Groundwater quality in open-defecation-free villages (NIRMAL grams) of Kurukshetra district, Haryana, India

Groundwater is an indispensable natural resource for drinking water, generally in rural areas due to unavailability of treated water. The study was designed to investigate the groundwater quality in nine open-defecation-free (ODF) villages (Nirmal Grams) of Kurukshetra district, Haryana, India. For the research, 81 groundwater samples were collected from different borewells of Nirmal Grams during pre-monsoon (PRM), monsoon (MON), and post-monsoon (POM) seasons and were analyzed for 13 water quality parameters, i.e., pH, EC, TDS, Cl − , TH, Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Na + , K + , HCO 3 − , F − , SO 4 2− , and PO 4 2− , using standard methods. The Water Quality Index (WQI) was calculated from the analyzed parameters and the results were compared with the World Health Organization (WHO 2011 ) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS 2012 ) in order to have an overview of the groundwater quality. The concentration of major anions and cations was found to be in the order of HCO 3 − > Cl − > SO 4 2− > F − > PO 4 2− and Ca 2+ > Na + > K + > Mg 2+ , respectively. Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 was used for statistical analysis, Aquachem 2014 software (trial version) was used for Piper diagram, Box-Whisker plot, Schoeller, and Gibbs diagram, whereas WQI was calculated manually. The values of WQI in the study area were ranged between 32.08 and 88.38 in PRM, 46.62 and 102.33 in MON, and 34.99 and 79.81 in POM seasons, respectively. Groundwater quality index reveals that the majority of the samples fall under ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ water category. It indicates that the groundwater is suitable for drinking and other domestic uses.