Abstract
Increase in demand for water for domestic, agricultural and industrial needs has led to overexploitation as well as contamination; hence, it is unremittingly important to monitor and maintain the health of waters. In view of this, a study was carried out wherein a total of 57 groundwater samples from Upper Bhima Basin of western India were collected and analysed for understanding the drinking and agricultural suitability with special reference to water quality index and potential health risks assessment. Analysed physicochemical parameters indicated that the groundwater quality is not suitable in most of the villages for drinking and agricultural purposes. However, pH, TDS, HCO3−, SO42−, Cl− and F− parameters were below the permissible limit; conversely, Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, and NO3− contents have been found more than the Indian standards (BIS). The dissemination of ions in the qualitative analysis revealed the dominance order as Ca2+ > Na+ > Mg2+ > K+ and HCO3− > SO42−− > Cl− > NO3−. Using Piper’s diagram, the groundwater types were found to be majorly Ca2+–HCO3−, Ca2+–Na+–HCO3_, Ca2+–Mg2+–Cl− and Ca2+–Cl− groups. From the Gibbs plot, it is observed that the samples fall between rock dominance and evaporation dominance zones. Based on irrigation indices such as permeability index, residual sodium carbonate, the groundwater is unsuitable for irrigation. In addition to that, water quality index values revealed that 49% of water samples are found unfit for drinking. Further, health risk assessment study carried out using United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) guidelines showed that children are at higher health risk than men and women in the study region.
Highlights
Groundwater is the main source that caters the need of inhabitants from rural part for daily activities, especially in a developing country like India (Gaikwad et al 2018; Kumar et al 2020; Kate et al 2020)
The suitability assessment of groundwater quality has become mandatory in the current scenario
The pH of water is a function of host rock chemistry and its hydrological properties, as well as the rainfall, climate type and land use (Bartram and Ballance 1996). pH is vital parameter because it affects the biological and chemical properties of the groundwater
Summary
Groundwater is the main source that caters the need of inhabitants from rural part for daily activities, especially in a developing country like India (Gaikwad et al 2018; Kumar et al 2020; Kate et al 2020). Hydrogeochemical characterization of groundwater for domestic and irrigation purposes using water quality index and potential health risks assessment have been carried out by many researchers (Narsimha 2018; Zhang et al 2018; Li et al 2019; Adimalla 2020), as these are the most prevalent approaches to identify the groundwater suitability for different purposes. Hydrogeochemical characterization of groundwater from semiarid region of western India is performed which assesses the suitability for domestic and agriculture purposes. The hydrogeochemical assessment of groundwater for domestic and agricultural purposes, computing water quality index and potential health risks assessment from semiarid part of Western India were performed by collecting 57 groundwater samples from dug wells up to 18 m depth during post-monsoon (December 2018) season, while in premonsoon most of the dug wells get dry. They were summed up using raster calculator tool in ArcGIS
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