Identification of geospatial variability of fluoride contamination in ground water of Mathura District, Uttar Pradesh, India

Groundwater is one of the major sources of water in arid and semi-arid regions. Groundwater quality data and its spatial distribution are important for the purpose of planning and management. Geo-statistical methods are one of the most advanced techniques for interpolation of groundwater quality. In this study, kriging methods were used for predicting the spatial distribution of fluoride content in groundwater. Data were collected from 13 wells in Mathura district (Uttar Pradesh, India). After normalization of data, semivariogram was drawn, for selecting suitable model for fitness on experimental semivariogram, less residual sum of squares (RSS) value was used. Then fluoride endemic areas of the Mathura District (study area) were identified from developed semivariogram model and Geospatial variability (high and low fluoride containing areas) map was generated with the help of GeographicInformation System. In the analysis, spatial distribution characteristics and variation of fluoride concentration in shallow groundwater found to be 3.4 and 4.6 mg/l at Sahar, Shahpur were higher than the standard limits (1.5 mg/l) of drinking water and shows remarkable spatial variability.