Statistical assessment of groundwater quality using hydrochemical parameters for drinking water of rural areas in Nashik district, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT Groundwater assessment is based on the hydrochemical parameters of the study area. The objective of this study is to determine the number of hydrochemical parameters to assess the groundwater quality of Nashik. Water samples were collected from the three tehsils in Nashik viz., Deola, Satana, and Malegaon with the total study area of around 3819.441. From each tehsil sixteen water samples were collected having ten well and six bore well samples. All forty-eight samples were analyzed for hydrochemical parameters such as pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, solids in water, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, alkalinity (CaCO3), carbonate and bicarbonate, chloride, sulfate (SO4), fluoride (F), total hardness (CaCO3), sodium, potassium, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, orthophosphate, total phosphate, boron, aluminum, iron, manganese, and silica concentrations and observations were recorded. The concentration levels of hydrochemical parameters indicated the quality of groundwater. The overall statistical assessment of groundwater revealed all groundwater samples may be suitable for drinking and irrigation since the values of hydrochemical parameters do not cross the permissible limit. But the mean pH of the bore well water sample exceeds the permissible limit given in Table 3. Hence, by using t-test the comparison between bore well and open well sample analysis revealed that at 95% confidence we can say that open well water is better for drinking and irrigation than bore well water.