Assessment of Groundwater Quality Using WQI and GIS in Nacharam and Mallapur Industrial Development Areas, Hyderabad, India

Abstract

AbstractGroundwater is the key source which satisfies the major water demands. Groundwater is under great stress concerning quality and quantity due to uncontrolled withdrawal and improper management, especially in urban agglomerations. Groundwater quality in Nacharam and Mallapur Industrial Development Areas (IDAs) which comes under Medchal-Malkajgiri District of Telangana State, India has special importance and requires significant care of all concerned. To conserve groundwater resources for domestic, drinking and irrigation uses, therefore it is important to determine and monitor the quality of groundwater. The current study is undertaken to analyse the key parameters of groundwater quality such as Colour, Turbidity, Hydrogen ion concentration (pH), Electrical conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Total Alkalinity (TA), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Chloride (Cl‾), Phosphate (PO43−), Nitrate (NO3−), Fluoride (F−), Sulphate (SO42−) and Lead (Pb) for 45 bore well locations in the study area. Water Quality Index (WQI) for each sample was calculated using the parameters obtained from the physicochemical analysis. Water Quality Index values are very high in and surrounding areas of the study area range from 81.6 to 671.57. Using the Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation method in ArcGIS, the results of the physicochemical parameters and Water Quality Index of all sampling points are spatially interpolated. The spatial distribution map of Water Quality Index indicated that groundwater quality in and surrounded 1 km area of Nacharam and Mallapur Industrial Development Areas is very poor and unfit for drinking and other purposes as groundwater are highly polluted.KeywordsGroundwaterWater Quality Index (WQI)AssessmentGIS