Abstract
One hundred two groundwater samples were collected from the Bokaro district of Jharkhand state, India, during the pre-and post-monsoon seasons of the year 2014–2015. In the present study, groundwater samples were analysed for pH, TDS, TH, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cl−, SO42−, HCO3−, F− and NO3− to evaluate the suitability of the groundwater for drinking purposes through geographic information system (GIS)-based water quality index (WQI) model. For quality assessment, values of analysed parameters of the groundwater samples were compared with the Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) and World Health Organization (WHO) water quality standards. The analytical results indicate slightly acidic to slightly alkaline nature of the groundwater in the study area. Concentrations of Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3−, F−, NO3−, TDS and TH exceeded the desirable as well as permissible limits of drinking water quality standards recommended by the BIS (Indian Standard Drinking Water Specification, 2012) and WHO (Guidelines for drinking water quality: training pack, WHO, Geneva, 2004) in the study area during the pre- and post-monsoon seasons, respectively. However, Na+, K+, Cl− and SO42− concentrations were within the permissible limits during both seasons. The hydrochemical analysis of the studied groundwater samples documented with ternary and Durov diagram revealed that most of the groundwater samples belong to HCO3− type of anions facies and no dominant type of cation facies. The GIS-based WQI maps for the study area indicate that the poor quality of water was found the maximum in the pre-monsoon season as compared to the post-monsoon season in the study area, respectively. The high values of WQI in the several groundwater samples of the Bokaro district indicate that water is not suitable for direct consumptions and it required sustainable treatment before its utilization for drinking uses.
Highlights
Groundwater is emerging as a critical issue for cities and towns around the world
Concentrations of TDS, TH, C a2+, Mg2+, HCO3−, NO3− and F− exceeded permissible limits of drinking water standards prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO) (2004) and Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) (2012) in the study area during both seasons
The lower concentrations of TDS, TH, Ca2+, Mg2+ HCO3−, F− and NO3− of the groundwater samples during the post-monsoon season as compared to the pre-monsoon season indicate that monsoon plays a significant role for decreasing the concentrations of these parameters
Summary
Groundwater is emerging as a critical issue for cities and towns around the world. It is estimated that approximately one-third of the world’s population use groundwater for drinking uses (Nickson et al 2005). Brown et al (1970) developed a water quality index by assigning a proper weight for the parameters based on their analysis. In the Jharkhand state, the quality of water is a major issue due to the public ignorance to environmental considerations, lack of provisional basic social services, indiscriminate disposal of increasing anthropogenic and mining wastes and discharges of improperly treated sewage/industrial effluents, resulting in excess accumulation of pollutants on the land surface and contamination of available water resources (Singh and Hasnain 1999; Tiwary 2001; Sarkar et al 2007). The main objectives of the present study are to evaluate the spatial and temporal variation in groundwater quality parameters of the Bokaro district to assess its suitability for drinking purposes by using GIS-based WQI model
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