Groundwater quality assessment of cultivated lands irrigated with post methanated distillery effluent in Western Uttar Pradesh of India

Distilleries producing alcohol from molasses are integral part of Indian sugar industry, but are considered one of the most polluting agro-based industries due to huge amount of anaerobically digested, foul- smelling, coloured wastewater produced during production of alcohol from molasses (Jain et.al. 2005). The wastewater, commonly known as post methanated distillery effluent (PMDE), has high chemical oxygen demand (COD 45,000- 50,000 mg L^-1) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 5,000-8,000 mg L^-1) (Joshi et.al. 1996), and is frequently disposed of injudiciously in the surrounding farmlands. Since PMDE also contains appreciable amount of macro- and micro-nutrients such as K, N, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn, which are essential for plant growth, judicious use of PMDE in agriculture for manuring or irrigation purposes helps in improving crop growth and physico- chemical and biological properties of soil (Joshi et al. 1996, Pathak et.al. 1999,). Conversely injudicious use of PMDE could also adversely affect crop growth and create soil salinity problems (Jagdale and Sawant 1979). The present study was aimed at assessing the impact of application of PMDE (to supplement the irrigation water) on groundwater and soil quality. (author)