Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT) ISSN: 2278-0181 ETWQQM -2014 Conference Proceedings Groundwater Quality Investigations and Modeling in Bhadravathi Town, Karnataka B. K. Purandara, T. Chandramohan, M. K. Jose and B. Venkatesh Scientist, National Institute of Hydrology, Hard Rock Regional Center, Belgaum, Karnataka, India Abstract- In India, there is an increasing desire to conserve of some of these chemicals, it is important to investigate their and restore the ecological health and functioning of the rivers movement from the soil surface through the root zone down to and their associated wetlands for human use and biodiversity. In the groundwater table. The rate of movement of a given solute order to achieve this goal, the primary requirement is to assess moves in the soil system depends on the average flow pattern, the minimum flow requirement to keep the ecological balance of on the rate of molecular diffusion, and on the ability of the the river ecosystem. In this connection, an attempt has been porous material to spread the solute as a result of local made to evaluate the existing conditions of the water flow in the variations in the average flow. For proper modeling and Bhadrariver. It is reported by earlier researchers that the understanding of the manner of solute transport in a natural natural flow of Bhadra river has been altered considerably, soil profile, these phenomena must be considered resulting in loss of riparian zones, aquatic habitat and water simultaneously. Understanding these processes will make it quality. Further, it is stated that the Mysore paper mill and Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel industries which are functioning in possible to develop optimum management schemes for Bhadravathi town may also add pollutants to both surface and environmental control with the purpose of preventing soil and ground water resulting in water quality deterioration. water pollution. The environmental impacts on the Therefore, in the present study an attempt has been made to groundwater contaminations may seriously affect the socio- understand the impact of wastewater from the industrial and economic conditions of the country. Therefore, knowledge on domestic sewage on ground water. Groundwater samples were chemistry is important to assess the quality of aquatic collected from the selected locations and analysed for major resources for understanding its suitability for various purposes anions and cations.Groundwater quality indices developed for [2]. Bhadravathi town showed considerable variation in water quality parameters from post-monsoon to pre-monsoon. 20% of The present study is an attempt to combine field the samples during pre-monsoon and 50% of the samples during investigations and laboratory analysis with quantitative post monsoon fall under very good quality category. 50% of the approach.Groundwater quality investigations have been pre-monsoon and 60% of the post-monsoon samples are carried out in an industrial town, viz. Bhadravathi, in categorized as good quality. It is also noticed that, 20% of the Shivamogga district of Karnataka. An attempt is also made to samples show index values more than 100, indicating that the understand the solute transport mechanism through the water is unfit for use. This could be due to the dumping of unsaturated zone using HYDRUS-1D [3]. wastes from various sources in the vicinity of the wells. Therefore, it is very important to take appropriate measures to II. STUDY AREA maintain the river flow in good condition or otherwise there is a Bhadrariver originates at Gangamoola, Kudremukha, possibility of quality reduction over the years. This is Karnataka, Western Ghats range and flows east across the particularly true in Bhadravathi town and adjoining areas, Deccan plateau. It is joined by its tributaries the where the impact of Mysore Paper mills and Visveswaraya Iron Somavahini,Thadabehalla, and Odirayanahalla. The river and Steel Industries are working. HYDRUS-1D model was flows through the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary. A dam was built applied to simulate the chloride concentration passing through the unsaturated zone. Simulated profile was compared with the across the river near Lakkavalli. The Bhadra meets the observed data which showed a reasonably good match TungaRiver at Koodli, a small town near Shivamogga. The indicating the applicability of the model for the simulation of combined river continues east as the Tungabhadra, a major solute transport process in an unsaturated zone. tributary of the Krishna, which empties into the Bay of Bengal. Bhadravathi lies in the central part of the Karnataka Keywords-Groundwater, unsaturated zone, modeling, water State and in the southeast corner of the Shivamogga District. quality index The latitude and longitude coordinates of Bhadravathi town are 13°50′24″ N and 75°42′07″ E / 13.840; 75.702 I. INTRODUCTION (Bhadravathi) / 13.840; 75.702 (Bhadravathi) respectively. The modern agricultural practices give rise to large Bhadravathi is at an altitude of 597 m above Mean Sea Level quantities of water soluble contaminants which in turn are (MSL). Bhadravathi is an industrial town and taluk in the applied frequently to the soil surface for irrigation. The impact Shivamogga District of Karnataka State, India. The of industrial effluents is also responsible for the deterioration BhadravathiTaluk has a total area of 675.08 square kilometres. of the physical, chemical and bio-chemical parameters of Bhadravathi town is spread over an area of 67 square groundwater [1]. It is known that part of the contaminant kilometres. Based on the 2001 census, the total population of remains in the root zone, and remaining part is carried the BhadravathiTaluk is 3,38,989. Bhadravathi Town has a underground by the flowing water. To understand the impacts population of 1,60,662. The Mysore Paper Mills and the Mysore Iron and Steel Works are situated on the left bank of Volume 3, Issue 03 Published by, www.ijert.org 1 Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT) ISSN: 2278-0181 ETWQQM -2014 Conference Proceedings the Bhadrariver in the township of Bhadravathi in IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Shivamoggadistrict[4]. The chemical quality of groundwater is expressed in terms of pH, EC, TDS, major cations and anions. Since long, it has been reported that the river Bhadra is affected by pollution due to various reasons such as mining (Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited), presence of major industries like Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Industries and paper mill effluents. A study by Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has highlighted pollution as a result of dumping of agricultural residues/pesticides at Balehonnur in 2005 where ginger is the major crop grown which uses huge amounts of pesticides. Pollution due to industrial activities is mainly observed in downstream of BRP, from Bhadravathi to Kudli. It is estimated that around 15 villages in the area have been affected by industrial pollution [7].Raikar et al. [8] carried out surface and ground water quality investigations in parts of Bhadravathi taluk.Based on the information available from the reported study,further investigations have been made to understand the groundwater quality variations and solute transport characteristics of the study area. Fig.1 Location map of study area The temperature has a direct effect on certain chemical and biological activities of the organism in aquatic media. The The average temperature in the summer is between 25°C ground water temperature in the study area varied from 18ºC (77°F) and 37°C (99°F). The average winter temperature is to 23ºC. The mean pH ranges from 7.2 to 8.9. Maximum pH between 20°C (68°F) and 30°C (86°F). The annual of 8.9 was observed at Ujjainpura open well during post- precipitation in the city is around 950 mm.Taluk wise rainfall monsoon season and a minimum pH of 7.2 was observed at data for the last 10 years suggest that average annual rainfall is MGM complex bore well in Santhemaidana. However, during around 769.4 mm at Bhadravathi. the pre-monsoon season, pH showed a declining trend, both in Ujjainpura OW (8.2) and at MGM complex bore well (6.9). The major types of industries in the study area are iron and steel, paper and pulp, chemical and sugar. Across the river The Electrical Conductivity is an index to represent the Bhadra, the major industries are Kudremukh iron ore total concentration of soluble salts in water. In the study area, company Ltd (presently closed). Mysore Paper Mills and EC ranges from 65.7µmho/cm to 1470.1µmho/cm during the Visvesvaraya iron and steel industries. In addition, there are post-monsoon season and from 105.00µmho/cm to number of small scale industries. 1343.1µmho/cm in the pre-monsoon season. The maximum value of EC (1470.10µmho/cm& 1343.1 µmho/cm) was III. MATERIALS AND METHODS noticed at Ujjainpura main road bore well both during pre- monsoon and post-monsoon season and minimum of 65.70 A. Field Investigations µmho/cm was observed at MGM complex bore well (Santhemaidana). The maximum TDS (1030 mg/l during post- Measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity using monsoon & 1170 mg/l in pre-monsoon) was observed at Guelph Permeameter[5] and soil samples were collected from Ujjainpura (BW). The minimum values observed were at two sections at an interval of 5 days, for a period of 30 days. Hindu Mahasabhaborewell (419 mg/l) during post-monsoon B. Laboratory Investigations and surprisingly, during pre-monsoon, the minimum value of TDS was noticed in the Ujjainpura bore-well indicating a high Groundwater samples were collected from selected wells fluctuation between two seasons. during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon period of year 2011and analysed in the laboratory for various anions and Chloride occurs naturally in all type of waters. High cations[6]. Soil moisture content was determined by concentration of chloride is considered to be the indicators of gravimetric method and soil moisture retention characteristics pollution due to organic wastes of animal and industrial origin.