Determination of the utility of groundwater with respect to the geochemical parameters: a case study from Tuticorin District of Tamil Nadu (India)

In modern living, rapid development has created an increase in demand for groundwater. An endeavor has been made to understand the hydrogeochemical parameters to determine the utility of groundwater. This situation is severe in coastal hard rock aquifers due to the influence of salinity ingression a...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Singaraja, C., Chidambaram, S., Anandhan, P., Prasanna, Mohan Viswanathan, Thivya, C., Thilagavathi, R., Sarathidasan, J.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/46938
_version_ 1848757697426489344
author Singaraja, C.
Chidambaram, S.
Anandhan, P.
Prasanna, Mohan Viswanathan
Thivya, C.
Thilagavathi, R.
Sarathidasan, J.
author_facet Singaraja, C.
Chidambaram, S.
Anandhan, P.
Prasanna, Mohan Viswanathan
Thivya, C.
Thilagavathi, R.
Sarathidasan, J.
author_sort Singaraja, C.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description In modern living, rapid development has created an increase in demand for groundwater. An endeavor has been made to understand the hydrogeochemical parameters to determine the utility of groundwater. This situation is severe in coastal hard rock aquifers due to the influence of salinity ingression and other anthropogenic influence. A total of 135 groundwater samples were collected from the coastal aquifer of the Tuticorin district and analyzed for major cations and anions during premonsoon (PRM) and postmonsoon (POM). The ions analyzed were used to determine the drinking, agricultural and domestic utility of groundwater. The electrical conductivity (EC) contour shows that the groundwater quality is poor along the coast. The parameters were compared with WHO (Guidelines for drinking water quality recommendations, WHO, Geneva, 2004) standard for drinking purpose. A groundwater classification method has been developed for groundwater in the area using a dynamic water quality index (WQI). On the basis of the WQI so computed, groundwater in the area has been spatially classified into “excellent,” “good,” “poor” and “very poor” to “Unsuitable” water types variation lithologywise. Corrosivity ratio and hardness were noted to be higher and found to be unsuitable in majority of the regions for domestic purpose. Higher fluoride concentration was noted in the central part of the study area represented by complex geology comprising of the hornblende biotite gneiss and charnockite. Sodium percentage (Na%), sodium absorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate, Wilcox (Classification and use of irrigation waters, US Department of Agriculture, Washington, 1955), permeability index, residual sodium bicarbonate, magnesium hazard, Kelly’s ratio and potential salinity also indicate that most of the groundwater samples are not suitable for irrigation purposes.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T09:32:13Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-46938
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:32:13Z
publishDate 2014
publisher Springer
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-469382017-09-13T14:03:56Z Determination of the utility of groundwater with respect to the geochemical parameters: a case study from Tuticorin District of Tamil Nadu (India) Singaraja, C. Chidambaram, S. Anandhan, P. Prasanna, Mohan Viswanathan Thivya, C. Thilagavathi, R. Sarathidasan, J. Domestic and irrigation Coastal aquifer Electrical conductivity Water quality index Groundwater In modern living, rapid development has created an increase in demand for groundwater. An endeavor has been made to understand the hydrogeochemical parameters to determine the utility of groundwater. This situation is severe in coastal hard rock aquifers due to the influence of salinity ingression and other anthropogenic influence. A total of 135 groundwater samples were collected from the coastal aquifer of the Tuticorin district and analyzed for major cations and anions during premonsoon (PRM) and postmonsoon (POM). The ions analyzed were used to determine the drinking, agricultural and domestic utility of groundwater. The electrical conductivity (EC) contour shows that the groundwater quality is poor along the coast. The parameters were compared with WHO (Guidelines for drinking water quality recommendations, WHO, Geneva, 2004) standard for drinking purpose. A groundwater classification method has been developed for groundwater in the area using a dynamic water quality index (WQI). On the basis of the WQI so computed, groundwater in the area has been spatially classified into “excellent,” “good,” “poor” and “very poor” to “Unsuitable” water types variation lithologywise. Corrosivity ratio and hardness were noted to be higher and found to be unsuitable in majority of the regions for domestic purpose. Higher fluoride concentration was noted in the central part of the study area represented by complex geology comprising of the hornblende biotite gneiss and charnockite. Sodium percentage (Na%), sodium absorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate, Wilcox (Classification and use of irrigation waters, US Department of Agriculture, Washington, 1955), permeability index, residual sodium bicarbonate, magnesium hazard, Kelly’s ratio and potential salinity also indicate that most of the groundwater samples are not suitable for irrigation purposes. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/46938 10.1007/s10668-013-9502-9 Springer restricted
spellingShingle Domestic and irrigation
Coastal aquifer
Electrical conductivity
Water quality index
Groundwater
Singaraja, C.
Chidambaram, S.
Anandhan, P.
Prasanna, Mohan Viswanathan
Thivya, C.
Thilagavathi, R.
Sarathidasan, J.
Determination of the utility of groundwater with respect to the geochemical parameters: a case study from Tuticorin District of Tamil Nadu (India)
title Determination of the utility of groundwater with respect to the geochemical parameters: a case study from Tuticorin District of Tamil Nadu (India)
title_full Determination of the utility of groundwater with respect to the geochemical parameters: a case study from Tuticorin District of Tamil Nadu (India)
title_fullStr Determination of the utility of groundwater with respect to the geochemical parameters: a case study from Tuticorin District of Tamil Nadu (India)
title_full_unstemmed Determination of the utility of groundwater with respect to the geochemical parameters: a case study from Tuticorin District of Tamil Nadu (India)
title_short Determination of the utility of groundwater with respect to the geochemical parameters: a case study from Tuticorin District of Tamil Nadu (India)
title_sort determination of the utility of groundwater with respect to the geochemical parameters: a case study from tuticorin district of tamil nadu (india)
topic Domestic and irrigation
Coastal aquifer
Electrical conductivity
Water quality index
Groundwater
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/46938