Hydrogeochemical Evaluation of Groundwater for Drinking and Irrigation Purposes in the Upper Piedmont Area of Haridwar, India

Abstract

In this study, the suitability of groundwater quality for the purpose of drinking and irrigation was evaluated in the upper piedmont area of Haridwar, India. In this regard, inverse distance-weighted interpolation, water quality index (WQI), principal component analysis (PCA), piper trilinear diagram (PTD) analysis, and sodium absorption ratio (SAR) methods were used to assess the geospatial variation of groundwater quality. The results showed that groundwater was partially affected by rapid industrialization and urbanization practices. The groundwater quality revealed the presence of different cations and anions in the following order: Ca2+ > Na+ > Mg2+ > K+ and HCO3– > NO3– > SO42– > Cl– > SiO2– > F–. WQI showed an excellent range (29.94–45.17) for sampling sites S1–S3 and S5–S8 and a good value for site S4 (99.2). In addition, PTD confirmed that the calcium and magnesium bicarbonate type and mixed type for groundwater while PCA revealed that nitrate was dominant at site S4. In addition, the SAR and Na contents were in excellent ranges, indicating their suitability for irrigation purposes. The outcomes of this study indicated that geogenic and anthropogenic processes were the major reasons for the change in groundwater quality of this region.