Hydrochemistry and water quality of Rewalsar Lake of Lesser Himalaya, Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

The present research is to study hydrochemistry and water quality of Rewalsar Lake during pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon seasons. The Ca and Na are observed as the dominant cations from pre- to post-monsoon season. On the other hand, HCO and Cl are observed dominant anions during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons, whereas HCO and SO during post-monsoon season. The comparison of alkaline earth metals with alkali metals and total cations (Tz) has specified that the carbonate weathering is the dominant source of major ions in the water of lake. The HCO is noticed to be mainly originated from carbonate/calcareous minerals during monsoon and post-monsoon, but through silicate minerals during pre-monsoon. The SO in Rewalsar Lake is produced by the dissolution of calcite and dolomite etc. The alkali metals and Cl in the lake can be attributed to the silicate weathering as well as halite dissolution and anthropogenic activities. Certain other parameters like NO, NH, F, and Br are mainly a result of anthropogenic activities. The alkaline earth metals are found to surpass over alkali metals, whereas weak acid (HCO) exceed to strong acid (SO). The Piper diagram has shown Ca-HCO type of water during all the seasons. The water quality index has indicated that the water quality of the lake is unsuitable for drinking from pre- to post-monsoon. Several parameters like salinity index, sodium adsorption ratio, sodium percent, residual sodium carbonate, magnesium hazard etc. have revealed the water of Rewalsar Lake as suitable for irrigation.

Trophic status and its regulating factor determination at the Rewalsar Lake, northwest Himalaya (HP), India, based on selected parameters and multivariate statistical analysis

“…18.93 ± 5.02 mg L −1 ) inferred the nutrient enrichment in the lake. Anthropogenic activities including use of nitrogenous fertilizers in the surrounding region may be the main source of NO 3 − and NH 4 + in the lake, apart from the natural process of nitrification and ammonification [2]. The concentration of NO 3 − more than permissible limit (45 mg L −1 ; BIS [31]) may cause health-related problems.…”

“…The SO 4 2− may be produced from dissolution of carbonate minerals like gypsum, dolomite and calcite [37], and in addition, the uses of chemical fertilizers in the region also increase the SO 4 2− content in the lake [2]. The SO 4 2− in the Rewalsar Lake was observed much less than the Surinsar (11 mg L −1 ) and Tsomoriri Lake (88 mg L −1 ), but more than the Sella (0.11 mg L −1 ) and Tso Kyo Lake (0.14 mg L −1 ) [33,38].…”

“…The lakes are a major source of freshwater all over the world, but the nutrient enrichment and bacterial contamination have deteriorated their water quality at a large scale [1,2]. Changing quality has created the water scarcity and a huge mass of population thus been deprived from using the freshwater for various purposes [3,4].…”

“…The lakes from different parts of the world have been monitored for trophic status by several researchers in past and found to be eutrophic and hyper-eutrophic [22][23][24][25][26][27]. Indiscriminate constructions and tourists' actions for entertainment and religiousness at the Rewalsar Lake have deteriorated its water quality and increased the sedimentation rate [2,28]. An earlier study at this lake has shown the diurnal variations of phytoplankton (Euglenophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Cryptophyceae, Bacillariophyceae and Cyanophyceae) and zooplankton species (Cladocera, Copepoda and Rotifera) [29].…”

Removal of cadmium (Cd-II) from aqueous solution using gas industry-based adsorbent

“…The heavy metals are contributed by different sources, and their high concentration may cause serious health hazards [9,10]. Cadmium (Cd-II) is one of the heavy metals having main sources such as the wastewater, industrial effluents, paint, plastic, synthetic fertilizer, metal coatings industry [11], atmospheric deposition and rocks [12].…”