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Hydrogeochemical characteristics and water quality assessment in the lake

Satopanth Tal, India

Article in International Journal of Energy and Water Resources · October 2021

DOI: 10.1007/s42108-021-00153-1

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International Journal of Energy and Water Resources
https://doi.org/10.1007/s42108-021-00153-1

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Hydrogeochemical characteristics and water quality assessment

in the lake Satopanth Tal, India
Das Subhrajit1 · Vasudevan Sivaprakasam1 · Selvaganapathi Rajendiran1

Received: 26 July 2021 / Accepted: 8 October 2021

© Islamic Azad University (IAU) 2021

Abstract
The current study examines physicochemical parameters and the water quality index and spatial interpolation analysis of
water samples collected from the sacred, emerald green snow-fed lakes of Satopanth Tal in Uttarakhand, India. It is near
Badrinath, a Hindu pilgrimage site, at an elevation of 4600 m above sea level. The lake is covered with snow between the
end of October and May. This is a glacial corrie moraine-dammed lake having a maximum depth of 17.5 m. To determine the
suitability of the water for various purposes, thirteen physicochemical parameters were assessed and the water quality was
determined. The spatial distribution of the physicochemical parameters throughout the lake was studied using the ArcGIS
interpolation tool. The physicochemical parameters and water quality index values showed that the lake's water quality is
excellent for domestic purposes based on World Health Organization/Bureau of Indian Standards drinking water standards.
The Piper and Johnson plots revealed that the dominance of carbonate weathering contributed major ions to the lake. The
sodium adsorption ratio, soluble sodium percentage, magnesium hazard, residual sodium concentration used to evaluating
the irrigation water quality index indicated all water samples were good and can be used for irrigation. The lake has so far
remained relatively unpolluted. This study will provide more information for future research and long-term management of
the sacred lakes by taking corrective action and drafting a development plan.

Keywords Satopanth Tal · Spatial analysis · Hydrogeochemistry · Water quality index

Introduction aspects for the settlement of humans and their habitation.

Lakes can store water and play a significant role in ground-
The investigational research of hydrogeochemistry is indis- water recharge and also take part in the evaporation process
pensable to decide the genesis of the chemical constitution in a hydrological cycle.
of groundwater as well as surface water (Vasu et al., 2017). High altitudes lakes are impacted by atmospheric inputs
This will also help us to estimate the erosion rate, the geo- than lowland lakes due to different components like environ-
chemical changes of that particular region. Determination of ment, shallow soil, little watershed, and so on (Rosha et al.,
physicochemical characteristics and water quality index is 2012). Lakes are one of the most important ecosystems in
very much essential for assessing its suitability for several the world and also the most sensitive systems to environ-
purposes such as drinking, domestic, irrigation, and indus- mental pollutions and anthropogenic impacts (Forghani
trial uses (Khadka & Ramanathan, 2021; Reyes-Toscano et al., 2009). The chemistry of surface water is altered by
et al., 2020). Water quality is not only dependent on nat- materials through which they pass (Vasudevan et al., 2013).
ural processes such as precipitation, weathering, etc., but The surface inflows, precipitation, and rock weathering of
anthropogenic influences from industrial, rural, and urban its catchment area (Hem, 1985) and climatic changes and
activities (Papatheodorou et al., 2006). Lakes provide mul- human activities (Steingruber et al., 2021; Wang & Dou,
tiple uses such as drinking, irrigation, agriculture, and other 1998) are the typical factors on which the lake hydrogeo-
chemistry depends upon. When precipitation occurs rain-
* Vasudevan Sivaprakasam water directly enters into the soil zones where the materials
devansiva@gmail.com present in the soil dissolve in the water and as the water flow
from recharge point to discharge point the water quality is
1
Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, affected by several geochemical processes (Li et al., 2014).
Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India

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Vol.:(0123456789)
 International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

Several studies on lakes have been conducted in various utmost care, so that this very clear and pristine lake is not
locations of the Indian subcontinent. Duan et al. (2016) stud- contaminated by these study activities.
ied the water quality of Eastern Poyang Lake Basin using
Multivariate Statistical Methods. Wu et al. (2017) assessed
the water quality of Poyang Lake in China; Wu et al. (2018)
Materials and methods
used the water quality index to assess the water quality of
the Lake Taihu Basin in China; Duan et al. (2018) investi-
Sampling and laboratory procedures
gated the water quality of the Yangtze River basin in China.
A number of water quality studies have been carried out in
Water samples (500 ml) were collected during the postmon-
the Himalayan lakes in the past (Deep et al., 2020; Kumar
soon season in 21 locations spread out in Satopanth Tal in
& Sharma, 2019; Sharma & Kumar, 2017; Sharma et al.,
polypropylene bottles. The water samples were collected at
2021). Sharma and Kumar (2017) investigated only the water
a depth of 20–30 cm below in the near shore region and at
quality of Satopanth Tal, hence, this study on Satopanth Tal
a little deeper depth in the central region by the use of an
water samples from the Garhwal Himalayan region, Utta-
inflatable boat.Some physicochemical parameters including
rakhand, India in October 2015 was aim at expanding the
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), potential hydrogen (pH), elec-
investigation by including hydrogeochemical aspect using
trical conductivity (EC), and major ions including sodium
Geographical Information System (GIS) and water quality
­(Na+), potassium (­ K+), calcium ­(Ca2+), magnesium (­ Mg2+),
index (WQI) for drinking and irrigation purposes.
sulphate ­(SO42–), phosphate(PO42–) chloride ­(Cl–), carbonate
­(CO32–), bicarbonate (­ HCO3–) and dissolved silica (­ H4SiO4)
were analyzed. The flame photometer (CL-378), UV spec-
Study area trophotometer (UV-1800), and titrimetric methods were used
in the analysis while multi-parameter meter Hanna instru-
Satopanth Tal is a glacial lake situated in the Himalayan
ment (HI98194) was used for in situ determination of pH,
region, originated by melted glaciers. It is formed when a
electrical conductivity (EC), and Total Dissolved Solids
glacier erodes the land, fills the hole or space that it has
(TDS) according to the standard methods by APHA (2012).
created with the meltwater. The study area is surrounded
The results were sorted for water chemistry using Aquachem
by the glacier which is known as Satopanth Glacier and
software (Version 5.1) to generate several plots such as Piper
bounded by the Nilkantha Peak and the Chaukhamba
trilinear plots. Different indices such as TH, Na%, Mg%,
Parbat in the south-eastern and western directions of the
RSC, CR, Kelley’s Ratio, SAR, PI, were calculated. ArcGIS
Satopanth Tal, respectively. The Satopanth Tal falls within
software (10.4) was used to locate the sampling locations
the latitude 30°44′38.30″ N to 30°44′38.59″ N and longi-
and determine the spatial distribution pattern of the phys-
tude 79°21′27.03″ E to 79°21′21.74″ E (Fig. 1) covering
icochemical parameters in the lake.
an overall area of 0.025 ­km2. is situated 25 km away from
Badrinath in Uttarakhand, India. The lake is situated amidst
snow-covered tops at an altitude of 4600 m above mean sea Statistical and geostatistical investigation
level. The maximum depth of the lake has been estimated
to be 17.5 m and the volume of Satopanth Tal is calculated Cluster analysis is a statistical technique that classifies sam-
to be 18.918 Acre m. The lake is usually covered by snow ples based on the data set's intrinsic structure and funda-
between the end of September and the end of June each year. mental relationships (Sajil Kumar, 2020), and was applied
The temperature in summer is around 12 °C in the day and 5 as a complementary tool to describe lake water quality
to −5 °C during the night, while in winter, the temperature deterioration and focus on the main components of the
drops to −25 °C in the day and −35 °C during the night. lake. In this method, the multivariate resemblances in the
According to the locals, it is claimed that the Trimurthis hydrochemical data are identified using a squared Euclidean
(triple deity of divinity in Hinduism), Brahma, Vishnu, and distance. Ward’s method, which uses the analysis of vari-
Maheswara meditated on its three corners, making it a holy ance approach (ANOVA) to analyze the distances between
site for the inhabitants. And Pandavas traveled from Mana clusters, is the most widely utilized tool (Sajil Kumar, 2020).
village via Satopanth Tal to reach the path to paradise on When there is a huge data set of varied characteristics to
the Swargarohini glacier mass especially towards the end analyze, this method has been employed in several types
of the Mahabharata. Hence, the lake has some religious sig- of research as an efficient data analysis tool. Hence, in this
nificance to the local people and they throw the ashes of the study, Ward’s method with squared Euclidean distance
dead into the lake for the liberation of their souls. So, any interval has been chosen along with the Pearson correlation
type of anthropogenic activity within the lake is prohibited. matrix for the study of hydrogeochemical parameters by the
Therefore, all the water samples were collected by taking software package SPSS.

13
International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

Fig. 1  Study Area and Sample Location map for Satopanth Tal, Chamoli, Uttarakhand exhibiting 21 water samples location points

Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW), spline, and kriging approach was used in this study. This method calculates the
are three common interpolation methods for modeling spa- surrounding point within the user-defined boundary to esti-
tial distribution from point data. The IDW is a straightfor- mate a value for each cell (Gnanachandrasamy et al., 2020).
ward deterministic interpolation method based on the idea
that sample values closer to the forecast location have a
greater influence on the prediction value than sample val- Water quality estimation
ues further away (Mallick, 2017). Kriging is a linear unbi-
ased interpolation method because prediction estimates are Drinking suitability
less prone to mean standard errors. This method does not
require where data is regularly distributed, and it only con- Horton (1965) has proposed the term water quality index,
siders the nearby points of estimation data when assessing which has been further modified and developed by Brown
the structure of regionalized variables (Karami et al., 2018). et al. (1970). Brown et al. (1970) has given assigned weights
Hence, the inverse distance weighting (IDW) interpolation to the physicochemical parameters’ as indicated by their

13
 International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

general significance in the water quality for drinking pur- Organization (2011) recommendation as given in Eq. (2) and
poses. In this investigation, WQI has been determined by multiplied the results by 100.
the accompanying 12 physicochemical parameters (n = 12).
Initially, the weights (wi) need to be assigned to each of
Qi = (Ci∕Si) × 100 (2)
the parameters based on their relative importance in drink- Lastly, the WQI values were calculated by utilizing
ing purposes where the highest assigned weight denotes the Eq. (3); indicating the quality of water for drinking purposes
most significant role and vice versa. Each of the 12 param- and are classified into five categories (< 50 is for excellent
eters has been assigned a weight (wi) ranging from 1 to 4 water, 50–100 is for good water, 100–200 is for poor water,
depending on the collective expert opinions taken from dif- 200–300 is for very poor water, and if more than 300, infers
ferent previous studies (Al obaidy et al., 2010; Shah & Joshi, water unsuitable for drinking purposes) according to Sahu
2017). These lowest values indicate the insignificant role of and Sikdar (2008); suggesting the suitability and inadequacy
the parameters as per drinking suitability (Table 1). of drinking water.
The formula adopted to calculate the relative weight (Wi)
n
is in Eq. (1) ∑
Wi = wi × qi (3)
n i=1
∑
Wi = wi∕ wi (1)
i=1

Then to compute the quality rating scale (Qi) for indi- Irrigation suitability
vidual parameters, division of the concentration of indi-
vidual parameter (Ci) in mg/L with its respective drinking Several irrigation suitability indices such as sodium absorp-
water quality standards (Si) according to the World Health tion ratio (SAR), permeability index (PI), sodium percentage
(Na %), magnesium hazard (MH) or magnesium absorption
ratio (MAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), Kelly’s
Table 1  Relative weight of chemical parameters Ratio (KR), etc., was used to evaluate the quality of water
Physico-chemical Weight (wi) Relative weight WHO/BIS
and its suitability for irrigation purposes (Table 2). Johnson
parameters (Wi) (1975) modified the Piper diagram trilinear diagram and it
assists with considering the progressions in hydrogeochemi-
pH 4 0.25 8.5 cal phases of water in the study region. In the modified Piper
EC 1 0.06 250
diamond plot, all the three components of the Piper trilinear
TDS 1 0.06 500
plot were constructed individually in rectangular coordinates
Ca2+ 1 0.06 75
to generate a pattern similar to the Piper plot.
Mg2+ 1 0.06 50
Na+ 1 0.06 200
K+ 1 0.06 12
Ion exchange estimation
SO42− 1 0.06 250
Cl− 1 0.06 250
To differentiate the ion exchange between groundwater and
HCO3− 1 0.06 120
its host rock-water interaction environment during resi-
H4SiO4 1 0.06 –
dence or sub-surface movement, Schoeller (1977) proposed
PO42− 2 0.13 –
chloro-alkaline indices (CAI-1 and CAI-2). The following
Total 16 1.00
two equations calculate them;

Table 2  Irrigation suitability Indices Formula Sources

indices by several researchers
SAR √1 Na+ Richards (1954)
2
(Ca2+ +Mg2+ )

PI% [(Na+ + √HCO3−) / ­Ca2+ + ­Mg2+ + ­Na+)] × 100 Doneen (1964)

Na % [(Na+ + ­K+) / ­(Ca2+ + ­Mg2+ + ­Na+ + ­K+)] × 100 Wilcox (1948)
MH [Mg2+ / ­(Ca2+ + ­Mg2+)] × 100 Paliwal (1972)
KR Na+/ ­(Ca2+ + ­Mg2+) Kelley (1963)
RSC (HCO3− + ­CO32–) − ­(Ca2+ + ­Mg2+) Eaton (1950)

Here all the ionic concentrations given above are in are expressed in (meq/L) for all equations

13
International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

CAI 1 = Cl− − Na+ + K+ ∕Cl− (4)

[ ( )]

PO42 (mg/l)

8.9
11.1
9.6
0.5
CAI 2 = Cl− − Na+ + K+ ∕SO2− + HCO−3 + CO2− + NO−3
[ ( )]
4 3
(5)

H4SiO (mg/l)
Nutrients

15.8
1.9

5.1
Results and discussion

3
HCO3 (mg/l)
Statistical analysis of lake water quality parameters

47.6
37.0
Correlation analysis

7.1
22
Cl (mg/l)
The statistical analysis results of various physicochemi-
cal parameters of water that were analyzed are given in

48.1
95.0
61.9
9.7
Table 3. The dominance of major cations is in the order of
­Ca2+ > ­Mg2+ > ­Na+ > ­K+, whereas the dominance of anions

SO42 (mg/l)
is in the order ­Cl− > ­HCO3− > ­SO42−, and for nutrients,

Anions
the order of dominance is ­PO42− > ­H4SiO4.

17.5
22.0
19.1
1.1
Pearson correlation matrix was used to examine
the relationship between the various ions in the water

K (mg/l)
(Table 4). Among the cations, ­Ca2+ and ­Mg2+ showed a
very good positive correlation (r) value of 0.93, whereas

1.1
1.9
1.4
0.2
+
a good correlation (r) value of 0.53 between N ­ a+ and ­K+
2− +
was established. ­PO4 and ­Na have a positive correla-

Na (mg/l)
tion of 0.73, and good positive correlations of 0.67 and
0.79 occurred between C ­ l– and ­Mg2+, as well as C ­ l– and
+

1.1
3.7
2.1
0.7
–
­HCO3 respectively. Strong correlation between EC and
TDS (r = 0.88), ­PO42−, and ­Na+ (r = 0.73) were discovered, (mg/l)
implying that dissolved solids, N­ a+, and P­ O42− all contrib-
Table 3  Major ionic concentration of physico-chemical parameters of Satopanth Tal
Chemical parameters

ute to the electrical conductivity of lake water. A strong

2+

19.2
11.7
Mg

3.5

correlation between S ­ O42− and C ­ a2+ (r = 0.84) and M ­ g2+

4
2−
and ­SO4 (r = 0.81) suggests that they have similar origins
(mg/l)

as oxidation of pyrite and sulphate minerals at the transi-

Cations

tion zone between aerobic and anaerobic environments.

2+

32.9
7.2
Ca

20
52
TH (mg/l)

Cluster analysis
20.9
24.8
21.2
3.8

Thirteen variables were considered for cluster analysis

and the variables were classified into three major clusters
TDS (mg/l)

based on this dendrogram (Fig. 2). ­M g 2+, TDS, P ­ O 42−,

+ +
pH, ­H4SiO4, ­K and ­Na are all closely related in the first
7.3
20.4
11.9
3.5

cluster group, whereas the second and third cluster groups

show the relationship between S ­ O42−, EC, ­Ca2+, ­HCO3–,
Physical parameters

EC (µs/cm)

–
­Cl and TH in the surface water samples. The key sources
that identify the hydrogeochemistry of the study site are
14.0
42.2
21.6

numerous hydrogeological processes such as ion exchange

7

and weathering. Finally, cluster analyses confirm the find-

6.4
7.1
6.9
0.2
pH

ings and provide more confidence in data analysis.

Mean
Max
Min

SD

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 International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

Table 4  Pearson correlation Ca2+ Mg2+ Na+ K+ Cl− HCO3− PO42− SO42− H4SiO4 pH EC TDS
matrix of physico-chemical
parameters of water samples Ca2+
1
Mg2+ 0.93 1
Na+ − 0.25 0.20 1
K+ − 0.04 0.04 0.53 1
Cl− 0.15 0.67 0.17 0.07 1
HCO3− 0.86 0.09 − 0.16 0.25 0.79 1
PO42− − 0.35 0.11 0.73 − 0.19 0.00 − 0.39 1
SO42− 0.84 0.81 0.03 − 0.06 − 0.20 − 0.18 0.13 1
H4SiO4 0.26 − 0.23 − 0.03 − 0.18 − 0.10 − 0.07 − 0.23 0.26 1
pH 0.18 − 0.17 − 0.18 − 0.09 0.03 − 0.01 − 0.41 − 0.06 0.20 1
EC − 0.05 − 0.13 0.30 − 0.20 − 0.15 − 0.29 0.45 0.18 − 0.09 − 0.10 1
TDS 0.12 − 0.23 0.12 − 0.21 − 0.15 − 0.18 0.19 0.30 0.29 0.16 0.88 1

Correlation significant at 0.01

Fig.2  Dendrogram showing the

groundwater clusters (Ward’s
method)

Study of physicochemical characteristics is typically employed to obtain continuous information

and geospatial analysis of water samples (Mallick, 2017). The profiles of spatial variation for each
resource are discussed below in terms of their relation-
The results of the physicochemical and nutrient parameters ship with each other and their change in concentration
were compared with WHO (2011) and BIS (2012) have over space. ArcGIS-based spatial distribution of hydro-
been carried out for the present study (Table 3). Spatial geochemical parameters is presented in Fig. 3.
and temporal are evident in all types of physical and chem- The pH of the study area ranged from 6.4 to 7.1 with a
ical parameters of freshwater systems (Chandrasekhar mean of 6.88 (Table 3). Most of the samples collected from
et al., 2003). When point data information is available at the edges of the lake have pH value below 7 while five sam-
several sample points, the spatial interpolation technique ples out of the nine samples collected from the central part
of the lake had pH value slightly higher than 7; indicating

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International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

Fig. 3  Interpolated maps of the parameters based on inverse distance weighting

that the water of Satopanth Tal is acidic in the nearshore while the higher pH values were recorded in the majority
region and slightly alkaline in the central region. The spatial of the southern and western regions, respectively; making
distribution of pH of the surface water in Satopanth Tal is the water of the Satopanth Tal acidic to slightly alkaline.
shown in Fig. 3. The spatial distribution of pH in the study Electrical conductivity (EC) is a quantification of the total
area indicated a larger region with lower to moderate pH, salt content of water, based on the flow of electrical current

13
 International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

through the sample. The EC of the Satopanth Tal ranged ­ a+ is increasing across the lake from west to east (Fig. 3).
N
from 14 to 42.2 µS/cm with a mean of 21.02 µS/cm, sug- The spatial distribution of potassium content in surface
gesting a low mineral dissolution in the surface water. The water from the Satopanth Tal revealed the concentration of
EC of the lake is enriched at the northernmost region of the ­K+ was recorded in the northern and central-western regions
lake and has a little increase around the middle of the lake. of the Satopanth Tal, while the lowest values are found in the
It can also be visualized that all the points near to shoreline southern and western parts.
except in the north and a small region in the west recorded The major anions showed that C ­ l – ranged from
lower values; the elevated values in the northern region of 48.1 to 95.1 mg/L (mean = 60.96 mg/L), fol-
the lake could be attributed to the impact of Satopanth Gla- lowed by ­H CO 3– ranging from 22.0 to 47.6 mg/L
cier on the lake (Fig. 3). The Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) (mean = 37.18 mg/L). The chloride ions are not absorbed
is the sum of the dissolved ionic concentration of organic into the mineral or inorganic surface and do not form
and inorganic matter in the lake water. The TDS ranged from insoluble precipitates (Embaby et al., 2016). The spatial
7.3 to 20.4 mg/L with a mean of 11.75 mg/L; indicating distribution of chloride concentration is shown in Fig. 3.
freshwater. The spatial variation of TDS is as expected and The spatial plot of C­ l– ion in the lake suggests that there is
showing a similar trend as electrical conductivity. Locations a higher concentration in the south-western region (sample
near the northern region have a greater amount of TDS in 17) and lowest in the northern and western region (sam-
comparison to other regions of the lake (Fig. 3). The Total ples 10 and 18) of the lake. At the eastern, southern, and
Hardness (TH) varied from 20.9 to 24.8 mg/L with a mean western shores, the value of ­HCO3– is abundant. The pres-
of 21.2 mg/L; indicating softwater. Classification of total ence of bicarbonate and acidity in lake water is mainly by
hardness is as follows: soft (0–30), moderately soft (30–60), the physical process of lacustrine deposit, although bicar-
moderately hard (60–120), hard (120–180), and very hard bonates are derived largely from gaseous ­CO 2 (Pandey
(> 180) (World Health Organization, 2011). The presence of et al., 2001). The ­HCO3– is derived mainly from (a) the
cations such as M­ g2+, ­Ca2+, ­Na+, and anions such as bicar- ­CO2 soil zone in the subsurface environment containing
–
bonate, ­Cl , and ­SO42– in water causes water hardness. elevated ­CO2 pressure which in turn combines with water
The major cations showed the lower content of sodium, to form bicarbonate and (b) the dissolution of carbonates
calcium, magnesium, and potassium in the lake water, which and/or silicate minerals by carbonic acid (Pandey et al.,
mainly comes from rock weathering. ­Ca2+ value ranged 2001). The southwestern section of the lake has a low to
between 20 and 52.0 mg/L (mean = 32.9 mg/L) while ­Mg2+ moderate concentration of H ­ CO3–, whereas the south-east-
ranged between 3.5 and 19.2 mg/L (mean = 11.7 mg/L). Cal- ern and western parts of the lake have a high concentration
cium and magnesium are most abundant in surface water as of ­HCO3– (Fig. 3). Weathering of sulphide minerals such
they are associated with sedimentary deposits. Calcium sul- as pyrite, marcasite, and others produces sulphate. The
phate can be dissolved in water to a concentration of around ­SO42– concentration varying between 17.5 and 22 mg/L
1500 ppm at room temperature (Merdhah & Yassin, 2008). (mean = 19.04 mg/L). The concentration fluctuation of
The weathering of calcic plagioclase feldspar from sandstone ­SO42– ions is depicted in Fig. 3. When comparing the east-
and alluvial rocks is confirmed by calcium ion concentra- ern and western parts of the lake, the spatial distribution
tion in surface water. The spatial distribution of C­ a2+ is pre- reveals that the eastern part has a higher concentration of
sented in Fig. 3; in the southern section, a maximum C ­ a2+ of ­SO42–. Generally, sulphate concentrations in Satopanth Tal
52 mg/L was observed, with a lower value of 20 mg/L near increased from the western to the eastern regions.
the middle region, and an average of 32.9 mg/L of Satopanth Phosphorous is widely recognized as one of the most
Tal. Magnesium is derived mostly through the dissolution important nutrients in freshwater productivity, as it is a cru-
of minerals found in silicates and feldspathic rocks (Hem, cial component in determining the fertility of lakes (Kumar
1970). Magnesium dissolution is substantially slower, and & Sharma, 2019). The phosphate ­(PO42–) varied between
contact time between water and rock is much longer. Fig- 8.9 and 11.1 mg/L (mean = 9.58 mg/L). The concentra-
ure 3 depicts the spatial distribution of ­Mg2+, which showed tions of phosphate ions were increasing in the lake's north-
that magnesium concentrations are considerably lower in the ern, eastern, and south-eastern areas (Fig. 3). The primary
southern and northern parts of the lake, and substantially source of silica in water is silicate minerals. Because silica is
higher in the south-western and around the center. The N ­ a+ derived primarily from naturally occurring rocks, freshwater
+
and ­K ranged from 1.1 to 3.7 mg/L (mean = 2.1 mg/l) and has higher silica concentrations (Pradeep et al., 2016). The
1.1 to 1.9 mg/L (mean = 1.4 mg/L), respectively (Table 3). silica ­(H4SiO4) concentration ranged from 1.9 to 15.8 mg/L
The spatial distributional pattern of the ­Na+ ion in Satopanth (mean = 5.1 mg/L). Figure 3 illustrates the spatial distribu-
Tal showed that higher concentrations were found in the tional pattern of H
­ 4SiO4, which showed that the central and
northern and north-eastern, while lower concentrations were southern areas of Satopanth Tal had the highest concentra-
found in other regions, implying that the concentration of tion of dissolved silicates compared to the rest of the lake.

13
International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

Water quality and utility (PI), Kelly’s ratio (KR), US Salinity and Wilcox Diagrams
were utilized as indicators of water suitability for irrigation
Suitability of water for drinking purposes (Table 5).
Electrical conductivity (EC) is one of the criterions that
The water quality index (WQI) is a helpful tool for deter- are required for assessing the nature of water for irrigation
mining the suitability of water quality for drinking purposes purposes. Ayers and Westcot (1989) classified the water
(Magesh et al., 2013; Kouadra and Demdoum, 2019). The quality for irrigation uses into five categories following the
WQI values inferred that the water stored in the Satopanth guidelines of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO,
Tal is of excellent quality (Table 5), as 100% of the water 1989), tabulated in Table 6. The water samples collected
samples were grouped under the class of excellent water as from Satopanth Tal are excellent for irrigation purposes as
proposed by Sahu and Sikdar (2008). they recorded very low values clustered in excellent class.
The SAR value is the sodium content that exists in the soil
after absorption (Shaikh et al., 2020). Higher the SAR val-
Suitability of water for agricultural activities ues, higher the sodium concentration and lower the soil
porosity, and less suitable for agriculture. SAR has divided
Water is an essential tool for irrigation work and its quality the irrigation water into four classes, as shown in Table 6.
altogether influences crop yields. The suitability of surface The SAR values in the lake water varied from 0.04 to 0.16,
water for irrigational purposes depends on the concentra- with a mean value of 0.08, which is considered good for irri-
tions and impact of the mineral constituents in the water gation. The US Salinity Laboratory’s diagram (USSL, 1954)
on both soil and the plants (Tyagi et al., 2009). It is the is broadly utilized for assessing the water’s suitableness for
geology; geomorphology and watershed activities that affect the irrigational utilizations, where SAR is plotted against EC
the nature of the source water (Ghislain, 2012). In this pre- (USSL, 1954). The plot is classified into 16 water quality
sent study, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium adsorption classes according to the salinity and alkalinity hazards based
ratio (SAR), sodium percentage (Na%), magnesium hazard on the 4 categories of salinity (S) and alkalinity/sodium (C)
(MH), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), Permeability Index divided as low, medium, high, and very high as per their

Table 5  Parameters for Sample no WQI Water Type SAR RSC Na MH PI KR

evaluation of water for drinking
and irrigation efficiency indices 1 30.7 Excellent water 0.16 − 1.67 8.16 10.89 37.17 0.09
in the present study
2 29.4 Excellent water 0.10 − 1.87 5.44 33.18 35.89 0.06
3 30.1 Excellent water 0.14 − 1.86 7.75 34.07 31.64 0.09
4 30.5 Excellent water 0.08 − 2.07 4.43 48.98 30.05 0.05
5 30.9 Excellent water 0.10 − 2.08 5.00 33.33 32.38 0.06
6 31.6 Excellent water 0.10 − 2.64 4.83 29.58 28.20 0.05
7 30.5 Excellent water 0.09 − 2.05 4.81 38.05 33.58 0.06
8 30.2 Excellent water 0.08 − 1.70 5.29 31.82 33.06 0.05
9 29.7 Excellent water 0.04 − 2.02 3.21 21.40 30.55 0.02
10 29.6 Excellent water 0.07 − 2.04 4.26 27.27 30.54 0.04
11 31.0 Excellent water 0.10 − 1.79 5.77 23.77 37.05 0.06
12 30.6 Excellent water 0.08 − 2.04 4.66 27.60 31.21 0.05
13 30.9 Excellent water 0.09 − 2.00 4.96 19.64 31.34 0.05
14 30.9 Excellent water 0.06 − 2.09 3.89 22.41 30.18 0.04
15 30.8 Excellent water 0.05 − 1.72 3.59 7.37 36.56 0.03
16 30.3 Excellent water 0.05 − 2.37 2.89 8.45 27.73 0.02
17 30.3 Excellent water 0.07 − 2.16 3.64 25.62 30.61 0.04
18 29.7 Excellent water 0.08 − 1.99 4.78 33.96 32.31 0.05
19 29.8 Excellent water 0.07 − 1.80 4.34 30.69 34.48 0.04
20 30.1 Excellent water 0.06 − 1.83 4.18 26.27 34.91 0.04
21 30.1 Excellent water 0.06 − 1.82 3.53 31.03 33.91 0.03
Min 29.4 – 0.04 − 2.64 2.89 7.37 27.73 0.02
Max 31.6 – 0.16 − 1.67 8.16 48.98 37.17 0.09
Mean 30.4 – 0.08 − 2.00 4.80 27.03 32.52 0.05

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 International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

Table 6  Classification of Category Range No. of samples Category Range No. of

surface water samples for sam-
irrigation use based on ples
WATCLASS
Na% K.R
Excellent 0–20 21 Suitable <1 21
Good 20–40 0 Unsuitable >1 0
Permissible 40–60 0
Doubtful 60–80 0 M.H (%)
Unsuitable > 80 0 Suitable < 50% 21
Unsuitable > 50% 0
S.A.R P.I (%)
Good (C1) 0–10 21 Excellent Class I 19
Medium (C2) 18–10 0 Good Class II 2
Bad (C3) 18–26 0 Unsuitable Class III 0
Poor (C4) > 26 0
R.S.C E.C (µs/cm)
Safe < 1.25 21 Excellent < 250 21
Likely hazardous 1.25–2.5 0 Good 250–750 0
Unsuitable > 2.5 0 Permissible 750–2250 0
Doubtful 2250–5000 0
Unsuitable > 5000 0

contents (Fig. 4a). The results from the USSL plot indicate bicarbonates in water over alkaline earth impacted on the
all the surface water samples of Satopanth Tal belong to the water quality for irrigational applications. The RSC values
category low salinity and sodium hazard (C1S1), which is of Satopanth water (Table 5) were less than 1.25, indicating
excellent for agricultural uses. that the water is suitable and safe for irrigation (Table 6).
The utilization of sodium percentage (Na %) is the prime Doneen (1964) observed that soil permeability is affected
factor determining the sodium hazard in irrigation (Wilcox, by the long-term use of irrigation water. It is influenced by
1955). Na is a significant component in soil and water since sodium, calcium, and magnesium, and bicarbonate contents
it has an exceptional effect on the structure and permeabil- of soil or sediment (Nagaraju et al., 2016). The Permeability
ity of soil (Rao, 2002). Na% values varied between 2.89 Index (PI) values (in %) are classified into three as shown
and 8.16% (Table 5) indicating that water in Satopanth Tal in Table 6. Almost all surface water samples are clustered
is excellent for irrigation uses. Wilcox (1948) used sodium in class I while two samples are in class II (Fig. 4c) indicat-
percentage and electrical conductivity in estimating the suit- ing that the surface water from Satopanth Tal is good to
ability of water for irrigation. This diagram classifies water excellent and suitable for irrigation. Kelly (1963) proposed
into five types with increasing salinity hazards and sodium a crucial index by investigating the level of sodium against
hazards (Fig. 4b). The results indicated that all the water calcium and magnesium in water termed Kelly’s ratio (KR).
samples are good for irrigation because they are within a KR values ranged from 0.02 to 0.09, suggesting that the
very good to good category. water is suitable for irrigation purposes as the average value
The high magnesium content in the water has more is less than 1 (Table 6).
unfavorable impacts when contrasted with calcium on crop
yield by making the soil alkaline (Gransee & Führs, 2013)
The determination of the amount of magnesium in water is, Hydrogeochemical characteristics of surface
therefore, very important; magnesium hazard (MH) analy- water
sis was described by Paliwal (1972). By adopting the MH
values (in %), water is divided into two classes: suitable and Piper Trilinear plots are maybe the most regularly utilized
unsuitable (Table 6). The MH(%) values ranged between technique for explaining hydrochemical patterns in typical
7.37 and 48.98%; indicating that all the 21 samples are suit- ion data. In this study, a Piper graph (Piper, 1953) was uti-
able for irrigational work. The residual sodium carbonate lized to explain the major hydrochemical facies. The cations
(RSC) index was adopted to predict the perilous outcome of and anions are expressed in percentages of total cations and
carbonates and bicarbonates in the water (Gopal & Joseph, ions, grouped as a solitary point on the left and right trian-
2015). Especially, the high concentration of carbonates and gles in milliequivalents/liter, respectively. Finally, these two

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International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

Fig. 4  a Quality of water samples concerning salinity and sodium hazard, b Wilcox diagram of water samples (after Wilcox, 1955), and c Per-
meability Index plot of Satopanth Tal water for irrigation uses

points are then projected into the central diamond-shaped the Trilinear plot of hydrochemical facies with the John-
area parallel to the upper edges of the central area. The point son plot showed that all the surface water samples fall in
where the extension intersects indicates the character of the the zone of high calcium and magnesium concentrations as
water as represented by the relationship among N ­ a+ + ­K+, well as sulphate and chloride elements, and indicated that all
2+ 2+ 2– – – 2–
­Ca + ­Mg , ­CO3 + ­HCO3 , ­Cl , and S ­ O4 ions. All the samples were alkaline in nature (Fig. 5b). Calcium and
3 fields have a scale reading in 100 parts. The values of magnesium are abundant in surface water as they are associ-
chemical data from the distinctive surface water samples ated with calcite, gypsum, and dolomite types of minerals.
in the study area are plotted on the Piper diagram (Fig. 5a). Hence, the water collected in the lake from the retreating
This (Fig. 5a) indicates that ­Ca2+ − ­Cl− is the major hydro- glacier may be affected by the metamorphosed sedimentary
geochemical facies, and suggesting the dominancy of alkali environment of the Himalayan region (PWD, 2013) and
and strong acids. As the percentage values of alkaline earth leads to carbonate weathering.
metal significantly higher than the alkali metals, inferring Hydrochemical studies relevant to water quality explain
the dominancy of carbonate weathering mechanism is regu- the relationship of water chemistry to regional hydrology
lating the hydrogeochemistry of Satopanth Tal. (Jiang et al., 2020). So the relationship would help not
Figure 5b revealed that all the samples fall in the zone only to explain the origin and distribution of the dissolved
of high C­ a2+ + ­Mg2+ and S ­ O42– + ­Cl–. The examination of constituents, but also to elucidate the factor controlling

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 International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

Fig. 5  a Pipers trilinear diagram, b modified piper diagram and c Gibbs Boomerang plot in Satopanth Tal surface water

surface chemistry. Gibbs (1970) has proposed a method Index of base exchange
where he distinguished the action of water as due to rock-
water interaction, due to precipitation, or due to evapora- Though CAI has been adopted by several authors (Adi-
tion. These classifications would not just help in explain- malla et al., 2018; Kouadra & Demdoum, 2020; Wang
ing the genesis and distribution of dissolved components et al., 2020) for groundwater study, an attempt has been
but also identify the variables that control the water chem- made here to study the base ion exchange from the sur-
istry. In the Satopanth Tal, the plot for both cations and face water and presented in Table 7. The positive CAI
anions falls in the precipitation dominance zone which infers the exchange between N­ a+, and K ­ + with ­Ca2+ and
means that the water composition is dominant by the 2+
­Mg in the aquifer or surrounding host rocks in case of
atmospheric precipitation process. None of the samples groundwater and surface water, respectively, while nega-
lie on the upper side of the boomerang, which indicated tive CAI indicated the reverse cation exchange reactions
that none of the samples was undergoing evaporation and (Kouadra & Demdoum, 2020). Hence, as the CAI values
rock weathering processes (Fig. 5c). from Satopanth Tal are positive, it can be inferred that the

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International Journal of Energy and Water Resources

Table 7  Chloro-alkaline Sample No CAI-1 CAI-2 water composition was influenced by the atmospheric pre-
indices of the surface water of cipitation process. The positive CAI showed the importance
Satopanth Tal 1 0.91 0.97 of ion exchange which controls the chemistry of lake water.
2 0.94 0.94 With the strong precipitation, as well as the negligible con-
3 0.91 1.23 tribution of evaporation and underground sources, it can be
4 0.95 1.24 concluded that the Satopanth Tal water is fresh and clear.
5 0.95 1.14 Therefore, Gibb’s study showed that precipitation is one of
6 0.95 1.43 the most significant and dominant factors associated with
7 0.94 0.86 partial evaporation, which controls the surface water chem-
8 0.93 1.04 istry in Satopanth Tal. However, no anthropogenic activity
9 0.96 1.20 was observed in the lake during the study. Because the lake
10 0.93 0.88 is free of anthropogenic activities and is located at such a
11 0.93 0.82 high altitude of 4600 m AMSL, and the principal source
12 0.95 1.12 of water for the lake is contamination-free glacial melt-
13 0.93 0.93 water, the water quality of Satopanth Tal is good for both
14 0.95 1.02 domestic and irrigation needs, and no change in the water
15 0.96 0.89 quality was observed throughout the lake.
16 0.95 0.90
17 0.96 1.08 Acknowledgements The authors would like to thanks DST-SERB
18 0.94 0.97 (HG) for the financial support for this research (Grant no. SB/DGH-
63/2013). The authors also like to thank Dr. S.P Rai Associate Pro-
19 0.95 0.98
fessor, BHU, Varanashi (Former Scientist C at National Institute of
20 0.95 0.92 Hydrology, Roorkee, India) for his immense support to conduct the
21 0.96 1.03 analysis in NIH; authors would also like to thank the administration of
Max 0.96 1.43 Annamalai University as well as NIH, Roorkee for the smooth conduct
of the documents without any delay. Last but not least the authors
Min 0.91 0.82
would like to thank the Himalayan Trekker Company for their support
Mean 0.94 1.04 and help during the trekking period and in the fieldwork.

Declarations
key mechanism that governs the chemical composition of
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no competing
the water in Satopanth Tal is the exchange of cations or
interests.
anions.
Ethical approval This article does not contain any studies with human
participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Conclusion

The surface water quality assessment of the Satopanth Tal References

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