Water Quality Index (WQI) to Evaluate Groundwater Quality in Chickmagaluru District, South Karnataka, India.

Abstract

Groundwater quality assessment is essentialin the present scenario. The main objective of the present study is assessing the groundwater quality for drinking purpose and identify them.Fourteen (14) different physiochemical parameters were analyzed to evaluate the subsurface water in the study area and values were compared to Bureau of Indian standards. Water Quality Index (WQI) is a composite indicant of water quality. The water quality index evaluates various parameters that can be quickly and easily communicated to its intended audience. WQI is one of the most effective techniques for deciding the appropriateness of groundwater for drinking purposes. The extracted components indicate that geology, agriculture, precipitation, household wastewater, and industrial effluents contributed to the sources exceeding the permissible limit. The present study indicated very poor-quality water for some groundwater samples in which the area dominated by weathering ofrocks and dissolution of salts from the bedrock into the water resources, which can be a serious threat to the ecological habitat. Based on WQI index 75% and 65% of groundwater samples in pre and post monsoon suitable for drinking purpose