Assessment of Groundwater Quality Status by Using Water Quality Index Method in Ujjain City, Madhya Pradesh, India

Abstract

During the past decades, groundwater quality has important issues. In this study, an attempt has been made to describe the groundwater quality by using a water quality index (WQI). Ujjain Municipal Corporation (UMC) divided city area into 54 wards. Therefore, ward-wise groundwater samples were collected from the borewell, dug well and hand pump of 54 wards. Water quality index rating was done to quantify overall groundwater quality parameters of the area. The Physio-chemical parameters like pH, electric conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids, total alkalinity, total hardness, chloride, and fluoride were studied to quantify the groundwater quality of the city. The results were compared with the values given by World Health Organization (WHO, Guideline1996), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR, 1963) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS, IS 10500:1991) for the quality of drinking water. During summer, 4% of samples represent “Excellent water”, 53% indicate “Good water”, 39% shows “Poor water”, and remaining 4% of samples shows “Very poor water” (unfit for drinking) category, which recommends the use of treatment technologies, to make water palatable and useful for drinking purpose.