International Geoinformatics Research and Development Journal An Integrated Remote Sensing and GIS Approach for Pre-Monsoon and Post-Monsoon Groundwater Quality Monitoring for Reclamation of Wasteland in Gomukhi Nadhi Sub Basin, South India

Periyasamy P1*, Waleed M Qader2, Pirasteh S 3

*1Oil & Gas Construction Company (OGASCO), UAE

*2Department of civil Engineering, Cihan University, Erbil, Iraq

3 Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo

[email protected]

Abstract

India holds 17.5% of the world’s population but has only 2% of the total geographical area of the world where 27.35% of the area is categorized as wasteland due to lack of or less groundwater or poor groundwater quality. So there is a demand for monitoring groundwater quality to avoid further degradation of land and also for the effective management of wasteland to balance its growth rate. Taking this into consideration, an attempt has been made to find the groundwater quality in Gomukhi Nadhi sub basin of Vellar river basin, South India covering an area of 1146.6 Km2 consists of 9 blocks from Peddanaickanpalayam to Virudhachalam fall in the sub basin. To study the quality of groundwater, the geochemical results for both pre-monsoon and post-monsoon observation wells were collected and analyzed. For better assessment of groundwater quality, the adjoining wells were also considered. By integrating the thematic maps of chloride (Cl), magnesium ion concentration (Mg), incrustation, total hardness (TH) and total dissolved solids (TDS), the groundwater quality distribution maps were prepared on the basis of WHO [16] standards for both pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons and classified viz., suitable, moderately suitable, unsuitable with its aerial extent of 11.34, 67.41, 21.25 Km2 & 22.04, 70.15, 7.81 Km2 respectively. The wasteland map is prepared for the study area using IRS P6 [4] data. To identify the zones of reclamation of wasteland specifically in the suitable quality, the groundwater quality map of pre-monsoon and post-monsoon and the map of wasteland was integrated and classified. Results indicat- ed that water quality parameters have improved tremendously in post monsoon season when comparing to the pre-monsoon season of the study area which shows that the recharge of groundwater plays a major role in im- proving the quality of groundwater. Appropriate methods for reclaiming the wasteland in the affected areas have been suggested.

Keywords: Groundwater, Wasteland, Water Quality, Recharge.

Introduction

For a sustainable development in every region, water is playing a major role for the people and society. To de- velop a resource based approach, water resources planning attain a self-sufficiency in food production. We as- sumed a rationale resource-based planning that enriches economic development for a region. However, it de- pends on natural resources available in the region as these are assumed to provide the main income opportunities for the population of that region. Being an agrarian State Tamil Nadu, India mainly depends on upon its water re-

1 Vol. 7, Issue 4, December 2016 Special Issue: GiT4NDM-EOGC2015 International Geoinformatics Research and Development Journal sources for agricultural activities, food production, and domestic uses. Groundwater has emerged as an im- portant and indispensable resource in every country during the absence of adequate potential surface water re- sources. Due to increased human population, industrialization, use of fertilizers in the agriculture and man-made ac- tivity; the aquatic natural resources are causing heavy and varied pollution in the aquatic environment leading to pollute water quality. Therefore, to check the quality of water is significant at regular interval. This present study assesses the groundwater quality by analyzing the essential and desirable water quality pa- rameters viz., pH, Cl, Mg, incrustation, TH and TDS for pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods of the year 2012 using Arc GIS 10.2 Software. The water quality distribution map is then correlated with wasteland map for suggesting the remedial measures to reclaim the affected areas of wasteland in the sub-basin.

Study Area

The Vellar river basin is one of the seventeen major river basins of Tamil Nadu. The sub-basins of Vellar River Basin are Upper Vellar, Swetha Nadhi, Chinnar, Anaivari Odai, Gomukhi Nadhi, Manimuktha Nadhi, Lower Vellar. Out of the seven sub-basins, Gomukhi Nadhi sub basin was chosen so as to undergo a detailed groundwa- ter quality study to find out the suitable zones for wasteland reclamation. The basin is bounded by Pennaiyar and Paravanar basins in the north, Cauvery basin in the west and south and the Bay of Bengal in the east near PortNova (Fig. 1). The sub basin is situated in the coordinates of N latitude 11.86 to 11.52 and E longitudes 78.61 to 79.2 has the total geographical aerial extent of 1146.6 Km2 covering nine blocks from Peddhanaickanpalayam to Viru- dhachalam.

Figure 1: Location map of the study area.

Materials and Methods

The methodology involves preparation of base map from Survey of India toposheet 58/I 9,10,13,14 on 1:50000 scale. Satellite data IRS P6 LISS III & pan merged data of 2012 (Fig. 2) was used to prepare wasteland map. Groundwater samples were collected for both pre-monsoon and post monsoon seasons. For better assessment of groundwater quality, the adjacent wells were also considered. The locations of the collected groundwater sam-

2 Vol. 7, Issue 4, December 2016 Special Issue: GiT4NDM-EOGC2015 International Geoinformatics Research and Development Journal ples are shown in figure 3. The groundwater samples were analyzed for various parameters and interpreted using standard methods [2]. Using ArcGIS 10.2 software, the groundwater quality distribution maps of chloride, magnesium concentration, incrustation problem, Total Hardness and Total Dissolved Solids were prepared for both pre- monsoon and post monsoon and classified for spatial analysis. Different classes in each parameter were assigned a knowledge-based hierarchy of weights ranged from 1 to 5, according to World Health Organization (WHO) and Indian Standards Institution (ISI) guidelines [14]. The highest weight is given to the class that is most favor- able to quality and suitability of use and lowest weight is given to the class that is least favorable. The zones of pre-monsoon and post-monsoon groundwater quality were classified into suitable, moderately suitable and un- suitable based on the added weight factors determined in the analysis. Finally, by integrating the maps of pre- monsoon and post-monsoon groundwater quality with the map of wasteland the areas suitable for the reclamation of wasteland were delineated.

Figure 2: Satellite Image of the study area – IRS P6 – 2012

Figure 3: Locations of sampling points for pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. 3 Vol. 7, Issue 4, December 2016 Special Issue: GiT4NDM-EOGC2015 International Geoinformatics Research and Development Journal

Results and Discussion

The spatial and the attribute database were analyzed for the generation of spatial variation maps of major water quality parameters such as Chloride, magnesium ion concentration, incrustation, total hardness and total dis- solved solids for pre-monsoon and post monsoon seasons. Based on these spatial variation maps the existing condition of groundwater quality was identified which in turn correlate with the wasteland map to suggest the suitable measures for the reclamation of the wasteland in the sub basin in GIS environ.

Wasteland Map

National Wastelands Development Board [8] has developed 13 categories of wasteland classification system. Out of which Gomukhi sub basin comprises of 5 categories which are Forest Land/ Hill, Barren Land, Land af- fected by salinity and alkalinity, Rocky Outcrop and Shrub Land.

Parameters Included in Water Quality Assessment

The chemical quality of the groundwater largely depends on the nature of rock formations, Physiography, soil environment, recharge and draft conditions in which it occurs. The chemical composition of water is an im- portant factor to be considered before it is used for domestic, irrigation or industrial purposes [14]. The parame- ters analyzed in this assessment are shown in Table 1.

PH A pH (potential of Hydrogen) measurement determines the acidic and alkaline nature of water. PH of the solution is taken as –ive logarithm of H2 ions for many practical practices. The value range of pH from 7 to14 is alkaline, from 0 to 7 is acidic, and 7 is neutral. Mainly drinking water pH lies from 4.4 to 8.5. The pH scale commonly ranges from 0 to 14. The acceptable limit is 6.5 to 8.5 and no relaxation for permissible limits in the absence of alternate source as per BIS 10500:2012 [6]. The result shows that the pH value varies from 7.8 to 8.5 during pre-monsoon season and 7.5 to 8.5 during post monsoon season. The value of pH is within the acceptable limit throughout the study area. Chloride All natural and raw water contains chlorides. It comes from activities carried out in an agricultural area, Industri- al activities and chloride stones. Its concentration is high because of human activities. In this study, the concen- tration of chloride was classified into three ranges 0-250, 250-1000 and >1000 mg/l as per BIS: 10500-2012 and based on these ranges the spatial variation map for chloride has been obtained and presented in fig. 4.

Magnesium Ion Concentration According to WHO [16] standards for suitable drinking water, magnesium ion should be below 30 mg/l when sulphate is more than 250 mg/l, and if magnesium is more than 150 mg/l, then sulphate should be below 250 mg/l. The concentration of sulphate is lesser than 250mg/l throughout the study area both in pre-monsoon and post monsoon seasons. Based on this nearly 11% of the study area is unsuitable for drinking purposes (Table 2).

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Table 1: Classification of various aspects of groundwater quality during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons

CLASSIFICATION OF VARIOUS ASPECTS OF GROUNDWATER QUALITY

Pre-Monsoon Post-Monsoon

S.No Class Criteria Class Percent- Percentage Area Area age of of study ar- (Km2) (Km2) study area ea < 250 Good 27.71 317.74 86.52 992.08 Chloride 1 Moderate (mg/l) 250 - 1000 72.29 828.86 13.48 154.52 > 1000 Poor 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

SO4 > 250 mg/l and Mg < 30 mg/l 1026.2 Magnesium or Suitable 88.17 1011 89.50 2 6 (mg/l) SO4 < 250 mg/l and Mg < 150 mg/l

Otherwise Unsuitable 11.83 135.6 10.50 120.34 HCO < 400 mg/l 3 No incrustation and SO4 < 100 mg/l 23.20 266 35.88 411.43 Bicarbonate and 3 HCO > 400 mg/l Soft incrustation Sulphate (mg/l) 3 0.00 0 0.00 0 Hard incrusta- SO > 100 mg/l 4 tion 76.80 880.6 64.12 735.17 < 75 Soft Water 0.00 0 0.00 0 Moderately hard Total Hardness 75 - 150 4 water 0.00 0 1.17 13.43 (mg/l) 150 - 300 Hard water 8.59 98.51 32.23 369.55 > 300 Very hard water 91.41 1048.09 66.60 763.62 < 250 Very Low 0.00 0 0.09 1 250 - 500 Low 0.24 2.72 2.02 23.12 Total Dissolved 5 500 - 750 Moderate Solids (mg/l) 5.42 62.12 27.49 315.25 750 - 1000 High 65.75 753.91 65.81 754.55 > 1000 Very High 28.59 327.85 4.59 52.68

Incrustation Most of the tube/filtered/bore wells fail due to incrustation and corrosion problems caused by poor water quality. Incrustation results from clogging of the aquifer around the well and the openings of the well screen causing a decrease in well capacity which in turn reduces the well yield and increase the pumping cost. According to Raghunath [12], if the HCO3 concentration is greater than 400 mg/l, soft incrustation will form; however, hard incrustation will be formed if the SO4 concentration is higher than 100 mg/l. Therefore, based on water quality, the study area has been classified as comprising regions of soft incrustation, hard incrustation, and no incrustation.

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International Geoinformatics Research and Development Journal

Table 2. Classification of wasteland and groundwater quality. CLASSIFICATION OF WASTELAND AND ZONES OF GROUNDWATER QUALITY Pre-Monsoon Post Monsoon Waste- Suitable Moderate Unsuitable Suitable Moderate Unsuitable Area S.No land 2 Percent- Percentag Percentag Percentage Percentage Percentage (Km ) Area Area Area Area Area Area Class age of e of study e of study of study of study ar- of study ar- (Km2) (Km2) (Km2) (Km2) (Km2) (Km2) study area area area area ea ea Reserved 1 Forest / 315.00 0.67 2.12 87.71 276.30 11.61 36.58 9.55 30.09 75.24 237.00 14.36 45.24 Hill

Barren 2 186.43 24.84 46.30 45.89 85.55 29.28 54.58 21.78 40.60 75.64 141.02 0.00 0.00 Land

Alkalini- 3 ty / Sa- 36.04 21.25 7.66 25.67 9.25 53.08 19.13 78.41 28.26 19.02 6.85 0.00 0.00 linity

Rocky 4 35.41 21.75 7.70 48.40 17.14 29.85 10.57 69.19 24.50 54.63 19.34 0.00 0.00 Outcrop

Shrub 5 6.00 31.00 1.86 33.00 1.98 36.00 2.16 68.67 4.12 30.84 1.85 0.00 0.00 Land

Total 578.88 11.34 65.64 67.41 390.22 21.25 123.02 22.04 127.57 70.15 406.07 7.81 45.24 International Geoinformatics Research and Development Journal

Total Hardness

Originally water hardness was understood to be a measure of the capacity of water to precipitate soap. Soap is precipitated cheaply by calcium and minimal and difficult to define. In conformity with current practice, total hardness is defined as the some of the calcium and magnesium both expressed as calcium carbonate in mg/l [1]. According to the standards of Sawyer & McCarty [13], the total hardness was classified into four ranges: soft water (< 75), moderately hard water (75 – 150), hard water (150 - 300), and very hard water (> 300). Based on these ranges the spatial variation map for total hardness has been obtained and presented in Fig. 7.

Total Dissolved Solids The mineral constituents dissolved in water constitute dissolved solids. The concentration of dissolved sol- ids in water decides its applicability for drinking, irrigation, and industrial purposes. Based on TDS stand- ards, the TDS was classified to five ranges (< 250, 250-500, 500 – 750, 750 – 1000, > 1000). The spatial variation map for TDS was prepared based on these ranges and presented in fig. 8. Here the maximum val- ue of TDS recorded was 1763 mg/l during pre-monsoon which is of moderate quality and the same has de- creased to 210 – 1186 mg/l in post monsoon season.

Groundwater Quality Evaluation

Geographical Information System (GIS) plays a more important role in the evaluation of groundwater qual- ity [11, 10]. Arc GIS 10.2 was used to create a database for spatial and non-spatial data. Raster Overlay Analysis is a necessary component to bring together data representing the phenomenon. Using the Boolean logic rules to combine different layers is one of the easiest methods, through “Yes” or “No” rules. Most Boolean logical based overlay procedures in GIS do not allow for the fact that variables may not be equally important, and the decisions about threshold values are often subjective [9]. Hence to quantify the parame- ters in the analysis Mathematical Overlay method was adopted [7]. The final result is in the form of a raster layer, where each grid cell acquired a value through the additive overlay process. The higher the value of the grid cell, the more preferred the cell is the zone of poor groundwater quality. The groundwater quality zonation map has been generated by integrating the thematic maps of Chloride, Magnesium ion concentra- tion, Incrustation, Total hardness and Total dissolved solids (figure 4-8). Appropriate weights were given based on the properties and characteristics of the thematic layers. Classification of groundwater quality and its aerial extent are shown in Table 1. Based on the outcome of the result, it is observed that the groundwa- ter quality of the study area is classified viz., suitable, moderately suitable and unsuitable with its aerial ex- tent of 65.64, 390.22, and 123.02 Km2 during pre-monsoon and 127.57, 406.07 and 45.24 km2 in post monsoon seasons respectively.

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Existing Groundwater Quality in the Wasteland of the Study Area

The groundwater quality map of pre and post monsoon and the map of wasteland were integrated and clas- sified (Fig. 9, Fig.10) to identify the zones of reclamation of wasteland (Anju et al. 2013). The results indi- cated that 67.41% of the wasteland has moderate water quality during pre-monsoon whereas in post monsoon seasons it is increased to 70.15%; 11.34% of the wasteland was classified as suitable quality in pre-monsoon is increased to 22.04% in post monsoon seasons. The wasteland falls in unsuitable water qual- ity zone has reduced to 7.81% from 21.25% due to the seasonal variations (Table 2).

Conclusion and Recommendation

The remote sensing and GIS approach in the study has facilitated to generate various thematic layers and analysis with the non-spatial data to achieve the objectives of the study. · The essential and desirable water quality parameters viz., pH, chloride, magnesium ion concentration, incrustation, total hardness and total dissolved solids have improved tremendously in post monsoon season when comparing to the pre-monsoon season of the study area which shows that the recharge of groundwa- ter plays a major role in improving the quality of groundwater. · There is a shortage in supply of water in quantity, in time and space due to overwhelming demand. It is an imperative need for efficient use of this scarce, expensive and valuable commodity - water. About 50.48 % of the total area is occupied by wasteland in this sub basin which needs priority and development as 81% of the wasteland present in a safe block of the sub-basin (SGSWRDC 2012). · Gomukhi Nadhi sub basin lies within the tropical monsoon zone. As the monsoon period brings heavy rainfall, it improves the recharging of groundwater as well as storage of surface water. Hence, the monsoon period (June to November) is hydrologically significant for water resources analysis. A total of 75.64% of the barren land and 19.02% of salinity/alkalinity affected area have moderate water quality. Hence, it is recommended to harvest the rainfall during monsoon season which will further improve the water quality, and the same will be useful to convert the affected areas into productive lands. · An integrated approach of Remote Sensing and GIS techniques are applied to select the suitable sites for construction of groundwater recharge structures. Artificial recharge structures preferably check dams may be constructed across the lineament zones, other recharge structures include percolation pond and recharge shaft can be constructed in suitable locations in the wasteland along with desilting of irrigation tanks are proposed to improve the quality of groundwater in the study area. · In order to protect the environment and safeguard the aquifer zone, only agricultural activities may be recommended, industrial activities which will pollute the recharge aquifer are not advisable around the area where the recharge structures are made to augment groundwater · Less water consuming cash plants like floriculture can be practiced; vegetables, pulses, groundnuts, chilies, etc. can be cultivated in the wastelands occur in suitable and moderately suitable zones by adopting suitable irrigation system both during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons.

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· Agriculturists & village people should be educated properly about Judicial economic utilization of groundwater, precaution for maintaining the water quality, prevention of encroachments in tanks and rain- water harvesting to avoid further deterioration of land. · Further research is suggested to identify the suitable site within the wasteland by superimposing waste- land category with geomorphic units and lineament intersection points to reclaim the land for further devel- opment.

Figure 4: Chloride Distribution Map – Pre-monsoon and Post monsoon 2012.

Figure 5: Magnesium Distribution Map – Pre-monsoon and Post monsoon 2012.

Figure 6: Spatial distribution of incrustation – pre-monsoon and post-monsoon 2012.

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Figure 7: Total hardness – pre-monsoon and post-monsoon 2012.

Figure 8: Total dissolved solids – pre-monsoon and post-monsoon 2012.

Figure 9: Classification of wasteland and zones of pre-monsoon groundwater quality.

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Figure 10: Classification of wasteland and zones of post monsoon groundwater quality.

References

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