Quality Characterization of Groundwater for Human Consumption Using Water Quality Index for Gandhinagar District, Gujarat

As we know, water is an important parameter for survival of biotic component. Current analysis deals with groundwater characteristic of Gandhinagar District, Gujarat. The characteristics of water and water quality index are directly related to each other. It is a number ranging from 1 to 100 which expresses the overall water quality, at a particular place and time, based on various water quality parameters. Lower the water quality index, better the water quality. The quality of groundwater is most commonly affected by waste disposal system and land use pattern. Water quality term depends on physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of the water. This has been determined by collecting 50 groundwater samples from different areas of Gandhinagar city and analyzing all the samples to a pervasive physicochemical analysis. For evaluating the WQI, the following ten parameters have been considered: pH, sodium (Na+), total hardness (CaCO3), calcium, magnesium, chloride, fluorides, iron, nitrate, and sulfate (SO4). The Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS IS 10500 (2012) has been considered to assess the suitability of groundwater for drinking purposes and for the calculation of WQI. The physicochemical study could help in understanding the structure and function of particular water body. For Gandhinagar District, WQI found to be within the recommended limits, and all major villages values lie under categories of good water quality under grading B.