Appraisal of quality of irrigation water around Khunti district of Jharkhand, India

Abstract

Water quality has become a global concern due to over increasing population and developmental activities that had over exploit and polluted the water resources available to us. In this context an attempt has been made to assess the suitability of irrigation water around Khunti district, Jharkhand. Thirty six geo-referenced (Lat. N22053'29.2 - N 23014'35.1, Long. E85000'40.4 - E85037'32.6 and Alt. 250-693 msl) water samples were collected randomly from different sources viz., well, bore well, canal, pond, dam and river during Rabi season of 2016. The results obtained from chemical analysis were compared with standard permissible limits of Rowe and Abdel- Magid guidelines of irrigation water. In the present study all the parameters such as pH, Electrical conductivity, Zinc, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Boron, Lead, Sulphur, Calcium and Magnesium were found to be within the permissible limits, except only Co content in well, canal and pond waters were found slightly higher the concentration as permissible limit. This water body is not suitable for irrigation purpose, so need to monitor and control the contaminants in order to utilize this effectively for irrigation purpose particularly in post-rainy season crops.