S. ARYA AND T. SUBRAMANI
Abstract
Groundwater is the major source for drinking and irrigation purposes in Vattamalaikarai River basin, Tamilnadu, India. Though the basin area is very small, the groundwater quality variation is highly erratic. Thus a field study was conducted during November 2011 for the rapid assessment of suitability of groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes. Some of the important insitu groundwater quality parameters such as temperature, pH, electrical conductivity and salinity were measured in 70 observation wells. Based on these parameters, areas which are suitable for drinking and irrigation were demarcated using geographical information system (GIS). The study indicates that about 60% of the Vattamalaikarai River basin area is suitable for drinking purposes. Groundwater quality is not good in the western part when compared with the eastern part.