Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

SPRING WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS USING WATER QUALITY INDEX AND GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGY IN TAKOLI GAD WATERSHED, TEHRI GARHWAL, UTTARAKHAND, INDIA

Nidhi Chhillar and Varun Joshi

Abstract

Water quality assessment in remote rural regions is regularly not taken on need as compared to metropolitan ones. On the other hand, domestic activities such as bathing, washing, and so on in close proximity to water sources might contaminate the water. Water quality must be assessed at periodic intervals in such circumstances in order to reduce the impact of water contamination. Samples of spring water were analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, bicarbonate, chloride, nitrate, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and total hardness. The outcomes were validated by comparing with WHO and BIS criteria for drinking water quality. Spatial mapping of the spring water quality parameters was generated by utilizing the Inverse Distance Weighting interpolation tool. The geochemical attributes of spring water have been performed. Schoeller and Stiff diagram showed that Mg2+ and HCO3 - are predominant ions among cations and anions. The piper trilinear diagram implied that Ca (Mg) HCO3 type, bicarbonate type, and magnesium type as dominant water. According to the findings of the Water Quality Index (WQI), 36% of samples fall into the excellent category, while 57% of the spring samples fall into the good category making them ideal for drinking. Irrigation indices have shown that groundwater is ideal for irrigation. This investigation revealed that spring water of the Takoli gad watershed is mineralized, chemically consumable, and appropriate for irrigation. This study illuminates the pristine state of the spring water quality in the rural regions and consequently is suitable for water quality assessment in various rural communities.