Determining Groundwater Quality for Drinking and Irrigation Purposes using Various Indices and Finding out Parameters Responsible for the Pollution of Groundwater at a Stretch of Tons Riverin Uttarakhand using Factor Analysis

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine whether groundwater is suitable for drinking or not in the part of Tons River Basin, which is located at Dehradun in Uttarakhand. Groundwater samples from sixteen locations were collected in May 2012 and May 2019 by Central Ground Water Board at Dehradun. Fifteen physico-chemical parameters were evaluated for these groundwater samples using standard methods of groundwater quality analysis. In this study the parameters responsible for the pollution of groundwater at the sampling site were investigated using factor analysis. Also, the groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation purposes were assessed using water quality index, seven irrigation water quality parameters and criteria given by Richard, Wilcox, Wescot & Ayers.