Abstract

 
 
 Groundwater is the principle source of drinking water and protection of groundwater quality is an important issue meets out the increasing population and agricultural practices. The present research an attempt made to develop DRASTIC model to understand the groundwater contamination risk in Ponnaiyar River Basin (PRB), Tamil Nadu, India using geographical information system (GIS). GIS have been shown to be useful tools for assessing groundwater pollution hazard. According to Central Ground Water Board reports the PRB categorized by semi-critical groundwater development. In view of the extensive reliance on this basin, contamination of PRB groundwater became an alarming issue. To assess groundwater contamination risk in the PRB the parameters such as Groundwater depth, Net recharge, Aquifer media, Soil media, Topography, Impact of vadose zone and Hydraulic conductivity were selected. Based on the importance of groundwater contamination all the parameters were assigned to rank and weights. Then all the themes were integrated and classified into five categories such as very low (9.33%), low (26.54%), moderate (34.77%), high (22.38%) and very high (6.98) risk. To validate the DRASTIC model, nitrate concentration was selected and found that it is 81.53% accurate which reflects that, DRASTIC model is appropriate to understand groundwater pollution risk assessment. In the GSB groundwater is contaminated mainly due to extensive use of groundwater extraction for agriculture purpose. Groundwater risk index assessment is an effective tool for groundwater management in the PRB.
 
 
Highlights
Groundwater is one of the most valuable resources for living peoples
These activities have resulted in the deterioration of water resources in various regions around the world (Pandey et al 1999).The drastic model developed by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency in 1985 with aiming to evaluate groundwater pollution potential for the entire United States of America (USA)
The model was developed for the purpose of GW protection in the United States of America (USA) and its Hydraulic Conductivity (C) Hydraulic conductivity refers to the ability of the aquifer materials to transmit water, which in turn, controls the rate at which groundwater will flow under a given hydraulic gradient
Summary
Groundwater is one of the most valuable resources for living peoples. Due to extensive pumping, agricultural, and industrial activities, aquifers are at risk of being contaminated. Intensive application of pesticides and fertilisers, discharge of wastewater, and industrial effluent and excessive groundwater abstraction are just a few examples of activities that lead to groundwater contamination. These activities have resulted in the deterioration of water resources in various regions around the world (Pandey et al 1999).The drastic model developed by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency in 1985 with aiming to evaluate groundwater pollution potential for the entire USA. Remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) has been widely used in risk mapping (Al-Adamat et al 2003; Mimi and Assi 2009).Groundwater vulnerability map for the Kherran plain designed to demonstrate areas of maximum potential for groundwater pollution based on hydro-geological state and human impacts. This approach depends on the idea that groundwater contamination risk is a product of probability of contamination occurring and contamination impact
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