Brackish water is water that is more saline than fresh water but not as saline as seawater. It typically contains between 0.5-30 grams of salt per liter. India has significant areas of brackish water resources including estuaries, backwaters, and mangroves totaling around 11.4 million hectares. However, only around 1.94 million hectares of this area is currently used for brackish water aquaculture. Various crops can be grown using brackish water irrigation if properly managed through drainage, frequent irrigation, and growing salt tolerant varieties. Reverse osmosis and distillation are commonly used to desalinate brackish groundwater for agricultural and domestic purposes.

1. welcome

2. ACHARYAN.G.RANGAAGRICULTURALUNIVERSITY
AGRICULTURALCOLLEGE-BAPATLA
COURSE NO:- SOILS 513
TOPIC:- CHARACTERIZATION OF BRACKISH WATER-EXTENT AND AREA OF
BRACKISH WATER IN INDIA-MANAGEMENT OF BRACKISH WATER
SUBMITTED BY-
B.VENKATAKRISHNA
BAM-18-09

3.  Brackish water
 Brackish water or briny water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but
not as much as seawater.

 It may result from mixing of sea water with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may
occur in brackish fossil aquifers.
 The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak". Certain human activities can
produce brackish water.
 Brackish water is also the primary waste product of the salinity gradient power
process.
 Because brackish water is hostile to the growth of most terrestrial plant species
without appropriate management it is damaging to the environment.

4.  Technically, brackish water contains between 0.5 and 30 grams of salt per
litre more often expressed as 0.5 to 30 parts per thousand (؉) , which is a
specific gravity of between 1.005 and 1.010.
 The characteristic of many brackish surface waters that their salinity can
vary considerably over space and/or time.

5. Salinity
Water salinity based on dissolved salts
Fresh water Brackish water Saline water Brine
< 0.05% 0.05–3% 3–5% >5%

6. Spectroscopic Determination of Water Salinity in Brackish Surface Water in Nandoni Dam, at
Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa Lebea N. Nthunya et al.,(2018)
Water 2018, 10, 990; doi:10.3390/w10080990

7. Brackish water Area in India
 There are about 3.9 million ha of estuaries and 3.5 million ha
of brackish water areas available in the country.
 It is estimated that about 1.2 million ha coastal area suitable
for development of brackish water aquaculture is available.
 In addition to this, around 8.5 million ha salt affected areas are
available in the country.
 Out of this, about 2.6 million ha area which are unsuitable or
marginally suitable for agriculture, can be utilized for brackish
water aquaculture.

8.  The coastal mangrove areas is estimated around 0.5 million ha.
 Out of 1.2 million ha potential area available for brackish
water farming, around 1, 94,010 ha were under culture.
 These brackish water are highly productive areas, but most of
them are unused.

9. Salt effected areas in india

10. State-wise details in brackish water area available under culture and production - 2015
Handbook on Fisheries Statistics, 2014

11. BRACKISH WATER AREA UTILIZATION IN INDIA
 It is estimated that India has about 2 million hectares of brackish water areas
which could be developed for culturing prawns and fishes.
 These are in the form of backwaters, mud flats and mangroves. At present only
about 50,000 hectares are utilised for growing prawns and fishes.
 These are highly productive areas, but most of them are unused.
 Prawns have been cultured traditionally in different types of farms in India.

12.  Brackish water Resources of India
Estuaries
Coast Line
Backwater
Mangroves
Lagoons

13. Brackish water habitats
Estuaries
 Brackish water condition commonly occurs when fresh water
meets sea water. In fact, the most extensive brackish water habitats
worldwide are estuaries, where a river meets the sea.
 River estuaries form important staging points during the migration
of anadromous and catadromous fish species.
 Estuaries are also commonly used as fishing grounds, and as
places for fish farming or ranching .

14. Mangroves
 Another important brackish water habitat is the mangrove swamp
or mangal.
 Among the most specialized residents of mangrove forests are
mudskippers, fish that forage for food on land.
 Like estuaries, mangrove swamps are extremely important
breeding grounds for many fish, with species such as catfishes and
some cichlids spawning or maturing among them.

15. Brackish seas and lakes
 Some seas and lakes are brackish. The Balck Sea is a brackish sea
adjoining the North Sea.
 Because the salt water coming in from the sea is denser than
freshwater, the water in the Baltic is stratified, with salt water at
the bottom and freshwater at the top.

16. LAKES
 Chilika lake – Odisha
 Pulicat lake – andhara Pradesh
 Kaliveli lake – tamilnadu
 Kerala backwaters - kerala
 Kutch Salt Marsh - Gujarat
 Sambhar Salt Lake – Rajasthan. This Salt lake is also ranked as
one of the top 15 lesser known wonders of Incredible India.

17. Fishes of Marine and Brackish water environments
 The finfish and shellfish that inhabit brackish waters are invariably
euryhaline i.e. they form a group of organisms which
physiologically withstands wide changes in salinity of the
surrounding medium.
 Example of euryhaline fish are a mullet (Mugil cephalus)

18. Effects of Different Physiological Saline Concentrations on the Reproductive
Performance of Clarias gariepinus Dokuboba Amachree et al.,(2017)
Journal of FisheriesSciences.com

19. HOW IS BRACKISH GROUNDWATER TREATED ?
There are two commonly used desalination methods
1.Distillation
2.Reverse osmosis (RO).
1.Distillation
this is the traditional approach, is the basic process that takes place
in nature whereby the sun causes water to evaporate from surface
sources such as lakes, oceans, and streams.
The water vapor eventually comes in contact with cooler air. This
process can be imitated artificially, and more rapidly than in
nature, using alternative sources of heating and cooling.

20. 2.Reverse Osmosis
 RO technology much more economic than distillation.
 RO treatment plants use semi permeable membranes and pressure to
separate salts from water.
 Electrodialysis reversal can also be used to remove moderate salt
levels (less than 5,000 ppm). This process uses electrical current and
membranes to separate salts from water.

21. RO can remove more than 90% soluble salts and 99% colloid microbial and organic matter
from the water. It can also remove the inorganic ions, bacteria and viruses,and then high
quality pure water can be obtained.
Research Progress of Brackish Water Desalination by Reverse Osmosis
Pan Zhang et al., (2012)
Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2013, 5, 304-309

22. Use of brackish water for irrigation
 Brackish water can be directly used for irrigation if there is no fresh water or
fresh water resources are very scarce with the following considerations:
 The soil salinity and solution concentration should not exceed the limit of crop
s salt tolerance after irrigation.
 Brackish water should not be used to irrigated crops at seedling stage in order
to avoid the hazards to crop growth.
 Effective results can be achieved by using brackish water to irrigated wheat,
cotton, corn and other crops timely and properly in the growing seasons.
 The maximum soil salinity in the root zone that results from continuous use of
brackish water

23. Objectives of brackish water utilization
 To monitor the effect of brackish water on physical and chemical
properties of a non saline-non scdic soil.
 To test different water management strategies of brackish water
for different crops on long term basis.
 To evaluate the economics of different water management
practices.

24. Effects of salts on crops
 Reduction in seed size in ground nut when salinity of 3 dS/m.
Shalhevet et. al.,
 In tomato every increase in 1.5 dS/m, 10 percent yield reduction.
Shalhevet et .al.,
 Increased salinity reduced fruit size in muskmelon.
Meiri et. al.,
 Grape fruit yield decreased with increase in chloride ion
concentration. Bielorai et .al.,
 Pulse crops are sensitive to salinity.

25. Management of brackish water in agriculture
1.Crop management
 Selection of crops- tolerant crops barley, camelina, rye,
safflower, sunflower, and sugar beet.
 Sensitive Growth stages - germination, seedling stage
 Planting methods – furrow Planting, increasing plant density

27. 2. Irrigation management
 Leaching of salts for salt balance
 Irrigation interval - frequent intervals
 Water table management – surface drainage
 Pre-sowing irrigation
 Integrated use of poor and good quality water
 Irrigating the fields by drip and sprinkler irrigation.

28. Precautions in brackish water use
 Water should be applied in lesser amounts.
 Soils should be in lighter in texture, porous, permeable.
 Irrigation should be applied in frequent intervals.
 Evaporation should be reduced as far as economically
possible.
 Water table depth should be lowered.

29.  6. Land should be graded, leveled
 7. Drainage of field should be properly maintained
 8. Soil should be in good physical condition by addition of
organic matter
 9. Growing of salt tolerant crops

30. Treatments Plant
height(cm)
Number of
tillers/plant
Number of
kernels
/panicle
Paddy
yield(t/h
a)
1000-grain
weight(g)
Control 106c 8c 134c 3.33b 19c
Press mud 126a 14a 217a 4.87a 21ab
Poultry
manure
125a 15a 204a 5.10a 22a
FYM 118b 11b 181b 4.85a 20bc
Effect of organic amendments on growth characteristics of rice irrigated with
brackish water
M. Ashraf, Rahmatullah and M.A. Gill(2005)
Pak. J. Agri. Sci., Vol. 42(1-2),

31. Epidemiological Investigation of Brackish Water Culture Systems in West Bengal, India
R. Ananda Raja et al ., 2012
A total of 198 farms were randomly surveyed with a structured questionnaire. The data
showed that there was a significant difference in outbreak of white spot disease (WSD),
shell-associated problems, and gill-associated problems.Among all systems, stunted and
uneven growth and white fecal disease (only in shrimp monoculture) were the dominant
emerging disorders.
Journal of Applied Aquaculture 24(1):49-59 · January 2012

32. Influence of Brackish water aquaculture on Soil Salinisation
Mitra Rajarshi et al .,(2011)
International Journal of Research in Chemistry and Environment Vol. 1 Issue 2 Oct.
2011(166-168) ISSN 2248-9649

33. Electrodialytic desalination of brackish water: effect of process on water characteristics
Ionics (2010) 16:621–629
Mourad Ben Sik Ali et al., (2009)

34. Bacterial diversity of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) cultured in brackish water in Saudi Arabia
Ahmed H et al., (2004)
Aquaculture 250 (2005) 566 – 572

35. BRACKISH WATER AQUACULTURE- Andaman & Nicobar by CIBA
 the 33,000 hectares brackish water resources are available in Andaman & Nicobar
Islands, the brackish water Aquaculture is practically absent.
 Most of the brackish water resources are mangrove infested and come under
reserved forest.
 The presence of salt water crocodile in some parts of islands is impeding the
development in these areas for brackish water aquaculture.
 Good quantities of mullets, milk fish, sea bass, shrimps and crabs are available in
the mangrove areas. These species could be cultured in the brackish water areas
suitable for aquaculture.
 During 2003, a survey was conducted by Central Institute of Brackish water
Aquaculture, Chennai and they had identified The total area for Brackish water
Aquaculture is 618.806 Ha.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands Fisheries Policy, 2018
CASE STUDY