Suitability Assessment of Shallow Groundwater for Industrial Uses in Terms of Storability and Corrosivity

Abstract

Maximum industry uses groundwater which is consumed for cooling, product treatment and cleaning, processing, boiler make-up, etc. To assess the industrial water quality, the groundwater samples were collected from pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods and investigated some selected water parameters. The lower values of pH, Cl-, SO42-, CO32, and NO3-; and the higher levels of total dissolved solids, water hardness, total alkalinity, Ca2+, HCO3-, copper, and iron were the dominant chemical characteristics in the study area. This water chemistry proved that the circulated and feed cooling water have a less corrosive tendency, but it produced scale in equipment. Approximately 100% of the samples were less suitable for the wood, food, paper, and sugar industries, and about 85% of the samples were unsuitable for the canned fruit and polymer industries. The storability and corrosion potential of water were assessed using several indexes based on analyzed water parameters. The results revealed that the bicarbonate regulating index values of the samples indicated a moderate to strong corrosive nature, whereas there was a less scale-forming tendency for boiler use. The study observed the need to continually monitor the corrosion potentiality in industrial systems and conduct laboratory analysis to maintain water quality standards including pH, alkalinity, Ca2+, and HCO3- to control corrosion and scale generation.