Abstract
Groundwater is a major water resource in the North Chengdu Plain, China. The research objective is to determine the quality and suitability of groundwater for drinking purposes within the vicinity of a shallow, unconsolidated aquifer of Quaternary age. In this study, a detailed investigation was conducted to define the hydrochemical characteristics that control the quality of groundwater, based on traditional methods. Considering the uncertainties linked with water resources and the environmental complications, the fuzzy logic method was used in the determination of groundwater quality for more precise findings that support decision-making. To achieve such an objective, sixteen water quality guidelines were used to determine groundwater quality status in six selected wells. The results showed that the groundwater is neutral, very hard, and fresh in nature. Dominating cations and anions are in the order of Ca > Na > Mg > K and HCO > SO > Cl. The Piper trilinear diagram demonstrates that the hydrochemical facies of groundwater are mostly of Ca-HCO type. Statistical analysis denotes a positive correlation between most of the chemical parameters. The study took the results of the fuzzy logic evaluation method into consideration, to classify the samples into five groups according to the Chinese groundwater quality standard (GB/T 14848-93) for their suitability for domestic use. The results demonstrated that the quality of the groundwater samples is within grade II and III, and is suitable for drinking purposes. The comprehensive evaluation of groundwater quality is critical to aid sensitive policy decisions, and the proposed approach can guarantee reliable findings to that effect. The results of this study would also be helpful to future researches related to groundwater quality assessment.
Highlights
One of the fundamental sources of water for drinking, irrigation, and industrial use in many countries is groundwater [1,2]
There are often no clear-cut boundaries to discriminate polluted groundwater from unpolluted groundwater. This is the situation where conventional techniques such as statistical techniques, trilinear plots, and fuzzy logic method can be used together to propose robust solutions with a high confidence level. These techniques describe the boundaries of the groundwater quality for the study samples and can be used as a broad range of environmental and natural resource management applications
These methods have been applied to provide a comprehensive assessment of the groundwater quality and its suitability for drinking purposes in the North Chengdu
Summary
One of the fundamental sources of water for drinking, irrigation, and industrial use in many countries is groundwater [1,2]. Environmental protection and water resource quality management have become paramount issues in designing policies for public health [3,4]. The contamination of groundwater is a major problem, which has posed serious threats to human health and environmental quality worldwide [5]. The issue of groundwater contamination is caused by various human activities such as agricultural, industrial, and others, leading to infiltration of nitrates, organic matter, and pesticides, among others, deep into the aquifer [6]. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 302; doi:10.3390/ijerph16030302 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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