Effect of Urbanization on Groundwater Quality of Tirumangalam Taluk, Madurai

Urban expansion is a major driving force altering local and regional hydrology. During the past several decades, groundwater quality has emerged as one of the most important and confronting environmental issues and it plays a significant role in the national economy through satisfying various water needs. It has special significance and needs greater attention of all concerned since it is a major alternate source of domestic, industrial and drinking water supply. In this paper, groundwater quality of water samples of eleven locations situated in Tirumangalam Taluk have been compared with respect to land use land change between 2002 and 2011. Groundwater samples were tested for nine physico-chemical parameters following the standard methods and procedures. BIS drinking water quality standards were adopted for calculation of Water Quality Index (WQI) to find suitability of water for drinking purpose. The overall view of the water quality index of the samples from the present study area reveals that the groundwater quality is getting deteriorated over a period of nine years and it creates negative impact on environmental quality.