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Spatio-temporal dynamics of water quality in river sources of drinking water in Uttarakhand with reference to human health

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Abstract

Any contamination in potable water leads to high risk on human health. Hence, it is inevitable to characterize water quality and assess temporal change with reference to human health. In this paper, nineteen water quality parameters from 50 sources of drinking water supply operated by state agency Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan (UJS) were analysed. The water samples were collected for pre-monsoon (May) and post-monsoon (November) seasons for the year 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2019. Multivariate analysis such as Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r), K-mean, hierarchical clustering and principle component analysis (PCA) were applied to examine the drinking water quality at source sites. The strength of correlation among the parameters is reduced over the time. Cluster analysis provides six major hydro-chemical clusters in the study region. Clusters were compact during 2010–2011 and converted to overlapping structure in later period. The size of clusters was change from two clusters to six clusters during 2018–2019. These hydro-chemical clusters were examined through PCA and established six major hydro-chemical components of water quality. The physico-chemical parameters, namely, pH, alkalinity, TH, TDS, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cl and SO4, were in PC-1, the heavy metals in PC-3, turbidity in PC-4, TC in PC-5 and PC-6 is combination of turbidity, NO3 and TC, whereas PC-2 was a mix of pH and Na and K salts. Study highlighted that the water quality has changed over the time due to runoff of plant debris, erosion, agricultural fertilizer, development activities and local geology hosts. Each PCs was mapped with associated human health issues. Result reveals that structures and pattern of PCs indicate several human health diseases over the later period with seasonal effects.

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Fig. 1

source sites of drinking water along major rivers tapped by UJS

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to State Agency Confidentiality request. The analysis and testing was carried out at the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories. The laboratory is consortia of multiple agencies which includes State Agency Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan (UJS) but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. One of the co-authors is co-ordinator of this laboratory.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the UJS and DAV (PG) College, Dehradun, for providing the laboratory facility at the State Level Water Quality Testing Monitory Laboratory (NABL Accredited), Dehradun.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Banasthali Vidyapith, Banasthali, Rajasthan, 304 022, India

    Kajal Sinha

  2. School of Life Sciences & Department of Chemistry, Banasthali Vidyapith, Banasthali, Rajasthan, 304 022, India

    Jaya Dwivedi

  3. Department of Chemistry, DAV (PG) College, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248 001, India

    Prashant Singh

  4. Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi, 110 070, India

    Vinay Shankar Prasad Sinha

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Ms Kajal Sinha, Dr Prashant Singh, Prof Jaya Dwivedi and Prof Vinay S P Sinha. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Ms Kajal Sinha. Finally, Dr Prashant Singh, Prof Jaya Dwivedi and Prof Vinay S P Sinha refined the analysis and design. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jaya Dwivedi.

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Sinha, K., Dwivedi, J., Singh, P. et al. Spatio-temporal dynamics of water quality in river sources of drinking water in Uttarakhand with reference to human health. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 64756–64774 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20302-1

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