River Water Quality
|
Overall the fresh water in India is slightly alkaline (pH
generally more than 7) and contains a lots of HCO3- and
Ca2+. Table shows the average chemical composition of many rivers in
India. All waters contain some dissolved minerals (dissolved solids) and have
any freshwater can be considered as "mineral" water. Generally
there are more dissolved solids in peninsular rivers compared to the
Himalayan river system. |
|
Average chemical composition of major rivers in India
|
River |
Discharge |
HCO3- |
Cl- |
SO42- |
SiO2 |
Ca++ |
Mg++ |
Na+ |
K+ |
TDS |
|
Cauvery |
21000 |
135 |
20 |
13 |
23 |
21 |
9 |
43 |
4 |
272 |
|
Krishna |
29000 |
178 |
38 |
49 |
24 |
29 |
8 |
30 |
2 |
360 |
|
Godavari |
92000 |
105 |
17 |
8 |
10 |
22 |
5 |
12 |
3 |
181 |
|
Mahanadi |
66000 |
122 |
23 |
3 |
17 |
24 |
13 |
14 |
8 |
224 |
|
Narmada |
40750 |
225 |
20 |
5 |
9 |
14 |
20 |
27 |
2 |
322 |
|
Tapti |
17000 |
150 |
65 |
1 |
16 |
19 |
22 |
48 |
3 |
322 |
|
Indus |
210000 |
64 |
9 |
15 |
5 |
27 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
122 |
|
Brahmaputra |
510000 |
56 |
11 |
4 |
7 |
14 |
5 |
7 |
3 |
|
|
Ganges |
468700 |
128 |
10 |
11 |
18 |
25 |
8 |
11 |
3 |
214 |
|
Indian rivers |
1700000 |
74 |
15 |
13 |
7 |
30 |
7 |
12 |
3 |
159 |
There
are no major differences between the rivers but for any one river, the chemical
composition may vary at different times and at different places since water
quality is highly susceptible to spatial and temporal variability. Since rivers
and growth of various civilisations are inter linked, the density of population
generally is very high along almost all rivers expert for the upper reaches of
Brahmaputra that are sparsely populated. In fact the Bengal basin comprising of
the lower reaches of the Ganges-Brahmaputra system is the most densely
populated region in the world.