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This paper aims to understand the general background of groundwater quality that must be considered for the 'smart city' planning of Surat city. Twenty-Six water samples collected from bore wells of the city were analyzed. The results showed that water is alkaline, as pH varies from 7.6 to 9.2. The concentration of Cl− and Na+ are correlated with EC. The highest levels of Cl− and Na+ are found near the coastal region (predominantly northwestern); Piper trilinear diagram shows 52% of samples are Na-HCO3− type and 48% NaCl type. WQI shows that most samples are potable for drinking, but a few samples from the western part are not suitable for drinking. SAR, Na%, and PI results show that most samples are suitable for irrigation. The corrosivity index indicates that 50% of samples have a CR > 1(unsafe zone), and the rest are within the safe limit. The relationship of WQI with different water quality parameters revealed that groundwater quality has deteriorated in the city's western part, which may be due to seawater intrusion in the aquifer. This work gives a basic idea of groundwater quality, which will help make Surat a smart city.

Groundwater flow modeling was carried out to assess current and to project future groundwater scenarios in highly populated and water stressed region of Ganges sub-basin. Both the urban and rural densely populated areas of Ganges sub-basin was selected to capture the groundwater usage patterns in these watersheds. The groundwater system geologically consists of sand and clay layers. However, the layers are not stratified and has highly variable thicknesses and at places various layers disappears. Therefore, a 3D model was prepared so that variability in the vertical direction is also taken care. The study area modeled is divided into grids with 37 rows and 37 columns with 1 km size. The month of June 2016 was taken to perform the steady-state simulation as June has the lowest groundwater levels as well as the minimum stress on the aquifer. Subsequently the Transient state calibration was carried out from June 2016 to November 2018. A good match is obtained between calculated and observed heads in steady state conditions after a rigorous calibration with RMS error as 1.822 m. The sensitivity analysis of the model shows that the model is more sensitive to input parameters like recharge and hydraulic conductivity. The prediction scenarios were developed for a period of 10 years from 2018 to 2028 using the local conditions of groundwater utilization as well as projected rainfall. The rise in water level in rural areas is observed resulting from artificial sources like canal recharge and irrigation return flows from irrigated lands. The rise in groundwater level is in the range of 0.13–0.31 m/year in Scenario I and 0.11–0.47 m/year in Scenario II. The decline in groundwater levels is noticed in urban areas which are a result of heavy domestic and industrial groundwater withdrawal and absence of recharge areas. The decline in groundwater level is in the range of 0.12–0.31 m/year in Scenario I and 0.24–0.33 m/year in Scenario II.

Present study has been carried out to identify the processes controlling groundwater quality of Moradabad city, Uttar Pradesh. A total 188 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for major ions in pre- and post-monsoon seasons of years 2012 and 2013. Analysis results showed higher concentration of Na, K, Cl, SO4 and NO3. LL diagram showed dominance of alkalis and Cl + SO4, in three sampling seasons except in post-monsoon 2012, when Na + K–Cl + SO4 facies is recorded in 50% samples. There is dearth of HCO3 complexes in the pre-monsoon season of 2012, and then, their appearance in the post-monsoon season with alkali bicarbonates being 50%. This trend is reversed in 2013. Groundwater composition showed potential impact of varying rainfall pattern suggesting that chemistry of groundwater is intimately related to meteorological parameters. To predict minerals and their reactivity in groundwater, saturation index (SI) was calculated for pre- and post-monsoon of 2012. Groundwater is highly under-saturated with respect to halite, sulphates of Ca and fluorite and super-saturated with respect to chalcedony, quartz and talc, and these minerals may possibly be precipitated out. Relationship of SiO2 with Cl and TDS gives unequivocal evidence of anthropogenic factors having significant effect in determining the chemical characteristics of groundwater. Groundwater chemistry of the area is sum total of factors, such as, meteorological, hydrological and lithological and a set of processes related to various domains of anthropogenic activities, where variation in intensity and distribution of rainfall seems to be one of the driving factors responsible for overall temporal variations in groundwater chemistry.

The present work has been carried out in Moradabad, one of the important cities in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The main focus of the study is to estimate the extent of anthropogenic contamination in shallow groundwater of the area. For this purpose, total 188 groundwater samples collected from handpumps in pre- and post monsoon period of 2012 and 2013 (47 in each season) were analyzed for physico-chemical parameters such as pH, EC, TDS, major cations (Ca, Mg, Na, and K) and anions (Cl, HCO3, SO4, NO3 and F). The results of the analysis suggested that groundwater is slightly alkaline, hard to very hard in nature, average TDS values were found to be more than 1000 mg/l, which gives a clear evidence of anthropogenic influences. To estimate the extent of contamination, the information on relatively unpolluted groundwater systems occurring in different terrains including Ganga plain where the groundwater was relatively unaffected by anthropogenic activities is used. The estimated pristine chemical composition of groundwater of different terrains used in the present study was compared with the groundwater of Moradabad city. This comparison showed that Moradabad city with the highest Na, K, Cl, SO4 and NO3 values being 440 mg/l, 96 mg/l, 537 mg/l, 537 mg/ l and 244 mg/l, respectively, is one of the most polluted urban centres within the Ganga plain. It may be suggested that values of > 50 mg/l for Na, > 10 mg/l for K, > 25 mg/l for Cl, > 50 mg/l for SO4 and > 10 mg/l for NO3 have their respective sources in anthropogenic activities such as agricultural in the peripheral region, human and animal wastes, leakages from drains and septic tanks, landfill leachates and industrial effluents.

Present work deals with the simulation of a three-dimensional groundwater flow and solute transport model of Moradabad city lying between rivers Ramganga and Gagan. Present study is used to predict the response of aquifer and the migration of contaminant (chloride in this case) over a period of time using MODFLOW and MT3D software. A grid system of 500 m×500 m was designed and the various input parameters such as hydraulic head, layer thickness, recharge, pumping etc. were applied under various packages available in the software. Pumping rates of 500 m 3 /day, 1000 m 3 /day and 1500 m 3 /day were used for the simulation of abstraction. Hydraulic conductivity ranging from 13 to 18 m/day was assigned block wise. The model was run for steady state condition until a match between observed and computed heads was obtained. Sensitivity analysis was done by varying hydraulic conductivity and recharge parameters in the model. Solute transport modeling is carried out considering Cl as contaminant. Concentration of chloride is higher in northern, central and southern part of the study area. The data obtained from the water quality analysis of June 2012 was used initially in the steady state simulation. The predictions made from transport model indicate that the concentration of chloride would continue to increase if the current situation is not controlled and this will lead to further deterioration of groundwater quality.

An attempt has been made to understand the hydrochemistry of Moradabad city, a major industrial town of western Uttar Pradesh. For this purpose a total of 188 samples for both the seasons (pre- and post-monsoon of 2012 and 2013) were collected and analyzed for major cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+) and anions (Cl−, HCO3 −, SO4 −, NO3 − and F−) and 14 samples collected in 2013 were analyzed for trace elements. The groundwater is slightly acidic to alkaline in nature and moderately hard to very hard. Elevated concentration of most of the major ions and trace elements is observed in the area. On the basis of Piper Trilinear plot groundwater has been identified as Na–Cl–SO4 type in pre-monsoon and Na–HCO3 type in post-monsoon season. Base-exchange indices along with meteoric genesis indices demonstrate that groundwater in all the four seasons belong to alkali bicarbonate type and are of shallow meteoric water percolation type. The concentration of the trace elements like (Al, Fe, Se and As) is higher than the permissible limits. Correlation of SiO2 with Cl and TDS was done to assess the processes responsible for altering the groundwater chemistry. Water quality index maps show that the groundwater in the north eastern and central parts of the study area is unsuitable for drinking purpose. A comparison of spatial distribution of EC and Cl with those of WQI depicts a strong correlation. The study, thus, suggests the poor groundwater quality of Moradabad city. Urban sprawl, population explosion, industrial expansion heavily affected the water quality of the study area.

An attempt has been made to study the hydrogeochemical and microbial characteristics of groundwater in Moradabad City to assess major ion chemistry and microbial contamination. For each season (June and November 2012), 39 groundwater samples were collected and analysed for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+) and anions (Cl−, HCO3 −, SO4 2−, NO3 −), and 19 water samples were collected to analyse the presence of heterotrophic bacterial plate count, total and faecal coliforms in June and November 2012. The results showed slightly alkaline nature of water with alkalis as dominant cations and bicarbonate having abundance over Cl+SO4 amongst anions. The dominant facies in the pre-monsoon period is Na+K-Cl+SO4, and in the post monsoon, it is Na+K-HCO3. Results show that chloride in four samples of both the seasons is found to be above permissible limit. Sulphate is >200 mg/l in four samples, during pre-monsoon and during post-monsoon, all samples cross this limit. Nitrate concentration is >45 mg/l in seven samples during pre-monsoon and in four samples during post-monsoon, indicating anthropogenic influences. Microbiological results show elevated levels of heterotrophic bacterial count in water samples. Water samples also showed positive test results for total and faecal coliform which should be zero according to the guidelines proposed by WHO, thus suggesting its unsuitability for drinking and other domestic purpose as well. Relationship of silica with TDS and chloride depict anthropogenic impact on the groundwater of the study area.