Appraisal of groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation purpose
using GIS and statistical approach with special reference to nitrate
contamination in a semi-arid region: A case study
Abstract
Groundwater contamination has become an environmental issue all around
the world. The specific objective of the present study is to evaluate
the risk assessment of groundwater for nitrate contamination and in
addition to assess the suitability of groundwater for domestic and
irrigation purposes in the semi-arid region. Thirty sample locations
were identified based on the more active industrial and high-densified
residential regions in the study area. To evaluate the drinking and
irrigation fitness of groundwater by analysed water quality parameters
such as pH, Electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, Total
hardness, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, sulphate,
fluoride, carbonate and bicarbonate. According to World Health
Organization (WHO) 2011 and Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) 2012
standards, the GIS Spatial analysis of groundwater parameters was
carried out to identify each parameter high contaminated regions in the
study area. Multivariate statistical analysis, such as principal
component analysis, cluster analysis, and Pearson correlation matrix,
was used to understand the relationship between water quality
parameters. The Results show that 40% of samples are highly affected
due to the high concentration of nitrate. The total non-carcinogenic
health risks for male, women, and children are 40%, 50%, and 53.33%,
respectively. It reveals that, children and women are at high risk than
male in the study region. The major sources of contamination are
discharges from the household, uncovered septic tanks, leachate from the
waste dump, and excess utilization of fertilizers in the agriculture
field.