Assessment of Groundwater Quality Index Using Geographic Information System in Parts of Rural Ajmer and Bhilwara Districts of Rajasthan, India

The present study was conducted to evaluate the groundwater quality for drinking purpose in selected locations of rural Ajmer and Bhilwara districts of Rajasthan, India. A total of 30 groundwater samples were collected during June 2015 and the samples were analysed for physicochemical properties, major cations and anions in the laboratory using the standard procedures of the American Public Health Association. Major ions like Ca+2, Mg+2, Na+, K+, Cl−, NO3− and SO4−2 were calculated. The results of the study are illustrated with the help of descriptive statistics, Piper trilinear, Durov diagram, and geospatial mapping and water quality index (WQI). This work aimed to understand the status of groundwater quality and the spatial distribution of parameters to recognize the quality of drinking water. The results show that majority of sampling point clusters in the Piper diagram fall in the NaCl zone. WQI was used to classify the samples in different classes as per their suitability for drinking purposes. It is observed that most of the samples fall in the water unsuitable for drinking purposes category and few samples are in the very poor water category.