A STUDY ON THE WATER QUALITY OF PONDS LOCATED IN A PREDOMINANTLY AGRICULTURAL AREA IN THE DISTRICT OF NORTH 24-PARGANAS WITHIN THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL

摘要

An investigation was carried out in a small agricultural village in the District of North 24 Parganas. Water samples collected from two ponds extensively used both for agricultural and domestic purposes, were studied for their physico-chemical properties and content of various agrochernicals including pesticides. The results revealed that the water was alkaline in reaction (pH 8.0-8.5) with high content of salts. The chloride content varied from 3.55 to 5.58 mg/l & 8.12 to 10.66 mg/l (in two separate ponds under study) respectively. The concentration of Na~+ , K~+, NO~+_2 and PO~-_4 varied from 7.0 to 57.5, 3.1 to 11.0, 0.0002 to 0.0035 and 0.12 to 0.31 ml/1 respectively. Presence of pesticides was also found to be beyond permissible limit. Qualitatively the water appeared unsafe for domestic use and even not adequately suitable for irrigation purpose.