Hydro-geochemical investigation and quality assessment of groundwater for drinking and agricultural use in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India

Abstract

Water is an essential and vital component for the life support system. Since most of the human sufferings are directly related to water, man is always fascinated to explore and understand the chemical content of water. Water never exists in its purest form; as soon as it enters the atmosphere through precipitation it gathers gases, few elements and organic material before touching the earth’s surface. During its course of flow on surface and in subsurface, the water gets dissolved with ample number of ions, most of which are essential for the living organisms and some are harmful if present in high concentrations. The subsurface water, most of which originates from rainfall or surface water bodies, gains minerals during its transport and residency period of earth’s crust (Kruawal et al. 2005; Raju 2007; Wang 2013; Alam et al. 2013). During last decades, it is observed that the intensive use of natural resource and increased human activities are posing great threat to groundwater quality (Foster 1995; Mor et al. 2006).