IMPACT OF PAPER MILL EFFLUENT DISPOSAL ON GROUNDWATER REGIME IN A SUB TROPICAL ALLUVIAL AREA

Abstract

The fast growing industrialization in India similar to many other developing countries has a considerable potential of economic development, but, on the other hand, it has become the source and main cause of environmental pollution. India for some decades now has embarked on a strategic programme of industrialization under which many industries are being established which produces a wide range of varieties of capital and consumer goods. On the other hand, urban industrial activities have long been identified as a major source of pollutants and contaminants in the form of by products through atmospheric deposal and wastewater discharges. This study is intended to investigate the pollution potential of the disposal of paper mill effluents in the Saharanpur town of northern India. The objective of the study was to examine the current status of the quality of ground water together with the soil in the areas surrounding a large Paper Mill in the township. This has been undertaken by conducting physico-chemical analysis of the ground water and soil samples in the area. The soil has been taken into consideration because in the neighbouring areas of the paper mill, people are utilizing the paper mill effluents for irrigation and therefore, this study intends to fmd out whether the soil in the area has been polluted by the chemical compounds that are always used as additives in the paper making process. Limited electrical resistivity/IP studies were also carried out in the study area to try to fmd out the nature of the aquifer present in the area and also to try to study whether there can be visible indications of ground water pollution based on the resistivity and IP values of the aquifers. This was done using the vertical electrical sounding (VES) and IP sounding by the use of ABEM SAS 300 and ABEM SAS 1000 models of terrameters. The geoelectrical study supported by the existing lithological data of available wells and recently acquired geophysical data has indicated that the study area is comprised of a shallow sandy unconfined aquifer within 5m to 12m depth range. This is underlain by semi-confined and confined coarser sandy aquifers at depth ranges of 19m to 28m and 33m to 45m below ground level. The ground water flow is mainly from north towards southeast with the