Water quality of the Chhoti Gandak River using principal component analysis, Ganga Plain, India

Chhoti Gandak is a meandering river which originates in the terai area of the Ganga Plain and serves as a lifeline for the people of Deoria district, Uttar Pradesh. It travels a distance of about 250 km and drains into Gliaghara near Gothani, Siwan district of Bihar. It has been observed that people of this region suffer from water-borne health problems; therefore water samples were collected to analyse its quality along the entire length of Chhoti Gandak River. The principal components of water quality are controlled by lithology, gentle slope gradient, poor drainage, long residence of water, ion exchange, weathering of minerals, heavy use of fertilizers, and domestic wastes. At some stations water is hard with an excess alkalinity and is not suitable for drinking and irrigation purposes. The variation in the local and regional hydrogeochemical processes distinguished the geogenic sources from the anthropogenic one.