Physico-Chemical and Spatial Analysis of Ground Water Quality in and Around the Industrial Hubs of Vijayawada City, A.P., India Using GIS

Abstract

Spatial variations of ground water quality were studied in and around the industrial estates of Vijayawada using Geographical Information System. Geographical information system is an efficient tool in finding out the spatial distribution of various physico-chemical and heavy metal parameters in ground water. Many studies on ground water quality have indicated that the industrial hubs throughout the world are partially responsible for the degradation of its quality causing long term consequences on the health and well being of the people living in the vicinity of these industries. The present paper is an attempt to identify any such consequences on the quality of ground water due to the industries surrounding in and around the Vijayawada city. Various Physico-chemical and heavy metal parameters were selected to analyse the ground water quality at twelve sampling stations for the three consecutive years. Water Quality Index was also calculated for all the sampling stations which were also indicated using GIS maps. The ground water quality maps for the parameters exceeding the BIS prescribed standards for drinking water were prepared using spatial distribution technique using GIS software (ArcGIS 10). As there is lack of ground water quality monitoring data in Vijayawada which is growing industrial hub and a new capital city of Andhra Pradesh with a population of 1034358 (census 2011), this study would meet the requirement as a baseline data for the future planning and development of the city.