Assessment of Groundwater Quality in Dakshin Mand River Basin, District Satara, Maharashtra (India)

Abstract

The aim of present study is the analysis of hydrochemical groundwater samples from Dakshin Mand river basin for the suitability of agriculture and drinking purpose. For this purpose 22 representative groundwater samples were collected from dugwells in the Dakshin Mand river basin. Dakshin Mand River is the tributary of Krishna River which covers an area about 213.10 km2. It is 5th order stream basin having 15.04 km length running over Deccan Trap basalts. The physicochemical parameters such as pH, EC, TDS, Hardness, Ca++, Mg++, Na+, K+, HCO3-, Cl-, SO42- and NO3- were determined from the groundwater samples. All the obtained results were compared with standard limits recommended by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and World Health Organizations (WHO). Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), Sodium Percent (Na %), Kelly Ratio (KR) and Residual Soluble Carbonate were used for assessing the suitability of groundwater for irrigation purpose. The sequence of major cations and anions dominance in groundwater from the study area have been observed as Ca++ > Na+ > Mg++ > K+ and HCO3- > Cl- > SO42- > NO3-, respectively. The results exhibited water quality deterioration due to anthropogenic activity such as excessive use of fertilizers in agricultural practices and improper waste water drainage system in the studied area.