Decadal Changes in Groundwater Quality and its Suitability for Drinking Purpose in Cheyyar Watershed, Tamil Nadu

By : Jothiramalingam Killivalavan , Masilamani Palanisamy , S. Abdul Rahaman

Page No: 1-18

Abstract
Groundwater is a significant source of fresh water for drinking and irrigation purposes in Cheyyar Watershed, part of Palar Basin, Tamil Nadu. To scientifically examine the temporal variations in groundwater quality; groundwater quality data for the last two decades has been collected from the State ground and surface water data centre, Chennai. All the influencing factors such as pH, Electric Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), potassium (K), bicarbonate (HCO3), chloride (Cl), nitrate (NO3), sulphate (SO4) and fluoride (F) of groundwater quality have been spatially mapped by using GIS techniques. The overall groundwater quality has been examined by using Water Quality Index (WQI). The results show that the prevalent groundwater types that prevail in the Cheyyar watershed were Na-Cl-SO4 and Ca-HCO3 in 2005, 2010 and 2015; Na-Cl-SO4 and Ca-Cl in 2019. The final WQI clearly shows that the groundwater quality is on decreasing trend. If this trend continues for a few years, most parts of the study area will become unsuitable for drinking. In 2019, almost 65% of the study area came under the poor and very poor quality of groundwater, so those areas need the proper groundwater quality management strategies such as artificial recharge structures and appropriate sewage systems to recover or maintain the quality of groundwater.

Authors :
Jothiramalingam Killivalavan : ICSSR Doctral Research Fellow, Department of Geography, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India- 620024. 
Masilamani Palanisamy : Department of Geography, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India - 620024. 
S. Abdul Rahaman : Department of Geography, Bangalore University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India - 560 056.
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/ATNAGI.2023.43.01.1