Groundwater Quality Analysis in Selected Regions of Visakhapatnam : Implications for Safe Drinking and Irrigation

Groundwater comes to the rescue as an important source of water to be consumed and used to irrigate fields, especially, where there is little surface water availability. Nonetheless, its quality is greatly influenced by anthropogenic processes and natural geochemical processes. This research paper assesses the quality of groundwater, in the select areas in Visakhapatnam, India with regards to act of drinking and irrigation. The physicochemical indicators were determined from the data, with specific indices. These included Entropy Water Quality Index (EWQI), Nitrate Pollution Index (NPI), and Index of Pollution (IOP) all of which were used to evaluate the dimension of potability. The aspect of suitability of irrigation was determined with the help of Permeability Index (PI) , Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR). The research findings revealed that in some specific areas, the ground water quality in these areas is qualitatively good, whereas, there are other areas, it surpasses the acceptable threshold levels in terms of parameters like -hardness, chloride, TDS, and sodium, which implies to adopt strategies to treat and manage them. The contribution of the research highlights the importance of frequent groundwater observation to achieve sustainable use of the groundwater both agricultural use and consumption for humans.