Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948
DOI 10.1007/s10661-013-3425-7
Physicochemical quality evaluation of groundwater
and development of drinking water quality index for Araniar
River Basin, Tamil Nadu, India
I. Jasmin & P. Mallikarjuna
Received: 6 April 2013 / Accepted: 6 September 2013 / Published online: 20 September 2013
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
Abstract Groundwater is the most important natural
resource which cannot be optimally used and sustained
unless its quality is properly assessed. In the present
study, the spatial and temporal variations in physico-
chemical quality parameters of groundwater of Araniar
River Basin, India were analyzed to determine its suit-
ability for drinking purpose through development of
drinking water quality index (DWQI) maps of the post-
and pre-monsoon periods. The suitability for drinking
purpose was evaluated by comparing the physico-
chemical parameters of groundwater in the study area
with drinking water standards prescribed by the World
Health Organization (WHO) and Bureau of Indian
Standards (BIS). Interpretation of physicochemical da-
ta revealed that groundwater in the basin was slightly
alkaline. The cations such as sodium (Na+) and potas-
sium (K+) and anions such as bicarbonate (HCO3−) and
chloride (Cl−) exceeded the permissible limits of drink-
ing water standards (WHO and BIS) in certain pockets
in the northeastern part of the basin during the pre-
monsoon period. The higher total dissolved solids
(TDS) concentration was observed in the northeastern
part of the basin, and the parameters such as calcium
(Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), sulfate (SO42−), nitrate
I. Jasmin (*) : P. Mallikarjuna
Department of Civil Engineering, Sri Venkateswara
University College of Engineering,
Tirupati 517 502 Andhra Pradesh, India
e-mail: jasmin_i@rediffmail.com
P. Mallikarjuna
e-mail: mallikarjuna_perugu@yahoo.co.in
(NO3−), and fluoride (F−) were within the limits in both
the seasons. The hydrogeochemical evaluation of
groundwater of the basin demonstrated with the Piper
trilinear diagram indicated that the groundwater sam-
ples of the area were of Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl−-SO42−, Ca2+-
Mg2+-HCO3− and Na+-K+-Cl−-SO42− types during the
post-monsoon period and Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl−-SO42−, Na+-
K+-Cl−-SO42− and Ca2+-Mg2+-HCO3− types during the
pre-monsoon period. The DWQI maps for the basin
revealed that 90.24 and 73.46 % of the basin area
possess good quality drinking water during the post-
and pre-monsoon seasons, respectively.
Keywords Groundwater quality . Piper trilinear
diagram . Drinking water quality index . Araniar River
Basin
Introduction
Groundwater plays a crucial role as a decentralized
source of drinking water for millions of rural and urban
families, besides fulfilling the irrigation needs (Kumar
and Tushaar 2004). The inherent qualities of ground-
water such as consistent temperature, widespread and
continuous availability, excellent natural quality, lim-
ited vulnerability, low development cost, and drought
reliability have made it an immensely important and
dependable source of water supply for both developed
and developing countries (Todd and Mays 2005). The
demand for groundwater has increased manifold over
the years due to population growth, rapid urbanization
936
and industrialization, agricultural expansion, and eco-
nomic development. The groundwater quality is, howev-
er, being deteriorated mostly due to overexploitation,
increased application of fertilizers, unsanitary conditions
prevailing in rural and urban areas, improper sewage
management, inadequate water planning, lack of aware-
ness and, non-implementation of desired measures. The
concentration of several inorganic and organic substances
beyond the acceptable range causes an adverse impact on
human health. Systematic evaluation of groundwater
quality is therefore necessary for meeting the increasing
drinking water demand and essential for optimal utiliza-
tion of available groundwater on a sustained basis.
The groundwater quality, primarily governed by the
extent and composition of dissolved solids, is of great
significance in determining its suitability for drinking
purpose. Under natural conditions, the spatial and tempo-
ral variations in the composition of groundwater depend
on rainwater, soil strata, and aquifer materials (Andre
et al. 2005). The variations in the groundwater quality
are due to rock–water interaction and oxidation–reduc-
tion reactions during percolation of water through aqui-
fers (Back 1996; Drever 1982; Kumar et al. 2009;
Aghazadeh and Mogaddam 2010). Leaching of salts,
ion-exchange process, and residential time of groundwa-
ter in the aquifers cause hydrogeochemical variations in
groundwater (Sami 1992). Ahmed et al. (2002) compared
the results of groundwater in Rajshahi City of Bangladesh
with the World Health Organization (WHO) limits.
Anbazhagan and Nair (2004) used geographical informa-
tion system (GIS) to represent and understand the spatial
variation of geochemical elements in Panvel Basin,
Maharashtra. The studies carried out by Yammani
(2007), Sahu and Sikdar (2008), and Yidana and Yidana
(2010) used GIS to prepare water quality maps of differ-
ent chemical constituents to locate groundwater quality
zones suitable for domestic and irrigation purposes.
Babiker et al. (2007) proposed a GIS-based groundwater
quality index method to synthesize water quality data by
indexing them relative to the WHO standards. The
hydrochemical studies of groundwater quality for drink-
ing purpose were also carried out in Chah Basin, Iran
(Jalali 2007) and Markandeya River Basin, Karnataka
(Ravikumar et al. 2011). Sadashivaiah et al. (2008) eval-
uated the groundwater quality in Tumkur Taluk,
Karnataka. The parameters considered for determining
water quality index (WQI) include pH, total hardness,
calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, chloride, nitrate, sul-
fate, total dissolved solids, iron, manganese, and fluoride.
Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948
Rajankar et al. (2009) calculated WQI for different
groundwater sources, viz., dug wells, bore wells, and
tube wells at Khaperkheda Region, Maharashtra. WQI
showed fair water quality rating during the post-
monsoon season which then changed to medium in
the summer and winter seasons for dug wells and
medium water quality rating for the bore wells and
hand pumps in all seasons.
Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, is the fourth
largest metropolis in India. The various sources of drink-
ing water supply to the Chennai City include large-
surface but shallow reservoirs, groundwater abstracted
from Araniar River Basin and southern coastal aquifers,
and surface water transfer as a part of interbasin devel-
opment from Srisailam Reservoir in Andhra Pradesh to
Poondi Reservoir of Tamil Nadu. The groundwater
quality of Araniar River Basin is dependent on bedrock
geology, climate, and impacts of pollution from agricul-
tural and industrial sources. Its evaluation is therefore
essential to determine its suitability for drinking pur-
pose. The present study aims at the spatial and temporal
evaluation of the physicochemical parameters of
groundwater quality of the basin to assess its suitability
for drinking purpose through development of drinking
water quality index maps of the post-monsoon (January)
and pre-monsoon (June) seasons.
Study area
The Araniar River originates near Karvetinagar Forest
in Andhra Pradesh, flows through Tiruvallur District of
Tamil Nadu in the easterly direction, and falls into the
Bay of Bengal. It is an ephemeral river and the flood in
the river is sporadic. The river basin lies between
latitudes 13° 15′ 12″ and 13° 32′ 00″N and longitudes
79° 24′ 40″ and 80° 20′ 54″E partly in Tiruvallur
District, Tamil Nadu and partly in Chittoor District,
Andhra Pradesh. The location map of the study area is
presented in Fig. 1.
The river flows over a length of 131.6 km with a
basin area of 1,281.3 km2. The basin has an elevation
of 3 m above mean sea level at the coastal area in the
eastern side and rises gently westwards to 1,040 m high
in the upper reaches at Narayanavanam Forest in the
northwest region and to 565 m high at Karvetinagar
Forest in the west. The basin consists of sandy, loamy
sand, sandy clay loam, clay loam, and sandy clay types
of soil. The geological formations of the study area
Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948
Fig. 1 Location map of Araniar River Basin
include hard rock such as epidote-hornblende gneiss
and hornblende-biotite gneiss in the western part and
gray-brown to black sandy clay (sedimentary formation)
in the eastern part.
The average annual rainfall for the period 2005 to
2009 was observed as 1,187 mm. About 90 % of annual
rainfall of Araniar basin occurs during the monsoon
period spanning over June to December. The maximum
and minimum temperatures of the study area vary from
937
37 to 44 °C and from 18 to 27 °C, respectively, with
mean monthly relative humidity ranging between 67
and 74 %. Recharge into the alluvial aquifers is mostly
from precipitation, flow through river beds, water bod-
ies, and return flow from irrigated fields. Paddy is the
major crop (67 % of CCA), with groundnut (15 %),
pulses (12 %), and other crops (7 %) such as black gram,
green gram, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables, and flowers as
subsidiary crops.
938 Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948

GROUNDWATER QUALITY EVALUATION

Materials and methods

The topographic maps (57O/7, 57O/10, 57O/11, 57O/15,

66C/3, and 66C/7) of 1:50,000 scale covering the study Post-monsoon Pre-monsoon

area were obtained from the Survey of India (SOI). The

post-monsoon (January 2009) and pre-monsoon (June
2009) water quality data for the study area were obtained Mapping physico-chemical parameters
from the State Ground and Surface Water Resources pH TDS TH
Data Centre, Groundwater Department, Chennai, Tamil
Nadu and Groundwater Department, Chittoor, Andhra Ca 2 Mg 2 Na

Pradesh, India. The spatial analysis was carried out in K Cl SO 24

ArcGIS 9.2 environment. The locations of water quality
monitoring stations in the basin are shown in Fig. 2. The HCO3 F NO3

methodology involved includes mapping of physico-

Comparison with WHO standards and BIS
chemical parameters, hydrogeochemical evaluation of
groundwater, and development of drinking water quality
index maps of the post- and pre-monsoon periods as Hydrogeochemical Evaluation
presented in Fig. 3.

Drinking water quality mapping MAPPING DRINKING WATER QUALITY INDEX MAP

The physicochemical parameters considered for the
study include pH; total dissolved solids (TDS); total
hardness (TH); cations such as calcium (Ca2+), magne-
sium (Mg2+), sodium (Na+), and potassium (K+); and
anions such as chloride (Cl−)), sulfate (SO42−), bicar-
bonate (HCO3−), fluoride (F−), and nitrate (NO3−). The
assessment of suitability for drinking purpose was eval-
uated by comparing the parameters with drinking water
quality standards prescribed by the WHO (1971, 1993,
2004) and Bureau of Indian Standards (1991, 2005) for
Fig. 3 Methodology for groundwater quality evaluation
drinking and public health purposes as presented in
Table 1. The spatial distribution maps for various phys-
icochemical parameters were prepared using inverse
distance weighted (IDW) interpolation technique and
were classified as “desirable,” “maximum permissible,”
and areas “exceeding maximum permissible” categories
based on the WHO guidelines.

Fig. 2 Location of groundwater quality monitoring stations

Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948 939

Table 1 Drinking water quality standards and probable effects

Parameter WHO BIS Probable effects

Desirable limit Maximum Desirable limit Maximum

permissible limit permissible limit

pH 7.0–8.5 9.2 6.5–8.5 No relaxation Affects taste, corrodes water supply system
TDS 500 1,500 500 2,000 Gastrointestinal irritation
TH 100 500 300 600 Scale formation in water supply system
Ca2+ 75 200 75 200 Scale formation in water supply system
Mg2+ 50 150 30 100 Encrustations in water supply structure
Na+ – 200 – – Scale formation in water supply system
K+ – 12 – – Bitter taste
SO42− 200 400 200 400 Laxative effect
HCO3− – 500 – – –
Cl− 200 600 250 1,000 Salty taste
NO3− – 45 45 No relaxation Methemoglobinemia
F− – 1.5 1.0 1.5 Fluorosis

Units of ionic concentrations are in milligrams per liter

Hydrogeochemical evaluation where wa=weight of water quality parameter a and n=

The groundwater chemistry of the basin was deter-
mined by plotting the Piper trilinear diagram (Piper
1944). Groundwater is represented as a solution of
cationic constituents (Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and alkaline
metals), anionic constituents (SO42−, Cl−), and constit-
uents contributing to alkalinity [carbonate (CO32−) and
HCO3−]. The groundwater types were determined
based on the hydrochemical facies concept by combin-
ing cation and anion fields.
Drinking water quality index
Water quality index is a rating, reflecting the composite
influence of water quality parameters. The quality of
groundwater for drinking purpose is assessed using the
drinking water quality index (DWQI). The index was
computed by assigning weights (w) to the water quality
parameters (a) based on their perceived threat to water
quality. This is achieved by translating the constituent
concentrations into a single value that reflects the com-
posite influence of water quality parameters.
The relative weight (Wa) is computed using
wa
Wa ¼ Xn
wa
a¼1
number of parameters.
The quality parameters were assigned weights (wa) in
a scale of 1–5 based on their importance and role in the
determination of drinking water quality as presented in
Table 2. The maximum weight of 5 was assigned to pH
and total dissolved solids due to their major importance in
drinking water quality assessment. Bicarbonate was given
a weight of 1 as it is not very significant in the water
quality assessment and fluoride was also assigned a
weight of 1, as it does not influence drinking water quality
in the study area. The cations, anions, and total hardness
were assigned weights between 1 and 4 based on their
importance in the water quality evaluation of the basin
(modified from Ramakrishnaiah et al. 2009 and
Vasanthavigar et al. 2010).
A quality rating scale (qa) for each parameter was
calculated by dividing its concentration in each water
sample by its respective WHO standard and is expressed as
Ca
qa ¼  100 ð2Þ
Sa
where Ca=concentration of water quality parameter (a) in
milligrams per liter and Sa=WHO standard for water qual-
ð1Þ ity parameter (a) in milligrams per liter.
The subindex (SI) was determined for each parameter,
which is then used to determine the DWQI as follows:
940 Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948

Table 2 Weights of parameters and WHO standards 7.2 to 8.1 during post-monsoon may be noted in the
Parameter Weight Relative WHO western part of the basin. The slight alkaline nature of
(wa) weight (Wa) standard (Sa) groundwater in the eastern part may be due to the
presence of alluvial aquifers, which probably may not
pH 5 0.132 8.5 be able to flush off the salts during the monsoon period.
TDS 5 0.132 500 The TDS concentration in groundwater varies consid-
TH 4 0.105 100 erably in the basin owing to differences in solubilities
Ca2+ 4 0.105 75 of minerals. The spatial variation of TDS in ground-
Na+ 4 0.105 200 water (Fig. 4b) shows that 43.68 and 56.32 % of the
Mg2+ 3 0.079 50 area falls in desirable (<500 mg/l) and permissible
K+ 2 0.053 12 (500–1,500 mg/l) categories, respectively, during the
−
Cl 4 0.105 200 post-monsoon period while 51.39, 47.44, and 1.17 %
SO42− 3 0.079 200 of the area respectively fall in the desirable, permissi-
NO3− 2 0.053 45 ble, and exceedingly permissible (>1,500 mg/l) cate-
HCO3− 1 0.026 500 gories during the pre-monsoon period. The high con-
F− 1 0.026 1.5 centration of TDS beyond the permissible limit, ob-
Σwa=38 ΣWa=1 served during the pre-monsoon period, in the north-
eastern part of the basin, may be due to agricultural
SIa ¼ W a  qa ð3Þ practices, leaching of salts from soil, and anthropogen-
X ic activities. During the post-monsoon period, the TDS
DWQI ¼ SIa ð4Þ values may be observed to be within the maximum
permissible limit as per WHO standards and BIS, and
The drinking water quality was classified based on this may be due to its dilution with rainwater. Even
DWQI values of less than 50, 50–100, 100–200, 200– though no area falls beyond permissible limit during
300, and greater than 300 as excellent, good, poor, very post-monsoon, a marginal reduction in the area (51.39
poor, and unsuitable, respectively. to 43.68 %) of desirable limit may be observed. The
spatial distribution map of TH (Fig. 4c) shows that the
area falls between the desirable (100 mg/l) and permis-
Results and discussion sible limits (500 mg/l) as per WHO standards. This
may be due to leaching of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions into
The SOI toposheets were georeferenced and the study groundwater. Also, it may be noted that, in near future,
area boundary was delineated. The water quality mon- the areas with permissible limit for drinking purpose
itoring stations were located, and the water quality may become “not permissible” during both the periods.
parameters of the stations for the post- and pre- The spatial variation of Ca2+ (Fig. 5a) shows that the
monsoon periods were entered as attributes. areas falling in the desirable (<75 mg/l) and permissi-
ble (75–200 mg/l) categories pertain to 98.15 and
Drinking water quality mapping 1.85 %, respectively, during post-monsoon and 97.36
and 2.64 %, respectively, during pre-monsoon. A mar-
The spatial variation of the physicochemical parame- ginal increase in the desirable category may be due to
ters of groundwater of Araniar Basin during the post- the influence of monsoon. The spatial variation of
and pre-monsoon periods is shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. Mg2+ (Fig. 5b) shows that 93.69 % of the area falls in
The pH value indicates that groundwater in the the desirable category (<50 mg/l) and 6.31 % of the
basin is slightly alkaline (Fig. 4a) and, in majority of area in the eastern part of the basin falls in the permis-
the samples, it is within the desirable limits of the sible category (50–150 mg/l) during post-monsoon
WHO standards and Bureau of Indian Standards while the entire area of the basin falls in the desirable
(BIS). A slight increase in pH (8.1–8.6 to 8.1–8.7) category during pre-monsoon. The spatial variation of
may be observed in the eastern part of the basin during Na+ (Fig. 5c) reveals that the entire area (99.91 %) of
the post-monsoon season, while a decrease in the value the basin falls in the permissible category (<200 mg/l)
of pH varying from 7.7 to 8.1 during pre-monsoon to during post-monsoon while 91.9 % of the area falls in
Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948
Fig. 4 Spatial variations of pH, TDS, and TH
the permissible category and only 8.1 % of the area in
the eastern part of the basin exceeds the permissible
limit (>200 mg/l) during pre-monsoon. The spatial
variation of K+ (Fig. 5d) in groundwater indicates that
the entire area of the basin falls in the permissible
category (<12 mg/l) during post-monsoon while
94.05 % of the area falls in the permissible category,
and 5.95 % of the area in the eastern part of the basin
falls in the exceeding maximum permissible category
(>12 mg/l) during pre-monsoon. The higher concen-
tration of K+ during the pre-monsoon period may be
due to urban pollution and fertilizer leaching.
The spatial variation of SO42− (Fig. 6a) indicates that
the entire area of the basin falls in the desirable category
(<200 mg/l) as per WHO standards and BIS during the
post- and pre-monsoon periods. Sulfate found in smaller
concentrations may be due to lesser breaking down of
941
organic substances from weathered soil. The spatial
variation of HCO3− (Fig. 6b) in groundwater shows that
the entire area of the basin falls in the permissible
category (<500 mg/l) during post-monsoon while
94.31 % of the area falls in the permissible category,
and 5.69 % of area in the eastern part of the basin falls in
the exceeding maximum permissible category
(>500 mg/l) during pre-monsoon. The spatial variation
of Cl− content in groundwater (Fig. 6c) shows that
98.52 % of the basin area falls in the desirable category
(<200 mg/l) with 1.48 % in the permissible category
(200–600 mg/l) during post-monsoon while 86.81 and
13.19 % of the area fall in the desirable and permissible
categories, respectively, during pre-monsoon. An in-
crease in the areal extent of the desirable category during
post-monsoon may be due to dilution with rainwater.
NO3− in groundwater of the basin (Fig. 6d) indicates
942
Fig. 5 Spatial variation of cations
that the entire area of Araniar Basin falls within the
maximum permissible limit of the WHO standards and
the desirable limit of BIS (45 mg/l) during both the
seasons. F− in groundwater (Fig. 6e) indicates that the
entire area of the basin falls within the permissible limit
of 1.5 mg/l (WHO and BIS) during both the seasons.
Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948
Hydrogeochemical evaluation
The hydrogeochemical evaluation of groundwater of
Araniar Basin was carried out by plotting the concen-
trations of major cations and anions in the Piper trilin-
ear diagram. Figure 7 shows the Piper trilinear diagram
Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948 943

Fig. 6 Spatial variation of anions

944 Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948

POST-MONSOON

PRE-MONSOON

Fig. 7 Piper plots for the post-monsoon and pre-monsoon periods

for both the post-monsoon and pre-monsoon seasons. Mg2+ type (alkaline earth exceeding alkalies) are 87
These diagrams reveal the analogies and dissimilarities and 64 % during the post-and pre-monsoon seasons,
of water quality in the study area as listed in Table 3. respectively. The SO42−-Cl− type of water (strong acids
The percentages of samples falling under the Ca2+- exceeding weak acids) predominated during post-
Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948 945

Table 3 Groundwater characteristics based on Piper trilinear diagram

Subdivision Characteristics of subdivision Percentage of subdivision

Post-monsoon Pre-monsoon

1 Alkaline earth (Ca2++Mg2+) exceeding alkalies (Na++K+) 87 64

2 Alkalies (Na+ + K+) exceeding alkaline earths (Ca2++Mg2+) 13 36
3 Weak acids (CO3−+HCO3−) exceeding strong acids (SO42−+Cl−) 18 9
4 Strong acids exceeding weak acids 82 91
5 Magnesium bicarbonate type 9 9
6 Calcium chloride type 14 5
7 Sodium chloride type 9 36
8 Sodium bicarbonate type 0 0
9 Mixed type (no cation–anion pair exceeding 50 %) 68 50

Fig. 8 Drinking water quality index map of Araniar River Basin

946
Table 4 Areal extent of the ba-
sin based on drinking water DWQI Description of water
quality index range quality
<50 Excellent
50–100 Good
100–200 Poor
200–300 Very poor
>300 Unsuitable for drinking
monsoon in 82 and 91 % during pre-monsoon causing
salinity problems.
In the study area, the major groundwater type is a
mixed category (no cation–anion pair exceeding 50 %)
in 50 and 68 % of the samples during pre- and post-
monsoons, respectively. Increased Na+ concentration
(36 %) and decreased Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations
(64 %) during pre-monsoon may probably be due to
the loss of Ca2+ and Mg2+ and gain of Na+ by the
cation-exchange process. Calcium and magnesium
ions combining with chlorides and sulfates in ground-
water cause the hardness in water during both the
seasons. Also, it may be noted that the sodium chloride
type exists in 36 % of the samples during the pre-
monsoon period and decreases to 9 % during post-
monsoon. An increase in calcium chloride type
(14 %) may also be observed.
The study represents Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl−-SO42−, Ca2+-
Mg2+-HCO3− and Na+-K+-Cl−-SO42− types of ground-
water samples during the post-monsoon period and
Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl−-SO42−, Na+-K+-Cl−-SO42− and Ca2+-
Mg2+-HCO3− types during the pre-monsoon period.
The variation observed in the hydrochemical facies
plot of the post- and pre-monsoon periods may be
due to the cation-exchange process, recharge activities
by precipitation, and induced anthropogenic activities
such as application of fertilizers and uncontrolled
groundwater development.
Drinking water quality index
The quality of groundwater of Araniar River Basin for
drinking purpose was assessed through the DWQI. The
relative weight, quality rating, and subindex for each
parameter were computed, and the DWQI at the mon-
itoring stations for the post- and pre-monsoon periods
was determined. The DWQI values were then
Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948
Post-monsoon Pre-monsoon
Area Area
km2 % km2 %
– – – –
1,156.3 90.24 941.3 73.46
125 9.76 326 25.44
– – 14 1.1
– – – –
interpolated using IDW method in GIS environment
to obtain the DWQI map of the basin. The DWQI
ranged from 50 to 130 during the post-monsoon period
and 53 to 262 during the pre-monsoon period. The
post-monsoon and pre-monsoon drinking water quality
index maps of Araniar Basin are shown in Fig. 8. The
DWQI map was categorized based on the classification
as presented in Table 4.
The DWQI maps of the post- and pre- monsoon
seasons revealed that the basin possessed good quality
drinking water in 90.24 and 73.45 % of the basin area.
The poor (25.44 %) and very poor category (1.1 %) of
water quality in the northeastern part of the study area
may be due to leaching of ions, overexploitation of
groundwater, direct discharge of effluents, and agricul-
tural impact. An increase in the category of good quality
water during post-monsoon may be due to groundwater
recharge during the monsoon period. Also, it may be
noted that during the pre-monsoon period, the areas
where poor and very poor categories of water prevail
(Fig. 8) coincide with the areas “exceeding permissible
limit” as shown in Figs. 4b, 5c, and 6b, c. The poor
water quality may be due to the presence of excess
amounts of TDS, Na+, HCO3−, and Cl− in the area.
Conclusions
The spatial and temporal distributions of physicochem-
ical parameters of groundwater of Araniar Basin were
evaluated to determine its suitability for drinking pur-
pose. Interpretation of physicochemical data revealed
that groundwater in the basin was slightly alkaline.
The cations such as Na+ and K+ and anions such as
HCO3− and Cl− exceeded the permissible limits of
drinking water standards (WHO and BIS) in certain
pockets in the northeastern part of the basin during the
Environ Monit Assess (2014) 186:935–948
pre-monsoon period. The higher TDS concentration in
the northeastern part of the basin may be due to the
presence of higher concentrations of HCO3−, SO42−, and
Cl−. The other parameters such asCa2+, Mg2+, SO42−,
NO3−, and F− are within the limits in both the seasons.
The total hardness map falling in between the desirable
and permissible categories may be due to leaching of
Ca2+and Mg2+ ions into groundwater, and in near future,
the areas with permissible limit for drinking purpose
may tend to fall in the category of exceeding maximum
permissible limit during both the periods. Also, an in-
crease in the areal extent of permissible category of most
of the parameters during the post-monsoon season indi-
cates that monsoon plays a significant role in decreasing
the concentration of TDS, Na+, HCO3−, and Cl− and
thereby improving the drinking water quality.
The hydrogeochemical evaluation of groundwater
of the basin demonstrated with the Piper trilinear dia-
gram indicated that the groundwater samples of the
area represent Ca2+-Mg2+ -Cl −-SO42−, Ca2+-Mg2+-
HCO3− and Na+-K+-Cl−-SO42− types during the post-
monsoon period and Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl−-SO42−, Na+-K+-
Cl−-SO42− and Ca2+-Mg2+-HCO3− types during the
pre-monsoon period. The DWQI maps for the basin
revealed that 90.24 and 73.46 % of the basin area
possess good quality water during the post- and pre -
monsoon seasons, respectively.
The study therefore indicates the necessity in regu-
lar monitoring of groundwater levels and adopting
suitable recharge and management measures to over-
come overexploitation and pollution to facilitate sus-
tainable groundwater quality of the basin.
Acknowledgments One of the authors, I. Jasmin, thanks the
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India
for granting Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) to pursue re-
search on groundwater.
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