Abstract

INTERPRETATION OF POTABLE WATER QUALITY IN METTUR TALUK, SALEM DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA USING MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS

Lilly Florence, P*., Paulraj, A., Ramachandramoorthy, T and Jayalakshmi, B

ABSTRACT

A few water samples were collected from various sources, viz., open wells (OW), bore wells (BW), hand pumps (HP) and falls during pre-monsoon (June- July 2010) and post-monsoon (Dec 2010 – Jan 2011) seasons from Mettur Taluk, Salem District. The physico-chemical parameters viz., Temperature, pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Salinity (SAL), Total Solids (TS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS),Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Hardness (TH), Calcium Hardness (CH), Magnesium Hardness (MH), Total Alkalinity (TA) and Fluoride (F) were determined for the water samples. Each parameter was compared with the standard permissible limit prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO). The Water Quality Index (WQI) reflected that most of the samples are fit for drinking. The Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) shows that a majority of samples have the border line corrosive nature in the post-monsoon season. The multivariate statistical tools, viz., Correlation Analysis (CA), Factor Analysis (FA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) were used to interpret the water quality data.

Keywords: Mettur, Water Quality, WQI, LSI, Statistical analysis.