Development and evaluation of a water quality index for groundwater quality assessment in parts of Jabalpur District, Madhya Pradesh, India

Groundwater is an important source for drinking water supply in Jabalpur District, Madhya 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 (EC), Copper (Cu), Chromium (Cr), Sulphate (SO4), Iron (Fe), Nitrate (NO3), Chloride (Cl), Total Hardness (TH), Total Alkanity (TA), and Sodium (Na) were analyzed to estimate the groundwater quality. The water quality index (WQI) has been applied to categorize the water quality, which is quite useful to infer the quality of water for the people and policy makers in the concerned area. The WQI in the study area ranges from 17.90 to 176.88. According to the WQI rating, Sites 1, 3, and 4 are not appropriate for drinking water or have low water quality and Site 2 have moderate drinking condition, whereas Site 5 is excellent drinking condition. The current study suggests that the groundwater of the area under deteriorated water quality needs treatment before consumption.