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Ground Water Quality Spectrum of Colorful Shekavati : A Study of Drinking Water Quality of Desert Affected Area of Jhunjhunu District in Rajasthan

Sunita Goyal and Ram Chandra

Detailed studies have been made for testing the drinking water quality of the Jhunjhunu area in Rajasthan. In these studies, twenty five spots were selected and samples of water were collected from open wells, public wells and tube wells in the area. The various parameters such as pH, total dissolved solids, total hardness, Mg hardness, Ca hardness, alkalinity, Cl- , fluorides, nitrates, sulphates, carbonates, bicarbonates, DO etc. were monitored and compared with different standard parameters. The analysis revealed that the water is not suitable for domestic and drinking purpose. Water of almost all the sampling areas was highly contaminated with total dissolved solids (TDS) and nitrate. TDS may cause gastrointestinal irritation and high concentration of nitrate in drinking water give an immediate health concern for infants and pregnant women because nitrate in drinking water has been linked to ‘Methamoglobinamea’ or blue baby syndrome, in which the oxygen carrying capacity of an infant’s blood is greatly reduced, sometimes leading to death. The findings have been discussed in details.