Comparative Assessment of Groundwater Quality and Its Implications for Poultry Farming in Hisar and Jind Districts of Haryana, India

Abstract

Ground water is considered to be the major source of drinking water in commercial poultry farms in Haryana and its physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics has a direct impact on the health of the birds, efficiency of feeds and productivity of poultry farms. In the present paper, the data pertaining to physico-chemical, microbiological and heavy metal of water samples obtained from the water sources of poultry farms in Hisar (16 samples) and Jind (17 samples) districts of Haryana has been used for comparative analysis of the quality of drinking water to assess its possible effect on poultry farming. The following twelve parameters were studied: pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness, calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), nitrate, nitrite, chloride, fluoride, total coliform count, total viable count (TVC), sulphate and lead. The results show that the water is slightly alkaline to alkaline in both districts with mean pH of 7.5 and 7.6 respectively in Hisar and Jind which is above the permissible limit of BIS, while the water quality is high to medium mineralised with mean TDS of 1046.5 and 1271.2 mg/L in Hisar and Jind respectively. Microbiological parameters indicated that the total coliform and total viable counts were also higher for larger percentage of the samples in both districts, suggesting poor protection of groundwater sources and possible increasing of the biofilm in the farm water distribution systems. High mean values of total hardness, CaCO₃, sulphate and lead and wide ranges of fluoride from 0.5 to 3.3 mg/L in the samples from the two districts indicated microbiological protection problems and potential biofilm formation in the farm water-distribution systems. The results suggest that water from both districts can be considered generally acceptable for use for domestic purposes, however, the relatively high mineral content and the moderate microbial contamination, in particular, are problematic for the palatability, digestion, immunity and productivity of poultry. Based on the above findings, the paper recommends regular monitoring of water quality, treatment (softening, filtering, disinfection) and management strategies to ensure the health of the poultry and sustainable production of poultry in the Hisar-Jind belt, Haryana.