Assessment and processing of groundwater quality from various land uses - a case study in Odisha

Abstract

Water quality monitoring is a prerequisite to checking water pollution. To assess the quality, groundwater was collected from seventy-two bored / dug wells spaced 20 to 95 km apart and across the different land uses in Odisha, India. Application of geochemical techniques revealed the prevalence of alkaline earth metals (Ca, Mg) and weak acid (HCO ) ions in hydrochemical facies formations; and mineral dissolution through rock 3 weathering and base exchange processes. Multivariate statistics were then applied to various water quality parameters to group them through principal components (PCs) and clustering. The water quality index (WQI) was formulated, and the suitability of water was determined, which progressively improved from Cluster I to IV for irrigation and drinking use purposes. The cluster-specific best-fit regressions between WQI and water parameters were established to provide essential parameters for monitoring groundwater quality despite their collection from different land uses.