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Assessment of groundwater quality in the flood plains of upper Palar River, India

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Abstract

Groundwater is generally presumed to be good for human consumption and is used as a main source of drinking water. Although there are numerous reasons for groundwater pollution, anthropogenic sources are considered as the prime ones. In this study, twenty-two groundwater samples were collected from the flood plains of upper Palar River during the pre- and post-monsoon seasons to assess the extent of pollution and effects on human health. Physico-chemical characteristics of groundwater were analyzed and compared with those of drinking water standards recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The Piper’s trilinear diagram shows the nature of alkali earth with the high contents of alkalies and prevailing sulphate in the present samples. The univariate statistics and correlation analysis were performed to find out the relationships between the variables. The tannery effluents, solid wastes and sewage were suspected to be the predominant sources of pollution in the area.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, School of Geosciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, 620024, India

    Rutharvel Murthy Kuppuraj & Kumaraswamy Kuppanagounder

  2. Department of Environmental Management, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, 620024, India

    Dhanakumar Selvaraj, Solaraj Govindaraj & Mohanraj Rangaswamy

  3. Department of Geology, National College, Tiruchirappalli, 620001, India

    Jawahar Raj Narayanasamy

Authors
  1. Rutharvel Murthy Kuppuraj
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  2. Dhanakumar Selvaraj
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  3. Solaraj Govindaraj
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  4. Mohanraj Rangaswamy
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  5. Jawahar Raj Narayanasamy
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  6. Kumaraswamy Kuppanagounder
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Correspondence to Kumaraswamy Kuppanagounder.

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Kuppuraj, R.M., Selvaraj, D., Govindaraj, S. et al. Assessment of groundwater quality in the flood plains of upper Palar River, India. Chin. J. Geochem. 31, 15–23 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-012-0544-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-012-0544-8

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