Monitoring groundwater quality status using geo-spatial technique: a case study on Malwa region Punjab, India

Groundwater development is highly essential in order to make a region socio-economically sustainable. The quality of the groundwater is a major concern as it is continuously degrading due to natural and anthropogenic sources. In recent years, groundwater reserves of Malwa region, Punjab in India is significantly degrading in terms of quality. Therefore, a scientific study was conducted to assess the suitability of the groundwater of Malwa region with respect to domestic and agricultural use. For this purpose, 129 groundwater samples were collected from the domestic, agricultural and industrial sectors of most populated areas existing in this region in each month from February to June 2019 and chemically analysed in accordance with the standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, American Public Health Association. A strong significant positive correlation between total dissolved solid and conductivity, total dissolved solid and chloride, magnesium and total hardness, calcium and total hardness is observed during analysis. Spatial maps were also plotted for each water quality parameter using the Inverse Distance Weighted interpolation technique. The suitability of groundwater for domestic purposes was quantified through water quality index and it is observed that only 10.85% of total samples are suitable for drinking purposes. Similarly, multiple agricultural water quality indicators were used to check the suitability of groundwater for agricultural purposes and all analysed samples have poor irrigation quality. It is concluded from analysis that the groundwater quality of Malwa region is varying from poor category to unfit for use with respect to both domestic and agriculture use. © Islamic Azad University (IAU) 2021.