Assessment of Groundwater Quality: A Case Study of Jammu District

The present study is regarding the assessment of the ground water quality in Jammu district. The study has indicated that concentration of various dissolved solids, specific conductance, chlorides, nitrate fluoride, iron and other water quality parameters are increasing marginally and in some isolated pockets remarkably. Ground water samples from entire district were collected with prescribed norms and analysed by adopting standard methods of analysis. The results of current study indicate that the drinking water, used by the people residing in villages of Jammu district is potable except some few pockets which are contaminated It has been evaluated that in the study area, nature of water is acidic to alkaline in nature. Some of the samples collected from shallow ground water and deep ground water of jammu district are acidic. Village Suchetgarh has been demarcated as the water challenge for J& K state because of contamination due to Sodium, magnesium and chloride and electrical conductivity. Maximum concentration of TH of 1050mg/l is found at Mulechak. In Jammu district, 32 wells are found to have Iron concentration beyond maximum permissible limit, 1.0 mg/l (Muthi 8.4 mg/l, Khour 8.3 mg/l and Nagbani 6.76mg/l). The analysis reveals that the groundwater of some areas need some degree of treatment before consumption and it also needs to be protected from contamination. Based on these results and analysis of water samples, it is recommended to use water only after boiling and filtering or by reverse osmosis treatment for drinking purpose by the individuals to prevent adverse health effects. It is recommended that water analysis should be carried out from time to time to monitor the rate and kind of contamination.