Hydrochemical appraisal of groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation: a case study in parts of southwest coast of Tamil Nadu, India

• Published in: Applied water science 2021-03, Vol.11 (3), p.1-20, Article 53
• Main Authors: Stanly, Rajkumar, Yasala, Srinivas, Oliver, D. Hudson, Nair, Nithya. C., Emperumal, Karthikeyan, Subash, Arunbose
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Aquifers; Calcium; Calcium ions; Chemical analysis; Coastal aquifers; Comparative Law; Contamination; Drinking water; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Geoelectricity; Geophysical method; Groundwater; Groundwater quality; Hydrogeochemistry; Hydrogeology; Industrial and Production Engineering; International & Foreign Law; Irrigation; Irrigation water; Magnesium; Nanotechnology; Original Article; Parameters; Permeability; Private International Law; Quality assessment; Saline water intrusion; Salt water intrusion; Seawater; Sodium; Sounding; Southwest coast; Spatial variations; Sulphates; Two dimensional models; Vertical electrical sounding; Waste Water Technology; Water analysis; Water Industry/Water Technologies; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Water quality; Water quality assessments; Water quality index; Water sampling
• ISSN: 2190-5487; 2190-5495
• DOI: 10.1007/s13201-021-01381-w

The quality of groundwater standards in Muttom–Mandaikkadu coastal stretch is the focus of the present study, whose coastal aquifers are particularly at risk due to intrusion of marine water. Thirty groundwater samples were scrutinized for the assessment of physical and chemical parameters during January and June. Hydrochemical characteristics were spatially depicted to understand the spatial variations such as (pH, EC, TDS, Na + , K + , Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ , SO 4 2− , HCO 3− , and Cl − ). Drinking water quality index based on those 11 parameters and irrigation water quality index based on EC, Na%, sodium adsorption ratio and permeability index was used to assess the water quality for drinking and irrigation, respectively. These results demonstrate that dominant hydrochemical facies for groundwater in both months are Na-K-Cl-SO 4 type and Ca-Mg-Cl-SO 4 type. The USSL diagram endorses that most of the water samples belong to low-medium salinity with low sodium hazards. Cl − /HCO 3 − ratio indicates that the majority of the samples show low to moderate seawater intrusion in the study area. Additionally, six vertical electrical sounding measuring points (Schlumberger array) were carried out in order to determine the number of the underlying layers, aquifer depths and their thicknesses as well as its influence by the marine water. The geophysical self-potential measurements suggest that the groundwater in the Manavalakurichi area is prone to contamination by seawater intrusion, confirmed by the use of Schlumberger vertical electrical sounding. For better understanding, the subsurface layers were shown in a 2D model using the constructed geoelectrical cross section.