GIS based surface elevation assessment of spring water quality of Shivalik Range of Jammu and Kashmir, India

Abstract

Spring water is known as the prominent source to meet human's daily needs for water, particularly in Himalayan regions. This study is carried out in the sub-tropical, Shivalik range of the lower Himalayas of the Jammu division of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The main objectives of the study are to find out the water quality of the study area based on the Geographic Information System (GIS) and find out the most sensitive parameter in the Water Quality Index (WQI) computation. The inverse distance weighted interpolation technique is used to generate spatial variation maps of the study area with the help of the data obtained. WQI is computed by using the Provencher and Lamontagne (1977) WQI equation. The results show that the water quality of the study area is excellent for the drinking purpose with respect to 11 parameters. The results also show that pH, Ca2+, and Na+are need to be monitored regularly with high accuracy as pH and ions of Ca2+ and Na+ are the most sensitive water quality parameters in the study area. This study finds a positive correlation between WQI and Surface elevation.