GIS-Based Assessment of Groundwater Quality and Suitability for Drinking Purposes in Smart City Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Abstract

Groundwater is one of the main sources of water for drinking purposes in the smart city of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. A geochemistry study of groundwater was conducted for the full year 2020.The aim of this study was to find out the quality of groundwater for drinking purposes. Prior to and during the monsoon season, samples from nine municipal bore wells were taken and their water was then examined for physico-chemical parameters such as pH, EC, TDS, TH, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, CO²⁻₃, HCO⁻₃, Fe, Cl⁻, SO₄ ²⁻, NO₃ ²⁻, and F in accordance with APHA standards (1985). Arc GIS has been used to prepare geographic information system-based spatial distribution maps of different major elements. Next, the groundwater in the research region is evaluated using the water quality index (WQI) to determine if it is suitable for human consumption. The groundwater in the research area of the smart city region of Bhubaneswar (BMC) had a WQI that indicated it was generally suitable for drinking. With reference to BIS 10500: 2012 for Drinking Water, almost all of the parameters are found to be below the allowed limits, with the exception of Iron (Fe). TDS, TH, EC, and chloride are all shown to be strongly correlated with one another. It is clear from the data shown in the Hill-Piper diagram that the groundwater in the region of study does meet the “Indian Standard (IS)-10,500:2012” for potable water.