Application of geo-spatial technologies for ground water quality mapping of Aizawl district, Mizoram, India

Abstract

Water is one of the most important natural resources highly crucial for our day-to-day life. The main sources of water are surface water and ground water. Erratic and irregular availability of surface water leads to exploration and utilization of ground water for irrigation, industrial and domestic purposes. Therefore, the quality of ground water is equally important as its quantity. The present study utilizes geographical information system (GIS) technique to map the spatial variability of ground water quality. Ground water samples were collected from 188 point sources randomly distributed in Aizawl district, Mizoram. The major water quality parameters namely pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids, total hardness, iron, chloride, nitrate and fluo-ride have been estimated for all the sampling locations. The spatial variation maps of these ground water quality parameters were generated and utilize as thematic layers. These thematic layers were given ranks based on their relative importance. Different classes within each thematic layer were assigned weightages in numerical rating from 1 to 3 as attribute values in GIS environment. Sum-mation of these attributes values and the corresponding rank values of the thematic layers were utilize to generate the final ground water quality map. This final map shows the different classes of ground water quality within the district which can be utilize to provide a guideline for the suit-ability of ground water uses.