Abstract

Assessment of Ground Water Quality In Kokrajhar District of Bodoland Territorial Council, Assam, India

Author(s): Basanta K. Das and Krishna G. Bhattacharyya

Water is an extremely important natural resource, essential for sustaining life on Earth. Kokrajhar district of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), Assam as a whole is economically backward and the large majority of people belonging to scheduled tribes do not have access to amenities of modern life including a safe supply of water. They depend on all forms of water sources for their needs. In this work, 36 ground water samples of the district, collected from different locations in three seasons of premonsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon were analyzed for the drinking water quality parameters. The values of pH, conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids, hardness, bicarbonate, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, phosphate, fluoride, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Fe and As, show that the groundwater is not completely safe. The water is characterized by very high iron content in excess of the maximum prescribed limit of World Health Organization. However, most of the water samples did not have high concentrations of the toxic contaminants, fluoride and arsenic. In absence of any type of industrial activities in the district, the water does not indicate chemical contamination of major significance, but causes of concern still exist.