Abstract
Spatial distribution of pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), fluoride and total iron content of ground water samples collected from the muvattupuzha river basin, Kerala, India, has been studied for pre monsoon and post monsoon periods of year 2001. Results showed the groundwater of the basin is acidic for which the pH values ranged between 5.5 and 8.0. Average EC was found to be less than 100 μS/cm, for most of the study region. The pre monsoon minimum and maximum TDS were found as 25.6 and 227.84 mg/L respectively, where as post monsoon values ranged between 16 and 162.56 mg/L. The relatively low EC and TDS values found both during the seasons in the lateritic terrain of the river basin signifies the lower residence time of ground water with the country rock. This makes the groundwater quality of this river basin as good. Pre monsoon season samples showed high total iron content than that during the post monsoon period. During the study period values of the fluoride contents were found to be within the permissible limits.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
APHA: 1985, Standard Methods for the Analysis of Water and Waste Water, 16th edn., American Public Health Association, Washington, DC.
Applin, K. R. and Zhao, N.: 1989, ‘The kinetics of Fe (II) oxidation and well screen encrustation’, Ground Wat. 27(2), 168–174.
Aravindan, S.: 1999, ‘Integrated hydrogeological studies in hard rocks aquifer system of Gadilam river basin’, Tamil Nadu, India, Ph.D Thesis (unpublished), Bharathidasan University, p. 110.
Ashley, R. P. and Burely, M. J.: 1994, ‘Controls on the occurrence of fluoride in the groundwater in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia’, in: H. Nash and G. J. H. McCall (eds), Groundwater Quality, 17th Special Report, Chapman and Hall, pp. 45–54.
CESS: 1984, Resource Atlas of Kerala, Centre for Earth Science Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
CGWB: 1989, ‘Basic data of borewells drilled in Meenachil and Muvattupuzha river basins’, Technical report, FSP 1988–1989.
CGWB: 2002, ‘Groundwater balance. Mass awareness programme in Ernakulam district on January 5th 2002 by CGWB, Kerala region’, Thriruvananthapuram, Kerala.
CGWB: 2003, ‘A study on seawater ingress in the coastal aquifers in parts of Alleppey and Ernakulam districts’, Kerala, Technical report, AAP 2000–2001, p. 29.
Davies, J.: 1994, ‘The hydrogeochemistry of alluvial aquifers in central Bangladesh. Groundwater Quality’, in: H. Nash and G. J. H. McCall (eds), 17th Special Report, Chapman and Hall, pp. 9–18.
ISI: 1983, Indian Standard Methods of Sampling and Test (Physical and Chemical) Methods for Water Used in Industry, p. 122.
Karanth, K. R.: 1987, Groundwater Assessment Development and Management, Tata Mc Graw-Hill, New Delhi, p. 720.
Langmuir, D.: 1997, Aqueous Environmental Chemistry, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey, p. 600.
Lloyd, J. W. and Heathcote, J. A.: 1985, Natural Inorganic Hydrochemistry in Relation to Ground Water —An Introduction, Clarendon Press, Oxford, p. 296.
Rao, N. and Ramadurai, S.: 1970, ‘Systematic geo-hydrological survey of the coastal plains in Malapuram, Trichur and Ernakulam Districts, Kerala state’, GSI report.
Raghunath, R. Sreedhara Murthy, T. R. and Raghavan, B. R.: 2001, ‘Spatial distribution of pH, EC and total dissolved solids of Nethravathi river basin, Karnataka state, India’, Pollu. Res. 20(3), 413–418.
Singhal, B. B. S. and Gupta, R. P.: 1999, Applied Hydrogeology of Fractured Rocks, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, p. 400.
Smedly, P. L.: 1992, ‘Relationship between trace elements in water and health with special reference to developing countries’. Interim Report 1992 BGS. Tech., Report WD/92/39, p. 33.
Trivedi, R. K. and Goel, P. K.: 1986, ‘Chemical and biological methods for water pollution studies’, Environmental Publication, Karad.
Venugopal, T. N.: 1998, ‘Hydrogeological investigation in the Arkavathi river basin —A tributary of Cauvery river’, Karnataka, Ph.D Thesis (unpublished), Mysore University, p. 224.
White, A. F., Benson, S. M., Yee, A. W., Woiienberg, H. A. and Flexser, S.: 1991, ‘Groundwater contamination at Kesterson reservoir, California: geochemical parameters influencing selenium mobility’, Wat. Resource Res. 27, 1085–1098.
WHO: 1984, ‘Guidelines for drinking water quality’, Recommendations, Geneva.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Laluraj, C.M., Gopinath, G. Assessment on Seasonal Variation of Groundwater Quality of Phreatic Aquifers – a River Basin System. Environ Monit Assess 117, 45–57 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-006-7675-5
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-006-7675-5