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Cloud Publications
International Journal of Advanced Remote Sensing and GIS
2015, Volume 4, Issue 1, pp. 953-959, Article ID Tech-362
ISSN 2320 - 0243
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mapping of Ground Water Quality for Ramanathapuram Taluk of
Tamil Nadu Using Geographical Information System
Sarojini Devi Boominathan, Suganthi Palanisamy, Suganthi Kanagaraj and Govindaraju Munusamy
Bio-Spatial Technology Research Unit, Department of Environmental Biotechnology, School of Environmental
Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India
Correspondence should be addressed to Govindaraju Munusamy, mgrasu@bdu.com
Publication Date: 31 March 2015
Article Link: http://technical.cloud-journals.com/index.php/IJARSG/article/view/Tech-362
Copyright © 2015 Sarojini Devi Boominathan, Suganthi Palanisamy, Suganthi Kanagaraj and Govindaraju
Munusamy. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract Quality of groundwater is an important factor, for sustainable agricultural, industrial and
domestic usages. Ramanathapuram is one of the coastal rural taluk which has high tourism activities
and more issues on sea water intrusion in the past three decades. Since it has high rate of
urbanization leads poor water quality in the urban areas. The study involves assessing the status of
ground water quality the study has been designed to assess the ground water status and to prepare
the spatial distribution map for water quality parameters such as pH, EC, TDS, calcium, magnesium,
total hardness and chloride at Arc GIS environment. The data were used in the attribute table for
preparing spatial distribution maps through IDW (Inverse Distance Weighting) interpolation techniques.
It is observed that keelakarai town panchayat area has severely affected area in respective with
ground water quality. Spatial distribution maps of each parameter were discussed in the full length
paper. Also study has suggested suitable management planning strategies to improve the quality of
ground water.
Keywords Spatial Distribution; Ground Water Quality; Physico-Chemical Characteristics;
Geographical Information System; Inverse Distance Weighting
1. Introduction
The Indian environmental mangers and researchers have explained the condition of freshwater
resources in India and their management as a serious environmental problem which includes nutrition
enrichment, acidification and domestic waste, agricultural waste, sewage and industrial effluents toxic
substances identified as major impacts (Laskar and Susmita, 2008). Every day, two million tons of
sewage, industrial and agricultural waste is discharged into the world’s water the equivalent of the
weight of entire human population of 6.8 billion people. Nearly seventy million people living in
Bangladesh are exposed to groundwater contaminated with arsenic beyond WHO recommended limits
of 10 ug/L. The naturally occurring arsenic pollution in groundwater now affects nearly 140 million
people in seventy countries on all continents (UN WWAP, 2003 and 2009). In India 70% of surface
Open Access
Research Article
IJARSG– An Open Access Journal (ISSN 2320 – 0243)
International Journal of Advanced Remote Sensing and GIS
954
water resource and ground water reserves have been contaminated by biological, organic and
inorganic wastes (Joseph and Claramma, 2010). Chennai city groundwater quality has resulted in
saline groundwater nearly 10 km inland of the sea and similar problems can be found in populated
coastal areas around the world (UNEP, 1996). GIS technology has previously facilitated laborious
procedures (Shamsi, 2005; Assaf et al., 2008; An, 2012). During the past two decades, various
researches have reported its application in ground water modeling and quality assessment.
Balakrishnan et al. (2011) demonstrated spatial variations in ground water quality using GIS and
ground water quality information maps of the entire polluted area in India. Assessment of ground water
quality through spatial distribution mapping for various pollutants utilizing GIS technology and the
resulted information on quality of water could be useful for policy makers to take remedial measures
(Nageswara Rao et al., 2007; Pradhan et al., 2001; Swarna Latha et al., 2007). In the present work
involves ground water quality assessment using GIS for Ramanathapuram taluk.
2. Study Area
Ramanathapuram Taluk located in Ramanathapuram District (Figure 1) in the Southern part of Tamil
Nadu State on the East coast of India. Its geographical location extends between 9ᵒ22’ of North
Latitude and 78ᵒ49’ of East Longitude. It has a long coastline of around 102.34 km and the mean sea
level is 10 Meters. The climate prevails with an in maximum of 36ᵒ C in summer. And minimum
temperature of 25ᵒ C in winter the annual average rainfall of the study area is recorded to be 500 mm.
The soil of Ramanathapuram taluk can be assorted into the main type’s viz. clay, sandy loam, sandy
clay, and sand and alluvium soil. Calcium carbonate concentrations of various sizes and shapes are
present in majority of the block soil area. Vaigai is one of the important rivers of the taluk, which is flow
and drain in the Tirupullani and Mandapam blocks. The total population of Ramanathapuram taluk is
1,66.232 as per the cencus 2011.
Figure 1: Location Map of the Study Area
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Data Collection
In present study eight ground water sampling locations (Table 1) were identified for data collection
based on its administrative locations within Ramanathapuram taluk. Water quality data were collected
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from Tamil Nadu Water Board Department (TWAD) for the year 2013 and Survey of India toposheets
such as 58K/15, K/16, 58O/3 and 58O/4 in 1:50,000 scale were used.
Table 1: Ground Water Sampling Locations
Sample
No.
Name of Sampling Location
Longitude /Latitude
S1
Ramanathapuram
9°22'33"N 78°49'55"E
S2
Uthirakosamangai
9°18'18"N 78°44'29"E
S3
Chitharakottai
9°24'29"N 78°54'00"E
S4
Mandapam
9°17'01"N 79°10'09"E
S5
Idayarvalasai
9°16'27"N 79°06'34"E
S6
Keelakarai
9°14'58"N 78°47'18"E
S7
Ragunathapuram
9°16'49"N 78°54'45"E
S8
Valantaravai
9°20'37"N 78°54'12"E
3.2. Map Preparation
The collected toposheets were scanned and uploaded in GIS platform and geo-referenced. After geo-
referencing, geo-databases were developed and taluk boundary was digitized and interpolated for the
ground water quality parameters.
3.3. Spatial Data Conversion
All the data were entered into spatial database and spatial variations of the results were developed
using IDW method. Arc GIS software (version 10.1) was applied for developing maps. IDW
interpolation assumes that the distance or direction between sample points reflects a spatial
correlation that can be used to explain variation in the surface. The IDW tool fits a mathematical
function to a specified number of points, or all points within a specified radius, to determine the output
value for each location. The general formula of IDW interpolation for 2-D problems is the following:
(1)
Where w(x,y) is the predicted value at location (x,y), N is the number of nearest known points
surrounding (x,y), ƛi are the weights assigned to each known point value wi at location (xi,yi), di are the
2-D Euclidean distances between each (xi,yi) and (x,y), and p is the experiment which influences the
weighting of wi on w (Shekhar et al., 2008). The advantage of IDW is that it is intuitive and efficient, so
that IDW method is widely used in spatial interpolation of ground water quality (Balakrishnan et al.,
2011).
4. Results and Discussion
The ground water quality data were shown in Table 2 during the year of 2013. All the data were
interpolated for the spatial distribution of ground water quality in the Ramanathapuram Taluk with the
help of GIS. The spatial structures were also identified interpolating the scattered data, in order to
have temporal series of spatially continuous maps of the parameters. We used Inverse Distance to a
power gridding method as a smoothing interpolator. In this method data are weighted during
interpolation such that the manipulate of one point relative to another declines with the distance. In
particular, we use a quadratic law for computation of the weight, and a low value for smoothing
parameters.
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Table 2: The Results of Ground Water Quality
Source: TWAD board, Chennai, Tamil
Locations
pH
EC
(µS)
TDS
(mg/l)
TH
(mg/l)
Ca
(mg/l)
Mg
(mg/l)
Cl
(mg/l)
S1
8.2
1055
620.5
275
45
39.487
149
S2
8.05
6414
3147.5
1160
130
202.95
1797
S3
8.44
1380
773.5
145
23
21.25
174
S4
8.2
1055
620.5
275
45
39.48
149
S5
8.05
950
519.5
277.5
15
58.32
117
S6
8.3
5450
3379.4
420
72
58.32
1063.5
S7
8.1
830
490.5
270
39
41.97
83.5
S8
8.3
2645
1598.5
875
178
104.49
585
The spatial distribution of the pH of e ground water shows that the values of 8.44 and 8.05 in the
region respectively (Figure 2) and the highest value is occupied in chitharakottai. The alkaline nature
of groundwater may be due to the presence of fine aquifer sediments mixed with clay and mud, which
are unable to flush off the salts during the monsoon rain and hence maintained longer no other
seasons (Venkataramann Sivasankar et al., 2012). Electrical Conductivity variations in taluk, indicating
high concentration of salts. The values of electrical conductivity between 830 µS-6414 µS (Figure 3).
The amount of Total dissolved solids ranged from 490.5 to 3,747.5 mg/l (Figure 4).
Figure 2: pH Distribution in the Study Area Figure 3: EC Distribution in the Study Area
The high TDS content may be assumed ground water through small pockets of waterlogged area as
reported earlier (Palanivelu et al., 2006). It was reported that TDS value greater than 1000 mg/l may
cause gastrointestinal irritation to the consumer (Giridharan et al., 2008). In the present study area, the
amount of Total hardness of the ground water samples ranged between 145 to 1160 mg/l (Figure 5).
From these values, the carbonate type nature in all ground water samples respectively, representing
that the studied samples could be grouped as hard water. In a similar study in India, majority of the
samples fall in very hard category (> 300 mg/l CaCO3) (Balakrishnan et al., 2011).
IJARSG– An Open Access Journal (ISSN 2320 – 0243)
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Figure 4: TDS Distribution in the Study Area Figure 5: Total Hardness Distribution in the Study Area
Figure 6: Calcium Distribution in the Study Area Figure 7: Magnesium Distribution in the Study Area
Figure 8: Calcium Distribution in the Study Area
The samples were estimated with high Calcium values varied from 15 mg/l to178 mg/l (Figure 6) and
Mg hardness were 21.5mg/l – 202.95 mg/l (Figure 7). The chloride content ranged from 83 to 1797
mg/l and 10 to 2,000 mg/l (Figure 8) in the region aquifers respectively. The spatial distribution of the
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ground water quality parameters such as electrical conductivity, Total dissolved solids, Total hardness,
calcium; magnesium and chloride were increased in surrounding of uthirakosamangai due to the
sediment deposition rates in Uthirakosamangai tank and Gundar River. The geomorphology of
western part of the study area has alluvial plain and the land also formed by flood basin deposits; it is
observed that the high values are occurred in the west part of Ramanathapuram taluk. Anthropogenic
activities are one of reason for the contamination of ground water quality. Keelakarai town panchayat
is one of the important pilgrim areas so anthropogenic activities are increased in past three decades
and sea water intrusion into the aquifer effect of ground water contamination.
5. Conclusion
The study has been concluded that the spatial distribution of ground water quality could be predict and
assessed the distribution of ground water quality for the entire study area. It was found that the
maximum parameters were highly distributed in western part of the Ramanathapuram taluk due to the
geomorphology condition, soil formation and presence of gundar river deposition, salt water intrusion
and also urbanization, are the major factors to damage ground water quality. So the study area needs
effective management planning strategies to conserve the eater potential for public utility.
Acknowledgement
The authors are thankful to Natural Resources Development System - Department of Science and
Technology, Government of India, New Delhi, for their financial assistance to the research work.
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