Groundwater quality and its suitability for drinking and irrigational use in the Southern Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

A total of 20 groundwater samples were collected from both dug and bore wells of southern Tiruchirappalli district and analyzed for various hydrogeochemical parameters. The analyzed physicochemical parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, carbonate, sulfate, chloride, nitrate, and fluoride are used to characterize the groundwater quality and its suitability for drinking and irrigational uses. The results of the chemical analysis indicates that the groundwater in the study area is slightly alkaline and mainly contains Na ? , Ca 2? , and Mg 2? cations as well as HCO 3 2-, Cl -, SO 4 2-and NO 3 -anions. The total dissolved solids mainly depend on the concentration of major ions such as Ca, Mg, Na, K, HCO 3 , Cl, and SO 4 . Based on TDS, 55 % of the samples are suitable for drinking and rest of the samples are unsuitable for drinking. The total hardness indicates that majority of the groundwater samples are found within the permissible limit of WHO. The dominant hydrochemical facies for groundwater are Ca-Mg-Cl, Ca-HCO 3 , and Ca-Cl type. The USSL graphical geochemical representation of groundwater quality suggests that majority of the water samples belongs to high medium salinity with low alkali hazards. The Gibb's plot indicates that the groundwater chemistry of the study area is mainly controlled by evaporation and rock-water interaction. Spearman's correlation and factor analysis were used to distinguish the statistical relation between different ions and contamination source in the study area.

Influence of geochemical processes on hydrochemistry and irrigation suitability of groundwater in part of semi-arid Deccan Plateau, India

“…over Cl -was a good indicator of reverse ion exchange process. This can be confirmed by chloro-alkaline index proposed by Schoeller (1977). Positive values (61% samples) suggested that reverse ion exchange occurred in the groundwater.…”

“…Many researchers around the world (Moller et al 2007;Belkhiri et al 2010;Glover et al 2012) and in India (Srinivas et al 2013;Selvakumar et al 2014;Nageswara Rao et al 2015) showed the role of hydrogeochemistry in groundwater quality. Earlier investigations indicated that hydrochemistry of groundwater is controlled by geochemical processes in semi-arid regions of India (Subramani et al 2010).…”

Geochemical assessment of groundwater quality for its suitability for drinking and irrigation purpose in rural areas of Sant Ravidas Nagar (Bhadohi), Uttar Pradesh

“…If a soil is open and fine plowed, irrigation with the generous amount of saline water may lead to the production of the crop, but a poorly drained area may fail to grow the satisfactory crop even when irrigated with good-quality water (Todd, 1980;Raju, Ram, & Dey, 2009). The parameters like EC, salinity, percent sodium (%Na), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), RSC, permeability index (PI), and magnesium ratio are important to establish the fitness of groundwater for agricultural use (Mitra, Sasaki, Enari, Matsuyama, & Fujita, 2007;Selvakumar, Ramkumar, Chandrasekar, Magesh, & Kaliraj, 2017;Wang, 2013).…”

Analysis of sugar mill effluent and its influence on germination and growth of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.)

“…Human-induced activities can alter the natural & Thanapal Vaithiyanathan vaithiyanathant@yahoo.in source of contaminants and also initiate pollution load in the receiving water bodies (Whittemore et al 1989). The corrosion of groundwater quality affects its usage for domestic, agriculture and industrial activities (Brindha and Elango 2012;Selvakumar et al 2014). Approximately, one-third of death and 80% of diseases in the developing nations are caused by the drinking of contaminated water (WHO 2004).…”