Assessment of water quality index for groundwater of Valsad district of south Gujarat (India)

Abstract

The present study aims the assessment of the water quality index (WQI) for the groundwater of Valsad district of South Gujarat. Total fifteen sampling stations from five talukas of Valsad district were selected and groundwater samples were collected for two years (from August 2007 to July 2009). In this present study, WQI created by Canadian Council of Minister of the Environment (CCME) was used. For calculating the WQI, groundwater samples were analyzed for seventeen physico-chemical parameters like pH, Colour, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Hardness (TH), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Total Alkalinity (TA), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Silica, Chloride, Sulphate, Fluoride, Sodium, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and metals like Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb) and Manganese (Mn).  The WQI for Valsad district suggests that the groundwater quality is marginal.  

 Keywords: Ground Water, Water quality index, Valsad District, Gujarat