Geospatial Assessment of Groundwater Quality in Udhampur District, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Abstract

In the present study, spatial variation of groundwater quality parameters in Udhampur district, Jammu and Kashmir, India, has been evaluated for drinking water purposes using geographic information system techniques. In total, 211 GW samples were collected from different sources, i.e. dug wells, springs and tube wells covering the entire district during the pre- and post-monsoon seasons. The GW samples were analysed for various physico-chemical parameters like pH, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, iron, fluoride, sulphate, nitrate, potassium, chloride, sodium, bicarbonate and total dissolved solids using the standard methods. Inverse distance-weighted interpolation technique has been applied for predicting the spatial distribution of the GW parameters. The Canadian Council of Ministers for the Environment Water Quality Index, generated to assess the spatial variability of the groundwater quality, revealed that the groundwater in the area is of good quality falling within the permissible limits and therefore potable during both the pre- and post-monsoon seasons.