Assessment and distribution of water quality of Pandoh river basin (PRB), Himachal Pradesh, North India

Abstract

AbstractAs the surface water in northern India is the main water resource for regional economic and also supply for drinking and irrigation purposes. However, deficiency of water quality leads to serious water pollution in the Pandoh river basin (PRB). Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to evaluate the quality of surface water. With this objective, surface water samples were collected from the PRB of northern India, and analyzed for pH, EC, turbidity, alkalinity, total dissolved solids, and total hardness. Moreover, geographical information system (GIS) tools were used to prepare the geology, drainage pattern, and location maps of the study region. Surface water quality observed from the PRB has an alkaline nature with a moderately hard type. Further studies are encouraged to better understand the water quality in northern India.