Effect of industrialisation on the ground water quality of greater Visakhapatnam district of Andhrapradesh, India

Assessment of ground water quality plays an important role in its protection as well as in its quality conservation not only for present but also for its future consumption. The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation area can make an ideal choice, particularly to study the effect of industrialisation on ground water quality. To assess the quality of ground water, ten locations have been identified and ground water samples are collected. In all areas, TA, TDS, chloride, sulphates, TH, Ca, sodium, chromium, lead, nickel, cobalt are above the acceptable limits in pre and post monsoon periods. This confirms the quality of ground water is controlled by local geochemical reactions. Generally, the concentrations of most parameters decreases in the samples collected in post monsoon period indicating ground water is recharged during monsoon. Presence of heavy metals has been observed in samples of several locations both in pre monsoon and post monsoon period. But their concentration not necessarily decreased in the post monsoon period. The ratio of heavy metals concentration to TDS is not at all correlated. Better management options for discharging the effluent from industries are suggested to improve the ground water quality.