Ground-Water Quality Assessment for three Coastal-Islands of India with the help of Water Quality Index (WQI)

Abstract

Ten Physico-Chemical Parameters i.e., pH, TDS, Chloride (Cl-), Total hardness (TH), Sulphate (SO4), Calcium (Ca+), Magnesium (Mg+), Nitrate (NO3), Bicarbonates (HCO3) and Fluoride (F-) as per APHA standard, were Chosen to perform a comparative analysis on the Remote areas like Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Diu islands, and Lakshadweep, though, rich in minerals, Bio-diversity, Energy, habitat, etc., the Water Management in these areas is quite complicated. Rarely, conditions are normal, Surface Water can appear on these islands in the form of Fresh-water Lagoons. In Most cases, Islanders rely on Ground water. Secondary data from Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) will be used to calculate Water Quality Index (WQI). BIS Standards will be used to rank the hosen locations from all the three states. The Objectives of this paper is to estimate the WQI for aforementioned islands and rank the districts/locations chosen into five classes i.e., Excellent, Good, Poor, Very Poor and Unsuitable for Drinking. This paper also finds the highest correlated Physico-Chemical Parameters. It was found that WQI values ranges from 36.458 to 51.876 for Andaman and Nicobar Islands, whereas, they ranged from 207.43 to 1463 for Diu Islands and 31.351 to 54.419 for Lakshadweep Islands. Unfortunately, this paper finds no such locations where water has been classified as excellent or suitable for drinking.