Spatial and Temporal Categorization of Groundwater Quality for Domestic Use in Hisar District, Haryana, India

Abstract

Groundwater is being continuously stressed and contaminated due to human activities. The increased use of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals in the agriculture is leading to the deterioration in quality due to return flow. Groundwater quality analysis therefore becomes pre-requisite for the planning and analysis purpose for ensuring domestic supplies in an area. The present study deals with spatio-temporal analysis and monitoring of groundwater quality for domestic purpose in district Hisar of Haryana, India. Groundwater quality data of total of 87 observation wells of the study area for years 2000 and 2014 was used for this purpose. The analysis of various parameters of water quality such as Electrical Conductivity (EC), Hydrogen Ion Concentration (pH), Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC), Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) was carried out. To estimate the acceptable quality of water for domestic use, the area was divided into various categories of suitability as per various international and national standards. Spatial distribution maps of EC, pH, RSC, SAR and TDS were generated and integrated using GIS for demarcating different suitability zones of groundwater quality for domestic use. Integrated groundwater quality maps were prepared for the years 2000 and 2014. The study indicated that the maximum area of Hisar district was found in good to permissible category for year 2000 whereas in permissible to doubtful category for the year 2014 for drinking purpose. The present paper describes in detail the spatio-temporal characteristics of various suitability categories of groundwater for domestic use.