IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology (IOSR-JESTFT)

e-ISSN: 2319-2402,p- ISSN: 2319-2399.Volume 10, Issue 6 Ver. I (Jun. 2016), PP 51-55
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Water Quality Mapping of Coastal Aquifers in Central Part of

Geology and Environment science, Christ college, Irinjalakuda

Abstract: The coastal tract of central Kerala, India comprises of Tertiary sediments and the phreatic aquifer
here acts as an important source of drinking water. The most important climatic feature in the region is the
monsoon, which has great influence on the quality of the groundwater. Water samples were collected during
pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons from open wells and quality analyses including bacteriological studies
were carried out. Groundwater quality maps were prepared based on GIS. The groundwater quality
classification maps of the study area reflect the areal extent of each zone accurately and the variations in each
parameter. Application of GIS further helped in delineating the potential potable groundwater zones of the area.
The study revealed the inferior quality of groundwater in most of the coastal belt and also prevalence of E. coli
in drinking water.
Keywords: coastal aquifer, groundwater quality, GIS

I.

Introduction

Groundwater is one of the most important natural resources necessary for humanity. It is vital for the
existence of mankind but faces acute shortage. Groundwater is that invisible supply of water that seeps beneath
the surface of the ground, collects in natural underground reservoirs known as aquifers, and is the source of
water in springs and wells. It provides almost a third of all freshwater on earth. It is threatened, however, by
pollution, water mismanagement and exploding populations just as the world's remaining sources of freshwater
are endangered. Groundwater resources are dynamic in nature as they grow with the expansion of irrigation
activities, industrialization, urbanization etc. As it is the largest available source of fresh water lying beneath the
ground it has become crucial not only for targeting of groundwater potential zones, but also monitoring and
conserving this important resource. The expenditure and labour incurred in developing surface water is much
more compared to groundwater, hence more emphasis is placed on the utilization of groundwater, which can be
developed within a short time. Besides targeting groundwater potential zones it is also important to identify
suitable sites for artificial recharge usage cycle. When the recharge rate cannot meet the demand for water, the
balance is disturbed and hence calls for artificial recharge on a country wise basis (Sameena et. al. 2000). With
the world's population explosion, increasing pollution and wide-scale mismanagement of freshwater supplies, a
critical water shortage may occur within the next 50 years and hence counter-measures are essential. The slow
penetration of pollutants has been called a "chemical time bomb." It threatens humankind. Another danger is
that of saltwater intrusion: the displacement of fresh water in coastal aquifers by seawater. The problem is acute
in some coastal regions and for small islands. India with its long coastline also faces this problem. Another
important aspect is water quality. Improvements in existing strategies and the innovation of new techniques
resting on a strong science and technology base will be needed to eliminate the pollution of surface and ground
water resources, to improve water quality and to step up the recycling and re-use of water. Science and
technology and training have also important roles to play in water resources development in general. Water is
one of the most crucial elements in developmental planning. As the country prepares itself to enter the 21st
century, efforts to develop, conserve, utilize and manage this important resource have to be guided by national
perspectives.
The problems faced by the coastal zone of Kerala, where the present study area falls, are unique among
all other states of India m mainly due to its high density of population and peculiar geological setting. The
hydrogeological environment along this 560 km long coast with its backwater, lagoons, estuaries and barrier
islands is complex in nature. The groundwater development along the coast has been increased many fold during
the last four decades to meet the increase in requirements as a result of population growth, industrial
development and change in lifestyle.
GIS is an effective tool for the integration of various data and hence has multifarious uses in geological
studies. The GIS offers unique opportunities to integrate spatial data from different sources with the natural
resources management models (Goodchild, 1993). GIS has been put to effective use in delineating groundwater
potential zones in many earlier studies, Saraf and Choudhary,(1998); Sarkar et al., (2001); Khan and Moharana,
(2002); Srinivasa et al., (2004). Application of GIS for groundwater resource assessment has also been reported
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Water Quality Mapping of Coastal Aquifers in Central Part of Penisular India Using Geographic..
by Sanjay K. Jain, Rathore, and Sharma, K.D. (2004). Edmund Merem and Yaw Twumasi, (2007) utilized GIS
and Remote Sensing in the Conservation of Pearl River watershed in Mississippi. Asadi et al., (2007) evaluated
the groundwater quality in the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, India using GIS. Ground-Water Quality
Classification was done using GIS Contouring Methods for Cedar Valley, Iron County, Utah by Matt Butler,
Janae Wallace, and Mike Lowe (2002). In the present study GIS has been utilized in deriving a comprehensive
user friendly database of the area which can be used for the integrated water resources management of the area
in future.
The city of Kochi falls in the study area (fig.1) and there are more than 20 major industries on the
eastern outskirts and most of these industries depend on the river Periyar for their water requirements. Even
then, there are a number of bore wells in the industrial areas. Effluents from these industries affect water quality
and scope for further study in this field is vast. Another major problem of the area is the saline water intrusion
through the river Periyar, especially when the daily flow rate through the river is less.
Groundwater is the main source of drinking water supply except in Kochi city and some major towns,
and there is vast potential to develop groundwater in these areas for domestic and irrigation purposes. Proper
development and management techniques are absolutely essential in the use of groundwater for agricultural
purposes. The study area also offers a platform for a comparative analysis of the characteristics of the coastal
area with the corresponding crystallines. The present study area has been selected as it provides immense scope
to contribute to the existing knowledge and practices elsewhere in the coast.
The potential of Geographic Information Systems, although in use for some time, has not been fully
exploited and this tool in conjunction with conventional techniques like geophysical prospecting offers
tremendous scope for further contributing to the existing knowledge on groundwater.

II.

Environmental Setting

The study area lies in the Ernakulam, Alleppey and Trichur districts of Kerala (India). Coastal tracts of
Kerala are formed by several drainage systems. Thick pile of semi-consolidated and consolidated sediments
from Tertiary to Recent age underlies it. These sediments comprise phreatic and confined aquifer systems. The
corresponding hard rock terrain is encountered with laterites and underlain by the Precambrian metamorphic
rocks. Supply of water from hard rock terrain is rather limited. This may be due to the small pore size, low
degree of interconnectivity and low extent of weathering of the country rocks. The groundwater storage is
mostly controlled by the thickness and hydrological properties of the weathered zone and the aquifer geometry.

III.

Materials and methods

Sample collection was carried out following the well laid out procedures in Standard Methods for the
Examination of Water and Waste Water (APHA 1985) Sampling was done covering both pre monsoon (April)
and post monsoon (December) periods. Groundwater samples were collected from 41 dug wells from the study
area. The well locations are shown in the location map, fig.1which also shows the coastal and crystalline belts
separately. The well locations were selected in such a way that a comparative account of the coastal belt and the
crystallines could be made. For bacteriological analysis the samples were collected aseptically in sterilized
bottles and transported to the laboratory in icebox maintaining the temperature at 40 C. Coliform tests were
done within 12 hours of sampling. The samples were analyzed following the standard procedure of water
analysis (ISI, 1964), standard methods for the examination of water and waste water (Lenores et al., 1989) and
standard analytical procedures for water analysis (Anon, 1998). GIS has been used to create spatial distribution
of each element and also for its overlay analysis to generate zonation maps and spatial overlay maps. Zonation
maps of each element, which are accurate and user friendly gives the areal extent of each element as also the
variation between the two seasons (premonsoon and postmonsoon). We also calculated the land-surface-area
percentage of each ground-water class category by building the polygon coverage in ArcInfo and calculating the
corresponding areas. Spatial overlay maps were prepared to know the change in the zonation area of each
element between the premonsoon and postmonsoon periods. Suitability maps of each element as per drinking
water standards prescribed by WHO and the overlay showing variations between the two seasons were prepared.
Range as per WHO standards were input in Arc Map and suitablity zones for each element delineated.
Premonsoon and postmonsoon maps were overlain for suitability. An overlay operation of all the drinking water
suitability maps resulted in the final water quality map. In the present study the water quality map has been
prepared separately for the coastal alluvium and lateritic terrain which outcrops as the most important feature in
the crystallines.

IV.

Results and Discussion

The total concentration (TDS) of dissolved minerals in water is a general indication of its suitability for
any particular purpose. Groundwater with a TDS value of less than 300 mg/l can be considered as excellent for
drinking purpose according to WHO (1984). The TDS values for the crystallines fall well below 300mg/l. The
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Water Quality Mapping of Coastal Aquifers in Central Part of Penisular India Using Geographic..
value ranges from 26mg/l to 228mg/l. But in the case of the coastal belt, the values are pretty high in many wells
and ranges from 80mg/l to 3425 mg/l. According to Venugopal (1998) and Aravindan (1999) the TDS values
are higher during pre monsoon than the post monsoon season. In the present study also this feature is very
evident. This can be attributed to the dilution resulting from the rainfall. Groundwater with TDS levels greater
than 1500 mg/l is considered too saline to be a good source of drinking water. (Kelly and Wilson, 2003).
Concentrations in 5 wells exceeded 500 mg/l. The well located at a place called Chellanam in the study area
shows a high TDS value of 3424mg/l and here salt water intrusion has been reported earlier by many authors.
This value is well above the I.S.I standard of 1500mg/l. Groundwater at 4 locations belongs to brackish water
type as per the TDS classification (Twart et al. 1974). All these locations fall in the coastal belt. Rainwater
is relatively pure distilled type water with very low TDS As rain water comes in contact with earth materials
(soils, sediments and bedrock), soluble minerals are dissolved and carried in solution with the water during
surface water flow or groundwater flow. Therefore TDS levels tend to increase in the downstream direction of
surface flow and in the down gradient direction in the groundwater flow. From the analysis of EC and TDS
values it can be safely inferred that wells in the crystalline terrain of the study area are much suitable for
drinking purposes than those in the coastal belt. The drinking water suitability map for TDS is given in fig.2.
From the overlay map it is evident that 70.47 remains in the suitability zone in both the seasons, 1.9
changes from suitable to unsuitable and 9.04 changes from unsuitable to suitable zone.
Bacteriological analysis carried out in the study area indicates the presence of e.coli in the groundwater
in most of the locations. Coliforms are naturally present in the environment. E.coli comes only from human and
animal faecal waste. During rainfall e.coli may be washed into rivers, streams or ground water. When this
untreated water is used as a source of drinking water e.coli may end up in drinking water. The suitability map
for e.coli in the study area is given in fig.3. The suitability range has been taken as low to medium e.coli and
high e.coli has been taken as unsuitable. 24.88 of the area falls in the suitable range in both the seasons, 6.25
changes from suitable to unsuitable and 5.57 changes from unsuitable to suitable zone.

V.

Conclusions

Although the present study aims to develop a comprehensive database of the coastal belt using GIS,
taking into consideration prominent laterite outcrops in the study area, a drinking water quality map of the
lateritic terrain was also prepared (shown in fig.5), along with the coastal area water quality map fig.4.These two
drinking water suitablity maps were prepared by an overlay operation of all the quality parameters using GIS.
The water quality maps act as clear pointers of the water quality in the study area and helps in a comparative
analysis of the coastal belt with the crystallines. The present study reveals the inferior quality of groundwater in
the coastal alluvium of the study area compared to the hard rock terrain. Analysis of the drinking water
suitability map shows that 13.42 of the lateritic terrain falls in the good zone, 83.71 in the moderate and
2.88 in the poor water quality zone. From the drinking water suitability map of the coastal belt it is clear that
97.8 (888.9 Sq.Km) falls in the poor zone. Only 2.2 (19.3 sq.km) of the alluvium falls in the good zone.
These zones are located away from the coast towards east and are also not influenced by tidal inlets. In the
study area the flow is from east to west and thus increase in heavy precipitation events are likely to flush more
contaminants and sediments into the coastal areas, degrading water quality. Where uptake of agricultural
chemicals and other non-point sources could be aggravated, steps to limit water pollution are likely to be
needed. In some regions, however, higher average flows may dilute pollutants and, thus, improve water quality.
In the coastal regions where river flows are reduced, this could result in increased salinity. The quality of ground
water in the coastal belt is being diminished by a variety of factors, including chemical contamination. Saltwater intrusion is another key ground-water quality concern in the coastal belt where changes in fresh-water
flows and increases in sea level occur. Rampant sand mining in many river beds of the study area, especially
Periyar leads to stagnation of tidal water which can lead to increased salinity in many parts of the study area.

VI.

Future Outlook

The potential of Geographic Information Systems, although in use for some time, has not been fully
exploited and this tool in conjunction with conventional techniques like geophysical prospecting offers
tremendous scope for further contributing to the existing knowledge on groundwater. The integrated study using
GIS is proved to be an efficient and scientific method for groundwater management. Hence it is recommended
that integrated study using GIS may be taken up in the Cadastral scale so as to generate an accurate database.

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