Evaluation of water quality index and its impact on the quality of life in an industrial area in Bangalore, South India

Abstract

Groundwater is an essential and vital component of our life support system. The deterioration in the groundwater quality due to geogenic and anthropogenic activities has drawn great attention as it is the major alternate source of domestic and drinking water supply. Groundwater samples from selected bore wells were analysed for important physico-chemical attributes by adopting APHA standard methods. From the data obtained, the water quality index (WQI) was calculated by adopting the method developed by Tiwari and Mishra. The WQI values ranged from 49.2 to 409.94. The SF 36 questionnaire of WHO was used in the health survey of residents in the villages bordering the industrial area, to correlate the quality of life with water quality index measured using nine water quality parameters. The Pearson correlation was performed to find the relationship between WQI and quality of life. It was observed that the correlation coefficient 'r' was -0.499(p<0.001). On careful examination of the data it was found that most of the water quality parameters were beyond the desired limit prescribed by BIS, making the water unsafe for human consumption.