Analysis and insights of groundwater quality and water quality index values with reference to different sources: a case study

Abstract

Groundwater quality variation due to consequent changes in the standard of living of a community is of great unease owing to the fact  that the groundwater is regarded as one of the significant water supply sources available. For the sustainable use of water resources and  water quality management, monitoring and assessment of water quality acts a catalyst for an appropriate judgment on the water quality.  In this study, groundwater samples were collected from Lingayas Institute of Management and Technology (LIMAT), Vijayawada  campus and Mudirajupalem, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, India for monitoring and assessing the water quality for alkalinity, total  dissolved solids (TDS), pH, acidity and total hardness (TH) using standard methods. Very high values of pH and TDS were obtained in the  groundwater collected from Mudirajupalem, which is within the vicinity of agricultural fields. Added to this, Student’s t test analysis of  TDS values signposted a noteworthy P value (<0.001) for which the mean difference was substantial statistically. The groundwater  collected from Mudirajupalem further affirmed that the water is unfit for drinking, which is evident from water quality index (WQI) values.  This study emphasizes on implementing various locale specific rainwater garnering schemes, which is one of the solution for  augmenting the groundwater recharge and maintaining the groundwater balance.