Ebook: Surface and Sub-surface Water in Asia

This book on water quality issues in Asia is based on two main components: one is the invited contributions from experts specially for this book; and second is related contributions already published in the Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution in recent years after peer review process. In addition to Asian region, attempts have also been made to include some case studies outside Asia such as Africa and U.K. to give an integrated approach to understand the Asian problems specifically related to the water sector.

The first chapter (Controlling Factors in River Water Quality in Asia) authored by the editor discusses current state of our knowledge regarding continental input to adjacent coastal regions in south Asia. Though natural process of weathering contributes many constituents to water, the increasing population pressure and supply-demand gap has made the water scenario very critical in quantitative as well as qualitative terms due to unprocessed effluents flowing into natural water bodies and then to the coastal oceans.

The second chapter (Reclaimed Opencast Coal Lands in Southeast Wales: Impacts on Water Quality) is contributed by experts from U.K. who have worked on changing water quality due to coal mining that has serious implication for countries in Asia, particularly China, India and Indonesia–all of whom depend for the most part on coal for their energy needs. The main impact of former opencast sites on river water quality is likely to come through diffuse pollution from the zone of aeration and water table fluctuation zone in the body of the buried spoils. Although this zone is mainly detached from the surface hydrological system and deprived of rainwater infiltration by the impermeability of the surface layers on these sites, the lateral percolation of groundwater from offsite through the crushed rocks of the spoil is very likely to pick up many heavy metals from chemically active sites.

The third chapter (Coastal Pollution Loading and Water Quality Criteria–Bay of Bengal Coast of India) is based on a consolidated report prepared by experts on sustainable coastal environment. The Bay of Bengal Ecosystem has been identified as one of the world's sixty-four Ecosystems (LMEs–Large Marine Ecosystems) sharing a distinct bathymetry, hydrography, productivity, and tropically dependent population and involves eight littoral countries, with the primary goal of enhancing the livelihood security of coastal population of these countries. This chapter is based on individual country's contribution to the international co-ordinated project.

Next chapter (Applications of GIS Remote Sensing for Sustainable Use and Management of Groundwater: A Case Study from the Northwestern Coastal Area of Sri Lanka) by experts from Sri Lanka specially focusses on groundwater quality issues due to coastal salt water infiltration. Thirteen hydrogeochemical parameters of 150 locations in both Kalpitiya and Mannar areas were analyzed for the samples collected both from dug wells and shallow tube wells; and resistivity imaging technique were also applied to access the groundwater contamination due to seawater intrusion and resultant quality changes in inland waters.

The fifth chapter (Influence of Solid Waste Disposal Conditions on Organic Pollutants Discharged from Tropical Landfill) is written by experts from Thailand on pollutant transfer from waste disposal sites to ground water. Several factors were investigated including waste composition, compaction density, rainfall intensity, leachate re-circulation and accumulation of leachate in the waste cell. The collected leachate samples were determined for chemical characteristics. Leachate re-circulation was practiced to investigate incremental leaching of pollutants along the waste depth.

Chapter 6 (Impact of Industrial Effluents of Gadoon Amazi Industries over Quality of Ground Water: A Case Study) is related to studies in Pakistan on water quality. Authors have tried to correlate the deterioration of ground water by the industries quantitatively. The ground water is not fit for drinking purpose. The effluents are highly polluted and not fit for irrigation purpose.

Chapter 7 (Groundwater of the Municipalities of Southwestern Coastal Bangladesh) gives a comprehensive review which endeavours to elucidate the geochemistry of solute load of such aquifers for its monitoring, management and conservation. Aquifers of the urban conglomerates in coastal Bangladesh are vulnerable in terms of quality and quantity. 170 groundwater samples from the production tube wells, penetrating mostly the shallow coastal alluvial aquifers, collected in different periods are analyzed for major cations and anions following standard methods. The spatial variation of solute load to the aquifers is statistically quite significant.

In chapter 8 (Application of Multivariate Statistical Analysis to Define Water Quality in Jajrud River) the ground water quality in Iran is discussed in detail. The copious prevalence of water deficiency and the geographical location of Iran make acquiring enough accurate data of water quantity and quality for water management vital. In this work, statistical method was used to analyze the data collected from the catchment area under study. The study also shows that ground water is the first effective factor. Domestic waste water pollution is the second-most important factor. Agricultural fertilizers and industrial waste may rank as the third and fourth pollution factors, respectively.

Poor water quality due to sewage pollution in Cambodia is discussed in chapter 9 (Efficiency of Phnom Penh's Natural Wetlands in Treating Wastewater Discharges). Water quality samples were collected in three sewer channels and at two longitudinal sites within the wetland principally during the dry season. Several contaminants within the sewer channels were significantly diluted by stormwater during individual rain events, although this trend was not observed within the wetland.

Chapter 10 “Water Quality of the Chao Phraya River” deals with the variation of water quality along the distance of the river and seasons before flowing into the Gulf of Thailand. Only 22% of water samples reached officially established standard. The hypothesis testing found that the distance along the route of water mass had relationship with water quality. Thus spatial variability in water quality is an important factor in river water chemistry.

Chapter 11 (Well Drinking Water Fluoride Content and Dental Fluorosis in Al-Butana Region of Central Sudan) gives an insight into the fluoride problem in Sudan. In this study the F^- ion concentration levels of209 wellwater samples belonging to previous construction analysis and a total of 121 well water samples belonging to the current study in Al-Butana region of Central Sudan were investigated and mapped using the geographical information system (GIS).

Chapter 12 (Evaluation of the Quality of Drinking Water in Kerala State) deals with water quality in the coastal region bordering the Arabian Sea. The quality of tap water from water supplies from 14 districts of Kerala state, India was studied. Parameters like pH, water temperature, total dissolved solids, salinity, nitrates, chloride, hardness, magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium, fluoride, sulphate, phosphates, and coliform bacteria were enumerated. The results showed that all water samples were contaminated by coliform bacteria.

“Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes as Indicators of Organic Matter Sources in Ishikari River System” addresses in chapter 13 isotopic aspects of water chemistry in Japan. The bed sediment and particulate organic matter samples collected from Ishikari River and its tributaries were analyzed for organic C, total N and their isotopic composition. The study shows strong inverse relation with the dissolved nitrate concentration in the lake water indicating that significant portion of the POM being derived from phytoplankton that were utilizing nitrate that had been subjected to denitrification.

The Himalayan watershed in Nepal has been studied in chapter 14 (Water Quality and Flux of Bagmati River within Kathmandu Valley, Nepal). Water sampling was carried out along the heavily urbanized Bagmati drainage network within Kathmandu valley during 2010-2011 in order to evaluate the controlling factors of chemical parameters and to estimate the transport of chemicals from different positions of the landscape. Most of the chemical parameters appeared to increase their concentration with distance downstream.

This book will be of interest to all serious water specialists, researchers and policy makers because Asia encompasses a myriad of water related problems. Experts who have contributed in Surface and Sub-surface Water in Asia make a serious effort in addressing these issues and the attempts made in resolving them is indeed a learning experience for all.

Water is a key issue in Asia. Both quantity and quality across south Asia have been influenced by a variety of non-natural factors. Though natural process of weathering contributes many constituents to water, the increasing population pressure and supply-demand gap has made the water scenario very critical in quantitative as well as qualitative terms due to unprocessed effluents flowing into natural water bodies.

Does former coal land of low acid-generating potential impact significantly on water quality in their immediate environment? This chapter explores the evidence from Southeast Wales using data collected on an array of reclaimed opencast coal-lands in a largely post-industrial area where river quality has now improved after many decades of severe pollution associated with under-regulated coalmining and metal working during the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Results show that, because of compacted layers in the immediate subsurface, former opencast coal land converts incident rainfall to runoff very quickly through a very thin active layer and may contribute to increased flood peaks in affected catchments. Opencast spoils are locally contaminated with metals, especially in the absence of vegetation, but high rainfall and rapid throughflow ensures that the offsite impacts are small because of dilution. The main impact of former opencast sites on river water quality is likely to come through diffuse pollution from the zone of aeration and water table fluctuation zone in the body of the buried spoils. Although this zone is mainly detached from the surface hydrological system and deprived of rainwater infiltration by the impermeability of the surface layers on these sites, the lateral percolation of groundwater from offsite through the crushed rocks of the spoil is very likely to pick up metals from chemically active inclusions, often former deep-mine spoils, within the opencast mine fill. However, the effect on river water quality in southeast Wales is not great but may involve slightly higher flood peaks, elevated levels of iron and slightly elevated levels of lead, perhaps arsenic, copper and zinc, as well as ammonia N, although opencast sites are only one among several possible sources for such metals, which include natural ground water and other types of industrial waste.

The Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem has been identified as one of the world's sixty-four Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) sharing a distinct bathymetry, hydrography, productivity, and tropically dependent population. The BOBLME Project involves eight countries, namely Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand with the primary goal of enhancing the livelihood security of coastal population of these countries. This is a coordinated, cross-region, programme of action of all the eight countries through improved regional management of the Bay of Bengal environment and its fisheries.

Country reports updating the current status of coastal (land based) pollution and water quality criteria in the Bay of Bengal region was initiated in April 2010. This report reviews past trends and current status of coastal pollution and recommends priority actions along the Bay of Bengal coast of India. One of the goals of this review is to enhance the current understanding of coastal and marine pollution and the various criteria prevalent to combat pollution on India's Bay of Bengal coast.

Data presented in this review is drawn from multiple published sources and has been interpreted systematically using GIS and Ocean Data View. Supporting documentation on legislations, governance and policy issues have also been consulted and synthesized for better understanding on India's efforts to combat coastal and marine pollution.

Presently, Sri Lankan coastal groundwater resources is threatened due to various anthropogenic activities and becoming a vulnerable source of water in the country. Northwestern coastal area of the country is characterized by unconfined sandy aquifers such as Kalpitiya Peninsula and Mannar Island. This study focuses on application of GIS and remote sensing techniques in assessing the present situation of coastal groundwater with reference to Kalpitiya Peninsula and Mannar Island in view of introducing a suitable monitoring and management plan for conservation of coastal groundwater. Thirteen hydrogeochemical parameters of 150 locations in both Kalpitiya and Mannar areas were analyzed for the samples both collected from dug wells and shallow tube wells in September, 2013. Groundwater Quality Index, Sodium Absorption Ratio, Soluble Sodium Percentage and DRASTIC methods were used to infer the groundwater vulnerability and resistivity imaging technique were also applied to access the groundwater contamination due to seawater intrusion. GIS was applied to integrate and analyze the spatial data obtained from the above techniques. This unconfined coastal sandy aquifer system which is highly specific and productive is a very good freshwater storage and can be considered as a national heritage of the country. Its inherent characters quite dissimilar to the other coastal aquifers can help us infer the potential of easy contamination and vulnerability. Since the Kalpitiya Peninsula (and Mannar Island in future) is subjected to intense vegetable cultivations, groundwater based irrigation and fertilizer applications, groundwater is at risk and already contaminated with regard to few chemical parameters. Thus, an immediate attention is needed for the future sake of existence of those fresh groundwater storages. Remediation measures for Kalpitiya and sound planning for Mannar Island is a must. Understanding the present situation with the application of GIS and remote sensing techniques favours effective data handling and utilization.

This research was carried out to determine the influence of landfill design and operating conditions on organic loading from leachate of municipal solid waste landfill operating in the tropics. Several factors were investigated including waste composition, compaction density, rainfall intensity, leachate re-circulation and accumulation of leachate in the waste cell. Laboratory scale lysimeters filled with urban wastes in Thailand were used to represent typical landfill conditions in Asian developing countries. Tropical condition was simulated by adding rainwater to the lysimeters where the precipitation rate was varied between 35 and 100% of maximum rainfall intensity. The collected leachate samples were determined for chemical characteristics. Leachate re-circulation was practiced to investigate incremental leaching of pollutants along the waste depth. Other lysimeters were operated with internal storage (saturation) condition. The experimental results revealed that the organic pollutant load increased with increasing rainfall intensity and substantially decreased from low compaction density (220 kg/m³) in open dumping to high compaction density (450 kg/m³) in sanitary landfill condition. Total organic pollutant load in water storage condition was considerably higher than conventional operation, but it was completely retained within the waste cell.

Installation of industries is a sign of development for a nation; however, due to poor management of waste material/effluents they are contributing otherwise and pollute the water we drink, air we inhale and the texture of soil we live at. In this article we have tried to correlate the deterioration of ground water by the industries installed in Gadoon Amazai, Swabi, Pakistan quantitatively. The groundwater samples from industrial area and outside it have been collected and analyzed for different parameters. The depth of sampling sources varied from 10 to 30 metres. Samples of effluents were also collected from different places from the effluents drainage over the period of one year and analyzed. The analysis of ground water and industrial effluents concluded that the ground water of the industrial area and the soil is very much polluted due to industrial effluents and the ground water is not fit for drinking purpose. Further, the effluents are highly polluted and not fit for irrigation purpose.

Aquifers of the urban conglomerates in the southwestern coastal Bangladesh—situated at the heart of the Ganges delta—are susceptible to contamination and induced saltwater intrusion because of population pressure demanding for freshwater and other anthropogenic interventions and thus are vulnerable in terms of quality and quantity. This comprehensive review endeavours to elucidate the geochemistry of solute load of such aquifers for its monitoring, management and conservation. One hundred and seventy numbers of groundwater samples from the production tube wells, penetrating mostly the shallow coastal alluvial aquifers, collected in different periods from Bagerhat, Faridpur, Jhenaidah, Paikgacha and Satkhira municipalities and Khulna City Corporation (KCC) are analyzed for major cations and anions following standard methods. The results show that the abundance of cations follow the general trend Na>Ca>Mg>K for Bagerhat, Paikgacha and KCC and Ca>Mg>Na>K for Satkhira, Jhanaidah and Faridpur municipalities. The anions on the other hand follows the general trend of HCO₃>Cl>SO₄>PO₄ for Satkhira, Jhenaidah, Faridpur and KCC and Q>HCO₃>SO₄>PO₄ for Bagerhat and Paikgacha. The spatial variation of soute load to the aquifers is statistically quite significant. Molar ionic ratio of chemical parameters suggests both carbonates and plagioclase silicates as their source rock. However seawater intrusion to the aquifers is quite revealing, may be due to localized upwelling of saline waters. Most of the groundwater is supersaturated with respect to both calcite and dolomite suggesting absence of nucleation for calcite precipitation.

The chemical mechanism responsible for the groundwater chemistry is rock weathering, however, is gradually commanded by the processes of evaporation and crystallization as is evident from Gibb's plot. The water type is both Na-HCO₃ and Na-Cl for Bagerhat and Paikgacha while it is mostly Ca-Mg-HCO₃ for Faridpur, Satkhira, Jhenaidah and KCC. Further most of groundwater from Faridpur, Satkhira and Jhenaidah occupies temporary hardness field of Chadha's plot. Almost all samples from Paikgacha and most samples from Bagerhat are saline as revealed from Chadha's plot. With respect to TDS, groundwater in most municipalities of southwestern coastal Bangladesh does not accord with standard and in few cases such as in Faridpur and Paikgacha almost 100% of the samples exceed desirable limit for safe drinking. From published reports on consequences of rapid climate change it may be envisioned that salinity front would move upwards and drainage congestion would increase which would create uncertainty in groundwater management. Thus conjunctive use of groundwater with surface water may be prescribed at this moment.

The copious prevalence of water deficiency and the geographical location of Iran (arid and semi-arid zone) make acquiring enough accurate data of water quantity and quality for water management vital. However, merely having sufficient data without proper interpretation is rather worthless too when it comes to effective water management and thus, there are several techniques for analyzing water quantity and quality. In this work, statistical method was used to analyze the data collected from the catchment area under study i.e. Jajrud River, located in the North West of Tehran Province. The multivariate time series method was employed to analyze water quality parameters in the river. Box-Jenkins time series model was also applied to the factor data resulted from the Multivariate time series. The results showed that the water quality parameters are not independent having a correlation coefficient larger than 0.3. The study also shows that ground water is the first effective factor, which causes increasing total dissolved solid (TDS) in the river. Domestic waste water pollution is the second-most important factor. Agricultural fertilizers and industrial waste may rank as the third and fourth pollution factors, respectively. Prediction of factor data using Box-Jenkins model was accurate and suitable which may be applicable to other place to model the factors data instead of many water quality parameters.

Water quality samples were collected in three sewer channels discharging into the Boeng Cheung Ek treatment wetland and at two longitudinal sites within the wetland (mid-point and outlet), principally during the dry season, but also during storm events. YSI datasondes were installed to collect data at 15-minute intervals for dissolved oxygen, turbidity, conductivity, temperature and pH, at two sites in the wetland. Levels of Cu, Cr, Zn, total phosphorus, nitrate, detergents, E. coli and total suspended solids entering Boeng Cheung Ek from the three main tributary sewer channels and levels in the outflow from the wetland were compared for the dry season. The difference in mean concentration between inlet and outlet reflected reductions in the range of 44% (nitrate) to 99.97% (E. coli), with other parameters fitting within this range. Load reductions also were calculated on a monthly basis. Several contaminants within the sewer channels were significantly diluted by stormwater during individual rain events, although this trend was not observed within the wetland. The YSI data exhibited both interesting daily trends for dissolved oxygen and dry season to rainy season trends in weekly mean values for dissolved oxygen and conductivity.

The objectives of this study carried out in 2011 were to study the variation of water quality along the distance of the river and seasons from the upper part down to the lower part of the river before flowing into the Gulf of Thailand. The water sample collection and analysis were accomplished conforming with the American Public Health Association (APHA) methods and the indicators of water quality for analysis were DO, BOD, NH₃-N, TCB and FCB. The surface water quality standard of Thailand was used for the assessment of water quality. The study results indicated that most of the water in the Chao Phraya river was of lower quality than the established water quality standard. There were only 22% of water samples the quality of which reached officially established standard. The hypothesis testing found that the distance along the route of water mass had relationship with water quality and seasonal variation had no statistically significant relationship to water quality at 0.05.

In this study the F^- ion concentration levels of 209 well water samples belonging to previous construction analysis (CA) and a total of 121 well water samples belonging to the current study (CS) in Al-Butana region of Central Sudan were investigated and located (mapped) using the geographical information system (GIS). The GIS- map indicates that the majority of F^- levels ranging between 0.5 and 1.5 mg/l dominates the northern part of the study area and the levels below 0.5 mg/l dominates the southern part of the study area whereas the levels above 1.5 mg/l are limited and are scattered, randomly, throughout the study area.

The results obtained revealed considerable spatial variations in the occurrence of fluoride even within the same community area, F^- levels ranging between 0.0 and 6 mg/l were found in boreholes drilled in Rufaa' Town. The majority of the investigated boreholes viz., 39.71% and 42.98% were found having F^- levels below 0.5 mg/l whereas only 0.96% and 3.3% were found beyond the level of 2.5 mg/l, for the CA and CS, respectively. The wide range of F^- levels (from 0 to 7 mg/l in the CA and from 0 to 2.6 mg/l in the CS) revealed the variability in the spatial distribution of F^- in the study area. 94.26% and 88.43% of the groundwater samples were found below the maximum recommended level of 1.5 mg/l set for F^- in drinking water by each of SSMO (2002) whereas only 5.75% and 11.58% were found in excess of this level, for the CA and CS, respectively. The decrease in the mean value of F^- in the investigated boreholes from 1.4 mg/l in the CA analysis to 0.6 mg/l in the CS analysis, indicates that F^- levels in the investigated boreholes has the tendency to decrease during pumping. Mottled teeth are widely observed among residents in the study area in spite of fluoride compliancy to SSMO standards. Therefore, dental fluorosis, in the study area, is not unlikely to occur.

The quality of tap water from water supplies from 14 districts of Kerala state, India was studied. Parameters like pH, water temperature, total dissolved solids, salinity, nitrates, chloride, hardness, magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium, fluoride, sulphate, phosphates, and coliform bacteria were enumerated. The results showed that all water samples were contaminated by coliform bacteria. About 20% of the tap water samples from Alappuzha and 15% samples from Palakkad district are above desirable limits prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards. The contamination of the source water (due to lack of community hygiene) and insufficient treatment are the major cause for the coliform contamination in the state. Water samples from Alappuzha and Palakkad have high ionic and fluoride content which could be attributed to the geology of the region. Water supplied for drinking in rural areas are relatively free of any contamination than the water supplied in urban area by municipalities, which may be attributed to higher chances of contamination in urban area due to mismanagement of solid and liquid wastes. The study highlights the need for regular bacteriological enumeration along with water quality in addition to setting up decentralised region-specific improved treatment system.

The bed sediment and particulate organic matter (POM) samples collected from Ishikari river and its tributaries were analyzed for organic C, total N and their isotopic composition. The δ¹³C of POM in Ishikari river ranged from −34.6 to −24.6‰, suggesting that contributions from the C₄-based vascular plant organic matter was negligible and detritus from C₃ plants and C₃ plant dominated soil and fresh water phytoplankton contributes the POM load in Ishikari river system. The δ¹⁵N isotopic ratio of POM ranged from −4.8 to +15.8‰, with an average of 4.5±4.3‰ in the Ishikari river system. The δ¹⁵N ratio of sediment samples range from −0.92 to +8.71‰, with an average value of 3.8±2.5‰ in the Ishikari river system. The δ¹⁵N isotopic ratio of POM samples taken from Barato lake – an Oxbow lake in Ishikari river – shows strong inverse relation with the dissolved nitrate concentration in the lake water indicating that significant portion of the POM being derived from phytoplankton that were utilizing nitrate that had been subjected to denitrification. The molar C/N ratio of POM sample ranged from 5.3 to 17.8, with an average of 9.8±2.8 in the Ishikari river system. The correlation plots between molar C/N ratio and N isotopic ratio indicates that most of the POM samples fall between mixing zone of aquatic source (phytoplankton) and terrestrial source (soil organic matter and plant detritus) in Ishikari river system.

Water quality degradation is a serious environmental problem in Nepal especially in urbanized basins. Water sampling was carried out along the heavily urbanized Bagmati drainage network within Kathmandu valley during 2010–2011 in order to evaluate the controlling factors of chemical parameters and to estimate the transport of chemicals from different positions of the landscape. The direct inputs of municipal solid wastes associated with high population density appeared as a prime controlling factor for the variation in chemical parameters and their fluxes. Most of the chemical parameters appeared to increase their concentration with distance downstream. The silicon concentration was much higher than the large river systems of the world and world average probably due to high temperature and high population density. The DOC and TDN concentrations appeared much higher than other pristine river systems in the world. The C:N and N:P ratios were found in the range 0.5–2.6 and 0.3–2.0 respectively along the drainage network. Bisiallitization type of weathering appeared dominantly taking place throughout the basin. The 19.8 and 33.6 tons km⁻² yr⁻¹ of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) were respectively transported from the outlet point. The cationic denudation rates were 106.4 and 19.6 tons km⁻² yr⁻¹ at the outlet of Bagmati within Kathmandu valley and at the headwater area respectively. The apparent weathering rate appeared five times higher than the actual weathering rate in a heavily urbanized Bagmati basin due to high population density.