Sustainability Assessment of the Groundwater Quality in the Khoyrasole Block, Birbhum District, West Bengal to Achieve Rural Water Security

Article history Received: 20 October 2020 Accepted: 16 November 2020 Published Online: 30 December 2020 In order to attain the water security goal, specifically in highly developing areas, delineation of pure and sustainable water resources is of utmost priority. In the present study, a preliminary investigation of the groundwater chemistry was carried out. This was followed by assessing the suitability of groundwater to be used as an alternative and reliable resource for public use in the Khoyrasole block, Birbhum district, India. Altogether 15(fifteen) samples of groundwater, were collected from bore wells spread well over the Khoyrasole block have been considered. After completing the chemical analysis of the groundwater samples, the study revealed the quality of groundwater. The spatial distribution of groundwater quality parameters such as pH, Total Dissolved solids (TDS), Hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Iron, Chloride, Carbonate, Bicarbonate, Sulphate, Nitrate and Fluoride have also been studied. High to very high levels of iron and fluoride have been observed to be present in 67% and53% of the samples respectively. Based upon the calculated parameters like SAR, MAR, PI and Chloro Alkaline Indices, groundwater of Khoyrasole block is majorly suitable for the purpose of agriculture and irrigation. Plotting of ionic scatter plots and geochemical facies also indicate the water samples to be of “fresh water” category, with no dominant cation or anion playing a selectively dominant role in influencing the groundwater chemistry in the study area.