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The article focuses on assessing groundwater quality for drinking purposes in Malda District, India, using Water Quality Index (WQI) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques. Topics include the physicochemical characteristics of groundwater, the identification of hazardous elements and their impact on water quality, and the use of GIS to enhance spatial understanding and management of groundwater resources.

The main purpose of this study is to assess the urban lake water quality along the coastal region of Miri City, Sarawak, East Malaysia. This study concentrates on the hydrochemical characteristics and the mechanisms controlling the suitability of the lakes for domestic, irrigation, and industrial purposes. A total of 15 lake water samples were collected and analysed for physical parameters, major ions, nutrients, BOD, COD, and heavy metals. The results show that Lakes 6, 7, and 8 commonly exceeded the National Drinking Water Quality Standards (NDWQS) limits, particularly in physical parameters and major ions. The cation dominance was Na+ > Mg2+ > K+ > Ca2+, while the anion dominance was Cl− > HCO3− > SO42−. It is inferred that lake 8 was affected by the seawater intrusion through the inlet flow, resulting in an excess concentration of ions present in that lake. The concentrations of heavy metals in these lakes were considerably low, indicating that most of them were from the geogenic source. Most of the lakes were NaCl water type and the main controlling mechanism were weathering and ionic exchange processes, with anthropogenic impacts. Based on the calculated Water Quality Index (WQI) according to the National Water Quality Standards (NWQS), all lakes were suitable for irrigation use (class IV), while most of these lakes fell under the "polluted" index. Apart from that, based on the National Lake Water Quality Standards (NLWQS), all lakes were classified under category D, indicating that the lakes must be kept in good condition. According to the irrigation quality indices, lakes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were the most suitable for irrigation purposes. As for metal pollution indices (HPI and HEI), lakes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 15 were considered safe with low pollution status. From the multivariate statistical analysis, it is deduced that both anthropogenic and geogenic impacts mostly influenced the quality of these lake waters. The outcome of this study will help the policymakers under the national water department in sustainable management of water resources in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water quality index (WQI) is a globally accepted guideline to indicate the water quality standard of any groundwater resource. Water levels in existing groundwater sources are declining in several coastal zones. Therefore, for monitoring water quality and improving water management, the prediction and identification of groundwater status by an effective technique with higher accuracy is urgently needed. Therefore, this research aims to find an effective model for WQI prediction by comparing entropy and critic weight-based WQI (ENW-WQI and CRITIC-WQI) with multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network (MLP-ANN) technique and also to identify contaminated zones using GIS. Initially, 1000 water sampling datasets with concentrations of several water quality parameters of different coastal blocks of eastern India during 2018 to 2022 are considered for the estimation of ENW-WQI and CRITIC-WQI. It shows 65% and 67% of the samples are excellent to good for drinking. ENW-WQI and CRITIC-WQI-based MLP-ANN models have been established considering different data portioning and hidden neuron numbers. Input variables and appropriate dataset partitioning with hidden neurons for models obtained from correlation and trial–error analysis. Spatial distribution maps are also produced for calculated WQIs using inverse distance weighted interpolation approaches. Three fitting models are obtained: ENW-WQI-MLP-ANN, CRITIC-WQI-MLP-ANN-I and CRITIC-WQI-MLP-ANN-II. CRITIC-WQI-MLP-ANN-II model (data ratio 85:15, network structure 6–12-1, R2 = 0.986, NSE = 0.98, and error rate 0.49%) provides the best accuracy in WQI prediction. The GIS-based WQI maps record several areas related to drinking water quality. The results of this research can help in planning the provision of safe drinking water in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater quality in arid areas is an issue that requires attention, as often the only source of irrigation and drinking. In this manuscript, a research area of 4590.2 Km2, which depicts important problems of water scarcity and water-poor quality in an arid environment, was assessed. Therefore, GIS-based mapping of the region was carried out to examine the adequacy of groundwater quality. Forty-three (43) groundwater samples were gathered in the fieldwork in March 2022, and various physicochemical limits were analysed within Gibbs and Piper diagrams. Likewise, spatial distribution maps of twelve (12) main water quality parameters were performed using the Inverse Distance Weighted interpolation method (IDW) in the ArcGIS tool. The Water Quality Index (WQI) has been calculated considering Algerian drinking water quality standards and to know the suitability of water for human consumption. A Pearson's test was carried out to explore the correlations among the different variables. Major results of the study showed that, among anions and cations, sulphates ( S O 4 - 2 ) and calcium (Ca) were the most common ions. The WQI showed that 30.23% of the samples have excellent water quality, 62.79% belong to the good water category, and 6.97% fall into the poor water quality category. Thus, the correlation study between many physicochemical properties also showed significant positive relationships between WQI, TDS, EC, TH, SO 4 - 2 , Ca + + , and Mg + + . In agreement with the Gibbs diagram, most of the samples fall into the field of rock-water interaction dominance. Hence, this research shows that using GIS and WQI as joint approaches could be useful tools for the decision-making process of local and international authorities and water resources management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was carried out in the Khandbari Municipality, Sankhuwasabha District, Eastern Nepal to document the spring location and assess the water quality of the spring water for drinking and irrigation purposes. A total of 85 springs were mapped, which are located from 274 to 2176 m in altitude. Spring water samples were collected from 33 springs in the pre-monsoon (November, 2021) and 31 springs in the post-monsoon (March, 2022). Correlation matrices, t-test, principal component analysis (PCA), Piper diagram, Gibbs diagram, water quality index (WQI), United States Salinity Laboratory (USSL) diagram, and Wilcox diagram were applied for evaluating the spring water. All the physicochemical parameters were within the Nepalese National Drinking Water Quality Standard (NDWQS) and drinking water quality guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) except for pH in the pre-monsoon and iron in the post-monsoon season. The main contributors to the groundwater are Na+, Ca2+, Cl-, total dissolved solids (TDS), and total hardness, which exhibit significant correlations with electrical conductivity (EC) similar to TDS, suggesting their common source of origin. Based on the WQI, spring water is excellent in the post-monsoon and excellent and good in the pre-monsoon season. Furthermore, the spring water is excellent for irrigation purposes except for the percent sodium in the post-monsoon and the magnesium ratio in the pre-monsoon season. Gibbs diagram illustrates that spring water is mainly governed by rock and precipitation dominance in some springs. The PCA indicates that anthropogenic activities (mixing of human waste and agricultural run-off in the spring water) are the main causes of contamination. Piper trilinear diagram demonstrates carbonate dissolution and silicate weathering as major processes for controlling the spring water chemistry. The study reveals that 62.5% of spring water was contaminated with microbes. For benthic macroinvertebrates, 18 springs were sampled, where nine orders and 17 families were recorded in the pre-monsoon and six orders and ten families in the post-monsoon season. The main influencing variables for macroinvertebrate assemblages are elevation, discharge, NO3-, and NH3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is one of the most important natural resources for all living organisms, including humans. Water consumption is increasing over the years as a result of the increase in the number of people, and at the same time, the causes of pollution of surface water sources increase. Water pollution is one of the most important causes of diseases and the transmission of infection to the organisms that use it. Also, the quality of agricultural crops is linked to the quality of the water used for irrigation. As a result, there was a need to monitor and evaluate the main water sources to maintain the quality of their water suitable for use by humans and other organisms. As is well known, it is difficult to evaluate the water quality of large samples with concentrations of many parameters using traditional methods, which depend on comparing experimentally determined parameter values with current standards. As a result, over the past century and the present, many methods of assessing water quality have emerged. This research aims to introduce the most important indices of water quality used at present to assess the quality of surface water for drinking and irrigation purposes, as well as the history of these methods and their development over time and their most important advantages, in addition to a group of the most important research that used these methods during the past few years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater in Morocco is restricted because of the semiarid to arid climatic conditions; it is under threat from organic and inorganic pollution. Furthermore, it is considered the only source of potable water as well as having different usages, making its quantitative and qualitative protection an urgent priority. The present study focused mainly on the anthropogenic impact on the natural resources and groundwater quality around Zagora city. Fifteen samples were collected from wells during rainy and dry seasons in 2 years 2020–2021 and the analysis of the groundwater quality of studied stations. The suitability of the aquifer Fezouata was investigated using drinking and irrigation water quality indices. The results showed that sulfate and chloride are the dominant anions in the groundwater samples. While the mean abundance of major cations is Na + > Mg2+ > Ca2+ > K+, the sodium ion is dominant and K + is the least abundant. The physicochemical parameters show that conductivity, nitrate, and sulfate exceed the limit fixed by WHO. Hydrogeochemical plots indicate that 93% of samples belong to Na-Cl facies and only 7% are mixt Cl-Mg-Ca in 2021, the results are similar except for two samples which are 13% belong Cl-Mg-Ca. The Water Quality Index suggests that 28.55% are good quality water, 23.90–47.55% are poor and very poor quality water, respectively, and 40.24% are unsuitable in 2020. Furthermore, the WQI of the 2021 campaign showed that only 17.48% were considered good quality water and 38.94% (43.58%) were poor or very poor quality water, respectively. However, 33.21% are unsuitable. Based on irrigation indices, the majority of groundwater samples can be used for agricultural purposes, notably those of the upstream part of the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The current study was focused on hydrogeochemistry of Ambagarh chowki groundwater. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the water quality for drinking and irrigation uses, hydrogeochemistry of groundwater. For this purpose, various physicochemical parameters like pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total hardness (TH), chloride (Cl−), fluoride (F−), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), bicarbonate (HCO3−), and sulfate (SO42−) were analyzed. The major dominating ions in groundwater was found as cation Ca2+ > Mg2+ > Na+ > K+ and as anions in order of HCO3− > Cl− > SO42− > F−. The pH of sampled groundwater was ranged from neutral to alkaline in nature (7.0–8.8). Among, all-analyzed parameters in groundwater were safe for drinking purpose except few ions and bicarbonate content was also exceeding the permissible limit which was not suitable for drinking purpose. The potential health hazard element fluoride was varied from 0.1 to 2.2 mg/l and positively associated with the pH, Na+, and HCO3− content in groundwater. The drinking water quality index (WQI) was fluctuated between 12.22 and 185.56 and reported that most of the groundwater was suitable for drinking purpose except only one sample was unsuitable for drinking. Irrigation water quality assessment of the area was performed by evaluating as sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), permeability index (PI), Kelly ratio (KR), magnesium hazard ratio (MHR), percent sodium (%Na), potential salinity (PS), and residual sodium carbonate (RSC). Whereas most of the groundwater were good and suitable for irrigation use excluding PI (3.70%), MHR (40.74%), RSC (22.22%) and PS (7.41%) were unsuitable for continuous irrigation. Hydrogeochemistry of groundwater evaluated with correlation, Piper, Gibbs, and other geochemical analysis. The Piper trilinear diagram reflects the Ca (Mg)-HCO3− type water was mainly contributed approximately 90% of entire sampled groundwater. The different ions in groundwater were originated from the rock water interaction through silicate and carbonate weathering of minerals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous monitoring of drinking water quality is essential in terms of the levels of heavy metals and toxic substances, especially in developing countries like Pakistan. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate groundwater quality in residential areas of the Rajanpur District, Pakistan. Groundwater samples (n = 200) were collected from various sites in the study area and analyzed by in situ tests (pH, EC, TDS, temperature, and turbidity), and the concentration of 32 dissolved elements and ions was also analyzed. The results showed that higher concentrations of dissolved elements are the primary reason for poor drinking water quality. A few measured parameters (TDS~992 mg L−1 and EC~1921.15 µS/cm) exceeded the permissible limits of the World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland) in most of the samples. Elements that had higher values than the allowable limits in most of the samples were calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), bicarbonates (HCO3), sulfate (SO4), chlorides (Cl), manganese (Mn), and strontium (Sr), with average values of 113 mg L−1, 223 mg L−1, 282 mg L−1, 367 mg L−1, 175 mg L−1, 69 mg L−1, and 1291 mg L−1, respectively. The measured parameters that had no significant issues in terms of drinking water quality were aluminum (Al), nitrite (NO2), phosphate (PO4), pH, and turbidity. The levels of potentially toxic elements such as arsenic (As), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), and copper (Cu) (average ~2.179 mg L−1, 1.659 mg L−1, 0.092 mg L−1, and 1.032 mg L−1, respectively) were found to be lower than the drinking water guideline values of the WHO. The statistical analysis revealed weak correlations possibly due to multiple sources and localized variations. The physicochemical analysis-based WQI values for all groundwater samples were much lower at the residential sampling locations and in industrial settings, indicating poor water quality. The elevation model indicated that as water moves in the aquifer in the general direction of west to southeast, it gets concentrated by mineral dissolution, with geogenic sources having a major impact on the hydrochemistry. Hence, regular monitoring of water quality is required through advanced technology to overcome groundwater deterioration issues. The quality of water is poor for drinking purposes and the health of the residents of the Rajanpur District may be at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water quality index is an effective tool for determining water quality. All water treatment plants in the Basrah governorate source their water from the Shatt al-Arab River. A water quality index (WQI) for both raw and treated water for the Al-Jubalia water treatment plant is obtained in order to assess its acceptability as a source of residential water supply and the performance of water treatment facilities. From January to December 2019, the physicochemical parameters were observed for the calculation of WQI for the annual and four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and autumn. The pH, turbidity, electric conductivity, total alkalinity, total hardness, Ca, Mg, Cl, SO4, TDS, Na, and K are the parameters that were considered in this study. In winter, spring, and summer, the results show that raw and treated water were unsuitable for home, industrial, and irrigation needs. In autumn, only the treated water was classified as good water according to WQI categories. As a result, the quality of the Al-Jubalia WTP treated water supply is unfit for human consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater risks driven by population growth and industrialization in metropolitan cities have become a worldwide problem. Faisalabad is Pakistan's third largest city with a population of more than 2 million and is renowned for its diverse industries. Many factories in the area dump their untreated effluent into nearby drainage systems, having a direct negative effect on the marine ecosystem. This research focuses on the Madhuana drain and Khurrianwala industrial region of Faisalabad to investigate groundwater quality status. Sixty water samples from groundwater bore wells and open wells were obtained, and all these samples were subjected to lab experiments for physical and chemical analysis. Sixteen physiochemical parameters, namely, electrical conductivity (EC), pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, carbonate, Ca2+, Fe, HCO3−, Cl−, Mg2+, SO24−, As, Cr, Cu, and Mn, were examined. To provide a comprehensive picture of water quality from a human perspective, we calculated the water quality index (WQI) by integrating 16 physiochemical criteria. The results revealed that a larger proportion had poor drinking quality due to direct releases of toxins by industries. It was observed that 87% of the water samples showed an unsuitable status of groundwater for drinking purposes in terms of pH, EC, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Cr. The results of this study could be used to build and construct wastewater treatment plant facilities for the Madhuana drain, reducing pollution loads on the drain and river, as well as contaminant seepage rates into groundwater. The research's resulting maps will help policymakers to manage groundwater supplies more efficiently for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We surveyed and selectively sampled the major water sources in Bamyan city and the surrounding area to assess the water quality. Water quality measurements were taken in situ and more samples were collected for laboratory analysis from canals, rivers, springs, wells, and water supply systems. In urban areas, water supply systems provide 36% of the drinking water, but in rural areas, this source accounts for only 7% of drinking water supplies. Wells comprise 33% and 15% of urban and rural water supplies, respectively, while canals and rivers are modest water sources for Bamyan communities. Basic water quality parameters, such as pH, EC, and TDS, were variable with high values in some areas. Most of the samples fall in the range of potable water, but some had a high TDS and EC indicating that there is the potential of contamination. Values of pH were mostly were mostly in the range of drinking water (6.5–9.5). A Drinking Water Quality Index (DWQI) was calculated to better understand the water quality issues for the potable water supplies. Subsets of representative samples were analyzed for 17 selected chemical elements and other constituents. Barium (Ba) was detected in almost all of the water samples, while arsenic (As) was detected in about 9% of the analyzed samples, and this was mostly associated with thermal springs. Concentrations of Mn and Cu in some samples exceeded that of the water quality standards, while Zn concentrations were below tolerable limits in all of the samples. Most of the analyzed water samples were hard, and several samples showed evidence of microbial pollution in urban areas. Rivers originating from snow and glacier melting had excellent quality for drinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater quality is the result of all the chemical and hydrological reactions and processes that affected on the water. The Water Quality Index (WQI) is a mathematical tool that describes water quality to assess the levels of water usage. This study attempts to develop a new method for the groundwater quality index (GWQI). It is based on the standards of the (WHO, 2006) and the (IQS 417, 2001) to assess the groundwater and validity of wells water for drinking in the eastern bank of Nineveh Governorate. 139 well water samples were taken to measure 12 physical variables (pH, E.C. and T.D.S.) and chemical variables (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, SO4 2, HCO3 2-, Cl-, NO3 -, and T.H.). Nine variables were use to calculate the WQI, excluding non-influential parameters (potassium, pH, and bicarbonate) that fall within the permissible ranges for drinking in WHO and IQS 417, based on the statistical treatments. The study developed and modified equations and classifications were used to reflect an accurate quality of the groundwater in the region. The (GWQI.3) classified depending on (WHO, 2006), 37% of wells were unsuitable, 57% were very poor, 6% were poor, while the (GWQI.6) was classified as follows: 68% are unsuitable, 30% very poor, 2% poor, depending on (IQS 417, 2001). In general, groundwater in the study area is unsuitable for drinking and civil uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the groundwater quality and spatial distribution of the Basra province in the south of Iraq was assessed and mapped for drinking and irrigation purposes. Groundwater samples (n = 41) were collected from deep wells in the study area to demonstrate, estimate and model the Water Quality Index (WQI). The analysis of water samples integrated with GIS-based IDW technique was used to express the spatial variation in the study area with consideration of WQI. The physicochemical parameters, including pH, sodium (Na+), electrical conductivity (EC), chloride (Cl-), total dissolved solids (TDS), calcium (Ca2+), nitrate (NO3-), sulfate (SO42-), magnesium (Mg2+), and bicarbonate (HCO3-) were identified for groundwater quality assessment. The results of calculated WQI classify groundwater into three sorts. The results of WQI showed that 2.5%, 2.5% and 95% of the groundwater samples were classified as poor/very poor/unsuitable for drinking, respectively. The GIS tools integrated with statistical techniques are utilized for spatial distribution and description of water quality. Correlation analysis of groundwater data revealed that some parameters have actually a relationship that is strong with the other parameters and they share a common source of origin. Multivariate statistical techniques, especially cluster analysis (CA) and factor analysis (FA), were applied for the evaluation of spatial variations of forty-one selected groundwater samples. Cluster analysis confirmed that some different locations of wells have comparable sourced elements of water pollution, whereas factor analysis yielded three factors which are accountable for groundwater quality variations, clarifying more than 72% of the total variance of the data and permitted to group the preferred water quality. Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) models were applied in modeling the water quality index. Comparing different result values of the MLP network suggested that the values of MSE and r for the selected model are 0.1940 and 0.9998, respectively. Finally, it can be revealed that the MLP network precisely predicted the output, i.e. the WQI values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The groundwater in the Timahdite–Almis Guigou area flows through fluvio-lacustrine and volcanic formations of Plio-Quaternary age and Liassic limestone. The groundwater resources in this area are used for drinking water and irrigation of agricultural plots. 18 groundwater samples were collected for this study. The physico-chemical and bacteriological parameters analysed, such as temperature, electrical conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl−, HCO3−, SO42−, NO2−, NO3−, faecal Coliforms, total Coliforms and faecal Streptococci, are used to characterise the quality of the groundwater and its suitability for drinking and for irrigation. The Piper and Gibbs diagrams and the saturation index were used to study the hydrogeochemical characteristics of groundwater. The quality of these was assessed on the basis of bacteriological quantification and water quality index (WQI) for drinking, and calculation of sodium percentage (Na%), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and permeability index (PI) for irrigation. The mineral saturation index in groundwater indicates that only carbonate minerals tend to precipitate, especially in the form of dolomite. On the other hand, the evaporative minerals are still undersaturated. The bacteriological quality and the water quality index (WQI) of this area are considered to be generally good to poor quality, with the exception of a few points, near the public dump of Almis Guigou, plateau of Lamrijate (Timahdite), Aït Hamza and Aït Ghanem, that show significant bacterial contamination and high concentrations of sodium, chlorides and nitrates. According to the calculation of the (Na%), the (SAR) and (PI), the groundwater samples are suitable for irrigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prime objective of this study is to develop a water quality index (WQI) to identify the relationship between the drinking water quality and the prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease of Uncertain Etiology (CKDu) in the Uva Province (UP). For this, all CKDu patients in the province were recorded. 251 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for their major cations and anions. Following this procedure, the spatial distribution maps for CKDu patients, water quality parameters and WQI were generated. The results revealed that, 20.3% of groundwater samples are categorized under "excellent" in terms of the drinking water quality, 21.2% of the samples are categorized under "good", 20.3% of the samples are categorized under "poor", 9.9% of the samples are categorized under "very poor", and 28.3% of the samples are categorized under "unsuitable" in terms of the WQI. According to the results, the most significant correlation was recorded between fluoride content in the samples and WQI (0.96). Statistical analysis showed that the WQI has a strong positive correlation (0.68) with the spatial distribution of CKDu patients in the UP inferring that groundwater quality has a significant effect on the prevalence of CKDu in the UP. Moreover, these maps can be effectively used by decision makers for groundwater quality management activities in the UP, Sri Lanka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is a vital and widely spread component required for sustaining the life. Groundwater is vastly valuable source and it is extremely beneficial for the human beings. But, the toxic elements release from sources such as industries, landfills as well as non-point causes of pollution such as pesticides and fertilizer from the past year showed high levels of pollution in ground water, hence this is very crucial for evaluating the water quality not only for it's existing usage, but also a its capacity to develop as a sustainable source of water for human utilization. In rural areas of India, Groundwater is a significant water-drinking source. In Bhokardan area of Jalna District, quality of ground water is great significance, because it is a key alternative source of domestic supply along with drinking water and peoples residing there facing several water quality issues for drinking purpose. In this current research work, an endeavor has been developed to investigate the quality of groundwater as well as spatial distribution by utilizing Remote Sensing along with GIS approaches. Water quality analysis was performed for developing the quality index of water, by utilizing 12 quality parameters of water like Alkalinity, pH, Electrical Conductivity, Fluoride, Chloride, Nitrate, Sulphate, Potassium, Total Hardness, E. coli, Turbidity and Total Dissolved Solids measured at 35 different selected locations in this research work. Spatial distribution map showed that each region of research area falls under category of "Poor water" and "Very poor water" except some sites at Northern regions of the area which falls under "Good water" category during pre-monsoon, whereas most of the sites from Northern and Southern part of the region shifted category from poor to good water along with very poor to poor water during post-monsoon season. The quality index data of water of the current research disclosed that, the high WQI "Water Quality Index" values in the samples of groundwater were principally due to the occurrence of higher values of turbidity and E. Coli. The higher level of water quality parameters like TH, EC, alkalinity, potassium, TDS, chloride and fluoride were also accountable for high values of WQI in this research work. None of the location falls under excellent quality for water during pre-monsoon as well as post-monsoon season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Akşehir district is one of the regions where significant agricultural production and industrial activities are carried out. Groundwater is the most important water resource in this region used for different purposes, especially for drinking and irrigation water. In order to ensure sustainable water management in the study area, it is necessary to reveal the drinking and irrigation water quality of groundwater and to take precautions and determine the management plans. In the present study, groundwater quality was evaluated using water quality index methods (WQI and IWQI) and statistical analyses to determine the sustainable and most appropriate usage of groundwater. In addition, spatial distribution maps were prepared using GIS for drinking and irrigation WQI assessments of the groundwater. A total of 31 groundwater samples were collected from wells in October 2018 and physicochemical analysis results were evaluated. According to the results obtained with the WQI method, all groundwater samples in the study area are definitely not suitable for use as drinking water. According to the results obtained by the IWQI method, samples S23, S24, S25, S27, S28, S29, and S31 especially are not suitable for use as irrigation water. Statistical evaluations support the results obtained from WQI and IWQI methods. Also, factor analysis indicates that anthropogenic pollution, especially agricultural applications, is effective on the chemical and quality characteristics of groundwater samples in addition to the geological properties. As seen in the spatial distribution maps for WQI and IWQI results, while the quality of groundwaters around Doğruözü and Erdoğdu is not suitable for drinking water, the groundwater quality in the north-east of the study area is also unusable for irrigation water. Consequently, the use of groundwater in the region as drinking water can be dangerous for human health and alternative drinking water resources should be investigated. In addition, in order to ensure the sustainable use of groundwater, it is necessary to control agricultural activities in the region, to monitor the use of pesticides and fertilizers, and to encourage organic farming practices in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater in coastal areas, with surging population and growing settlements, is constantly at risk of pollution. Alappuzha is one of the most well-developed coastal districts in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala and employing various physico-chemical parameters (pH, EC, TDS, alkalinity, hardness, and contents of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, and fluoride), this study aims to evaluate the drinking and irrigation water qualities of its groundwater resources and present their spatial distributions using the GIS platform. In the moderately hard to very hard groundwater of Ca-Mg-SO4 type, the ions dominate with order Ca > Na > Mg > K and HCO 3 > Cl > SO 4 > CO 3 > F. The water quality index (WQI) values (0.85–144, avg., 26.77) established the suitability of drinking water, revealing 53 % and 45 % of samples are lies under the categories of excellent and good, respectively. Only 2 % of the sample are in extremely poor water category. SAR, RSC, Na%, PI, KR and MH indices established that almost all of the groundwater can be used for agriculture, and the samples from northern coast showed vulnerability to contamination. • Groundwater in Alappuzha district (India) contains Ca-Mg-SO4 type. • One-fifth of samples in moderately hard to very hard groundwater categories. • WQI revealing 53 % and 45 % samples under the excellent and good. • The study area groundwater more suitable for dinking and agriculture purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the impact of human agricultural production and climate and environmental changes, the suitability of groundwater for drinking purposes has attracted widespread attention. In order to quantify the hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater in Hailun and evaluate its suitability for drinking purposes, 55 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed. The results show that groundwater in aquifers in the study area is weakly alkaline. The content is in the order HCO3-> Cl-> SO42- for anions, and Ca2+> Na+> Mg2+ for cations. Groundwater chemical type were dominated by HCO3-Ca• Mg, HCO3-Ca• Na, HCO3-Ca, and HCO3 - Ca • Mg • Na. The Gibbs plot, PCA, and CAI-1 index show that ion exchange, rock weathering and evaporation crystallization are the main reasons affecting the water chemical composition in Hailun. The analysis of water samples based on the WQI model revealed that about 69.09%, 25.45%, 1.81%, and 3.63% of the water samples were excellent, good, very poor, and unsuitable for drinking purposes, respectively. The spatial distribution map of water quality index show that most of the groundwater resources in the study area are not polluted and therefore suitable for drinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the impact of human agricultural production and climate and environmental changes, the applicability of groundwater for drinking purposes has attracted widespread attention. In order to quantify the hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater in Changchun New District and evaluate its quality for drinking purposes, 53 shallow groundwater samples were collected and analyzed. The results show that groundwater in aquifers in the study area is weakly alkaline. The abundance is in the order Ca2+ > Na+ > Mg2+ for cations, and HCO3− > Cl− > SO42− for anions. Ca-HCO3•Cl water type dominated the area, constituting about 26.41% of the total samples; Ca-HCO3 water type constituted about 22.64%; Ca•Na-HCO3 and Ca•Na-HCO3•Cl water types constituted 15.09% each, whereas Ca•Na-HCO3•Cl•SO4, Ca-HCO3•Cl•SO4, and Ca-SO4•Cl types made up 22.64% each. Correlation analysis (CA) and principal component analyses (PCA) show that rock weathering and dissolution, and human activities are the main reasons affecting the chemical composition of water in Changchun. The high concentrations of Pb, NO2−, Fe, and Mn must be widely concerned and may become the main environmental geological problems in the area. The analysis of water samples based on the water quality index model revealed that about 5.66%, 56.60%, 15.09%, 18.86%, and 3.77% of the shallow groundwater samples were excellent, good, poor, very poor, and unsuitable for drinking purposes, respectively. The analysis of groundwater samples based on the synthetic pollution index model showed that more than 37.74% of the groundwater samples were moderately polluted. The spatial distribution maps of the water quality index and the synthetic pollution index show that most of the shallow groundwater resources in the study area are clean and suitable for drinking, despite the risks of the shallow groundwater in the southeast of the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization and industrialization enhance the degradation of the groundwater quality due to the discharge of domestic and industrial effluents in the aquatic bodies or on the surface of ground either in treated or untreated form. Therefore, the present study was carried out to assess the groundwater quality at the Laksar block of district Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Groundwater samples (SS-1-10) were collected from the hand pumps of the study area. The sampling site (SS-1) was taken as control. The distance of all sampling sites from control site ranged from 6.3Km to 18.3Km. The samples were analyzed for various physicochemical parameters viz Temperature, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Solids (TS), pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Hardness (TH), Calcium Hardness (CaH), Chloride (Cl), Sulphate (SO4 --), Nitrate (NO3 ---), Acidity, and Iron (Fe) for two years (2017 to 2019). The data obtained after analysis was simplified using Water quality index (WQI). The maximum concentration of TDS, TS, TH, CaH, and Fe was observed at SS-6 that may be due to the direct industrial discharge of Sugar mill effluent on the ground. Based on WQI value, SS-6 (WQI value-150.27) was found most polluted site. Hardness was found above the standard limit (250mg/l) at SS-6 to SS-10. The Fe was also found above the standard limit of WHO and BIS (0.3mg/l) at SS-6 to SS-10. The study may be useful for managing the groundwater quality of the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determination of the drastic changes in water quality is an urgent need in this polluted era and is more essential for the survival of the existing and growing water demand. It has been very difficult to analyze the water quality data. This study focused on the Water Quality Index (WQI) prediction of water samples collected from 1944 different wells surrounding the Vellore district. WQI prediction is carried out by ANN (i.e.) Artificial Neural Networks implementation which has used 15 groundwater variables that are collected in different parts of the Vellore district from 2008 to 2017. If 15 underground variable values meet the desired range then WQI is considered as better and appropriate for drinking. But if any one of the value doesn't meet the desired range then it is not considered as better and hence not suitable for drinking. In this study the pre-processing of the collected data has been completed to reduce the computational time. Further feature extraction techniques are used to extract the required features. The extracted features are passed on to ANN classifiers that possess three activation functions like Tanh, Maxout, and rectifier. The novelty of this paper is that WQI is determined by combining the three activation functions like Tanh, Maxout, and rectifier. A comparative analysis has been performed for proposed work related with various methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater is an important source for drinking water supply in hard rock terrain of Bundelkhand massif particularly in District Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh, India. An attempt has been made in this work to understand the suitability of groundwater for human consumption. The parameters like pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, alkalinity, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, sulfate, chloride, fluoride, nitrate, copper, manganese, silver, zinc, iron and nickel were analysed to estimate the groundwater quality. The water quality index (WQI) has been applied to categorize the water quality viz: excellent, good, poor, etc. which is quite useful to infer the quality of water to the people and policy makers in the concerned area. The WQI in the study area ranges from 4.75 to 115.93. The overall WQI in the study area indicates that the groundwater is safe and potable except few localized pockets in Charkhari and Jaitpur Blocks. The Hill-Piper Trilinear diagram reveals that the groundwater of the study area falls under Na+-Cl−, mixed Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl− and Ca2+- HCO 3 - types. The granite-gneiss contains orthoclase feldspar and biotite minerals which after weathering yields bicarbonate and chloride rich groundwater. The correlation matrix has been created and analysed to observe their significant impetus on the assessment of groundwater quality. The current study suggests that the groundwater of the area under deteriorated water quality needs treatment before consumption and also to be protected from the perils of geogenic/anthropogenic contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safe and reliable drinking water is one of the major prerequisites for a healthy life, as water is of fundamental importance for life on earth. Microbiological contamination is an important waterquality problem faced all over the world. Pathogen contamination of rivers that are primarily used for drinking water is an urgent consideration. For this study, seven samples were taken from different sites at different seasonal periods across four months: January, March, July, and October, all in 2019. The physico-chemical evaluation focused on the pollution of water caused by human activities. The Canadian Council of Ministries of the Environment Water Quality Index methodology (CCME WQI) was used in this study for rating the water quality index (WQI) of the Euphrates River. Physicochemical parameters including pH, temperature, nitrate ion, calcium, magnesium, total hardness, sulfate ion, chloride, total dissolved salts, electrical conductivity, alkalinity, and turbidity were determined. Water samples were analyzed for the presence of trace elements (copper and zinc). The microbiological examination included the determination of counts of bacteria Enterobacteriaceae cultivated at 36°C--37°C for 18--24 h. The results of the physico-chemical analysis and mean microbial counts of the investigated water samples were compared with the set standards (WHO guidelines for drinking water quality). Most of the physico-chemical term data indicated poor quality concerning turbidity, conductivity, and sulfate ion concentration with values much higher than the permissible standards. Water pH varied 7.6 with 574.714 ± 65.688 mg/L dissolved solids, EC (1,105.821 ± 143.986 µS/cm), tur (19.289 ± 2.845 NTU), and hardness (405.8 ± 40 mg/L) (within limit). Calcium (106.629 ± 7.244 mg/L), magnesium (43.232 ± 4.439 mg/L), and sulfate (299.964 ± 11.397 mg/L) exceeded permitted levels whereas nitrate ions were below the limit (3.564 ± 0.342 mg/L). The concentrations of trace elements, including zinc, in the current water samples were >0.01 mg/L. The bacteriological quality of most water samples analyzed in the current study did not meet the standards set for drinking water as the results showed that the count of total aerobic bacteria had reached the maximum level (114 x 10-6) cell/mL. The results of this study, therefore, show that the bacteriological data and physico-chemical parameters of the different water samples had values beyond the maximum tolerable limits recommended by the WHO for drinking water. The second part of this work focused on the spatial variability of the WQI of the Euphrates River study area, and the water samples reveal that the majority fall under marginal to poor WQI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This current investigation has been aimed in the estimation of the present status of physico-chemical characteristics of tube wells (TWs), shallow wells (SWs), and Helmand River water (HRW) in districts 1, 2, and 3 of Lashkar Gah city, Helmand, Afghanistan. The physico-chemical parameters like water temperature (Temp.), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, total dissolved/suspended solids (TDS/TSS), turbidity, total hardness (TH), total alkalinity (TA), nitrates, sulfate, chemical oxygen demand (COD), salinity, chlorides, magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), and ammonia were determined and statistical analysis has been performed. The analysis was performed with a (16×16) correlation matrix between water quality parameters with an intension to minimize the intricacy and understanding the large data set. The significant correlation was tested by applying the t-test. Parameters were compared with their permissible standard limit as described by the World Health Organization (WHO) and international agencies. The water quality index (WQI) revealed that water samples were in the classification of very poor, poor, and good quality. The water samples were classified ranging from very poor to good quality defined as the WQI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The groundwater quality for drinking purposes was assessed using statistical index of Akola and Buldhana districts, Maharashtra, India. The sampling was performed in both the seasons (pre-monsoon and post-monsoon), a total of nine water quality parameters (pH, TDS, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cl, HCO3 and SO4) were estimated. Water quality index (WQI) method was used to classify groundwater on the basis of score, and WQI maps were generated using ArcGIS 10.3 software. These thematic maps of WQI have given detailed information of groundwater suitable areas for drinking purposes during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon. Majority of water samples falls in the category of suitable zones for drinking purposes. The aqueous geochemical modeling has been given statistics of mineral exposed during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon of the Mahesh river basin area. Geochemical model WATEQ4F has been used to compute the saturation index of different minerals of the study area. The saturation index of the carbonates helps us to know the thermodynamic stability of groundwater and to discover out the geochemical movements of groundwater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was aimed to investigate the development and evaluation of artificial intelligence techniques by using multilayer neural network. Levenberg–Marquardt back propagation (LMA) training algorithm was applied for calculating drinking water quality index (WQI) for Euphrates river (IRAQ). The transfer functions in the artificial network model were tangent sigmoid and linear for hidden and output layers, respectively. Eleven neurons presented for good prediction for results of (WQI) with a coefficient of correlation >0.97 and statistically calculated WQI values, inferring that the model predictions explain 94% of the variation in the calculated WQI scores. The WQI score of the Euphrates was 142 considered as poor. The analysis of sensitivity revealed that the total dissolved solids (TDS) is the highest effective variable with the relative importance of (26.3%), followed by electrical conductivity (EC) (23.1%), pH (17.3%), calcium (Ca) (0.149), chlorides (Cl) (11.2%), Hardness (5.7%), Temperature (1.3%), respectively. It can be concluded that the model presented in this study gives a useful alternate to WQI assessment, which use sub indices formulae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the northern part of Algeria, the intensive exploitation of groundwater resources and pollution has considerably affected the aquifer water quality, especially in rural areas where groundwater is the main source of water supply for most uses. This study was performed to evaluate the groundwater quality and its suitability for drinking and irrigation purposes through the hydrogeochemical study on the groundwater in Bougâa region (Northeastern Algeria). Fourteen groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for pH, T, EC, TDS, and major ions. Most samples are suitable for drinking based on the permissible limits of the Bureau of Indian standards (Indian standard specification for drinking water (IS 10500: 2012), but only 35 % of the samples are good enough for drinking purposes based on the water quality index of the groundwater. Assessment of groundwater samples from various parameters and methods such as "Electrical conductivity, Sodium adsorption ratio, Soluble sodium percentage, Magnesium adsorption ratio, Residual sodium carbonate, Permeability index, Kelly's ratio, Wilcox's diagram, and US salinity laboratory classification" showed that groundwater in the area is chemically suitable for irrigation uses. The Piper trilinear diagram suggests that the groundwater mainly belongs to the hydrochemical facies Ca–Mg–Cl and Na–Cl. The combination of ionic ratios, Gibbs plots, and saturation indices show that water–rock interaction, particularly the dissolution of carbonate, evaporation minerals, and ion exchange processes affects hydrogeochemistry of the area. Additional processes such as evaporation and anthropogenic pollution from various sources can also have major impacts on groundwater salinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• WQIs are effective water quality reporting tools. • SWOT analysis highlights the potential and limitations of indices. • A narrative review supports the application of the SWOT analysis. • CCMEWQI shows high flexibility is the most usable index. • Index application requires consistent monitoring. Water quality indices (WQIs) are well-established tools for water quality management and effective community communication. However, distinct WQIs construction processes give rise to differences in their measurability and flexibility. The present study objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of commonly used WQIs, applied to measure drinking water quality. Their benefits and limitations were discussed based on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. The most frequently used WQIs were the Horton (HWQI), National Sanitation Foundation (NSFWQI), Tiwari and Mishra (TMWQI), and Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCMEWQI) WQIs. The SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat) analysis showed that the main limitations of these indices derive from their data aggregation model and from input parameter availability and selection. Among the WQIs studied, the CCMEWQI showed the highest potential and flexibility. These findings may serve as a driving force for water monitoring and surveillance systems to review their data collection and information production processes to achieve WQI full potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of present study is to assess the quality of the groundwater at selected villages of Laksar Block on the basis of Water Quality Index (WQI). During the present study maximum value of TS (790.6±28.26 mg/l) was found at site S1, while the minimum value (705.3±5.59 mg/l) was found at site S4. The maximum average value of TDS (548.7±30.37 mg/l) was found at site S5, while the minimum value (352.8±5.59 mg/l) was found at site S4. The maximum average value of pH (7.8±0.58) was found at site S1, while the minimum value (6.9±0.70) was found at site S6. The maximum average value of DO (6.5±0.57) was mg/l found at site S4, while the minimum value (6.1±0.57) was mg/l found at site S6. The maximum average value of TH (396.9±65.94) was mg/l found at site S3, while the minimum value of TH (223.3±5.59mg/l) was found at site S4. The maximum average value of CaH (331.3±32.57mg/l) was found at site S1, while the minimum value of CaH (142.4±2.88mg/l) was found at site S4. The maximum average value of Chloride (137.3±8.72mg/l) was found at site S1, while the minimum Chloride average value (53.4±2.83mg/l) was found at site S4. The maximum value of Sulphate (45.11±0.78mg/l) was found at site S5, while the minimum value (28±2.24mg/l) was found at site S4.

Freshwater quality and quantity are some of the fundamental requirements for sustaining human life and civilization. The Water Quality Index is the most extensively used parameter for determining water quality worldwide. However, the traditional approach for the calculation of the WQI is often complex and time consuming since it requires handling large data sets and involves the calculation of several subindices. We investigated the performance of artificial intelligence techniques, including particle swarm optimization (PSO), a naive Bayes classifier (NBC), and a support vector machine (SVM), for predicting the water quality index. We used an SVM and NBC for prediction, in conjunction with PSO for optimization. To validate the obtained results, groundwater water quality parameters and their corresponding water quality indices were found for water collected from the Pindrawan tank area in Chhattisgarh, India. Our results show that PSO–NBC provided a 92.8% prediction accuracy of the WQI indices, whereas the PSO–SVM accuracy was 77.60%. The study’s outcomes further suggest that ensemble machine learning (ML) algorithms can be used to estimate and predict the Water Quality Index with significant accuracy. Thus, the proposed framework can be directly used for the prediction of the WQI using the measured field parameters while saving significant time and effort.

This study was carried out on Euphrates River, which is one of the main sources of water in Iraq to assess the water quality of Southeast of DhiQar province. Water samples were collected monthly and seasonally at three stations from October 2016 to September 2017. Eight parameters were analyzed, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, total hardness, total dissolved solid, hydrogen ion, turbidity, chloride and electrical conductivity. Monthly variations of water quality index were differing among months in three stations of study area in Euphrates River. The lowest value of WQI in station 1 was poor (1.32) in June, and the highest (2.30) in November, the value was indicated a good water. At station 2, WQI values ranged from 1.28 in August to 2.15 in February as good. The lowest of WQI (1.29) in June and the highest (1.58) in February was recorded at station 3. The ANOVA for water quality index was found statically significant (F= 0.008, P<0.05) of three stations and showed statistically significant seasonal variations of water quality index among study stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Kirkuk University Journal for Scientific Studies is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper assesses the groundwater quality and evaluates its quality for drinking purpose using GIS technology and Water Quality Index (WQI) approach and compare with WHO and Ethiopia water quality standards in Adigrat area (38.94 km²) in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Chemical composition of the groundwater in the area varies widely depending up on the human activities. A total of 22 (13, 4, 4 and 1 from Bore hole, shallow wells, 4 handug well and reservoirs respectively), Depth integrated groundwater samples were collected by purpose sampling technique. These samples were analyzed for their Physico-chemical components. 26 physical and chemical parameters were assessed to evaluate the groundwater quality for drinking use and the Na+, Ca+2 and Mg+2 from cation and Cl-, HCO3- and SO4-2 from anions are the major ions. The groundwater is suitable for drinking purpose with respect to pH, EC, TDS and hardness as CaCO3 as well as physical parameters but, with parameters of Alkalinity and total hardness, iron, calcium, magnesium and chromium concentration, the groundwater needs some water treatment for quality adjustment. It is also suitable for drinking purpose taking in to account all anionic concentrations (SO4-2, PO4-2, NO3-2, NO2-, Cl-, F- and HCO3-). The ionic concentration and the chemical parameters, generally is high around the town and the old waste disposal sites and in the highly cultivated agricultural fields where point and non sources of domestic, factories as well as feltrizer beside the nature sources. 95.45% of the water quality index is classified under excellent but, 4.55% indicated the water quality index poor and unsuitable class and the groundwater is suitable generally with some restrictions. The objectionable groundwater is restricted around the town with main of contaminants domestic and factories wastes. The hydro chemical data reveal that the groundwater of the study region consists of six hydro chemical facies, Including Ca-Mg-HCO3-SO4, Ca-SO4-HCO3, Mg-Ca-SO4-HCo3, Ca-Mg-SO4-HCO3, Mg-Ca-HCO3-SO4and Ca-HCO3-SO4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eğirdir Lake basin was selected as the study area because the lake is the second largest freshwater lake in Turkey and groundwater in the basin is used as drinking water. In the present study, 29 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for physico-chemical parameters to determine the hydrochemical characteristics, groundwater quality, and human health risk in the study area. The dominant ions are Ca 2+, Mg2+, HCO32-, and SO4². According to Gibbs plot, the predominant samples fall in the rock-water interaction field. A groundwater quality index (WQI) reveals that the majority of the samples falls under good to excellent category of water, suggesting that the groundwater is suitable for drinking and other domestic uses. The Ca-Mg-HCO3, Ca-HCO3, Ca-SO4-HCO3, and Ca-Mg-HCO3-SO4 water types are the dominant water types depending on the water-rock interaction in the investigation area. Risk of metals to human health was then evaluated using hazard quotients (HQ) by ingestion and dermal pathways for adults and children. It was indicated that As with HQ ingestion >1 was the most important pollutant leading to non-carcinogenic concerns. It can be concluded that the highest contributors to chronic risks were As and Cr for both adults and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at evaluating the groundwater quality within the urban reach of Gridhumal river sub-basin. 29 groundwater samples were collected with different categorization during post-monsoon (POM) and summer (SUM) seasons respectively. Various physical and chemical parameters viz., pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Total Alkalinity, cations such as, Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Na + , anions such as NO 3 − , SO 4 2− , F − , Cl − were analyzed and were compared with the standard guidelines recommended by WHO, ICMR, BIS. GIS techniques were used to find out the distribution of groundwater quality on land use pattern. Results indicated that the EC, TDS, TH, Na + , Cl − , NO 3 − level in groundwater samples was above critical limits, and it was found to be very high in wastewater irrigated areas in the urban reach of Gridhumal river sub-basin. Geochemical analysis of groundwater samples shows the predominance of Na-Cl and NaHCO 3 types. The geochemical data was interpreted using WQI for drinking water quality and were found not suitable for drinking purposes. With Wilcox diagram, only 30% and 21% groundwater samples show suitability for irrigation for post monsoon and summer season. The US Salinity Laboratory Staff plot depicted that all the post monsoon groundwater sources are C3-S3, C4-S4 type and C4-S4 for the summer season. 17% samples show C3-S1 type for both the season. From the HC analysis in the groundwater samples have been classified into two groups, one is ionic and another metals group. PCA results revealed the existence of seven significant principal components indicating how processes like rock-water interaction and anthropogenic activities influence groundwater quality. Seven factors which together explain 83.33% and 77.85% of the total variance in the post monsoon and summer season respectively. In comparing heavy metal contents present in water samples with BIS/WHO standards, Pb, Cr and Cd concentrations were found to be present above the maximum permissible limits and were found in the following order Cd < Pb < Fe < Cr < Mn < Zn. By results, it is concluded that groundwater is not suitable for irrigation and drinking purposes due to long term use of wastewater, anthropogenic activities, over-extraction of groundwater and changes in land use pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Appraisal of water quality index and integrated water quality index (IWQI). • Unit weight calculation based on analytical hierarchy process (APH). • Development of a "comprehensive water quality index (CWQI)" for groundwater. • Development of six distinct water classes based on CWQI. • CWQI is robust and superior to those of WQI and IWQI. The popular water quality index (WQI) and the recently developed integrated water quality index (IWQI) were used to evaluate the potability of 32 groundwater samples collected from Nalagarh valley, Himachal Pradesh, India. But their analytical results were surprisingly contrasting. While WQI classified 14 of the samples as 'excellent' and 17 as 'good', IWQI put all of them under 'unsuitable' category. This led to the development of a new index, called 'comprehensive water quality index (CWQI)', on the basis of analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Unit weights and sub-index values of both relaxable (that have both acceptable and permissible limits) and non-relaxable (that have only one guideline value) parameters were considered in the calculation process. Two segments were calculated: P CWQI (positive CWQI) and N CWQI (negative CWQI) with their scores varying between 0 and 1 and 0 and (−0.840), respectively. Grading of water quality from drinking perspective was done essentially with N CWQI scores, such as 'excellent' (when N CWQI = 0), 'good' (N CWQI = 0 to −0.21), 'marginal' (N CWQI = −0.21 to −0.42), 'poor' (N CWQI = −0.42 to −0.63), 'very poor' (N CWQI = −0.63 to −0.84) and 'unacceptable' (N CWQI = <−0.84). In fact, when N CWQI = 0, higher the P CWQI , better the water quality. When two water samples had the same N CWQI score, they were graded by their respective P CWQI score. When two water samples had the same magnitudes of P CWQI and N CWQI , they were graded equally. On the basis of this classification, groundwater in majority of the study area was classified under 'good' category for drinking purposes in absence of an alternative source of water. Compared to WQI and IWQI, CWQI proved itself to be a robust and comprehensive technique for assessing the groundwater quality. It was hence recommended to be used universally for groundwater quality assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental Research, Engineering & Management / Aplinkos Tyrimai, Inžinerija ir Vadyba is the property of Institute of Environmental Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Studies regarding the temporal-spatial variability of water source quality are crucial for protecting urban drinking water and for urban planning. With 41 typical drinking water sources in Guangdong Province as the research object, this study investigated temporal-spatial trend of different kinds of water sources in different seasons, a subject that has received little attention. The water quality index (WQI) method was used to study the quality of water sources, and the seasonal Kendall testing method was used to analyze the trends in changing water quality. The following results were obtained: (1) Overall, 22 water sources showed tendencies towards improvement and 13 showed a steady trend towards improvement. In addition, 6 sources faced water quality deterioration problems. The quality of the water source and its variations in eastern, northern and western Guangdong are satisfactory. However, the water sources with the poorest quality or that exhibited deteriorative trends were concentrated in the Pearl River Delta. (2) More water sources exhibited improving quality during the non-flood season than during the flood season. In addition, this effect was more pronounced in river-type source water than in reservoir-type source waters. During the flood season, 5 water sources exhibited deteriorative trends. Of these water sources, 3 were river-type. In addition, 18 water sources had improving water quality. Of these, 12 were river-type. During the non-flood season, only 2 river-type water sources exhibited a deteriorative trend. In addition, 19 water sources showed water quality improvements. Of these, 14 were river-type sources. (3) According to the calculated WQI and its temporal variations, this paper suggests that water sources in Guangdong can be classified into four groups, high WQI, saltatory WQI, fluctuant WQI, and low WQI. In addition, the WQI method and seasonal Kendall testing methods are appropriate for investigating the temporal-spatial variability of water source quality and can provide guidance for regional water source planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Danube River is the main source of drinking water for Galati City urban agglomeration (300000 inhabitants). This study focused on calculated water quality index (WQI) from Danube river nearby Galati city. Water quality index indicates the water quality taking into consideration physic chemical parameters. The purpose was to assess the quality of raw water during a spring season. Water samples from the Danube River were collected and physic-chemical parameters including pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, total alkalinity, total hardness, total dissolved solids, nitrates, dissolved oxygen and biological oxygen demand were measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The suitability of groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes is potentially disturbed by a variety of factors, including climate change, salinization and risky agricultural practices. The region of Kebilli (Southwestern Tunisia) is marked by an arid climatic condition with a Saharan tendency. However, the spatial partition of the stress factors was not addressed so far in spite of the increasing demand for groundwater to the agricultural and domestic activities which supports the social and economic pressure. Therefore, Water Quality Index (WQI) and Fuzzy Logic models were applied to evaluate the groundwater quality in the Kebilli region for both drinking and irrigation purposes using the geographic information system (GIS) environment to analyze the spatial partition of various factors. According to the analytical results, the calculated values of WQI are between 83.421 and 436.858 for drinking and range from 50 to 77 for irrigation purposes. The prepared Fuzzy spatial maps show that the "desirable" and "acceptable" classes of groundwater quality samples are situated in the center of the studied region, while the "undesirable" quality of groundwater is observed mainly at the Southeastern sectors due to the domestic and agricultural activities besides the over-exploitation of the aquifer. In addition, the Fuzzy membership levels generated into a GIS-based maps give a high correlation of 0.88 and 0.79 with assessed values of WQI for both drinking and irrigation purposes respectively. Grouping analyses also confirm the resulted maps, in turn, the anthropogenic effects coincides globally with the unsuitable areas for both drinking and irrigation purposes. Consequently the perturbations in the fragile environment of the oasis ecosystem are closely related to the deterioration of the groundwater quality and the intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides for agricultural needs in the Kebilli region. The research results may improve the understanding of the groundwater sustainability and as support decision makers for planning the water management and its protection. • Comparison between Fuzzy logic results and WQI gives reliable results. • Fuzzy Logic plays an important role in groundwater quality assessment. • Multi-criteria evaluation approach is powerful to assess the water suitability. • GIS integrated Fuzzy logic and WQI helps delineate appropriate water pumping areas. • The results are helpful to ensure the sustainability of groundwater management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Groundwater in the western, southern and central parts of the Sbiba plain is suitable for drinking, domestic and irrigation uses. • The deterioration of groundwater quality is linked to natural processes: water-clay interactions, dissolution and evaporation effects. • Anthropogenic pollution resulted from agricultural activities has a slight effect on WQI. • Tritium helps to define three recharge periods: from actual to 18 years, from 30 to 56 years, and older than 56 years. Hydrochemical and isotopic tracers of groundwater of the Mio-Plio-Quaternary aquifer in the Sbiba plain, central west Tunisia, are used to assess the groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation purposes as well as identifying sources of salinity variation. In this plain, the evaporation and water-rock interactions including dissolution of evaporite and carbonate minerals and cation exchange are the principal hydrochemical processes controlling the groundwater salinization and water types. Moreover, a secondary effect of salinity increase is due to the return flow of irrigation water and mixing between old and recent water within the aquifer. These phenomena are proved by the environmental isotope study. Several water quality parameters for drinking and irrigation purposes were applied. Water Quality Index (WQI) values indicate that 50 % of groundwater samples are suitable for drinking usage with "excellent" and "good" categories. According to Percent Sodium (%Na), Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) and Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC), all groundwater samples are suitable for agricultural irrigation activities. Based on the electrical conductivity (EC) and Wilcox classification, it appears that only 57 % of water samples are suitable for irrigation use; more than 50 % of these samples are "good" and "permissible". In general, groundwater in the western and central parts of the Sbiba plain is suitable for drinking and irrigation purposes. However, an attention should be accorded to groundwater salinization processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]