Seasonal behavior and spatial variations of water quality index and micro-biological changes in the springs of Indian Himalayan Region

Manish Pant, Subhash Singh and Jabrinder Singh ()
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Manish Pant: DIT University
Subhash Singh: Banaras Hindu University
Jabrinder Singh: DIT University

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2025, vol. 27, issue 7, No 33, 15887-15908

Abstract: Abstract Fresh water springs are authentic potable water resource for several societies and residents in the west Himalayan section of India. The current research analyses the hydro-chemical composition of spring aquifers in rural and urban area of Almora, Uttarakhand, India—a lower Himalayan Region, using a variety of drinking parameters and agricultural indices. During the Autumn and Winter seasons, ground-water samples were taken from the springs of this zone and tested for a total of 18 physicochemical and micro-biological water-quality factors. The Weighted Arithmetic-Water Quality Index (WA–WQI) method was used to evaluate the water quality. The WQI of the sampling locations ranges from 44.25 to 55.84 in the Autumn season and from 42.286 to 52.35 in the Winter season, indicating “good” to “moderately poor” quality. It was found that the physico-chemical characteristics were satisfying BIS/WHO standards and considered suitable for domestic purpose. However, 75% sampling sites were contaminated with bacterial pathogens, viz. Escherichia coliform and Total coliform varied from 1 to 2496.1 MPN/100 ml, exceeding the BIS/WHO standards’ permissible limit (0 MPN/100 ml). Arc-GIS based Inverse Distance Weighting depicts the direct impact urbanization on water resources. Land use land change—LULC analysis shows an increase in the area of built-up land (11.64%), cultivated land (69.72%), and barren land (95.82%) between 2013 and 2022 (Fig. 4). Conversely, there is a decrease in the area of forest (− 11.26%) and water bodies (− 26.43%) for the same time period. This work highlights a substantial portion of the population relied on spring water for drinking as well as other domestic utilizations, but government authorities were not sincere in monitoring, treatment and management of water resources. Given the significance of these springs, the management of freshwater springs must be brought to the attention of the government and policy makers in order to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)–6, a demand for universal access to clean water. Sensitizing local residents (rural & tribal communities) about prudent water use, averting contagion of the aquifers feeding natural springs, watershed & land management and waste water treatment must be at core planning. Graphical Abstract

Keywords: Spring water quality; Potability; Western Himalayas; SDG; E. coli; LULC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-024-04624-3

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