Groundwater Quality Through Multi-Criteria-Based GIS Analysis: Village Level Assessment

Groundwater quality deterioration is becoming a very vital issue among various environmental problems in the present decades. Good quality of groundwater helps in healthy living status and high crop yield. A village level study is the need of the hour. The present study analyzes the groundwater quality of different villages in Kashipur block of Purulia district in West Bengal. Water samples were collected from 52 bore wells in this study area in two different seasons (pre-monsoon and post-monsoon). Chemical properties of the water samples (pH, EC, TDS, TH, TA, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, SO42−, HCO3−, CO32−, Fe, K+, and F−) were measured by various methods, and these values were analyzed to indicate different irrigation water quality by SSR, SSP, MAR, and KR method. The overall groundwater quality was analyzed by the PIG (Pollution Index of Groundwater) method for both the seasons. PIG values vary from 0.46 to 1.50 in the pre-monsoon season and from 0.38 to 1.38 in the post-monsoon season. 73.07% of the samples indicate insignificant pollution, 26.92% of the samples indicate low pollution, and only 0.01% of the samples show high pollution in the pre-monsoon season. The spatial distribution map was prepared using kriging interpolation technique on ArcGIS platform. PIG values of post-monsoon season show 67.30% of samples fall under the insignificant pollution zone, 32.69% of samples fall under the low pollution zone, and only 0.01% of samples indicate a high pollution zone. A statistical method such as summary statistics and correlation matrix was used to understand the interdependence or magnitude of each variable to the others in two climatic seasons. Results clearly defined that anthropogenic and geogenic conditions mainly determine the quality of groundwater. Mapping of the PIG zone by GIS techniques helps to show the influence of geological and anthropogenic sources on the quality of groundwater in the study area.