Geospatial mapping and drinking water quality status of fluoride endemic hilly District Doda (J&K), India

Abstract

In the present study, an attempt has been made to investigate the drinking water quality status of various surface and ground water sources and the supplied water from two water filtration plants supplying drinking water to Doda town and its adjoining areas by using Arithmetic Water Quality Index (WQI) and geospatial mapping techniques. Doda is fluoride endemic district of Jammu and Kashmir State where groundwater fluoride concentration upto 7.0 mg/L is recorded. Water samples collected from about twenty two drinking water sources from two blocks of Doda district (Bhagwah and Doda blocks) were analyzed at pre-determined locations marked using handheld GPS(Montana 650). These locations formed the attribute database for the study based on which fluoride distribution maps have been derived and integrated with Arithmetic WQI through Inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation technique. Prepared thematic maps have confirmed the vulnerability of the drinking water sources and water supply systems in the study area, thus, posing a serious public health concern. Based on the WQI, water quality status of Beoli filtration plant (WQI=43.26) falls under the category of good water whereas that of Moochan filtration plant (WQI=157.41) has been classified as unfit for drinking. The geochemical evolution of the water studied using Piper’s diagram has shown mixed type of hydrochemical facies. Coefficient of correlation(r) between different parameters has indicated significant correlation between several parameters. The study urges the concerned government authorities to make provisions for providing safe drinking water to public which is free of turbidity and low in fluoride concentration.