In this article you will know about ground water quality and surface water quality in details. The surface water quality and ground water quality helps to understand the pllution level of water.
Ground and Surface Water quality:
Water that seeps into the ground is designated as ground water. It may also be defined as water present beneath the ground surface. Ground water is the important source of water supply and has number of advantages over surface water. Ground water may not require treatment, have uniform temperature throughout the year, cheaper than impounding reservoirs and amount of water available more certain, not affected by drought in short run. When surface water passes through various layers of the earth crust and reaches far below of free of the earth surface, becomes free of microorganisms and organic contaminants upon filtering and also contains relatively low mineral matter. Ground water is therefore preferred over surface water as drinking water. Water flowing over the surface of the earth and deposited in sea, river, pond etc. are designated as surface water. When this water reaches to the ocean contains lot of impurities such as micro-organisms, organic matter, minerals and other polluting substances. Surface water obtained from sea, river, pond, reservoir and ocean is highly polluted and needs extensive treatment, if supplied for domestic and such other uses. Quantity of surface water is much higher than ground water, but ground water forms 97% fresh water of the earth. Physically ground water is clear, colorless with little or no suspended material and possesses relatively constant temperature. On the other hand, surface water is turbid and contains considerable wide variations in temperature. From physical point of view ground water is therefore more readily useable than surface water. Microbiologically ground water is free from microbes due to lack of O2 and nutrients in ground water, which makes unfavorable environment disease producing organisms to grow and multiply. Surface water on the other hand, contains large number of microbes, which causes diseases. Chemically ground water is rich in desirable minerals. Where mineral content exceeds the recommended limit, treatment should be provided to remove the concerned mineral. Natural water has more or less soluble minerals in it. As a matter of fact, we have become so accustomed to drinking water having such impurities that distilled water tastes flat and unpleasant. Its palatability can be increased by adding some common salts (Steel and McGhee. 1985).
By reading article, hope you will know about all the details on ground and surface water quality. Click here to know about water quality parameters.
However, if you have any quation feel free to ask in the comment box.