Assessment of Groundwater Quality Using Water Quality Index in and Around Korba City, Chhattisgarh, India

The Korba city witnessed a sudden spurt in industrial activity with the establishment of Industrial complex. It is the industrial nucleus of Chhattisgarh state. The mixture of different kinds of untreated/ partially treated/ treated industrial wastes is being discharged through a number of drai passing in and around the Korba city. Further, the surface run off caused by rainfall also contribute to the groundwater pollution. In the present investigation, assessment of groundwater quality of drinking water sources in and around city of Korba has been carried out by using Water Quality Index (WQI). The groundwater quality data of pre and post monsoon seasons of the year 2013 and 2014 has been used for the calculation of water quality index. Fifteen parameters (TDS, HCO31-, SO4 2-, Cl1-, NO3 1-, Pb, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Fe, Mn, Ni, Cr and Cd) have been used to calculate the water quality index and each of the 15 parameters has been assigned a relative weight according to its relative importance in the overall quality of groundwater for drinking purpose. It was revealed that quality is not observed to improve in most of the locations after monsoon season period during the year 2013 but during the year 2014, the quality of groundwater is improved in post monsoon season in most of the samples.