Physico-Chemical Analysis of Narmada River Water at Hoshangabad City, (M.P.)

Rivers are the most important source of fresh water for living being on earth. Since stone age, it is found that social, economic and political development takes place near river banks. Rivers are a major source for drinking, domestic, irrigation and agricultural water supply. Narmada being longest river for Madhya Pradesh is considered as drinking water source for many habitats. For this study, water samples of Narmada River from four different sites have been physico-chemically evaluated for its suitability for domestic and irrigation purposes. Study of physico-chemical parameters such as Temperature, pH, Turbidity, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Hardness (TH), Total Alkalinity (TA), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Chloride, Nitrate and Dissolved Oxygen (DO) were done. Statistical analysis was also carried out through the establishment of correlation-coefficient between studied physico-chemical parameters. The results showed that, the variation in physico-chemical parameters were within the permissible limit suggested by Indian standards (IS: 10500) for drinking water quality. The physico-chemical parameters of water samples were determined as per standard methods of APHA (1998). The results of the present study showed that, during study period the Narmada River water quality was suitable and safe for domestic and irrigation purposes and may be used after some proper treatment.