Groundwater quality assessment for domestic and irrigational suitability in kallada river basin, South Kerala, India

Physico-chemical assessment of drinking water quality as well as agricultural utility of Kallada River Basin, Kerala has been done in various stations for post-monsoon (August 2010) and pre-monsoon (April 2011) seasons. The open well samples were collected from the 107 wells around this region and analysed for pH, EC, TDS, major cations and anions. The results were evaluated and compared with BIS water quality standards. Majority of the samples is showing an acidic pH, making only 10% samples of post-monsoon and 17% samples of pre-monsoon suitable for human consumption. Except pH all other parameters are within the permissible limit of BIS. The irrigational parameters like EC, SAR values, %Na and RSC have been worked out to know the suitability of the groundwater for irrigational purpose. The USSL diagram for the post-monsoon and pre-monsoon seasons depicts that the water has low to medium salinity hazard and low sodium hazard. According to the classification of Wilcox (1955) most of the samples for both the seasons are safe for irrigation. The RSC values are predominantly negative, indicating that sodium builtup is unlikely, since sufficient calcium and magnesium is in excess of what can be precipitated as carbonates. The overall quality of the water in the study area is suitable for drinking and irrigation purpose. © 2018 Technoscience Publications. All rights reserved.