Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 19 (2001) 579594

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Geochemical evolution of groundwater in the Quaternary aquifer of Calcutta and Howrah, India
P.K. Sikdar a,*, S.S. Sarkar b, S. Palchoudhury c
a

Department of Applied Geology, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 826 004, India b Department of Geology, Durgapur Govt. College, Durgapur 713 214, India c Department of Geology, Presidency College, Calcutta 700 073, India Received 27 April 1999; revised 16 July 2000; accepted 4 August 2000

Abstract Groundwater in the Quaternary aquifer of the twin city Calcutta and Howrah occur in a conned condition. Coarse clastic deposits consisting of ne to coarse sand, at places mixed with gravels, form the aquifer: above and below lie clay sequences. The average thickness of the top conning clay bed is 40 m and the aquifer continues down to a depth of at least 296 m below which the bottom clay bed of Pliocene age occurs. During the last ve decades, there is a distinct lowering of piezometric head in Calcutta and Howrah. The groundwater ow pattern changed from an open system, which was from north to south in the mid-1950s to a closed one in the mid-1980s with the formation of a groundwater trough. This closed ow system persisted in the 1990s with the increase in the area of the trough. Detailed geochemical investigation of groundwater samples N 57 along with statistical analyses (viz. correlation, principal component and mixing analyses) on these chemical data reveal: (i) that the groundwater samples can be categorised into eight hydrochemical facies, which may be assigned to the three broad types fresh, blended and brackish water; (ii) a pronounced and well-dened trend of variation of chemistry of the groundwater; (iii) modied connate water, and/or interaction with the aquifer matrix was possibly responsible for the evolution of the brackish water; (iv) mixing of fresh water and brackish water; (in ca 48:52 proportion) is presently taking place due to heavy groundwater withdrawal; and (v) such mixing will cause deterioration in quality, from fresh water to the blended variety (mean TDS 724 mg=l). q 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Geochemcial evolution; Groundwater; Aquifer of Calcutta and Howrah

1. Introduction The basic structure of the twin city Calcutta and Howrah was laid down during the Imperial rule when Calcutta became a major port city of the British Empire passing through various phases of trading, administrative and military roles. In the post-independence period (from 1947), the city has grown precipitously in the south, primarily due to the huge inux of migrants from the former East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). There was neither the time nor the opportunity for any land and water use planning and control. The groundwater development pattern from 1956 until 1994 for the city of Calcutta is as follows (Banerjee and Sinha Roy, 1992; Sikdar, 1999):

1956 1989 1992 1994

55 million litres per day; 182 million litres per day; 219 million litres per day; 227 million litres per day.

As a result, during the last ve decades there is a distinct lowering of piezometric head in Calcutta and Howrah. This study was aimed at understanding the geochemical evolution of groundwater and at deciphering the interrelationship between groundwater exploitation and its chemical behaviour within the aquifer matrix. Such interrelationships, unless understood properly, may impose constraints on future groundwater management of this megalopolis. 2. Hydrogeological setting The study area (ca 260 km 2) forms a part of the lower deltaic plain of the BhagirathiGanga river system and lies

* Corresponding author. Department of Environment Management, Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Calcutta 700 073, India. Tel.: 191-33-284-3132. E-mail address: p_sikdar@hotmail.com (P.K. Sikdar).

1367-9120/01/$ - see front matter q 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 1367-912 0(00)00056-0

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Fig. 1. Location of study area.

on both sides of the Hugli distributory (Fig. 1). The climate of the area is characterised by a mild winter, a brief spring, a hot summer with occasional nor'westers and a prolonged monsoon from June to October. The annual maximum and
Table 1 Quaternary stratigraphy of Calcutta and Howrah System Series Holocene Lithological character Average depth (m)

(1) Clay and silty clay, 40 with peaty intercalations at two depth ranges measured from the surface Quaternary (i) 25 m (dated at 3990 ^ 70 years B. P.) (ii) 1212.6 m (dated at 7030 ^ 150 years B.P.) Pleistocene (2) Sand, ne to coarse 296 with clay lenses, gravel and calcareous concretions

minimum temperatures are 42 and 108C, respectively. The average annual rainfall is about 1650 mm, out of which 80% takes place during June to October. The occurrence of groundwater in the CalcuttaHowrah aquifer (CHA) is controlled by the geology. The study area is underlain by uviatile sediments of Quaternary age comprising a succession of clay, silty clay, sand and sand mixed with occasional gravel (Table 1). A conning layer represented mainly by clay and minor occurrences of silty clay with peaty intercalations occurs at the top of the sedimentary sequence (Figs. 2 and 4) with an average thickness of 40 m (Table 1). This layer is underlain by coarse clastics of ca 300 m thickness consisting of ne to coarse sand, at places mixed with gravel. Clay lenses also occur occasionally within the sand sequence. The sand beds are on the whole inter-connected and behave as a single aquifer system (Sikdar et al., 1996). It may be mentioned that the principal productive zone usually tapped for municipal water supply ranges from 80 to 160 m below the land surface (Fig. 4). The Quaternary aquifer continues down to a depth of at least

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Fig. 2. Isopach map of top clay sequence in Calcutta and Howrah region.

296 m, below which a thick clay bed of Pliocene age has been intersected (Chaterji et al., 1959). Therefore, the Quaternary aquifer of Calcutta is sandwiched between clay sequences. The Quaternary stratigraphy of the sediments underlying the study area has been compiled (Table 1) on the basis of lithological, oral, faunal and radiocarbon dating (Chaterji et al., 1959; Banerjee et al., 1984; Sen and Banerjee, 1990; Barui and Chanda, 1992; Hait et al., 1996b). The thick clay sequence at the top of the stratigraphic column helps to hold water in the deeper sand sequence under pressure. During the present investigation, piezometric

data were collected from 92 tubewells whose strainers were placed at depth varying between 90 and 100 m. The earliest hydrologic data for the conguration of the piezometric surface beneath Calcutta were available for the 1956 post-monsoon period (Chaterji et al., 1964). The surface was undulatory with a gentle southward slope (Fig. 3a). In the northern part of the city, the piezometric surface lies about 0.51 m above mean sea level and progressively declines below mean sea level towards the south. In the 1985 pre-monsoon period the piezometric surface developed an ovoid depression in the south-central part of

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Fig. 3. (a) Contour map showing the elevation of piezometric surface (above mean sea level) during post monsoon, 1956 (after Biswas and Saha, 1985). (b) Degree four piezometric trend surface map (Pre-monsoon, 1985). Goodness of t 87.39%. Explanations: 1. Piezometric contours in m above mean sea level (dashed where inferred). 2. Location of observation wells. 3. Well sampled for chemical analysis. 4. Groundwater ow direction. 5. Bridge. 6. Tidal, to and fro movement. (c) Degree four piezometric trend surface map (post-monsoon, 1985). Goodness of t 85.39%. Explanations: 16 same as in (b). (d) Degree four piezometric trend surface map (Post-monsoon, 1993). Goodness of t 84.87%. Explanations: 1 to 6 same as in (b). (e) Degree four piezometric trend surface map (Pre-monsoon, 1994). Goodness of t 85.45%. Explanations: 1 to 6 same as in (b).

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Fig. 3. (continued)

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Fig. 4. Hydrostratigraphic cross-section along the line X Y as shown in Fig. 2.

Calcutta (Fig. 3b). The deepest part of this groundwater trough, located in the central part of the city, was dened by the 210.5 m contour. The groundwater ow pattern changed from an open north to south to a closed one. In the 1985 post-monsoon period, the piezometric surface fell by 68 m compared to the 1956 post-monsoon period (Biswas and Saha, 1985a,b). The 1985 pre-monsoon ovoid groundwater trough persisted during the post-monsoon period (Fig. 3c). Another distinctive feature of 1985 piezometric surfaces is that in the northern part of Calcutta, they fell below mean sea level. The surface in this part of the city was above mean sea level in 1956 (Chaterji et al., 1964). In 1993, the post-monsoon ow pattern (Fig. 3d) was similar to that of 1985 but two important changes were observed: (i) the oval area with the deepest contour of 28.5 m increased by about two times, the expansion took place mainly towards N and NNE; and (ii) the groundwater ow direction in the southwestern corner of Calcutta changed from west to east in 1985 to south to north and then veered to the east towards the central groundwater trough in 1993. During the 1994 pre-monsoon (Fig. 3e), two important changes compared to 1985 pre-monsoon (Fig. 3c) were also observed: (i) the central area of the trough dened by the 210.5 m contour increased by about

13 times; and (ii) in Howrah, the ow direction changed from WNW-ESE in 1985 to a pattern radiating from the NW during 1994. This change over from an open NS natural groundwater ow pattern to the closed system is clearly a result of uncontrolled human activities involving overdraft of groundwater in this area. For the Calcutta area, the average daily overdraft relative to a recharge of 218.5 million litres of groundwater is estimated at 73.5 million litres (Sikdar, 1996). Pumping tests (Table 2) carried out at six locations in Calcutta (Niyogi et al., 1966; Banerjee and Khan, 1982) reveal that potentiality of the aquifer to transmit water decreases from north to south. In the extreme northern portion of the city at Sinthi, the transmissivity is 7774 m 2/ day whereas it is 1560 m 2/day in the extreme south at Bansdroni. 3. Chemical quality of groundwater Fifty-seven groundwater samples were collected from CHA from manually operated tubewells (Fig. 3). The strainers of these tubewells were placed at depths varying

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between 90 and 100 m. The samples were collected in clean polyethylene bottles. Prior to collection, the sample bottles were rinsed thoroughly with the sample water. The samples were taken to the laboratory within 3 h of collection and during transportation care was taken to protect them from direct sunlight. Samples were refrigerated at 48C and analysed within 24 h3 days as per the standard methods of APHA (1985). The major ion chemistry of groundwater is variable considering the relatively small extent of the study area. This possibly indicates the presence of complicated geochemical processes. The chemical analyses of groundwater from the study area and the percent compliance with the Indian Standard (BIS 10500, 1991) and the WHO (1993) are summarised in Table 3. 4. Hydrochemical facies Hydrochemical facies are water masses that have different geochemical attributes. These are frequently delineated by trilinear diagrams of Piper (1944) and have contributed to the understanding of ow and water quality (Back, 1960; Ophori and Toth, 1989; Sikdar et al., 1993). Based on the major cation (Ca 21, Mg 21, Na 1 and K 1), 2 22 anion (Cl 2, HCO3 and SO4 ) contents of the groundwater, eight hydrochemical facies could be identied viz. Facies 1: CaMgHCO3; Facies 2: NaHCO3; Facies 3: CaMg HCO3 Cl; Facies 4: NaHCO3 Cl; Facies 5: CaMg ClHCO3; Facies 6: NaClHCO3; Facies 7: CaMgCl and Facies 8: NaCl. The relevant chemical parameters of these facies are depicted in Table 4. The plots of samples belonging to these facies are also shown in the Piper diagram (Fig. 5). The aerial distribution of these hydrochemical facies is depicted in Fig. 6, which is self-explanatory. These eight hydrochemical facies may further be assigned to three broader types fresh, blended and brackish waters (Table 5) whose salient chemical characteristics are given below. 4.1. Fresh water The chemical characteristics of this type comprising Facies 1 and 2 is natural to the study area. The water is soft with an average hardness less than the Indian Standard. This type of water is relatively fresh and potable with Total
Table 2 Results of pumping test. (Sources: Niyogi et al. (1966) and Banerjee and Khan (1982)) Location Sinthi Bidhannagar Santoshpur Bansdroni Aquifer zones tested (m) 97.5119 150205 120147 75116 161171 188193 Transmissivity (m 2/day) 7774 3447 2064 1560

Dissolved Solids (TDS) ranging between 210 and 755 mg/l with an average of 474 mg/l. The bicarbonate content (av. 444.7 mg/l) far exceeds the chloride content (av. 86.2 mg/l). 4.2. Blended water The water belonging to this type comprising Facies 3, 4, 5 and 6 is inferior in quality compared to the fresh water type. The TDS concentration ranges from 500 to 950 mg/l with an average of 724 mg/l. The water is hard with an average hardness of 437 mg/l. The bicarbonate content is similar to that of fresh water, but there is a marked increase in the chloride from 86.2 mg/l in fresh water to 264.1 mg/l in blended variety. 4.3. Brackish water The brackish-type groundwater consisting of Facies 7 and 8 is high in chloride mean 659:5 mg=l but the bicarbonate concentration is similar to those of the other two types. The TDS concentration is also very high ranging between 770 and 2450 mg/l. The water is very hard with a mean of 635 mg/l. 5. Character and occurrence of potential contaminants The brackish type water is high in chloride content, a condition that suggests connate water as a possible contaminant, which led to its evolution. Essentially connate water represents sea water trapped by the sediments at the time of deposition and has not being subsequently diluted by mixing with fresh meteoric water. Such water may therefore throw light on the process involved in the evolution of various types of water underlying the present area. However, no connate water pocket has been encountered in CHA. The occurrence of pocket(s) of modied connate water, nearest to Calcutta has been reported from Canning (45 km due southeast of Calcutta, vide Fig. 1) by Handa (1972). Since the geological history and set up of Canning and Calcutta Howrah are quite similar it is envisaged that such modied connate water (Table 6) present within the low permeability pockets within the heterogeneous aquifer of Calcutta Howrah region could have been responsible for the evolution of the brackish water in the CHA. This water is of marine origin and has presumably been derived from ocean water similar to the standard ocean water (Table 6) and has undergone certain fundamental modications in the proportion of its dissolved constituents (Handa, 1972). The concentrations of calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium have decreased (Table 6). The maximum decrease is observed in magnesium content. Among the anions, bicarbonate has decreased greatly. Chloride, on the other hand, has diminished and sulphate has greatly increased (Table 6). Handa (1972) attributed these modications mainly to: (1) bacterial reduction of sulphate ions with concomitant rise in concentration of bicarbonate; (2) removal of calcium ions

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Table 3 Comparison of groundwater quality with drinking water standards, Indian and WHO. (Number of samples analysed for 22 parameters 57; another 16 samples analysed only for arsenic) Parameters pH Conductivity (mS/cm) Total dissolved solids Total hardness as CaCO3 Bicarbonate Chloride Sulphate Phosphate Nitrate Calcium Magnesium Sodium Potassium Iron Manganese Copper Arsenic Zinc Lead Chromium Cadmium Nickel Range Maximum (mg/l) 8.5 4000 2450 1016 666 1320 140.7 0.8 0.15 269 100 640 241 4.63 2.06 1.50 0.10 2.59 , 0.01 0.04 0.039 0.23 Minimum (mg/l) 7.0 300 210 80 210 21 0.2 0.003 , 0.003 27 3 42 2.4 0.05 0.04 , 0.002 , 0.003 0.05 , 0.008 , 0.001 , 0.008 Indian Standard (mg/l) 6.58.5 500 300 250 200 45 75 30 0.3 0.1 0.05 0.05 5 0.05 0.05 0.01 Percent Compliance 100 21 19 40 100 100 28 25 9 14 84 97 100 100 100 91 WHO Limits (mg/l) 7.08.0 1000 250 250 50 75 30 200 0.3 0.1 1.0 0.01 3 0.01 0.05 0.003 0.02 Percent Compliance 96 61 40 100 100 28 25 75 9 14 95 84 100 100 100 91 53

through precipitation of CaCO3; and (3) removal of magnesium ions with the formation of chlorite.

6. Compositional structure and evolution of groundwater types For an appraisal of the structure of the concentration data, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been carried out. Principal components are the eigen vectors of a variancecovariance matrix. The methodology (after Davis, 1973) involves three steps: (i) standardisation of the raw data in terms of a zero mean and a unit
Table 4 Average composition of different hydrochemical facies Groundwater type/ Hydrochemical Facies Fresh water Facies1:CaMgHCO3 Facies2:NaHCO3 Blended water Facies3:CaMgHCO3 Cl Facies4:NaHCO3 Cl Facies5:CaMgClHCO3 Facies6:NaClHCO3 Brackish water Facies7:CaMgCl Facies 8:NaCl Cation (percent equivalent) Calcium 41.6 24.0 47.4 36.4 31.4 26.6 39.5 28.4 Magnesium 24.4 18.2 16.0 10.3 30.4 19.0 25.3 13.7

variance and computation of the variancecovariance matrix; (ii) computation of a set of mutually orthogonal Principal Component-axes (the elements in each axis referred to as loading: vide Tables 7 and 9), which are actually the eigen vectors of the variancecovariance matrix; the corresponding eigen values (Tables 7 and 9) denoting the proportions of variability accounted for by the respective PC-axes; and (iii) computation of a set of PC-scores for each of the PC-axes corresponding to individual samples. The PCA has been carried out using two sets of data: (i) Set I, consisting of 64 analyses, which include 57 groundwater and 7 modied connate water samples from Canning

Anion (percent equivalent) Sodium 1 potassium 34.0 57.8 36.6 53.3 38.2 54.4 35.3 59.9 Chloride 22.0 27.1 40.3 43.9 52.5 54.8 69.8 68.6 Bicarbonate 76.0 71.3 55.6 55.5 46.0 44.6 28.5 28.3 Sulphate 2.0 1.6 4.1 0.6 1.5 0.6 1.6 3.1

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Fig. 5. Piper diagram showing elds of different groundwater types: Fresh type comprising 1 CaMgHCO3 facies and 2 NaHCO3 facies. Blended type comprising 3 CaMgHCO3 Cl facies, 4 NaHCO3 Cl facies, 5 CaMgClHCO3 facies and 6 NaClHCO3 facies. Brackish type comprising 7 CaMgCl facies and 8 NaCl facies.

and (ii) Set II, comprising only 57 groundwater samples of the present area. The output of the PCA for Set I (Table 7) reveals that the rst four eigen values together account for over 96% of the total variability of the combined population. The plots of PC-scores (Fig. 7) corresponding to PC-axes I and II (which together account for over 83% of the total variability) show two distinctly separate clusters one representing the modied connate water, the other elongate cluster representing the groundwater of CHA. From the location and trends of variation of these two clusters, it becomes obvious that no direct mixing relation between these two types of water can exist at present. How did the brackish water evolve? During the late Quaternary period, the entire area of South Bengal including the present study area was below the sea level under the inuence of a brackish to marine environment (Sen and Banerjee, 1990; Barui and Chanda,

1992; Hait et al., 1994a,b; 1996a). Therefore, the high chloride (modied connate) water probably represents remnant of ocean water entrapped in the sediments during their deposition under marine conditions and have later undergone certain fundamental modications during its period of connement. Later, these waters have been progressively diluted by inuxes of fresh water from (i) the recharge area lying in the north of the study area (Fig. 1) and (ii) inltration of meteoric water through stratigraphic short cuts where the thickness of conning bed is less than 10 m to form the present brackish water. The short cuts have developed due to the scouring action of past channels in certain localised areas such as Hastings (north of Khidirpur), Alipur, Kalighat, Taliganja, Bansdroni, Bidhannagar etc. (Fig. 2). The wide variation in chloride content in the brackish water indicates that the dilution process has not been uniform.

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Fig. 6. Distribution of different hydrochemical facies in Calcutta and Howrah. Numbers 1 to 8 same as in Fig. 5. Groundwater ow directions are of Premonsoon, 1994.

The occurrence of patches of NaHCO3 Facies-2 water (Fig. 6) in all probability indicates active ushing of the aquifer by fresh water. In such hydrochemical environments, ion exchange processes would have taken place and Ca 21 1 Mg 21 taken up from the recharging water in return for adsorbed Na 1 in the clay lenses (Fig. 8a) as per

the following reaction: Na2 clay 1 Ca12 1 Mg12 water Y Ca 1 Mgclay 1 2Na1 water This reaction is a reversible one and the direction in which it

P.K. Sikdar et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 19 (2001) 579594 Table 5 Ranges in general chemical character of groundwater types. (Figures in parentheses represent mean values) Water type Fresh Blended Brackish Total dissolved solids (mg/l) 210755 (474) 500950 (724) 7702450 (1367) Total hardness as CaCO3 (mg/l) 80472 (293) 200584 (437) 2521016 (635) Chloride (mg/l) 21156 (86.2) 163405 (264.1) 3201320 (659.5) Bicarbonate (mg/l) 210588 (444.7) 300525 (453.1) 264666 (433.1)

589

Table 6 Average chemical compositions of modied connate water from Canning and ocean water Constituent Calcium Magnesium Sodium Potassium Chloride Bicarbonate Sulphate Total dissolved solids
a b

Modied connate water a Maximum (mg/l) 168 60 6948 340 10795 1508 333 23000

Minimum (mg/l) 121 31 5400 222 8104 820 12 15000

Average (mg/l) 142 37 6325 287 9648 1055 188 18428

Standard ocean water b (mg/l) 410 1300 11000 380 19000 140 2700 34481

Handa (1972). Mason and Moore (1982).

proceeds depends upon the mole ratios of the participating cations present in the water and clay lenses. The plot of Na vs. HCO3 shows that the data fall below the equiline towards the bicarbonate side (Fig. 8b). This situation requires part of the carbonate alkalinity to be balanced by alkaline earth. On the contrary, NaCl Facies-8 groundwater N 10 is found in areas where groundwater movement is restricted with very low ushing action by recharge (Fig. 6) due to recent over-drafting of groundwater from the aquifer. This phenomenon is evident from the available data in the area EntaliPark CircusTiljalaTangra where maximum recession of groundwater has taken place. In this area, the chloride concentration increased over the years (Table 8). This type of water is also found in areas where the groundwater velocity is low (,10 m/day) and may result from simple dissolution. These samples lying close to the 1:1 line in the NaCl plot (Fig. 9) suggests that dissolution was also active in the aquifer (cf. Lloyd and Heathcote, 1985). Again in many groundwater samples, calcium and magnesium are much more abundant than sodium. This indicates that the freshening of modied connate water has not been caused by a simple admixture with fresh water. Possibly the aquifer matrix also played a signicant role in establishing the chemistry of the present brackish water through base exchange reactions. These reactions, as stated above, can take place in either direction. Therefore, the reverse base exchange reaction was set up so that some Na-ions present in groundwater have been exchanged for Ca- and Mg-ions present in the clay complex located in the path of groundwater circulation. This process is evident

in Fig. 6 by the presence of a lens of CaMgCl Facies 7 water (in association with NaCl Facies 8 water) in northcentral Howrah. A pronounced and well-dened trend of variation within the groundwater samples (Fig. 7) prompted another PCanalysis using the 57 groundwater samples i.e. Set II. The output of the PCA for Set II (Table 9 along with correlation coefcient matrix) reveals that the rst four eigen values together account for over 86% of the total variability. The plots of the PC-scores, corresponding to PC-axes I (chloride-dependent) and II (bicarbonate-dependent) (which together account for over 62% of the total variability of the data matrix) are shown in Fig. 10. A clear categorisation of
Table 7 Results of principal component analysis using 57 samples of groundwater and 7 samples of modied connate water Variables Chloride Bicarbonate Sulphate Calcium Magnesium Sodium Potassium % Eigen value Cum %
a

Loadings on PC-axes I II 0.4667 0.4347 0.3965 0.0948 20.0285 0.4669 0.4563 62.9704 62.9704 0.0048 0.0135 20.0415 0.6928 a 0.7175 a 20.0473 20.0326 20.7656 83.7630

III 20.0202 20.1021 0.0967 0.7057 a 20.6813 a 20.0241 20.1306 7.4536 91.1896

IV 20.1634 20.3808 0.8832 a 20.0783 0.1221 20.1559 20.0540 5.3405 96.5301

Variables with signicant loadings.

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Fig. 7. Plots of PC scores in PC-I vs. PC-II plane using 57 samples of groundwater and 7 samples of modied connate water.

the data could be made in this diagram viz. fresh, blended and brackish types. Figs. 5 and 10 clearly show that the blended water occupies an intermediate position between the fresh water and brackish water. The aerial distribution pattern (Fig. 6) of groundwater indicates that the blended water lies as small patches within the fresh water and brackish water zones. These observations indicate that the evolution of the blended water is possibly due to hydraulic mixing of fresh and brackish waters within the aquifer matrix and/ or in-well mixing. The mixing program of Chatterjee et al. (1989) was used to evaluate the theoretical composition of the mixed water and the proportion of such mixing. This code is essentially based on a quadratic programming approach where the relative proportions of the participating components in mixing are estimated on the principle of least squares in a restricted parameter space so that all the proportions are essentially non-negative. In order to carry out the above exercises, the mean compositions (in meq./l, recalculated in terms of percentages) of the fresh and brackish waters have been used as end members. These have been mixed to achieve the composition of the daughter water or computed water

(Table 10). The composition of this computed water closely matches with the blended water of CHA. The result also indicates that ca. 48% of fresh water mixes with ca. 52% of brackish water to produce the blended water of CHA with a reasonably low error sum of squares (Table 10). 7. Conclusion The brackish groundwater has possibly moved from the northwestern part of the study area in Howrah into the Calcutta's aquifer due to the present closed groundwater
Table 8 Trend of chloride concentration in groundwater Location Entali Park circus Tiljala Tangra
a b c

Concentration of chloride (mg/l) 1979 b 1980 b 1956 a 194 436 550 119 342 614

1985 b 792 168 369

1993 c 300 425

Chaterji et al. (1964). Biswas and Saha (1985b). Sikdar (1996).

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Fig. 8. Scatter diagram of (a) calcium 1 magnesium vs. sodium (b) sodium vs. bicarbonate in NaHCO3 Facies 2 water and NaCl Facies 8 water.

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Fig. 9. Plots of sodium vs. chloride contents in NaCl Facies 8 water.

ow pattern. The CaMgCl Facies 7 water is an extreme, even more ion-exchanged version, of NaCl Facies 8 water. Some fresh water (CaMgHCO3 Facies 1 water) owing at the edge of the brackish water body gives Na HCO3 Facies 2 water through ion exchange. This possibly

indicates a positive correlation between groundwater withdrawal, present groundwater ow pattern and contamination level. This deterioration of the groundwater quality has probably taken place over the last 4050 years. It is also envisaged that, at the present rate of withdrawal, the fresh

Table 9 Correlation coefcient matrix and results of principal component analysis using 57 samples of groundwater Correlation coefcient matrix Cl Cl 1.0000 HCO3 0.1885 0.1534 SO4 Ca 0.8221 a Mg 0.6453 a Na 0.7101 a K 0.2557 Variables Chloride Bicarbonate Sulphate Calcium Magnesium Sodium Potassium % Eigen value Cum %
a b

HCO3 1.0000 0.2045 0.1713 0.1277 0.3818 a 0.4206 a

SO4 1.0000 0.2014 0.0052 0.3821 a 20.0060 III 0.0645 0.0908 20.7606 b 20.1105 0.3364 20.2057 0.4913 15.6673 78.2107

Ca

Mg

Na

1.0000 0.4728 a 0.5330 a 0.0497 IV 20.1742 0.4435 0.2956 20.1079 0.6414 b 20.4463 20.2518 8.3175 86.5282

1.0000 0.2619 0.1819

1.0000 0.3279

1.0000

Loadings on PC-axes I II 20.2562 0.5247 b 0.2620 0.5991 b 0.1962 0.2438 0.4592 20.3254 0.3654 20.3309 0.4669 0.1651 0.2350 0.5229 b 43.8107 43.8107 18.7328 62.5435

Variables with signicant values of r (at 99.5% condence level). Variables with signicant loadings.

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Fig. 10. Plots of PC scores in PC-I vs. PC-II plane using 57 samples of groundwater: Note the systematic distribution of groundwater samples dening the three different groundwater types.

Table 10 Results of mixing of fresh and brackish groundwater. (Mixing proportion: A : B 0:4842 : 0:5158:) Variables Composition of phases in equivalent percent Fresh water (A) Chloride Bicarbonate Sulphate Calcium Magnesium Sodium Potassium 12.30 36.89 0.81 17.91 11.64 19.59 0.86 Brackish water (B) 37.06 14.08 0.94 16.32 9.76 20.80 1.04 Blended water Observed 24.75 24.65 1.53 16.98 11.79 19.37 0.93 Computed 24.76 24.80 0.87 16.87 10.53 19.96 0.94 Error sum of squares

2.40

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groundwater, which is being recharged from the areas to the north of the present area, will mix with the brackish water of CHA and will cause the quality to deteriorate at a significant pace. Again, there is a fair possibility that the fresh groundwater, which is native in the southwestern part of Calcutta will mix with the brackish water in the eastern half of Calcutta due to the northeasterly and northerly groundwater ow within the CHA (Fig. 7). Thus, without a sustainable groundwater management plan there will be depreciation of the fresh water to the blended variety. More fresh water should therefore be allowed to ow into the CHA in combination with controlled groundwater withdrawal (Sikdar, 1996). This will change the present closed groundwater ow pattern to the pre-pumping north to south one. This north to south open groundwater ow will not only help in diluting the brackish water in the CHA but also push it farther south towards the Bay of Bengal. Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to late Dr A.K. Saha, Emeritus Professor, Presidency College and Hony. Secretary, Center for Study of Man and Environment (CSME), Calcutta and Prof. A.B. Biswas, present Hony. Secretary, CSME for their critical assessment of the manuscript and rendering invaluable suggestions. The authors also acknowledge the comments of Dr Alan Dutton, which has helped in improving the quality of the paper. The Head of the Department of Geology, Presidency College, Calcutta is also thankfully acknowledged for providing some infrastructural help. References
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