Evaluation of Groundwater Quality for Drinking in Various Districts of Jammu and Kashmir with Special Emphasis on Kashmir

Abstract

Abstract: In India, groundwater is a valuable resource for humans, yet human activity has consistently reduced its quality. For the management of groundwater resources to be sustainable, an assessment of the quality of the groundwater is required. With the use of integrated-weight water quality index and multivariate statistical techniques, this study sought to assess the groundwater quality in the Indian area of Kashmir for drinking purposes. Eight water quality measures were included in the data, which came from 50 observation wells and included pH, total hardness, nitrate (NO3−), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), and coliforms. The integrated-weight water quality index (IWQI), principal component analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis (CA) were used to examine various districts. The majority of the metrics, according to the results, were within acceptable ranges, however some areas had excessive hardness and Fe contamination. More than 76% of samples had significant coliform contamination found in them. With four clusters of sample locations, the CA results showed that geological locations had a significant influence on groundwater quality. A PCA's three main components may account for 64.8% of the variation in groundwater quality. Groundwater quality was categorized as excellent (74.11%), good (45%), poor (6.4%), very poor (2.9), and undrinkable (9.4) based on IWQI values ranging from 4 to 2761. These classifications were linked to coliform contamination. These results have shed light on the region's groundwater quality state, which is helpful in creating a plan to safeguard the water supply.