Mg²⁺?>?Ca²⁺?>?K⁺ (for cations) and HCO₃^?>?NO₃^??>?Cl^??>?SO₄^2??>?CO₃^2??>?F^? (for anions) in groundwater of the study area. The spatial variation of the hydrochemical parameters shows that groundwater is heavily contaminated with respect to nitrate. Analytical results indicate that the groundwater of villages Achheja, Bisrakh road, Dujana, Badalpur and Sadopur is not suitable for drinking.