Judgement of Groundwater Quality around Trivandrum Civil Station, Kerala, India:A GIS Based Approach

Groundwater quality determination is obligatory for assessing its appropriateness for drinking and other domestic purposes. The chemical and biological characteristics of groundwater in and around the Trivandrum civil station were studied during the pre-monsoon season of 2012 to evaluate its aptness. Forty shallow groundwater samples were collected and analysed for required parameters as per the standard procedure. The values acquired were appraised in detail and weighed against BIS standards. Results divulge that the pH values obtained were dreadfully low and fluctuate between 4.6 and 6.9 with a mean value of 5.8, indicating a clear acidic trend. Possible reasons for this atypical phenomenon include spacious incidence of lateritic aquifer, open waste dumping near the open wells, disproportionate use of fertilizers in rubber cultivation and acid washing of rubber sheets in the neighbouring areas. In addition to that the microbial contamination of groundwater was also assessed. The results show that nearly every one of the water samples is contaminated with the influx of total coliform bacteria and faecal coliform bacteria. One of the ailing effects of urbanisation is water pollution due to the invasion of bacteria into the precious groundwater resource, predominantly cramped into shallow open wells. It is decidedly obligatory to put into custom that various apposite schemes to deal with this problem so as to hoard the people from any doable menace owing to the contamination of water.