WATER QUALITY INDEX AND CORRELATION STUDY FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF GROUND WATER QUALITY OF ALLAHABAD CITY

Abstract

Water, the Nectar of Life’, is fundamental resource which is essential for the survival of different sectors, such as agricultural sector, industrial sector and small business units. In the absence of proper planning, urbanization and industrial/agricultural activities have adversely affected many regions around the world. This has led to indiscriminate actions, including dumping of wastes into the water and washing and bathing in open surface water bodies. In the present study groundwater samples from five sampling locations were collected and the analyses were done for nine physicochemical parameters. Water quality index assessment was carried out by using physicochemical analysis results. Water quality index of the sampling locations of Allahabad city has been divided into five categories. Good water quality index has been put into location 1 while locations 2, 3 and 4 indicate bad quality index. Very bad water quality index has been denoted in location 5. Correlation, the descriptive relationship among the physicochemical parameters, were also studied and it was found that the highly positively correlated values were among the parameters TDS vs EC (r=1.00), TS vs TSS (r=0.91), Temp vs TSS (r=0.87), Phosphate vs TSS (r=0.823) and highly negatively correlation was shown among TA vs Chloride. The result shows that the water quality of Allahabad city is not good and there is an urgent need for the preliminary treatment of water before it is used for the drinking purposes. There is also the need for the proper waste disposal and treatment system for the contaminants which seep in the groundwater and deteriorate groundwater quality. Awareness programmes should also be organized to educate the masses for the conservation and management of groundwater resources and the need to reduce of overuse and wastage of the groundwater resources should be emphasized. Sustainable water development in the city is needed to fulfill the demand of water for future.