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Abstract With the escalation of diverse developmental and agricultural activities, both human-induced and natural, the groundwater quality within Hambantota district has undergone changes. An analysis of the suitability of groundwater for drinking purposes is imperative, given that it serves as the second most important source of drinking water in Hambantota. Employing the Water Quality Index (WQI), this study aims to discern and assess the suitability of groundwater quality for drinking within the district. The WQI employs a weighted arithmetic index to facilitate this evaluation. The primary objective of this research is to ascertain the present groundwater quality status in Hambantota district through the utilization of secondary data. The overarching goal is to gauge the overall appropriateness of groundwater quality for drinking purposes within the district. To accomplish this, 335 groundwater samples were analyzed by the National Water Supply & Drainage Board, subsequently undergoing analysis to determine the viability of groundwater as a drinking water source in Hambantota. The analysis process involves establishing a Pearson correlation to construct a relationship matrix among eight variables: Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Magnesium (Mg+ 2), Chloride (Cl-), Sulfate (SO4-2), Total Iron (Fe+ 2), Nitrate (NO3-), Total Hardness (TH), and Fluoride (F-). Additionally, the Water Quality Index (WQI) is computed using descriptive statistics. Based on the secondary data, spatial distribution maps for each parameter, as well as the WQI, were generated. The outcomes of the study divulged that for drinking water quality, the WQI classification allocates 13% and 28% to the excellent and good groundwater quality classes, respectively. Conversely, the remaining WQI classifications, amounting to 6% for poor, 5% for very poor, and 47% for unsuitable, emphasize the unsatisfactory suitability of groundwater for drinking within Hambantota district. Consequently, these spatial distribution maps prove invaluable in the identification of groundwater quality patterns across Hambantota district.
Wickramasooriya et al. (Wed,) studied this question.