Mapping of groundwater quality using GIS technique in the east coast of Tamilnadu state and Pondicherry union territory, India

  • Authors

    • S. Kumaravel
    • B. Gurugnanam
    • M. Bagyaraj
    • S. Venkatesan
    • M. Suresh
    • S. Chidambaram
    • T. Jeyavel Rajakumar
    • Gopalakrishnan Gnanachandrasamy Ph.D Research scholar
    2014-04-29
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijag.v2i2.2213
  • The objective of this study is to determine temporal and spatial changes in groundwater quality and sources of contamination. An attempt has been made in the present study to elucidate the quality of the groundwater in terms of physical and chemical parameters in the post and pre monsoon season in the east coast of Tamilnadu state and Pondicherry Union Territory. Geologically, the study area consists of alluvium, Cuddalore sandstone and charnockite. 37 groundwater samples were collected from bore wells and analyzed for pH, TDS, Ca+, Mg+, Na+, K+, Cl-, HCO3-, SO4- and F-. The analyzed values were evaluated and compared with World Health Organization (2004) for drinking water. It was observed that, Ca+, Mg+, Na+, K+, Cl-, SO4- and F- are within the acceptable limit for drinking purposes in both the seasons except few sample locations. To identify the suitable zones of drinking water, overlay analyses were carried out using ArcGIS and classified as good, medium and poor zones for both the seasons. The zone of good quality of the groundwater for post and pre monsoon season in the study area was 118.93 km2 and 88.39 km2 respectively.

    Keywords: Spatial Changes, Groundwater Quality, Chemical Parameters, Drinking Purposes, ArcGIS.

  • References

    1. American Public Health Association (APHA) (1995) Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water. American Water Works Association, Water Environment Federation, Washington.
    2. Bhardwaj V & Singh DS (2010) Surface and groundwater quality characterization of Deoria District, Ganga Plain, India. Environ-mental Earth Sciences, doi: 10.1007/ s12665-010-0709-x.
    3. Carol E, MasPla J, Kruse E (2013) Interaction between con-tinental and estuarine waters in the wetlands of the northern coastal plain of Samborombón Bay, Argentina. Appl Geochem. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.03.006. (Online).
    4. CGWB Report (1993) Status of Groundwater Resources and Development in Pondicherry Region. Report of CGWB, Ministry of Water Resources, Govt. of India.
    5. Chebotarev (1985) Metamorphism of natural water in the crust of weathering, Geochem, Cosmochim, Acta, 8, 22-28
    6. Cruz JV and MO Silva (2000) Groundwater Salinization in Pico Island (Azores, Portugal): Origin and Mechanisms, Environmental Geology, Vol. 39, No. 10, pp. 1181-1189. doi: 10.1007/s002540000109.
    7. Deshpande SM, and Aher KR, (2011) Hydrogeochemistryand quality assessment of groundwater in Chikalthanaindustrial areaof Aurangabad, Maharashtra,India. Bionano Frontier, v.4(1),pp.157-16
    8. Dixit S, Gupta SK, & Tiwari S, (2005) Nutrient overloading of a freshwater lake in Bhopal, India. Electronic Green Journal, (21), 2–6
    9. Edmunds WM, & Smedley PL (1996) Groundwater geo-chemistry and health with special reference to developing countries. Geological Society Special Publication, 113, 91–105
    10. Freeze RA, & Cherry JA, (1979) Groundwater. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall
    11. Gimenez E, Morell I, (1997) Hydrogeochemical Analysis of Salinization Processes in the Coastal Aquifer of Oropesa (Castellon, Spain), Environmental Geology, Vol. 29, No. 1-2, pp. 118-131
    12. Gleeson T, Wada Y, Bierkens MFP, Van Beek LPH (2012) Water balance of global aquifers revealed by groundwater foot print. Nature 488:197–200
    13. Guler C, Kurt MA, Alpaslan M, Akbulut C, (2012) Assessment of the impact of anthropogenic activities on the groundwater hydrology and chemistry in Tarsus coastal plain (Mersin, SE Turkey) using fuzzy clustering, multivariate statistics and GIS techniques. J Hydrol; 414–415:435–51
    14. Guo HM, Wang YY, Grigory M.S & Yan SL (2003) Natural occurrence of arsenic in shallow ground water shunyian, Datong basin China. J. Environ Scien and Hlth, Part A 38 (11), 2565-2580
    15. ISI, (1983) Indian Standard Specification for drinking water. IS: 10500. New Delhi: Indian Standard Institutions.
    16. Karanth KR (1987) Groundwater Assessment, development and management. Tata Mcgraw Hill, New Delhi, pp 720.
    17. Kim JH, Kim RH, Lee J, Chang HW, (2003) Hydrogeochemical characterization of major factors affecting the quality of shallow groundwater in the coastal area at Kimje in South Korea. Environ Geol; 44:478–89
    18. Latha SS, Ambika SR & Prasad SJ (1999) Fluoride contamination status of groundwater in Karnataka. Current Science, 76(6), 730–734
    19. Leung CM, Jiao JJ, Malpas J, Chan WT, Wang YX, (2005) Factors affecting the groundwater chemistry in a highly urban-ized coastal area in Hong Kong: an example from the mid-levels area. Environ Geol; 48:480–95.
    20. Olowokudejo TA (2007) Targeting of high quality groundwater in the province of Vientiane, Laos, PDR. M.Sc Thesis, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, pp 55
    21. Rai VK (2004) Suitability of surface and groundwater for irrigation: a case study. National Geographical Journal, India. VHU (UP) 50:83–94
    22. Suman Mor, Khaiwal Ravindra, Dahiya, R.P. & Chandra A (2006) Leachate Characterization and assessment of ground water pollution near municipal solid waste landfill site. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 118, 435-456
    23. Taghizadeh Mehrjardi R, ZareianJahromi M, Mahmohdi, S & Heidari (2008) Spatial Distribution of ground water quality with geostatics (1): 09-17
    24. Todd D K 1980 Groundwater hydrology. John Wiley and Sons, New York
    25. Wang Y, Jiao J J (2012) Origin of groundwater salinity and hydrogeochemical processes in the confined Quaternary aquifer of the Pearl River Delta, China. J Hydrol, 438–439: 112–24.
    26. WHO, (2004) Guidelines for drinking water quality. World Health Organization.
  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Kumaravel, S., Gurugnanam, B., Bagyaraj, M., Venkatesan, S., Suresh, M., Chidambaram, S., Jeyavel Rajakumar, T., & Gnanachandrasamy, G. (2014). Mapping of groundwater quality using GIS technique in the east coast of Tamilnadu state and Pondicherry union territory, India. International Journal of Advanced Geosciences, 2(2), 43-47. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijag.v2i2.2213