QGIS-BASED ASSESSMENT OF GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION IN MATHURA, UP

Abstract

This research comprehensively investigates literature about modelling techniques used in groundwater contaminant transport modelling. Modelling of groundwater is a useful way for the management of groundwater resources, also assessing the fate of contaminants and their remediation. Models very conveniently help to study complex real conditions and examine specific phenomena in addition to predicting the future behaviour of any problem. The use of groundwater simulation programming tools such as MODFLOW, MT3DMS, RT3D, FEFLOW, and MODPATH to model multi-directional contamination transport yields accurate results. Movement, storage, and change of solute concentration are largely regulated by groundwater flow gradient. As a result, a precise description of the flow mechanism is very important. If models are not properly constructed and interpreted, they can become complicated and may generate wide errors. Well-defined and clear modelling objectives produce suitable models for efficient error-free modelling processes. The study will assist modellers to clearly define their model objective and select appropriate modelling tools. This work focuses on groundwater quality investigation using analytic and geographic information system (GIS) to find acceptable groundwater sites for drinking and irrigation in the Mathura district also. The values of physio-chemical parameters of main ions for the 20 sites of water samples collected from the CGWB website were compared to World Health Organization (WHO) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) values. When compared to the WHO and BIS criteria, the results demonstrate that Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Mg, F, Electrical Conductivity (EC) and Cl are found to be higher than (>50%) the permitted level. In order to determine potential

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groundwater locations for drinking and irrigation, the spatial distribution of several physio-chemical parameters was also plotted in the GIS environment. The resulting integrated water quality map demonstrates that, except for several areas in north-west Mathura and the southern region, the water quality in the Mathura district is mostly unfit for drinking and irrigation.