Use of Principal Component Analysis for Parameter Selection to Compute Water Quality Index and Assessment of Groundwater Quality Status: A Case Study of Sanganur Stream, Coimbatore City

Coimbatore is a major industrial city in Tamil Nadu, India. Due to urbanization there is a rapid increase in the generation of wastewater. The Sanganur stream is one of the major unlined drains in Coimbatore, flowing about 10.8 kilometre within the city. The drain is fed with wastewater from household and industrial units. This study is to explore the physio-chemical contamination in the groundwater sources located near the unlined drains and to assess groundwater quality by computing water quality index using the selected parameters from principal component analysis. Groundwater samples are collected from bore wells close to the drain at respective intervals. The parameter like pH, EC, TDS, chlorides, sulphates, alkalinity and hardness are estimated. Principal component analysis is used to predict the major contributors having impact on groundwater quality and water quality index was computed using the predicted contributors. The results shows that the water quality status was either poor or very poor. Therefore, it is necessary to control the contamination of groundwater by taking proper remedial measures.