Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kerala, India.
Source: Proceedings of 7th International R&D Conference - Development and Management of Water & Energy Resources - 4–6 February 2009, Bhubaneswar, Orissa.
The quality deterioration of groundwater resources in urban area is a serious issue to be managed scientifically. Due to the shortage in protected water supply, a major portion of the population in the Calicut Corporation in Kerala is depending groundwater for their domestic water supply needs. Hence, the groundwater quality in the Calicut Corporation area has special significance and needs great attention. The seasonal physico-chemical and bacteriological data of the groundwater samples collected at predetermined locations of the Corporation area forms the attribute database, based on which, spatial distribution maps of the critical water quality parameters were prepared using curve fitting method in GIS. The suitability of groundwater for drinking purpose was assessed through the estimation of Water Quality Index (WQI) of each of the sampling points. The WQI is found varying from excellent to unfit for drinking purposes. The spatial distribution map of WQI shows that a major portion of the study area WQI is greater than 50, indicating pool; very poor or, unfit of drinking purposes. The predominant land use of the study area consists of residential settlements of various densities followed by water bodies, agriculture lands, parks and public purpose lands. In dense residential areas and places close to surface water bodies, the water quality rating is observed to be greater than 50, indicating the impact of urbanization on water resources. Management strategies were also suggested to control the water quality deterioration in the study area.
Water Quality Index (WQI), Geographical Information System (GIS)
